AJ Hinch: Being A Teammate In All Aspects Of Life

Power of Positive

**Listen in as Positive Coaching Alliance goes 1-on-1 in interviews with top pro and college players, coaches, executives and other major sports figures who provide tips, tools, information and inspiration for youth and high school sports coaches, parents and student-athletes.** This 1-on-1 interview features AJ Hinch ([@ajhinch ](https://twitter.com/ajhinch)), former student athlete at Stanford University and Major League Baseball player. During his 8 seasons in the MLB Hinch played for the Oakland A’s, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Hinch also became the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks at the age of 34 and currently serves as the manager for the Houston Astros. Tina Syer ([@TinaPCA](https://twitter.com/tinapca)) PCA’s Chief Impact Officer, talks to Hinch about specialization in youth sports, the perfect youth sports coach, coaches transcending the playing field, and the fear of failure. Hinch talks about how growing up as a multi-sport athlete has shaped his view on the culture of youth sports today. He is a “believer in exposing young athletes to as many things as possible” because children should be able to find their passions without being “married” to their sports too early. Coaches of these youth athletes need to be positive, yet constructive in order to challenge kids while keeping their best interest at heart. Hinch also emphasizes how important it is to understand the fear of failure. The key is to learn to focus on what you can control as an athlete, rather than dwelling on the uncontrollable situations in sports. Like what you hear? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, [click here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pca-development-zone/id952838976?mt=2) **[Click here for a transcript of this interview](http://positivecoach.org/media/237049/ajhinch_transcript.pdf)**