Testimonials

 
 
“Richie, has help my son succeed on and off the baseball field. Outstanding instruction on pitching mechanics and great advice on the game.
Ernest DeHoyos
Richie
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the detailed instruction you and your staff have given my two sons over the years.  My oldest son Evan just made the Sophmore High School baseball team.  The training coupled by hard work has proven to be a recipe for success.   The hitting and pitching instruction that he has received through you and your instructors over the years really showed up in the tryout.
We still have a long way to go, but you and your staff deserve credit for getting him to this point.  Instructors that have worked with Evan over the years.  Jim Bolt, Dustin, Zach, and most recently Gary Miller.   I do also want to thank you for working in some pitching lessons in the last month or so.
Sincerely,
Mike McDonald
“Coach Richie has an in depth understanding of the mechanics of pitching, both from a playing standpoint, as well as an academic standpoint. My son has benefited greatly from the instruction he has received at the Hardball Academy, just as much from the mental and emotional perspective as the physical.
Over the years, we have seen significant improvement in mechanics, command, and speed, as well as adding the important aspects of understanding pitch sequencing, situational intelligence, and the “art” of getting batters out.
The emphasis on mechanics, both to improve the ability to consistently deliver a pitch as well as insuring physical durability and injury free seasons, has been of phenomenal importance. In this day of wide-spread over use, pitchers can take great strides to protect themselves utilizing the techniques and exercises developed by Coach Richie.
I heartily recommend Coach Richie and Hardball Academy. Entrust your son or daughter to him and his program, and you will not be disappointed!”
Roger Hibbs- Friendswood
“Richie is committed to developing baseball players – my son is playing in his second year at Brookhaven Jr. College. We couldn’t have done it without Hardball Academy!”
Dennis Brown
I wanted to thank you for all that you have done in the development of Andrew. His overall understanding of the dynamics of pitching has been greatly enhanced by your steady tutelage. Just two and a half seasons ago a skinny kid came to you throwing in the low 70’s..Now pitching for a D1 University not only has his velocity improved ( 89 ) but his off speed pitches, location  and pitch selection are much more consistent and effective.. As I have said before his success is a testament for all your efforts and that of Hardball Academy.
GOOD LUCK AND THANK YOU.
Dennis and Andrew Beasley
I heard from one of the dad’s at the parent meeting last night that the coach was commenting about Joseph saying he was by far the most improved player over the last year. Obviously this improvement is a result of Hardball and the quality training he has received from you. Thank you for the skill and confidence you have built in Joseph!!
Joe Kalla
Richie,
The Myers Family is a big fan of your program.  Our son Stefan, who is on the small side, greatly benefited from your program.  As a big fan of the game, I really appreciate the passion and dedication that you put forth in teaching the game. Let me add, any student that shows up at Hardball with a passion to  learn the game of baseball as you do to teach it……..another baseball player is born.
Richie, thanks for loving and respecting the game.
Keith Myers
I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN BASEBALL FOR 33 YEARS. I HAVE COACHED KIDS FROM 3 YEARS OLD TO 18 YEARS OLD. ONE OF MINE SONS PLAYED COLLEGE BASEBALL.I SENT MY SONS TO SEVERAL PRO BASEBALL INSTRUCTORS. MY GRANDSON HAS ONLY BEEN IN YOUR PITCHING PROGRAM FOR ONLY 4 MONTHS. IN 4 MONTHS HE HAS BECOME A BETTER PITCHER, HE IS THROWING 10 MPH FASTER , HE IS MORE CONFIDANT IN HIMSELF; HE IS STRONGER, FASTER AND QUICKER. MY GRANDSON IS A VERY HARD WORKER.HE IS WILLING TO DO THE HARD WORK THAT IS REQUIRED TO BECOME A BETTER PLAYER. I FEEL THAT YOUR POSITIVE INSTRUCTIONS AND YOUR DESIRE TO HELP HIM ATTAIN HIS GOAL HAVE HAD A VERY IMPORTANT EFFECT ON HIM. HE WAS ILL ONE TIME BUT HE INSISTED ON GOING TO HIS LESSON. I SENT 2 PLAYERS OFF OUR SELECT TEAM TO YOUR PROGRAM BECAUSE I KNEW THAT YOU WOULD HELP THEM. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HARDBALL BASEBALL ACADEMY.
ROLAND ESCAMILLA
Richie,
I LOVE your program!!!  It is awesome and I have definitely seen Tremendous improvement in Curtis.  The most important thing as a parent, is to make sure your kids enjoy and are willing to work hard, do their homework, and continue to practice at home.  Curtis has had other “professional” instructors, and by far you are the best!! My son likes you, and your teaching techniques, and will continue with you for as long as he needs to!
Thanks
Sonia Webb~
I would like to tell you a short story about my son Andy  When he was playing Little League Baseball and was at the age (9/10) where they were beginning with kid pitch I brought him to a pitching coach at another organizationto get some instruction on how to pitch.  After one lesson the pitching coach basically told me that I was wasting my money trying to get someone to teach my kid how to pitch.  Well I didn’t buy what the pitching coach said, because I firmly believe if thekid (or person) wants to do something then they defiantly have potential and will probably be successful.  I played baseball as a kid but I didn’t pitch.  So I went to the library to gets some books to start learning how to instruct my son how to pitch.  Andyand I spent several hours a week working together to try and help him become a better pitcher.  Well that year rocked along and I thought he did a fair job of pitching.  Then his last year in Little League he got drafted by a coach that called me and said hepicked Andy because he wanted him to pitch.  I was kind of surprised, because I thought Andy was basically a fair pitcher and I had thought that we might spend more time this next year working on other baseball skills and back off on the pitching.  But Andy’sCoach wanted him to pitch that year.  I became a little worried about him hurting his arm and I knew that I really didn’t know that much about pitching to help him excel.  So I found Hardball Academy in Pearland and brought him to Richie Beard to learn howto pitch.  I was amazed and in aw about all the information we were getting and how well Richie communicated with Andy to help him understand what he needed to do to get his body to pitch correctly.  That year it was fantastic to watch my son throw curve balls,change ups, and sliders to fool kids at the plate and strike them out.  Andy had a good year at pitching and he had a lot of fun doing it.  That same year Andy had hit some out of the park home runs and his same coach told me that I should take Andy somewhereto get some batting lessons.  His Coach told me that Andy had the power but that he was really swinging the bat wrong and not doing the mechanics right.  So I brought him back to Hardball Academy and this time it was Zak Ellis instructing him how to bat.  AgainI was amazed at the information Zak was giving him and how Zak went to great lengths to give Andy examples to explain how he needed to swing the bat and hit the ball.  I saw my son start to understand that he doesn’t have to swing the bat as hard as he canto hit a good hit.  Before he was doing everything wrong trying to kill the ball and he found out he didn’t have to swing as hard as he could to get a good hit.  The rest of that year Andy went on to play Select ball and continued to hit some out of the parkhome runs.  However, now when I saw my son walk up to the plate I saw him actually thinking about swinging the bat mechanically right and actually doing it correctly most of the time.  The rest of that year he was more successful at getting good hits.  My sonAndy also likes to play football and this year we didn’t play fall baseball on a Select team.  So I realized that he probably needed some help to get back in the groove of things before baseball season starts.  So this time I brought him to the Hardball Academybranch in League City because it was closer to where we live and I got him setup with the instructor Jim Bolt.  You’re going to get tired of me saying this, but again I was amazed at how Jim worked with Andy.  One night after our lesson with Jim, Andy and Igot in the truck to go home and I just started laughing.  Andy asked me what I was laughing about. So I asked him did he not see how everything Jim told him to do, and Andy did it, made him ten times better than before.  Then Andy started laughing and startedtelling me how he was impressed by Jim telling him to make a minor modification and he started throwing strikes every time or hitting line-drives every time.  It was just amazing to watch Jim work with my son and molding him like he was clay to perform better. I firmly believe my money has been well spent at Hardball Academy and I want to thank all the people at Hardball for their efforts and dedication of working with kids.  It’s great to have a place like Hardball to bring your kid to.  I have another younger sonand a younger grandson that I plan to bring to Hardball in the future to get the help they need.
Thanks,
Brian Wiesen
To Coach Beard,
We would like to let you know what an exceptional job you and your staff do at Hardball Academy. Hardball Academy has been very instrumental in helping our son, Austin; continue to take baseball to the next level. Thank you for you dedication and support. You have been such a great inspiration to Austin. We would like to share his success story with you and to other’s who have a child with a passion for baseball.
Austin has taken pitching and batting lessons from Coach Beard and Hardball Academy for many years. He started in little league, through high school, and still continues today as a college player. Austin was part of the Friends wood High School baseball team, where he was a starting pitcher his senior year and named MVP and All-District in 2003. He now plays for Texas Lutheran University. He played an active roll this year in pitching the championship game to win the American Southwest Conference and named on the All Tournament Team. He went on to play the Regionals in California and came one game away from going to the College World Series.
None of this came without a lot of hard work and commitment. Throughout little league and early into high school some coaches questioned Austin’s talent, but Austin was not going to give up his dream and he was determined to improve. After getting advice from others we contacted Richie Beard. Hardball Academy was invaluable in teaching Austin ways to improve his pitching technique, teaching him exercises critical for pitching and increasing his speed. They assisted Austin in personalizing the right training program for him. We definitely could see an improvement in his pitching. Coach Beard not only taught him many baseball skills and strategies, but stressed the importance of being a team player and a good leader. He was always very positive and encouraging. We knew with Austin’s and Coach Beard’s passion for baseball that Hardball is where we wanted to be.
The experienced staff is committed to helping young kids be the best baseball players they can be. We would recommend Hardball Academy to any baseball player.
John and Rori Yager
I’m really glad to see the improvement in Jared’s pitching. I think now that he can focus on it more full-time, that we’ll even see greater gains. Your program really works and I want to Thank You for your wisdom, patience, and ability to work with and relate to Jared.  You are a great teacher!!!!
Darren Gaspard
We first found Richie Beard 7 years ago, before Hardball Academy came into existence. I was impressed with his style and methods then, and have become more impressed as time goes on. He makes an effort to keep up with the latest techniques and theories and works to keep his entire staff using the same language and teaching the same concepts. You can move from one teacher to another at Hardball, secure in the knowledge that there will be no conflicting ideas or differences of opinion. The hitting instructors reinforce what the pitching instructors stress, and all are focused on one major issue: making your student fundamentally and mechanically sound so that he can progress to the highest level his innate ability and his willingness to work will carry him. This emphasis on mechanics and fundamentals also greatly reduces the chances of sustaining a season or career ending injury, as many serious injuries are due to flaws in the mechanics placing greater stress on the body The staff at Hardball Academy is aware that the physical aspect game is important, but not the total picture. They also represent many years of experience, both playing and coaching at different levels and are able to give valuable insights to the mental game and pass along tips and tricks that simply cannot be learned any other way. Our time at Hardball Academy has been well spent, and has been almost without interruption. Off-season is just as important if not more so than time spent during the season. It allows for different areas of focus and fine-tuning new elements or new techniques.
My son started baseball along with hundreds of others when he was 6 years old. He progressed from T-Ball, through machine pitch, to kid pitch, into the minors then the majors in Little League. After that, came two years of Pony League and on into High School baseball. Along the way we played with several select teams in both the fall and summer. At each step we noticed some of the kids dropped out and some were not selected to continue. Now we are going to try our hand at college baseball and we notice the number has dwindled from hundreds to just a handful. If I had to choose one thing that helped us get here, 1 would choose our association with Richie Beard and Hardball Academy.
Steve Ruff
“My 10 year old, Kyle, and my 13 year old, Cody, have been taking lessons at The Hardball Academy for 2+ years and it shows. Their confidence level has increased     along with their production level on the field. Whether it is pitching or hitting, the coaches at Hardball have help to instill the correct mechanics so that their skill level has improved tremendously. It makes a dad proud to have other parents from the opposing teams come over and ask “Where did he learn to play like that?” Without hesitation, I can say “From the guys at Hardball!”
Perry Thomas – Bayside Area Little League
“Hardball Academy has professional coaches that care about kids.  They research their drills and will back them up with video.  They do not expect every kid to be the same.  You will not find any better pitching or hitting instructors.  This is the best program that I have seen.”
Charlie Hart
“Joe told me he learned more in his first session than he has his entire career from age 6 to 15. Thanks for the help and motivation.”
David Brouillard
“Everybody is so helpful and always makes my son feel very important.  Thanks a lot guys; keep up the good work!”
Shawna Veatch
“We are very impressed with coach Bolt!  Our son made an improvement in just 30 minutes.  Jim’s teaching strategies work great. He really knows what he is doing!”
Maria Strickland
OUTSTANDING! It was professionally run. After many instructional organizations in the Houston area, Hardball is clearly “head and shoulders” above the rest. Why the difference? The instructors are not only extremely knowledgable, but also know HOW to teach the game.
Gary not only displayed an outstanding knowledge of hitting, but performed an accurate adn detailed evaluation of Chris during the first session. He spent time with both player and parent at the beginning of the session in order to gain background information on Chris’ baseball history, and to go over his approach for assessing skill. After the lesson/assessment, Gary effectively met with both player adn parnet to communicate in detail his observation and recommended approach to trianing within hitting. Gary designed a specific training program that was tailored for Chris towards improving specific hitting skills and performance. Gary effectively communicated his plan in a professional way. Best hitting program and methodology I’ve seen in the Houston/Bay Area. Very impressed as a parent!!!!
OUTSTANDING! It was professionally run. After many instructional organizations in the Houston area, Hardball is clearly “head and shoulders” above the rest. Why the difference? The instructors are not only extremely knowledgable, but also know HOW to teach the game. Richie performed an initial assessment of Chris’ pitching ability and mechanics, then designed a specific training program that was tailored for him towards improving specific pitching skills. Richie effectively used a building-block approach to teaching and training that aided skill retention.
Rob Kelso
WE HAVE REALLY LEARNED ALOT FROM OUR INSTRUCTOR. OUR HITTING HAS GREATLY IMPROVED AND FEEL FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM WEEKLY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ART OF HITTING A BASEBALL. HIS ENTHUSIASM AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS SECOND TO NONE. WE ARE LEARNING SOMETHING EVERY WEEK AND NOW HITTING THE BALL WITH AUTHORITY AND REALLY STARTING TO DRIVE THE BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!
JSS
Richie,
In the last 7 years it has been a real pleasure assoicating with you and your staff. I found the degree of expertise and professionalism to be excellent. All of your instructors have the player’s best interest at heart in all situations.
Thanks,
Glenn Sheffield