Matt is one of the best in the business and his old school combined with new school teaching technique, philosophy and mental training ideas for a skill which needs to be taught more often. Its low risk but calculated stealing bases and running the bases aggressively ideas that will improve your running game. He has proven this with all his college programs. Things discussed: If you have trained well how does the fear factor of failure play into your teaching. Using old and new school methods, techniques, philosophies. Take what the game gives you. One size does not fit all accept the very basics, leads, etc. When your facing a tougher defense the plan changes. Have to adapt to the pitcher, catcher, infielders and more. Your focus on a pitcher changes depending on the pitcher, situation. Take a slow runner, improve speed and how looks at stealing. You have a real fast guy and he steals on math and his speed, how does he change his approach when teams focus in on him more. Walking leads? Proper lead off method. Leads at second. Getting back to first technique which is quicker. Technique trained for the quickest first steps is not what we been teaching in the past. Look at very good base stealers in the big league, how do their feet work. Upper body vs lower body working together to maximize a very good jump. What is the issue with the UCLA method? All the factors that play into getting a very good jump to steal a base. Taking extra bases on your own. Analogy of a car approaching a red light turning orange and green. Utilizing great ways to organize your practice to train for real situations. Lots of video demonstrations in this episode. And so much more.

Matt Talarico Twitter @coachtalarico web site www.stealbases.com

Peter Caliendo Twitter @baseballout Web site www.baseballoutsidethebox.com

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Matt Talarico joined the Raider baseball coaching staff in August, 2015.  In Talarico’s first season with the Raiders they increased their regular season base stealing total by  24.  This raised their success rate from 72% to 78%, all without increasing the number of pickoffs.  The Raiders had the top 2 base stealers in the conference, with 26.  Both runners stole with an 88% success rate and were among the nation’s top 50. These runners more than doubled their previous year’s total.

While at Dayton during the 2011-15 seasons, Talarico oversaw hitting, offensive production and baserunning.  Under his guidance, the Flyers improved its base stealing game, setting many school marks and ranking among the nation’s best.  The Flyers led the entire nation in stolen bases stealing 164 bases at an 82% success rate in their 2012 championship season.  In Talarico’s five year stint the Flyers averaged 102 stolen bases at a 75% success rate (100 or more typically gets your team in the top 15 nationally).

After the 2012 season, Talarico was chosen as a speaker at the Chicago ABCA convention. His presentation, “Beyond Stolen Bases”, discussed how to generate runs through the pressure of base stealing.  He was also a speaker at the 2015 Indiana High School Coaches Association clinic and the 2016 Ohio High School Coaches Association clinic, where he spoke on developing roles for both fast and slow base stealers.

Talarico, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, also spent one year as Toledo’s assistant coach overseeing the outfielders as well as assisting with base running. The rockets stole over 80 bases for the first time in a decade.

He went to Toledo in 2009 after two highly successful seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Division III Heidelberg in nearby Tiffin, Ohio. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the Student Princes posted a combined 78-19 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each season, winning both the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season and tournament titles.