Playing Better Baseball

Teaching baseball fundamentals is difficult, but not nearly as tough as guiding players beyond a basic performance level. Veteran coach and player Rick Wolff, who worked his way up to the pro ranks on smarts and sweat, now shares insights he gleaned from playing and coaching thousands of games at every level of competition.

You'll find tips on:
- choosing and using equipment,
- conditioning the body and throwing arm,
- practicing pre-season, in-season, and off-season,
- developing offensive, defensive, and pitching skills,
- focusing, adjusting, and staying sharp mentally, and
- helping players showcase their skills.

Playing Better Baseball is the reference and instructional tool you'll wish you had when you started coaching. It's the perfect guide for helping players who want to perform at a higher level. Pass it along to your players to read or use it yourself to develop each athlete's full potential.

This book covers all the bases, from choosing the right bat to getting the most out of each at-bat. It's a great assistant coach to have at your side.

Rick Wolff's inside knowledge of baseball comes from an outstanding career as a professional player, television analyst, writer, and coach. He played in the 1971 College World Series while a sophomore at Harvard University. The following year, he was drafted by and signed with the Detroit Tigers. When his playing career ended, Wolff served for eight years as the head coach at Mercy College (NY), where he transformed a struggling Division III program into a nationally ranked Division II organization. From 1989 to 1994, Wolff served as the roving performance enhancement coach for the Cleveland Indians.

The author of 14 books about sports, business, and sport psychology, Wolff has written articles for numerous consumer and academic publications ranging from Sports Illustrated and Sport to Psychology Today and Psychological Reports. He has served as on-air commentator on ESPN, SportsChannel, and the Madison Square Garden Network.

Wolff received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Harvard University, magna cum laude, and his master's from Long Island University, with high honors. He is a long-time member of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sports Psychology. He lives in Armonk, NY, with his wife and three children.

The very best book available for teaching the mental, physical and fundamental sides of baseball. Playing Better Baseball gives you an unparalleled insight into the advanced game of baseball. It's tremendously informative, unbelievably technical and extremely enjoyable to read. Playing Better Baseball will be the key to helping you bridge the gap between potential and performance.
Brian Graham
Cleveland Indians AAA Manager
USA Today Baseball Weekly's
1996 Minor League Manager of the Year

Playing Better Baseball is very thorough in covering every aspect of the game, especially the mental side of baseball.
Joseph J. Grillo Jr.
Head Baseball Coach
Byran Hills High School
Yonkers, New York