The Number Is the First Sentence

A 15-year-old tells me she wants to play in the Power Four. I ask the question I always ask: where are you right now?

She doesn't know. Not her speed, not her swing, not her arm. She knows she works hard. She knows she's "pretty fast." That isn't a baseline. That's a feeling.

A goal needs a starting point

Without a starting point, a goal is a wish. The athletes she'll compete with for those roster spots have numbers, and at that level the numbers matter. Knowing hers isn't about being judged. It's about seeing the gap while there is still time to close it.

A freshman who learns where she stands has years. A senior who learns it has weeks.

What a baseline actually is

A short set of measurements, taken the same way every time. Mine is six:

• 20-yard sprint, the distance from home to first
• Change of direction, how quickly she can stop and redirect
• Vertical jump, lower-body explosiveness
• Throwing velocity, arm strength
• Bat speed, how fast the barrel moves
• Exit velocity, how hard she hits the ball

Six numbers, on purpose. Every test has to answer a question that changes what an athlete does next. If a number doesn't drive a decision, it doesn't make the list.

Why I test

I test athletes one-on-one, with professional-grade timing gates, radar and swing sensors. One athlete at a time means the same conditions each session, no crowd, and no rush. The results go into her Athlete Read, where they sit next to everything the numbers can't show.

That's the point of testing her myself. I can measure her, and I can also watch her do it.

And it's still just a number

A baseline tells you where she is. It doesn't tell you who she is.

Two athletes can run the same 20-yard time and get there in completely different ways. The number won't show how she moves, how she handles pressure, or how she responds when a coach changes a cue. I wrote about that in my last post: the same cue can build one hitter and bury another.

The number is also only as good as the tool and the conditions behind it. A reading from one device won't always match another. So I compare an athlete to her own baseline first, then watch how she changes. Her own line over time is the story. The test is how you start reading it.

Every athlete has a signature. If you want help reading yours, start here.