Athlete Builder

Same team, same skills, same trainers — so why does one kid win the 50/50 ball and the other doesn't? It's not skill. It's the body.

In Episode 5 of Build Champion Athletes, Jim Beebe crosses from the head to the body with Training — the inch that lets an athlete apply everything else. He breaks down the training pyramid (mindset → nutrition → conditioning → movement → strength → speed & power → sport), why "a pyramid is only as big as its base," and how travel sports flipped it upside down and drove repetitive-use injuries through the roof. Plus the Survive → Thrive → Win climb, the plan to build the machine, and why consistency beats intensity every time.

Strength cures sins. Speed and power win.

Note: This episode covers physical training. Get medically cleared and work with a qualified coach before starting any program.

▶️ Score your team with the free assessment (about 10 minutes): https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest 📬 Newsletter: https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter 📘 The book: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

Keep stacking wins. Win the day. Stay relentless.

Athlete Builder Podcast · Kristin Wodrich · Women's Basketball · Leadership · Youth Sports · Faith · Coaching

EPISODE SUMMARY "I had a baby December 11th. I was back on the bench January 3rd. I would never suggest that to anybody — but that's coaching."

Kristin Wodrich spent 18 years on the sideline of women's college basketball. She started as a GA at Texas Tech — sleeping on couches, walking dogs for extra money, and losing a kid at camp her first summer. She went on to become a head coach, an assistant AD, and one of the more honest voices on what it actually takes to build leaders, not just players.

In this episode, Jim and Kristin cover peer-to-peer accountability, the leadership courage most coaches don't talk about, what's actually broken in youth sports, why specialization is destroying young athletes, when to start lifting, what happens when your sport becomes your identity, and the one line that stopped Jim mid-sentence: "I love you right where you're at — but I love you too much to keep you there."

She also talks about practicing hard conversations before you have them, why the transfer portal is the enemy of culture, why women coaching women matters, and what Romans 15:13 has to do with how she coached every team she ever had.

LESSONS

1. "I love you right where you're at — but I love you too much to keep you there."

2. The best leaders aren't always liked — but they're always respected

3. Peer-to-peer accountability is the hardest leadership skill — and it has to be practiced

4. Your #1 asset is culture — and the portal is destroying it

5. Youth sports expectations are the problem — not the kids

6. Specialization is behind the injury epidemic — and lifting is the fix

7. Your sport will fail you — don't make it your identity

TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro — Kristin Wodrich, 18 years in women's college basketball 1:10 Welcome to D1 — 45-minute defensive workout she almost couldn't walk after 2:00 GA life at Texas Tech — lost a kid at camp, walking dogs, sleeping on couches What GAs think they're signing up for vs. what it actually is 3:50 The support team — why athletes who take care of GAs and interns always get it back 6:55 What separates leaders from equally talented players They say the right thing when it's hard — and don't care about the response 8:15 Peer-to-peer courage — Ryan Day's 5 C's and why captains have it harder than coaches 9:00 "I love you right where you're at — but I love you too much to keep you there." The line that stopped Jim mid-sentence 10:15 Snapchat friends vs. real relationships — surface-level culture and why it kills teams 11:00 Trust building in the portal era — why your non-negotiables cannot waver 13:20 Leadership lesson she wishes she'd learned year one Hard doesn't mean bad — it means necessary 14:00 Practicing hard conversations — writing them out, rehearsing, praying over them 15:20 Confidence only comes from reps — Jim's take on preparation 17:25 Two coaches married — what dinner actually looks like And why parents should think the way her husband did 20:33 Youth sports — what's broken "Play hard" should never be a skill set 22:15 The math on who actually plays college sports 23:10 Burnout, injury rates & early specialization — is single-sport the problem? 24:30 Multi-sport development, neuropathways & the Da Vinci analogy Why swimmers are bad at change-of-direction sports 26:05 Repetitive use injuries and strength training as the competitive advantage nobody uses 29:30 When to start lifting — push heavy things, carry heavy things Farm boy strength is real and any kid can build it 31:50 Women in coaching — why the numbers are declining Had a baby Dec 11th. Back on the bench Jan 3rd. 33:50 Seasons of life — priorities change and that's okay 35:00 Faith — "When Jesus is my identity, things line up" Your sport will fail you. Don't build your identity on it. 37:45 How to find one limiting factor in a new athlete — Jim's SWOT approach 40:00 The full INCHES breakdown — head, body, six habits, one priority 41:25 Training for a half marathon — "I'm a runner again" 43:00 Bucket list — The Masters Less than 5% of a round of golf is actually swinging the club 44:00 Rapid fire — Rudy, basketball, Jackie Stiles, Atomic Habits, Wonder Woman 45:10 Power cleans, Romans 15:13 & where to find Kristin

The most talented team loses to the team that plays for each other. The shortstop with a cannon can't turn the double play because she doesn't trust her second baseman. That's not talent — that's teammates.

In Episode 4 of Build Champion Athletes, Jim Beebe breaks down the inch that multiplies every other inch. The three circles every athlete has (squad, leadership team, support team), the "Now what?" lens that turns ideas into action, and the climb from Survive to Thrive to Win — told through softball. Plus how coaches engineer chemistry instead of hoping for it, why allies beat friends, and how to work backwards from elite culture to daily behavior.

In this episode:

• The three circles: squad, leadership team, support team (and the one everybody neglects) • "Now what?" — the lens that turns every idea into an action item • Survive → Thrive → Win, in softball: do your job → turn the double play → carry the culture • Why you label the play before it happens — trust is built out loud • Tom Ryan: the size of your fight is proportionate to the depth of your love • Chemistry isn't luck — how coaches engineer connection reps • Scott Bird: give respect to get respect; be authentic and consistent • Allies vs. friends — every player needs a mirror • Be worth following: your standard on your worst day sets the team's floor • The Teammate SWOT — and the real threat isn't the loss, it's losing a kid for 12 months • Work backwards: HS gets one connection habit; college defines elite culture first

▶️ SCORE YOUR TEAM — FREE ASSESSMENT (about 10 minutes) 👉 https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

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📘 The book — Athlete Builder: The Blueprint to Build Champion Athletes: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

🔔 Subscribe for the rest of the series. Follow: IG @athlete_builder | TikTok @athlete.builder

Keep stacking wins. Win the day. Stay relentless.

Description: Tom Ryan has coached Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder, 80 All-Americans, and a national championship team at Ohio State. None of that is what shaped him. In this conversation, the two-time NCAA Coach of the Year and author of Chosen Suffering goes to the places most coaches won't: the day he walked into Dan Gable's wrestling room and got beaten unmercifully, the loss of his five-year-old son Teague and the question it forced him to answer, and why there's no such thing as a quantum leap — only dogged persistence that ends up looking like one.

Jim and Tom get into the non-negotiable standards behind every elite athlete Tom has coached, how to actually know your athletes before the world labels them, why ultra-competitors don't break when fatigue and pressure hit, and what it means to be the landlord of your own mind.

Timestamps: 02:30 — Walking on at Iowa: the "Are you warm?" moment 07:30 — Getting cut from basketball and finding wrestling 15:30 — Losing Teague, and the question Tom couldn't answer 21:00 — "Gratitude crushes suffering" 25:45 — No quantum leaps: the unseen work 29:15 — Choosing the hard thing and living in reality 31:30 — The non-negotiable standard (Snyder's 5:28 mile) 37:15 — Landlord of your mind: I love tos, I believes, I ams 46:00 — Why ultra-competitors don't break under pressure 57:00 — What Tom wants his athletes to carry with them 57:50 — Rapid fire

Find your athlete's weak link — take The Athlete Builder Scorecard, our free assessment that scores all six blocks (knowledge counts double): link https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

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Tom Ryan: @buckeye158 on Instagram and X · Chosen Suffering wherever books are sold.

He sprints every play. Never dogs a rep. And never gets the ball. Why? He doesn't know the routes...or he does, BUT doens't know something else.

In Part 3 of the Build Champion Athletes series, Jim Beebe breaks down Knowledge — the second inch in the head, and the quiet limiting factor nobody talks about. Effort without mastery is just fast confusion. Using a wide receiver's route tree, Jim shows the three levels every athlete climbs, and how to move up them. He then applies it to other sports.

In this episode: • Why the hardest worker on the team can still be invisible • The playbook — and why knowledge "counts double" • The route tree: Survive → Thrive → Win • Survive: know the routes. Thrive: master the craft. Win: read the game. • Why every sport has a route tree — baseball, basketball, wrestling • Learn faster than anyone: ask questions, film, mentors • Life knowledge — school, sleep, time, money • Diagnosing it with the Knowledge SWOT and one habit

▶️ SCORE YOUR TEAM — FREE ASSESSMENT (about 10 minutes) 👉 https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

📬 The Two Minute Drill (weekly newsletter): https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter 📘 The book — Athlete Builder: The Blueprint to Build Champion Athletes: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

🔔 Subscribe for the rest of the series. Follow: IG @athlete_builder | TikTok @athlete.builder

Keep stacking wins. Win the day. Stay relentless.

#AthleteBuilder #BuildChampionAthletes #SportsIQ #Coaching #AthleticDevelopment #SportsPerformance #YouthSports

Talent isn't what separates the ones who make it — and Scott Bird has spent 31 years proving it, coaching Max Scherzer, 37 All-Americans, and a room full of future pros across five major programs. In this one he breaks down how he diagnoses what an athlete actually needs (it starts with a conversation, not a test), why he rated a future 3× Cy Young winner's work ethic "average" as a freshman — and what changed — the four-word philosophy behind three decades of results, why patience is the skill young athletes and young coaches botch most, and how "investing in the relationship" builds a culture that holds a room of alphas accountable. Plus the basics that never die, why admitting you're wrong to your team earns more respect, and the gratitude habit that runs his best days.

1. MINDSET — Fix the mind first.

Before any physical test, Scott reads mindset and hunger: "It starts with a conversation… I want to see where his mindset's at." The wrong mindset stalls everything; commitment beats a one-time decision.

2. MINDSET / KNOWLEDGE — Growth mindset is the separator.

Scherzer wasn't the most gifted freshman — he named his gaps and attacked them with "focused intensity," carrying the weight-room mentality to the mound. The elite aren't afraid of the work or of where they're weak.

3. KNOWLEDGE — "Take roll and pay attention."

Diagnosis is observation plus a conversation, not a gadget. You can read what an athlete needs by how they walk in the room — the day after they compete, the first question is simply "How do you feel?"

4. TEAMMATES — Invest in the relationship.

Be the same person every day (no eggshells). Understand where each athlete is coming from so you know when to get in a face and when to whisper. Admit when you're wrong to the team — it builds more respect, not less.

5. TRAINING — Basics never die; patience is the missing skill.

Bench, squat, clean still work — don't reinvent the wheel. Of consistency, intensity, and patience, patience is the one athletes and young coaches get wrong. Stack small wins ("better than last week = a win"); one step up the stairs at a time.

6. KNOWLEDGE / RECOVERY — Science serves the athlete, not the reverse.

Use the tech, but keep your "visual analytics" — believe what you see (à la LaRussa). Don't get so buried in data you forget there are real people performing.

• Welcome to Oklahoma: 1985, Barry Switzer, and the surreal freshman moment

• Scout-team stories and the kicker who lived in the weight room

• The loudest stadiums: Kansas State 2000 and Neyland at night

• Who is Scott Bird — 31 years, Scherzer, 37 All-Americans

• The "why" that keeps him in the weight room for three decades

• Focus forward, not on the mistake — the message a player remembered 25 years later

• From coaching athletes to coaching coaches at Logan University

• What's different between the ears: growth mindset and Scherzer's turn

• How to diagnose what an athlete really needs: take roll and pay attention

• Building culture in a room of alphas: investing in the relationship

• Consistency, intensity, patience — the one everyone gets wrong

• Small wins and the 'month of June' method

• What's changed in S&C — and the basics that never die

• Fix one thing first: mindset before the physical

• What he wants his athletes to say about him

• Rapid fire: Rockies, Larry Bird, Batman, and gratitude over expectations

CONNECT WITH SCOTT BIRD

Instagram / X: @Birdman8500 · LinkedIn: /in/scott-bird-807b6b59

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Two athletes do the same workout — one gets 10x better. In this episode of Build Champion Athletes, Jim Beebe talks with Matt Wietlispach, strength coach for Syracuse women's basketball and a former pro baseball player who was told he wasn't good enough and outworked everyone anyway. They get into committed vs. compliant, what actually makes a great coach, how to hunt an athlete's limiting factor, and why telling athletes the truth is the fastest way to make them better.

▶️ Score your team with the free assessment (about 10 minutes): https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest 📬 Newsletter: https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter 📘 The book: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

Keep stacking wins. WIN THE DAY. Stay relentless.

You know this athlete: talented and hard-working, but a bad play sets them off and lingers for days. That's not talent — it's the inch above the neck.

In Episode 2 of Build Champion Athletes, Jim Beebe breaks down the mindset block — the first of the six inches and the one that drives the rest. The four levels of athlete, anchoring the decision to a Why, the lie every athlete tells themselves, and how to rewire the self-talk. Then he runs the whole system on himself: at 50, a non-swimmer training to cross the Hudson with Navy SEALs, and the "10 and one" mantra that got him across.

▶️ Score your team with the free assessment (about 10 minutes): https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

📬 Newsletter: https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter 📘 The book: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

Keep stacking wins. Win the day. Stay relentless.

Every coach has that athlete — talented, works hard, and suddenly stuck.

The plateau isn't a talent problem or an effort problem. It's a diagnosis problem.

In Part 1 of the Build Champion Athletes series, Jim Beebe breaks down the exact framework he uses to figure out why any athlete plateaus — and how to find the ONE inch to work on next instead of chasing "the one thing" or grinding harder at what they're already good at.

In this episode:

• The athlete who stalled

• Jim's background: finance meets 14 years with athletes

• Mistake #1: "What's the one thing?"

• Mistake #2: more-is-better grind culture

• Why a plateau is a diagnosis problem

• The big idea: a game of inches

• The 6 Inch Blocks — 3 in the head, 3 in the body

• The Head: Mindset, Knowledge, Teammates

• The Body: Training, Nutrition, Recovery

• The SWOT: find the weak link • Whittling 6 priorities down to the 1 that breaks the plateau

• Score your team ▶️ SCORE YOUR TEAM — FREE ASSESSMENT (about 8 minutes) 👉 https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

📬 Get the Two Minute Drill (weekly newsletter): https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter

📘 The book — Athlete Builder: The Blueprint to Build Champion Athletes: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

🔔 Subscribe for the rest of the series.

Follow: IG @athlete_builder | TikTok @athlete.builder

Two athletes take the exact same supplement. One gets stronger. The other feels off for days — and nobody knows why. The difference is in their DNA.

In this episode of Athlete Builder Jim Beebe sits down with Garrett Hill — Officer with Gene Companion, former University of Missouri tight end, and one-time West Point appointee — to open a brand-new lens on building the athlete's body: genetics. Garrett's company, Gene Companion, runs a simple saliva test that shows how your body actually metabolizes every FDA-approved medication and the top 300 over-the-counter drugs — so you stop guessing whether what you (or your athletes) take is helping, doing nothing, or quietly causing harm. Adverse drug reactions are a leading cause of death, and most of it comes down to genetics nobody checked. For coaches, that's training, supplements, and recovery — getting athletes back on the field faster, without the trial and error. We also get into Garrett's story: a torn retina that cost him a West Point football scholarship, the 5-minute rule he used to bounce back and commit to Missouri, training under Pat Ivey, and the faith that still drives him — "prepare your field."

In this episode:

• If you could change one gene (the X-Men question)

• Tight end at Missouri, training under Pat Ivey

• Losing West Point to a torn retina — and bouncing back fast

• Why modern medicine is reactive, not proactive

• How your DNA changes what you should and shouldn't take

• The saliva test, the app, and avoiding adverse drug reactions

• Real saves: a fungal-med interaction during COVID, a team's inflammation mystery, Garrett's own migraine injection

• Supplements, NSAIDs, and faster recovery for athletes

• "Prepare your field" — resilience, faith, and legacy

▶️ SCORE YOUR TEAM — FREE ASSESSMENT (about 10 minutes)

👉 https://athlete-builder.com/assessmenttest

📬 The Two Minute Drill (weekly newsletter): https://athlete-builder.com/newsletter

📘 The book — Athlete Builder: The Blueprint to Build Champion Athletes: https://athlete-builder.com/booka

🧬 Connect with Garrett & Gene Companion: genecompanion.com | [email protected] | LinkedIn: /in/garrett-hill-3aa354b4

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every week.

Follow: IG @athlete_builder | TikTok @athlete.builder #AthleteBuilder #BuildChampionAthletes #Genetics #GeneCompanion #Recovery #Supplements #AthleticDevelopment #SportsPerformance