By Coach Ron Wolforth –   Pride (superbia), also known as hubris (from Ancient Greek, ὕβρις) or futility. It is considered the original and worst of the seven deadly sins on almost every list, the most demonic. It is also thought to be the source of the other capital sins.   Proverbs 16:18-19 – Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.   Proverbs 16:5 – Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.   Prove ..read more

By Isaiah Trevino –    Plateaus and patience: You’re going to run into plateaus no matter what type of training you’re doing, and patience is something you’ll have to have in order to get through those plateaus.   With any type of training and/or goal, you’re bound to run into some kind of plateau. For a motor baseball-specific example, we see guys running into plateaus constantly when trying to gain velocity. For those who don’t have patience or understand that this will happen, it can be a tough pill to swallow. If we break it down, and you were to gain, let’s say, five mph in ..read more

By Kolten Smith –   Recently, I came across a great mindset video on YouTube titled “No More Excuses.” ( Here is the link if you want to check it out.) The long and short of it is not to make excuses during training and competitions. Having a strong mental mindset is so important, and at the Texas Baseball Ranch®, we fully embrace this by doing mental training every day at the Summer Program. During these mindsets, we work on increasing mental toughness, leadership, and confidence and building better people on and off the field. With this in mind, I will go over a few of my favo ..read more

By Jill E. Wolforth-    I always like to give credit when I borrow a quote or comment from someone.  Unfortunately, when I wrote down this week’s title, I didn’t reference its origin.  I do remember when I wrote it down that it was primarily intended for me but I also realized it was a great message for everyone.   Whether we’re discussing athletic training, work performance, or family relationships, we indeed are often “Sidetracked by secondary activity.”   For example, we frequently have an athlete say he wants to improve his performance, yet he only manage ..read more

By Jonathan Massey –    This June marked the start of my 19th year as a part of the Texas Baseball Ranch®—either coaching or training. So, to mark this special event, I thought I’d share with you the 10 best training tips I’ve learned over the past 19 years.   1. Failure is part of the process. If you are not failing, you are not growing. Growth only occurs along the edge. Of course, any time you get close to the edge, there is a chance you could step off and stumble. However, if you never risk failing, then your growth will eventually plateau. You can’t grow if you don’t take r ..read more

By Coach Ron Wolforth –    If you are very familiar with the Texas Baseball Ranch® and/or have read any of my writings, you would almost certainly be surprised at my rather simplistic and “Instagram-ish” approach to this topic.   You might even say, “Wait a minute, this entry doesn’t even sound like Coach Wolforth. Are you sure he wasn’t abducted, taken to a nondescript building, and kept under house arrest? Let’s get a hold of Jill and ensure this is on the level!”.   But alas, yes, I have decided to break precedent and cover five very simple concepts that, if followed, ca ..read more

By Isaiah Trevino –    This week marks the first week of our Summer Program for 2024 here at the Texas Baseball Ranch®. The Summer Program is a very special time for many young athletes, including myself at one point when I was still playing baseball. The great thing about the Summer Program is you’re not only training for baseball, but you are also learning many lessons that you will be able to take far beyond the game. With mindsets in the morning and afternoon, it’s really hard to walk away from the Summer Program and not have learned a ton about the sport (specifically pitching ..read more

By Kolten Smith –    Everyone reading this article wants to be their best at something. Whether that is the best baseball pitcher at their school, the best employee at their job, the best husband/wife, or any other goal they want to obtain. Regardless of what you want to be the best at, many people do not do everything they can to put themselves in that position. While it is impossible to give 100% effort 100% of the time, there is one simple step you can do to be more successful. What is that step? Watch the best do what they do.   I will start by using a baseball example to il ..read more

By Jill Wolforth-   (Because of the importance of the message in this email, I have made it a tradition to send it out annually each May. It took on an extra special meaning 5 years ago (2019) when our son Garrett was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.  The article was originally written his last month of high school, May 2015 and I have kept it in original state.  The message doesn’t get old and needs to be shared as often as possible, so please pass it on.)    With all the baseball and softball athletes that we work with, it is quite common for us to hear all kinds of s ..read more

By Pierce Jones-    Across the states, many high school baseball seasons are ending, and it often brings up the question of what an athlete should do next. Do I play for a travel team this summer? Do I take time off? Do I train? All of this can be very overwhelming, especially at a time when you are bombarded with witnessing what everyone is doing while simultaneously listening to everyone else who seems to have the “right” answer. It becomes challenging to filter what you might find to be true or misleading, and I will be the first to say that there will never be a perfect path. Wha ..read more