The Brian Cain Mental Performance Mastery Podcast

This week’s guest is LSU Softball head coach Beth Torina. She has led the Tigers to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series in three of her first five seasons and has quickly become one of the game's most respected coaches.  In this podcast she shares how TIGERS is an acronym for their championship culture and how they build an elite mindset in their players to give them the best chance for success.  She also shares part of her routine for being at her best on game day as a head coach. You can follow Beth Torina on Twitter @BethTorina and LSU Softball @LSUSoftball.

Victoria Hayward was born in Toronto before her family moved to Mountain View, California.  She went on to star as a member of the Mountain View High School softball team from 2007 to 2010, earning Most Valuable Player honors in her final season. She was also a member of the Sorcerers club team that won the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) 18-and-under Gold National Championship in 2009.  In 2009 she became the youngest player to join the Canadian Senior Women’s National Team at the age of 16. Hayward completed her senior season at the University of Washington in 2014, capping a four-year NCAA Division 1 career by being named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team.  She finished the 2014 season among the Pac-12 league leaders with a .414 batting average (5th), a .513 on-base percentage (5th) and 28 stolen bases (1st), while also maintaining a 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder.  Following her senior season, she was drafted by the Pennsylvania Rebellion in the fifth round (19th overall) at the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) draft. After joining the Senior Women’s National Team in 2009, Hayward won a bronze medal as a member of Team Canada at the 2010 ISF Women’s World Championship in Caracas, and went on to compete as a member of both the Junior and Senior Women’s National Teams in 2010 and 2011.  As a member of the Junior Women’s National Team, she won silver medals at the 2010 Pan American Qualifier in Bogota and the 2011 Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship, and finished fifth at the 2011 ISF Junior Women’s World Championship in Cape Town.  She also competed as a member of the Senior Women’s National Team at the 2009 and 2013 Pan American Softball Championships, as well as the 2011 Pan American Games – winning silver at all three of those events – and also competed at the 2012 and 2014 ISF Women’s World Championships. Victoria talks about competing at the highest level of softball, playing one pitch at a time, and what she does to work on her mental game. You can connect with Victoria on Twitter @VictoriaHayward

This week’s guest is Lasse Leppäkorpi, the CEO and founder of Beddit, the world’s leading sleep app.  Beddit’s sleep analysis is based on ballistocardiography (BCG), which is the measurement of the mechanical cardiac activity from the platform supporting the body.  Each time the heart beats, the acceleration of blood generates a mechanical impulse that can be measured and analyzed with a sensitive-enough force sensor, such as the Beddit Sleep Tracker.  Throughout the night, Beddit picks up each individual heart beat and respiration cycle while separating other body movements from them.  Their advanced analysis and machine-learning algorithms adapt differently to each body type and provide detailed sleep information each morning. You will achieve more with a great night's sleep and you can easily make your bed a smart bed with Beddit.  Leppäkorpi discusses the science of sleep and what athletes need to know for the most undervalued aspect of optimal performance. You can follow Leppäkorpi and Beddit on Twitter @Beddit and online at www.Beddit.com.

This week’s guest is Cal State Fullerton Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Chad Cordero.  Cordero was an All-American pitcher at Cal State Fullerton and was the 20th overall pick in the 2003 draft.   He was the 1st player to make the Major Leagues from that draft, spending less than 2 months in the minor leagues and breaking through with the Montreal Expos on August 30, 2003. In 2005 he achieved an MLB record of 15 saves in one month and led the MLB with 47 saves that season.  Cordero has 128 Major League saves, 20 wins and 300 strikeouts.  He was a Major League Baseball All-Star in 2005 with the Washington Nationals and was named Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year.  From 2005-2007 he had 113 saves, 2nd only to future MLB Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman.  A master of the mental game, Cordero is now assisting with the Cal State Fullerton program and mentoring players on the mental game. In this podcast he shares insight into his mental game and how he would “flip the switch” to go from one of the nicest people you will ever meet to one of the fiercest competitors. You can follow Chad “The Chief” Cordero on Twitter @ChadCordero32 and Cal State Fullerton Baseball @BaseballTitans.

You asked.  We listened. For the 100th episode of the Peak Performance Podcast, I answered several of your most pressing questions... The questions include: Which sport is your favorite to work with on game day? How do you get a reluctant player to buy in? Which aspect of your mission brings you the most fulfillment? What is the biggest challenge you have as a peak performance coach? Do you ever plan on starting a family? and more...

This week’s guest is Chad Baum, assistant coach for Cal State Fullerton Baseball.  Regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in all of college baseball, Baum has been to Omaha five times before the age of forty. In this podcast he breaks down his coaching career path and lifts the lid on Titan Baseball to give you a glimpse into the inner workings of one of the greatest programs in college athletics. Follow Chad @cbaumer36 and Cal State Fullerton Baseball @BaseballTitans on Twitter!

This week’s guest is Augie Garrido.  Coach Garrido is the NCAA’s all-time wins leader in any sport, with 1975 games won!   Augie won 5 NCAA National Championships over 4 decades (1979, 1984, 1995, 2002, 2005) and is the #1 best-selling author of Life Is Yours to Win. In this podcast, recorded on April 28, 2013, in the middle of a challenging season, Coach Garrido shares his insight into the mental game and his development as a coach.

This week’s guest is Luke Mandola, Jr.   Luke is the Senior Vice President of Fuddruckers, home of The World’s Greatest Hamburgers.  In this podcast, Luke talks about the Fuddruckers 8-step process known as The Stairway to Burger Heaven, and about leadership and their championship culture of FCCPPST.  A former baseball standout for the Tulane Green Wave, Mandola is one of the most sought-after leaders in the restaurant industry.

This week’s guest is international best-selling author Jon Gordon.  His books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world.  His principles have been put to the test by numerous  coaches and teams in the NFL, NBA and MLB and by Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals and non-profits. He is the author of numerous books including The Wall Street Journal bestseller The Energy Bus, Soup, The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp, and The Carpenter.  Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox and Friends, and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Atlanta Falcons, LA Clippers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Campbell Soup, Wells Fargo, Northwestern Mutual, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Bayer, West Point Academy and more. Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams. When he's not running through airports or speaking, you can find him playing tennis or lacrosse with his wife and two teenage children. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonGordon11

Dr. Steve Taubman’s early years were plagued by crippling anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.  Despite graduating as valedictorian from one of the nation’s top chiropractic colleges and running a thriving practice, Dr. Steve found that his outer success did little to calm his inner turmoil. Thus began a thirty-year journey to understand the root of his suffering.  His exploration of Western psychotherapy, Eastern teachings of mindfulness, hypnosis, and the science of neurology provided profound insight into the universal nature and cause of suffering:  the subconscious mind… which ultimately led to the creation of his successful UnHypnosis system and best-selling book. Blending his teachings with a longtime passion for comedy and magic, Dr. Steve developed a series of insightful, fun presentations about mastering the subconscious mind.  These were quickly embraced by organizations for their ability to get people into action. Since then, Dr. Steve’s excitement, motivation and enthusiasm have earned him fans from every profession as he continues to enthrall audiences worldwide, helping them remove mental barriers to achieving their dreams.  Dr. Steve’s presentations are world-class entertainment and world-class education.  His ability to blend entertainment and education is what separates him from anyone else in the field.