Episode #101

John Patrick “Jack” Perconte (born August 31, 1954) is a former second baseman in Major League

Baseball who played from 1980 to 1986. In addition to his Major League baseball career, Perconte has authored three books:

“Creating a Season to Remember: The New Youth Sports Coaching Leadership Handbook
“The Making of a Hitter- A Proven and Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide”
“Raising an Athlete- How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport”

Jack turned to writing to further help athletes and parents have enjoyable baseball and sports’ experiences. Jack’s website gives advice on baseball. coaching and parenting. He has been a featured writer for Baseball the Magazine for 10 years.

Some highlights include:

4 mins: Jack’s journey to becoming a major league player with no confidence
6 mins: Learning how to be through observing the work ethic of his father and coaches
10 mins: Transitioning from a player to a coach #empathy
15 mins: Changing the focus of practice from the needs of the coach (teacher-centric) to the needs of the athletes (learner-centric)
20 mins: Writing “Creating a Season to Remember”
23 mins: Building relationships with your athletes
25 mins: How to coach young kids (first, know more than the parents!)
26 mins: Learning from Joe Madden “Earn the trust of your players”
29 mins: Tony Dungy and the difference between being demanding vs demeaning33:22 He can do it in practice but can’t do it at the game
34 mins: How do you kill fun as a coach?
38 mins: When parents think coaches aren’t being hard enough on their kids
42 mins:The late, great Pat Summit
45 mins: Phil Jackson, former head coach of the Chicago Bulls
48 mins: Dave Belisle, Little League Coach
53 mins: Jack Perconte Final thoughts

Great quotes:

“A lack of knowledge caused my insecurity and lack of confidence.” 9:43

“In working with young kids, 9, 10, 11, I can predict which kids are still playing in high school…and it doesn’t have much to do with their ability …it’s how positive the people are around them.” 18:42

“The art of parenting is giving your kids the opportunity to find what they’re passionate about instead of making them follow your dreams. Give them ownership in the process and respect the fact that it’s their experience, not you and their ownership of it might not be the same way that you would own it.” 19:00

“Coaching is a relationship game more than its an Xs and Os game.” 22:43

Resources mentioned