How MLB Star Tommy Pham Taught Me to be All-In
I first met MLB Player, Tommy Pham, in 2012. We had a few coaching sessions together before he tore his labrum diving back into first base during an AA game. Tommy was out for the season, headed to surgery and then rehab. It was during this trying time that I had the privilege of building a friendship with Tommy and coaching him through our Leadership Training Camp curriculum. That’s when I realized that this guy isn’t like most people. He has something different: he’s all-in. Here are 3 ways Tommy taught me what it means to be all-in.
1. Being ALL-IN means no braking, only stepping on the gas when it comes to your purpose.
Any athlete who has experienced an extended time of recovery knows that it’s extremely difficult. Your physical weakness all too often leads to emotional weakness. Your teammates accelerate past you and you wonder if you will have a job after rehab. You can lose your drive, your purpose, even your spirit. Instead of allowing his physical limitations to keep him down, Tommy focused on building his leadership skills while in rehab. He made the most of a difficult time that many players agonize through. For example, after his rehab workout Tommy would sit in the stands and teach younger players how to mentally play the game. He set up a movie club so that he and the other players would get out of the hotel once a week to see a movie together. He studied YouTube videos on hitting and swam daily in the hotel pool to stretch out his healing shoulder. Tommy even drove himself and a few others to 24-Hour Fitness for extra workouts. He constantly found ways to help himself and his injured teammates; it was impressive.
2. Being ALL-IN means people will take notice.
At Leadership Training Camp, we’ve worked with over 850 athletes. Nearly all of them claim to know what it means to be all-in. I’ll be the first to tell you that even I didn’t know what being all-in truly meant until I met Tommy. Coaches had plenty to say about him: he works too hard, he takes too many swings, he pushes himself too much in the gym, he never lets up or allows himself to take a break. What I initially thought was crazy behavior, I came to recognize as the traits of someone who is all-in. And when you’re all-in, people can’t help but notice.
3. Being ALL-IN means having the will to focus on one thing.
Tommy has a ton of talents. He’s smart (a straight A student), he’s fun, and he’s athletic in a wide range of sports. He could have pursued a number of careers and been highly successful. To be all-in, you have to choose one path. And for Tommy, that was baseball. He has an eye disease, Keratoconus, that should’ve stopped him from being able to hit a baseball traveling 95 m.p.h. It hasn’t. Tommy has had more surgeries before turning 30 and missed more games due to rehab time than any athlete should bear, and yet he succeeds. His will to succeed has taken him well past these physical barriers. I believe that will for Tommy comes from being all-in.
It is extremely difficult for most of us to be all-in. It takes our “why” to give us the fuel that we need to empower our perseverance. Tommy’s “why” taught me that through focus, dedication and a commitment during the challenging times what it looks like to be all-in.
