The AUSL just wrapped a record season — 732,000 viewers for the championship on ABC, 25 sellouts, merchandise up 110%, new partnerships with Adidas and Sephora. Now the players want a seat at the table. The AUSL Players Association formed with a supermajority and is asking for voluntary recognition before next season. Average salary sits around $35K in a league where viewership jumped 181%. That gap is the conversation. This is what it looks like when a sport matures past the startup phase.

Just Women's Sports · Open it ›

Millions of kids in organized sports. Zero federal guidelines on their mental health — until this month. Adelphi University and Oregon State reviewed 20,000 research papers, consulted 100-plus athletes and families, and built a seven-part framework. Coaches trained on crisis response. Parents trained to cut the postgame criticism. An 18-month implementation phase started in July. If you coach anyone under 18, this is the standard you should be building toward — not because someone is making you, but because the research says it matters.

Adelphi University · Open it ›

Sixteen new faces on one roster. That is not a tweak — that is a rebuild in motion. Fall ball is where roles get established, trust gets built, and returners learn whether they are still starters. The programs that handle this kind of turnover well are the ones that have a development system, not just a recruiting pipeline. Worth watching how South Carolina integrates this group before February.

D1Softball · Open it ›

Built from 400 million captured swings. Recreational: 32–46 mph. Travel 12U–14U: 38–52. High school varsity: 49–63. College: 58–70. But the number you should care about most is On-Plane Efficiency — speed without plane is just faster misses. Also: the sensor price went from $149.95 to $174.99 on October 12. Same tool, higher price. If you were on the fence about buying one for fall training, the window just got more expensive.

Blast Motion · Open it ›

Researchers tracked 450 youth athletes ages 14 to 21. Training load and perceived stress predicted burnout — no surprise there. What is worth your time: recovery experience and flow states were the strongest protective factors. Coaching support had a measurable team-level effect. Translation: the recovery you build into your program is not rest. It is a performance variable. And flow does not happen by accident. You design environments that produce it.

Frontiers in Psychology · Open it ›

The D-I softball transfer portal window is now June 8 through June 22 — a 15-day window, tighter than before. If your daughter is considering a move, the clock starts sooner and ends faster. Entering the portal means your current school can decline to renew the scholarship. NIL contracts tied to the school may include clawback terms. A separate 15-day window opens after a coaching change, but the old 30-day option is gone. Fifteen days is not a lot of time to make a decision that shapes the next four years. Know the rules before you need them.

Christine Brown & Partners · Open it ›

FROM MY MIC

Ep. 99: What is Game Readiness

Game readiness is not about reps completed or skills checked off a list. It is about whether the athlete can access what she knows under pressure, in real time, with consequences. This episode breaks readiness into four categories — mental, emotional, physical, and strategic — and walks through what each one looks like before first pitch. If you have ever wondered why a player who crushes it in practice disappears in games, this is the episode.

Also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

ON THE BOOKSHELF

Range by David Epstein

If the mental health guidelines in item two and the burnout study in item five have your attention, this is the book that puts early specialization in context. Epstein makes the case — with evidence — that the athletes who sample multiple sports and develop broad skills early tend to outperform the ones who specialize young. He is not anti-training. He is anti-narrowing the window before the kid is ready for it. Read this one before you commit your 11-year-old to year-round softball.

WHERE’S ROB & WHAT’S COMING

Rake Session — Atlanta

Canton, GA · November 5, 2026 · 6–8 PM ET

Two hours of live hitting work using the See·Think·Move system at Next Lap Legends. 10 players max. $200.

Register ›

Rake Session — Dallas

Mesquite, TX · November 12, 2026 · 6–8 PM CT

D-BAT East Dallas. 12 players max. $200.

Register ›

Rake Session — Orlando

Clermont, FL · November 19, 2026 · 6–8 PM ET

PFX Athletics at Legends Way Ballfields. 12 players max. $200.

Register ›

Rake Sessions — Tennessee (Two Sessions)

Murfreesboro, TN · January 22, 2027 · 6–8 PM CT

Hendersonville, TN · January 23, 2027 · 4–6 PM CT

Back-to-back sessions in Middle Tennessee. 12 players max per session. $175 early registration (through Dec. 10), $195 after.

Register ›

TWO THINGS THAT HELP

The Inner Circle · $19/mo

Every morning, one piece of hitting instruction — a mechanism, a drill, a diagnostic, or something to stop saying. Week-long series that build day by day, plus mental-game notes in The Drop. Available on the web and in the Complete Game Hitaverse app.

Swing Dynamics · $695

The full system: four pro maple training bats, the instructional video library, and in-season, off-season, and pre-game programs. Each bat is a constraint that teaches a specific piece of the swing you cannot cue into existence. Pair it with the bat speed benchmarks in item four and measure what changes.

Pick one thing off this list and actually do it this week. That's the whole point.

Elite is a mentality.

— Rob