The write stuff
Justin Schuver, Madison Record
Discovery Middle School teacher and baseball coach Justin Nicolow has spent his whole life being passionate about baseball and it shows in nearly everything he does. In addition to serving as the head coach for Discovery's baseball program, he also hosts yearly clinics and spends time with private instruction at the Huntsville Sports Academy.
"It's pretty much everything I've done, everything that I've used since I've been an instructor or coach," Nicolow said. "It's things that have worked for me as a player, growing up and being in high school and college. But it's also just about the game in general; there's chapters on everything from the proper way to ice a pitcher's arm to the right way to run the bases."
Nicolow finished his book in September after spending four months working on it. In addition to a bevy of instructional material, the pages contain numerous illustrations and photographs to help the reader.
"It's always something I've thought about wanting to do," Nicolow said. "I've always wanted to do a book or DVD to help parents coach their kids or to help a new coach come along and learn how to set up a team or travel ball program. I kind of got the idea a few years ago and got a little bored this summer so I just started writing.
"Some days I'd maybe put out 50 pages and then other days I wouldn't write anything. But I kept at it and now it's done."
The book, titled "Maximum Practices for Maximum Performance - The Complete Drill and Practice Book," has 13 chapters. Chapters range in subject matter from those that are primarily of interest to coaches setting up a new program (Chapter 2: "Outside the Fences" discusses the way to set up a booster club and run a concession stand) to other chapters that are more focused on proper technique (Chapter 5: "Pitching Effectively").
Nicolow has also included several drills and the information on the way to properly run these drills. Most drills can be accomplished with just one or two people.
"I give lessons and I coach, so obviously I've got a lot of drills I use," he said. "I wanted to show parents and coaches the way to do some of these drills, a few of which I've never seen done anywhere else. These are the drills that have worked for me as a player and a coach, and I feel that they'll be successful for anyone that tries them."
Nicolow said that if the book is a success he would like to also produce a DVD with similar information.
Nicolow is a 1998 graduate of Bob Jones, where he played on the varsity baseball team for four seasons as a pitcher. He amassed a career record of 17-10 with an ERA of 2.67, and was offered a scholarship to Bevill State. After one season at Bevill State, he transferred to Lambuth University, where he played for three seasons.
Nicolow has been teaching and coaching at Discovery since 2002, in addition to providing private baseball instruction at the Huntsville Sports Academy. In his three-year tenure coaching the Discovery program, the team has compiled a total record of 110-14. In 2007, Discovery finished with a school-record 41 wins and won the first county championship in the program's history.
Nicolow has published 1000 copies of the book through Graphic Publishing of Huntsville, and copies are available for $15 each with a portion of the proceeds going to the Discovery baseball program. The book is available at the Huntsville Sports Academy (3230B Leeman Ferry Road) or by requesting a copy from a Discovery player.