Enjoy our recent interview with Drew Anderson
Drew is a former 3-year starter on the OSU baseball team who was drafted after his junior year in 2004 in the 13th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
During his professional baseball career he was selected twice to the Southern League All Star Team. He spent 4 years in the Reds organization before being traded in 2007 to the Tampa Bay Rays organization. During his 7 season minor league career, he averaged a .256 batting average with 674 hits, 135 doubles, 55 triples and 40 homers.
He is Level 1 Certified in CrossFit and enjoys coaching and training at CrossFit Local in Chapel Hill. He also competes in local / regional CrossFit competitions. His passion for fitness drives him to constantly challenge himself. He has recently completed several GoRuck challenges which include 20+ miles of running, all through the night, while wearing a 30 lb. backpack.
Drew, why did you decide to go into coaching baseball athletes?
For me it was a natural transition from playing to coaching. I started out doing some private hitting lessons with high school athletes and really enjoyed it. From there it grew into business. It is a lot of fun to watch their progress and be a part of that.
Is it tough to scale down for the younger athletes?
Somewhat. I am mostly focused on the high school and college athletes age 16 and up. I like the challenge of scaling it down. Some things that have just come naturally to me are a little harder to teach, but I like focusing on the technical components.
What has surprised you most about coaching?
The willingness of the young athlete to give everything they have. They have a lot of drive, no matter what their skill level, and that was surprising to me in a good way.
How do you work with an athlete who is not very motivated to excel?
I find out what their goals are, why they are here, and stay focused on training for that goal. I don’t let them fight me on it. We make it fun and they get pretty excited when they start seeing progress. Also, I like to train in groups of 2-5 athletes for some fun, healthy competition where they feed off each other’s enthusiasm.
What is your fitness philosophy?
A lot of how I train is based on what I learned training with Jeff Turner. Learn and practice good technique before increasing intensity. Find out how people are feeling, what hurts, are they injured, and then train smart. I also want to be good mentor to the athletes I work with in baseball and in life. As a Crossfit athlete, I also appreciate the value of Crossfit training, in addition to other strength, conditioning, and fitness methods.
What are your goals with your new baseball fitness business?
I have my business DiamondFit Performance, but I hope to have my own training facility with baseball-specific training such as access to cages and some outdoor space. I look forward to rolling baseball and fitness together.
Have a great week!
JT
Interview with Drew Anderson about Baseball and Fitness
Enjoy our recent interview with Drew Anderson
Drew is a former 3-year starter on the OSU baseball team who was drafted after his junior year in 2004 in the 13th round by the Cincinnati Reds.
During his professional baseball career he was selected twice to the Southern League All Star Team. He spent 4 years in the Reds organization before being traded in 2007 to the Tampa Bay Rays organization. During his 7 season minor league career, he averaged a .256 batting average with 674 hits, 135 doubles, 55 triples and 40 homers.
He is Level 1 Certified in CrossFit and enjoys coaching and training at CrossFit Local in Chapel Hill. He also competes in local / regional CrossFit competitions. His passion for fitness drives him to constantly challenge himself. He has recently completed several GoRuck challenges which include 20+ miles of running, all through the night, while wearing a 30 lb. backpack.
Drew, why did you decide to go into coaching baseball athletes?
For me it was a natural transition from playing to coaching. I started out doing some private hitting lessons with high school athletes and really enjoyed it. From there it grew into business. It is a lot of fun to watch their progress and be a part of that.
Is it tough to scale down for the younger athletes?
Somewhat. I am mostly focused on the high school and college athletes age 16 and up. I like the challenge of scaling it down. Some things that have just come naturally to me are a little harder to teach, but I like focusing on the technical components.
What has surprised you most about coaching?
The willingness of the young athlete to give everything they have. They have a lot of drive, no matter what their skill level, and that was surprising to me in a good way.
How do you work with an athlete who is not very motivated to excel?
I find out what their goals are, why they are here, and stay focused on training for that goal. I don’t let them fight me on it. We make it fun and they get pretty excited when they start seeing progress. Also, I like to train in groups of 2-5 athletes for some fun, healthy competition where they feed off each other’s enthusiasm.
What is your fitness philosophy?
A lot of how I train is based on what I learned training with Jeff Turner. Learn and practice good technique before increasing intensity. Find out how people are feeling, what hurts, are they injured, and then train smart. I also want to be good mentor to the athletes I work with in baseball and in life. As a Crossfit athlete, I also appreciate the value of Crossfit training, in addition to other strength, conditioning, and fitness methods.
What are your goals with your new baseball fitness business?
I have my business DiamondFit Performance, but I hope to have my own training facility with baseball-specific training such as access to cages and some outdoor space. I look forward to rolling baseball and fitness together.
Have a great week!
JT