Motor Preferences Experts, LLC

Awesome two days of slamming softballs with some of our at the Gasso Center of Excellence

Every coach has experienced it.

A cue works immediately for one athlete but creates more confusion for another.

The drill that transformed one player seems to do nothing for the next.

The challenge isn't a lack of information. Coaches today have more information than ever.

The challenge is understanding what fits the athlete standing in front of you.

Motor Preferences provides a framework for understanding how athletes naturally move, learn, and perform so coaching decisions become more individualized and intentional.

More than 500 coaches have already started their Motor Preferences education.

If you're looking for a better way to understand your athletes and get to answers faster, the eCourse is a great place to start.

🔗 ➡️ https://bit.ly/4g2RWfK

What a week at the Gasso Center of Excellence.

We wrapped up the very first Motor Preferences Coaches Clinic at the Gasso Center and couldn't be more excited about what lies ahead.

Over two days, coaches from across the country came together to learn, ask questions, challenge ideas, and explore a deeper understanding of athlete development through Motor Preferences.

The vision for the Gasso Center has always been bigger than a single event. It's about creating a place where coaches can collaborate, continue learning, and gain tools to better understand the athletes in front of them.

A place where players can learn more about themselves and take the next step in their development.

A huge thank you to every coach who invested their time to be there.

This was just the beginning.

We're excited for what's next.

Not all Terrestrial athletes look the same.

One of the biggest misconceptions when learning Motor Preferences is assuming that athletes who share a preference should all move alike.

The athlete who stays low.
The athlete who's always "in their legs."
The athlete who looks grounded.

Many coaches picture a Terrestrial athlete and immediately think of those qualities.

But movement is rarely that simple.

Every athlete in this video has Terrestrial tendencies.

Yet none of them move exactly the same.

That's because Terrestrial is a continuum.

Many Terrestrial athletes tend to organize through flexion, pronation, pressure into the ground, stability, and a center of gravity that is generally more centered or rearward.

But how those qualities show up can vary significantly from athlete to athlete.

They also interact with other Motor Preferences, training history, injury history, sport demands, and the individual solutions athletes develop over years of competition.

That's why observation matters.

The athlete in front of you may not match your picture of what a Terrestrial "should" look like.

Instead of looking for a specific position or movement pattern, look for recurring tendencies.

A challenge for coaches:

Think about a player on your team who seems to perform best when they feel connected to the ground.

Now watch them during competition.

When the game speeds up...
When the pressure rises...
When they're reacting instead of thinking...

What movement patterns keep showing up?

What do they naturally return to?

If you consistently observe Terrestrial tendencies, experiment with cues such as:

• Feel your load
• Grab the ground
• Stay in your legs
• Anchor

Do they become more repeatable?
More balanced?
More athletic?

Those responses can often tell you more than the cue itself.

The goal isn't to fit athletes into categories.

The goal is to understand how they naturally organize movement so coaching, training, and communication can become more individualized.

Don't just watch what athletes do.

Watch what they return to.

Interested in learning more about Motor Preferences? Check out our Introductory Course. Link in bio.

Most coaches only evaluate an athlete at the plate.

But how an athlete moves throughout every other part of the game provides context that the swing alone never will.

Watch how they jog onto the field.

Watch their home run trot.

Watch how they field, throw, and stand in the box before the pitch is ever delivered.

Take Bryce Harper and Bobby Witt Jr.

Harper's home run trot shows more heel strike, more arm swing, and a center of gravity that sits further back. More in flexion. Grounded and connected.

Witt shows more forefoot strike, less arm swing, and a center of gravity that sits further forward. More in extension. Light and elastic.

Before either of them ever takes a swing, you already have information about how they naturally organize movement.

And that context changes everything about how you coach them.

The cues that work for Harper won't necessarily work for Witt.

The drills that unlock one may fight the other.

Context beyond the swing isn't extra information.

It's often some of the most important information you can gather.

The best coaches don't just watch the skill.

They build context around the athlete.

This is what Motor Preferences teaches you to see.

Not all Aerial athletes look the same.

One of the biggest misconceptions when learning Motor Preferences is assuming that once you've identified an athlete as Aerial, they'll all move alike.

In reality, Aerial is a continuum.

Many Aerial athletes tend to organize through extension, supination, a more forward center of gravity, forefoot pressure, rhythm, and bounce. But how those qualities show up can look very different from athlete to athlete.

That's because preferences interact.

Two athletes may both be predominantly Aerial, yet move differently because of other motor preferences, sport demands, training history, injury history, or simply the movement solution they've developed over time.

That's why observation matters.

If an athlete:
• Naturally pops out of their legs
• Struggles to balance when forced low to the ground
• Prefers rhythm and movement over static positions
• Organizes more comfortably toward the forefoot
• Performs best when allowed to move freely

Those may be useful clues worth exploring.

Instead of immediately coaching:
❌ Stay in your legs
❌ Sit deeper
❌ Get more grounded

Try experimenting with:
✅ Create rhythm
✅ Load light
✅ Stay athletic
✅ Keep moving

The goal isn't to label athletes.

The goal is to better understand how they naturally organize movement so coaching, training, and cues can meet them where they are.

Interested in learning more about Motor Preferences? Check out our Introductory Course. Link in bio.

Rylee Slimp was already a really good hitter as a freshman.

But there was one recurring issue.

At times, her hands would get stuck behind her. She'd miss under the baseball and hit towering fly balls.

Through her Motor Preferences assessment, we learned that Rylee naturally balances more in extension, rotates around her front leg, and organizes movement more as one connected action.

The adjustment wasn't a complete rebuild...

⚡Stand a little taller.
⚡Work more around the front leg.
⚡Move more as one connected action.

2025 → 2026

⚡ AVG: .383 → .422
⚡ HR: 2 → 17
⚡ RBI: 25 → 58
⚡ SLG%: .470 → .782
⚡ OBP: .470 → .528

Many coaches see a similar problem and prescribe a completely different solution.

Sometimes the issue isn't more strength.

Sometimes it isn't more bat speed.

Sometimes it's finding a movement solution that matches how the athlete naturally moves.

What differences do you notice between the two swings? 👇

Most coaches look for answers in the swing or the pitching delivery.

Sometimes the clues show up long before that.

Watch Yu Darvish and Jacob deGrom hit a home run, jog around the bases, and then step on the mound. The movement tendencies that appear in their deliveries can often be seen throughout everything they do.

How they organize their body.
How they create balance.
How they move through space.

Movement leaves clues.

One of the biggest opportunities in athlete development is learning to observe beyond the skill itself. The more environments you watch an athlete move through, the more information you gather about how they naturally coordinate movement.

Not every athlete needs the same cue, drill, or mechanical adjustment. What helps one athlete can create problems for another.

The goal isn't to force everyone into the same model.

The goal is to better understand the athlete standing in front of you.

If you're interested in learning more about observing movement and applying Motor Preferences with your athletes, send us a DM or visit the link in our bio.

184 pitches.

That's the most pitches ever thrown in a Women's College World Series game.

What's even more impressive is what came before it.

Taylor Tinsley threw 104 pitches on Thursday, 61 pitches on Friday, and then came back to throw 184 pitches on Sunday.

Over the course of the season, she logged 235 innings and recorded 33 wins.

When we see a workload like that, one of the most interesting questions isn't just about strength or conditioning. It's about energy.

Every athlete has natural movement tendencies that allow them to perform efficiently. When movement aligns with those tendencies, the body can conserve energy, repeat actions more effectively, and sustain performance for longer periods of time.

When movement requires an athlete to work against its natural organization, the energy cost increases. Over hundreds or thousands of repetitions, those small differences can add up.

The ability to throw 184 pitches in a game and 349 pitches over a four day stretch is influenced by more than strength alone.

It's also about managing energy.

As coaches, athletes, and parents, it's worth considering how movement efficiency impacts performance, recovery, and longevity over the course of a season.

What a game and what a season for Taylor Tinsley and UCLA Softball.

Want to learn more about how athletes manage energy? Visit our website to explore our educational opportunities.