Episode 204: 204. Interview with Ben Loftis (Part One)

This is a celebration of the 8-Year Anniversary for The PBSCCS Podcast. The episode is a "Year in Review" episode discussing all of the interviews over the past year:-Max Miller - Working in the Arizona Complex League and how to maximize relationships-Adam Decker - Working outside of baseball and physical literacy-Joe Leo - The value of good internships and programming for in-season athletes-Ryan Harrel - Microdosing a daily training regimen and his family ties in professional baseball-Phil Wilson - His company (Relax Saunas) and the value of far infrared saunas-Chris Frosch - Strength and skill development and working the Arizona Fall League-Joe Scire - Helping elite athletes connect the dots and the role of the dietitian in professional baseball-Kirby Retzer - The value of training with machines and life during and after professional baseball-Spring Training Roundtable (Joe Leo and Logan Jones) - All things Spring Training-Ben Loftis - Training youth athletes and owning and operating a training business-Nate Kolb - Being a coordinator compared to being at an affiliate and a deep dive into force plates-Goldy Simmons - Working in the NBA vs the MLB and training basketball players compared to training baseball players

Goldy Simmons is currently a Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in the NBA. Prior to joining the NBA, he worked his way through the ranks in professional baseball. He spent one year in the AZL with the Kansas City Royals organization before joining the Chicago White Sox organization. He worked multiple levels with the White Sox, including three years as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Major League club.Topics covered in this episode:-Training basketball players (areas of concern, management of programming, lines of communication)-Advice for others and finding success as a strength and conditioning coach-Continuing education resourcesQuotes:-"There's a lot of adjustments that are made on the fly for proper execution because these guys are working so long to execute something that would be considered predominantly simple" (7:01)-"Define who they are as a human being first, and that'll ultimately help you drive the athlete that's inside of them" (17:32)-"I feel like if I were to step back onto the diamond I'm gonna be so much better of a strength coach on so many different levels just because I understand a different sport" (21:31)If you'd like to learn more from Goldy, you can find him on LinkedIn.

Goldy Simmons is currently a Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in the NBA. Prior to joining the NBA, he worked his way through the ranks in professional baseball. He spent one year in the AZL with the Kansas City Royals organization before joining the Chicago White Sox organization. He worked multiple levels with the White Sox, including three years as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Major League club.Topics covered in this episode:-Life in the NBA vs. life in the MLBQuotes:-"We set it up to where if we need to adapt we can adapt and get guys what they need on a nightly basis" (11:52)-"The cultural norm, in basketball, is like 'what do I need for the game?'" (20:22)-"Sticking to the basics will drive the objective outputs that we seek as performance coaches" (22:25)If you'd like to learn more from Goldy, you can find him on LinkedIn.

Goldy Simmons is currently a Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in the NBA. Prior to joining the NBA, he worked his way through the ranks in professional baseball. He spent one year in the AZL with the Kansas City Royals organization before joining the Chicago White Sox organization. He worked multiple levels with the White Sox, including three years as the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Major League club.Topics covered in this episode:-His journey to both the MLB and NBA-Smashing ping pong tables-Operating daily with elite level athletesQuotes:-"Be careful about breaking ping pong tables prior to the end of a game because you never know what's gonna happen" (8:37)-"What I've learned over the last 10-12 years is that these guys are at this level for a reason, and they could probably do without a lot that we're putting on to them" (13:50)-"But I do think that there's probably some places that, still, the waters are a little muddy and people are trying to take on maybe more than what their job description entails" (19:12)If you'd like to learn more from Goldy, you can find him on LinkedIn.

Nate Kolb is currently the Assistant Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners organization. Prior to his time with the Mariners, he was a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for three years.Topics covered in this episode:-Force plate testing and metrics-Finding success and advice for others-Continuing education resourcesQuotes:-"I think there's so many different avenues with force plate testing specifically that you can go in all sorts of different rabbit holes" (3:12)-"If we're trying to create a robust athlete then we need to have as many degrees of freedom available within a safe bandwidth for us to move through" (6:09)-"Find ways to continue staying curious" (21:47)If you'd like to learn more from Nate, you can find him on social media:Instagram:@kolbnate

Nate Kolb is currently the Assistant Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Seattle Mariners organization. Prior to his time with the Mariners, he was a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for three years.Topics covered in this episode:-Being a coordinator compared to being an affiliate level coach-Going to the World Series with his father-Using force plates in the rehab processQuotes:-"We try and treat things with this 'n=1' kind of philosophy, and that looks a little bit differently than when you're training a bunch of athletes in a team setting" (3:10)-"That's the fun thing and the beautiful thing about baseball is if you leave with anything, you leave with stories after stories after stories" (4:42)-"What's funny about the force plates is I always kind of viewed them as my ticket into pro ball" (16:23)If you'd like to learn more from Nate, you can find him on social media:Instagram:@kolbnate

Ben Loftis currently owns Resolute Performance with his wife, Emily.  They have been training youth-professional athletes in Northwest Arkansas for the past 3 years.  Prior to Resolute, Ben was a strength coach for the San Diego Padres organization for 4 seasons.  In total he has been coaching for the past 13 years in the college and professional levels, with various stops along the way.  He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science/Strength and Conditioning from Northwestern College (IA) in 2014, and he obtained his MBA from the University of Sioux Falls (SD) in 2018.Topics covered in this episode:-Owning and running a business with his wife-Finding success and advice for others-Continuing Education ResourcesQuotes:-"I think, honestly, just being a really consistent person matters the most" (5:44)-"I think any experience you've previously obtained in your life in any capacity is only wasted if you choose to waste it" (10:51)-"I miss being 'in it' with the players probably the most" (26:19)If you'd like to learn more from Ben, you can find him on social media:Instagram:@[email protected] Ben can be reached at:resolutenwa.com

Ben Loftis currently owns Resolute Performance with his wife, Emily.  They have been training youth-professional athletes in Northwest Arkansas for the past 3 years.  Prior to Resolute, Ben was a strength coach for the San Diego Padres organization for 4 seasons.  In total he has been coaching for the past 13 years in the college and professional levels, with various stops along the way.  He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science/Strength and Conditioning from Northwestern College (IA) in 2014, and he obtained his MBA from the University of Sioux Falls (SD) in 2018.Topics covered in this episode:-Working with parents-Assessments with his athletes-Taking risks in businessQuotes:-"If they can put more force in the ground and their range of motion is good, they're going to be somewhat better in competition" (3:08)-"There's a ton of value in force plates; we use them in a lot of really cool ways. But 9 times out of 10, it's gonna tell me that you need to put more force in the ground" (9:27)-"The worst thing that happens is you fail. And you'll deal with those consequences" (29:25)If you'd like to learn more from Ben, you can find him on social media:Instagram:@[email protected] Ben can be reached at:resolutenwa.com

Ben Loftis currently owns Resolute Performance with his wife, Emily.  They have been training youth-professional athletes in Northwest Arkansas for the past 3 years.  Prior to Resolute, Ben was a strength coach for the San Diego Padres organization for 4 seasons.  In total he has been coaching for the past 13 years in the college and professional levels, with various stops along the way.  He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science/Strength and Conditioning from Northwestern College (IA) in 2014, and he obtained his MBA from the University of Sioux Falls (SD) in 2018.Topics covered in this episode:-Competition and comparison-Building a robust foundation-Running his own businessQuotes:-"We want to compete, we don't want to compare" (12:09)-"I think that being strong matters, but not at the cost of accessible range of motion and hampering your overall athleticism and speed" (15:21)-"If they know it in their bones then they start to take responsibility for their own career" (28:16)If you'd like to learn more from Ben, you can find him on social media:Instagram:@[email protected] Ben can be reached at:resolutenwa.com

This episode of The PBSCCS Podcast is a group discussion on Spring Training. This is Part Two of the interview.Speakers:-Logan Jones (Chicago White Sox)-Joe Leo (Arizona Diamondbacks)Questions/topics covered in this episode:-Using Spring Training to prepare players for the demands of the regular season-The good, the bad, the ugly of Spring Training-Finding time to take care of yourselfQuotes:-"There's a lot of different things we can do to manage that workload as Spring Training goes on to keep guys fresh" (4:32 - Joe Leo)-"There's been, I feel like, a pretty decent push recently to make Spring Training a bit more representative of the demands of what the season actually entails" (5:09 - Logan Jones)-"Practicing gratitude, being present, meditating - doing all those things to take care of yourself. Because if you can't take care of yourself you're not gonna best be able to serve the people around you" (26:30 - Joe Leo)-"I think this influence and impact probably extends beyond maybe what we even know" (27:50 - Logan Jones)If you would like to learn more from the guests on this episode, you can follow them on social media:Instagram:@logan_jones95 - Logan Jones@joeyl2 - Joe LeoTwitter:@Logan_Jones95 - Logan Jones