Ep. 65 | Alan Jaeger, Jaeger Sports

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What You'll Learn in This Episode

Allan Jaeger, founder of Jaeger Sports, joins Ross Hawley to explain the principles behind long toss, arm care, year-round development, and the mental practice that supports both baseball performance and life.

For Allan, physical development and mental training are not separate projects. Both are daily practices that help players become healthier, more aware, more disciplined, and better equipped to handle the game.

The highlights:

  • Why long toss remains Allan's most important tool for arm health, strength, endurance, recovery, and feel
  • How to organize a throwing year around gradual build-up, maintenance, and deload phases
  • Why young players should train and develop more than they compete
  • How overscheduling and abrupt workload changes can shock the arm
  • Why meditation, breathing, visualization, and awareness are skills that need daily reps
  • How mental practice helps athletes change unhelpful default thought patterns
  • The traits Allan sees in elite players: discipline, passion, accountability, adaptability, and a growth mindset

Long Toss Is More Than a Throwing Drill

Allan has taught long toss since 1990, and he describes it as a complete athletic practice rather than a single arm-care exercise. Done consistently and individually, it can develop arm health, strength, endurance, recovery, feel, proprioception, variability, and confidence.

"There is not a close second modality than long toss to finding out what's in that treasure chest."

He uses the image of a treasure chest: every player has more potential in the arm than they may realize, and long toss is the clearest way to explore it. The experience matters. Players who commit to it can feel the difference in their arm, body, and ability to throw with freedom.

Allan still respects individual needs. Some athletes may require a modified approach, but his central belief is direct: throwing, especially long toss, is the most important thing a player can do for the arm.

Build the Arm in Waves

The key to healthy throwing is not simply more work. It is organized work. Allan compares the annual throwing plan to a wave: it builds slowly, gains a strong core, reaches a period of productive maintenance, then deloads before the next build begins.

The Throwing Cycle

  • Build up: Gradually increase throwing over four to six weeks or longer, depending on the athlete and calendar.
  • Maintain: Pitch and compete from the strength developed during the build-up phase.
  • Deload: Reduce the workload intentionally rather than waiting for exhaustion or injury.
  • Repeat: Start the next wave with enough time to prepare for the next demanding period.

The goal is to pitch from strength and recovery, not to shock the arm by jumping into a demanding outing without the preparation to support it.

Train More Than You Play

Allan is concerned by youth baseball calendars packed with tournaments, fall schedules, showcases, and constant competition. Games are valuable, but they should be built on a foundation of training, conditioning, and development.

His comparison is simple: the world's best swimmers, musicians, dancers, and hitters spend far more time training than performing. Young players should be allowed to play, but the long-term plan should leave space to get stronger, refine movement, diversify athletic experiences, and develop the arm before asking it to perform again.

"You should always be pitching based off this unbelievable wave that you've built."

That approach gives players a better chance to stay healthy and continue improving at 16, 18, 22, and beyond.

Mental Practice Is the Foundation

Allan is encouraged by the progress of mental training in baseball, but he believes the field still underemphasizes the actual practice of the mind. Strategy and process goals matter, yet they are harder to use when a player has not trained the ability to notice, settle, and redirect their thoughts.

Meditation, breathing, visualization, imagery, and mantras build that ability. A player does not have to fight every negative thought or force it away. The practice is to notice the thought without judgment, return to the breath or present task, and develop a healthier default response.

"The mind is the engine of the car."

Start Simple and Start Young

For a young athlete, mental practice can begin with a few deep breaths and an explanation of why slowing down helps. As the player matures, that can grow into a daily meditation or visualization routine. Allan sees these reps as a mental black belt: no different in principle from taking ground balls, swings, or long-toss throws every day.

What Great Players Have in Common

When asked what the best players do differently, Allan begins with discipline. Elite athletes are willing to do what needs to be done regardless of the noise around them. That discipline touches sleep, nutrition, preparation, recovery, and the willingness to take the necessary reps.

Other qualities he sees repeatedly:

  • Passion for the work, not just the outcome
  • Responsibility and accountability
  • An open mind and growth mindset
  • Resilience after negative outcomes
  • Adaptability when conditions change
  • A process-driven hunger to look under every rock for improvement

Great players do not let setbacks consume them. They use them as teachers, then return to the process.

The Bigger Payoff Is Life

Allan closes by returning to the idea that baseball is preparation for more than baseball. Mental awareness and emotional health make athletes better competitors, but they also make them clearer, calmer, and more connected people.

His advice is to invest in that work as deliberately as physical preparation. Put time aside to breathe, get quiet, visualize, or learn how the mind responds under pressure. The payoff reaches far beyond the field.

Episode Timestamps

Tap any timestamp to jump the player straight to that moment.

  • 1:19 - Gratitude, Jaeger Sports, and decades of influence on the game
  • 6:49 - Allan's long-toss philosophy and why it is a complete arm-development tool
  • 13:16 - Building a healthy throwing year in waves
  • 18:31 - Youth baseball workload, tournaments, and training versus playing
  • 24:35 - The state of mental training in baseball
  • 27:08 - Meditation, awareness, and changing your mental default
  • 32:49 - What mental toughness really requires
  • 37:19 - The qualities of elite baseball players
  • 40:26 - What Allan would teach his younger self
  • 47:13 - Allan's music influences and favorite genres

Episode 65 features Allan Jaeger, founder of Jaeger Sports, on long toss, arm development, mental practice, and building a healthier relationship with baseball and life.