CUSTOMER STORY
Group Training Accelerates Athlete Development & Grows Revenue for Ruggiero Hitting
“As the Navy SEALS say: you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. If your practice environment is comfortable, you need to ask yourself if you’re really preparing yourself wisely for the real world of baseball.”
– Anthony Ruggiero
Be a student of your sport.
When you’re an athlete, you are constantly learning from your peers, coaches, mentors, or even the professional athletes you watch compete. Likewise, as a coach, you can constantly research new ways to elevate your athletes’ game – from emerging technology to use in training to new styles of giving athlete feedback. Regardless of your role in athletics, there are always opportunities to learn.
This is the mentality of Anthony Ruggiero, owner and founder of Ruggiero Hitting.
Founded in 2017, Ruggiero Hitting is a high-performance baseball and softball hitting facility outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Following his professional baseball career, Anthony naturally found himself transitioning into a coaching role. This provided him opportunities to combine his playing experience with new research and technology to influence young baseball and softball athletes.
By personalizing his training based on each athlete’s style of learning, Anthony devotes hours each week to his programming in order to best set each of his athletes up for success. That’s why it was critical for Anthony to implement a software that would support these goals and allow him to be more hands-off when it came to running the back-end side of Ruggiero Hitting.
In 2019, Anthony began utilizing Upper Hand to manage his business. Over the past 3.5 years, he has been able to scale his business, from the addition of a new coach, Dave, to implementing new styles of training; specifically, group instruction.
Turning towards group training
Two years ago, Ruggiero Hitting was all individual lessons. Then, Anthony and Dave began introducing group training. In the past 12 months, they have significantly shifted their business model to prioritize these group training opportunities.
As Anthony continued to train his athletes privately, he noticed that in many cases, the athletes he watched in games were completely different from the athletes he saw in training. This observation prompted Anthony and Dave to determine why. In their research, they leveraged their own experiences as players as well as reading and studying more about muscle memory.
“Dave and I studied a lot about muscle memory and how that process works. Our big discovery was that we found that when players are under stress, they have a whole different muscle memory system that gets tapped into.”
By combining this parent and athlete feedback with research, Anthony was able to identify a few ways to adjust his programming to bridge the gap between training and competition. Thanks to Upper Hand, he has been able to easily make adjustments to his training programs within the platform without skipping a beat.
The result: growing clientele & growing revenue
Implementing group training proves to be a win-win for Ruggiero Hitting
The private training that Anthony was accustomed to coaching is still an integral part of athlete development, especially early on, when an athlete needs to develop the small details. But, once they reach a certain point, Anthony believes that the most growth and success occurs through group training, something that would not be possible without Upper Hand.
“Upper Hand has helped a lot with implementing group training because of the scheduling. I mean, if I had to do the groups on my own, it would be a nightmare. I would have to call 8 different parents to try to schedule one hour. I probably wouldn’t even do it. So Upper Hand has been a big piece of that puzzle.”
Because of the value Anthony and Dave are able to provide their athletes in training, and the results the athletes have seen, nearly every athlete that has gone through an initial assessment has continued training at Ruggiero Hitting. Word of mouth has continued to grow the business, and even as athletes go on to compete in college and professionally, many of them return to the facility.
“We’ve had a really good return, where even through college, kids will find a way to come back, whether it’s continuous coaching, getting some minor feedback, or if they have a small problem they’d like to work through.”
Due to the emphasis on group training, Anthony and Dave are able to support this growing clientele, while still providing coaching that benefits the athletes. “Coaching 6 or 8 kids an hour not only increases revenue, but from the kids’ perspective, it’s more beneficial to help them work in more of a team atmosphere. So they get more out of it as well.”
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Growing revenue
While Anthony’s decision to move toward group training was influenced solely by the athlete development aspect, an added bonus to shifting toward group training is the additional revenue and clientele this decision has brought to Ruggiero Hitting. Since implementing group training, Ruggiero Hitting has been able to nearly double its revenue, growing by 99.6% in the past 12 months. Anthony expects continued revenue growth this year as group training becomes more prominent in his programming.
“With Upper Hand, group training is a lot more possible than without it. And I think with the groups, we can get a 20 to 25 percent revenue increase that we wouldn't have had. If it wasn't for Upper Hand, it would be tough to do it because there's not enough time in the day and it probably would have just burned me out completely.”
Quick Math
1 athlete/ hr @ $60 per session = $60 per hour
3 athletes/ hr @ $45 per athlete = $135 per hour
That’s 1.25x more revenue generated per session (group vs individual)
*rates shown are examples and do not reflect the pricing of Ruggiero Hitting
How group training improves individual performance
By offering training in a group setting, athletes become more comfortable with the in-game experience, thus producing better results on the field of play.
By making training sessions more game-like, Anthony and Dave are able to tap into that competitive muscle memory to help athletes compete at their best. “They’re more nervous when kids are there,” said Anthony. “We can play more games in sessions, which gets kids to train at a different level. From a muscle memory standpoint, and from a results standpoint, the group training has been a no-brainer.”
As a result of an emphasis on group training, Anthony has seen completely different results from his athletes. The skills he is working with his athletes on are now translating into game play. Additionally, they are better set up for success when they reach the next level in their career.
Becoming a team player and great competitor
Concurrently, in talking with college coaches, he confirmed that a missing element in many of the athletes looking to play at the collegiate level is the competitiveness and team element of playing baseball. Between online rankings, showcase games, or even “pro day” style private workouts with colleges, Anthony has seen the sport become a lot more individualistic. While this side of recruiting is important, Anthony works to remind athletes of the team element as well.
Anthony’s emphasis on group training has helped his athletes gain team experience in addition to individual hitting skills development. This helps them be able to perform not just for individual numbers, but also to perform for your teammates under pressure.
“When kids show up to college, many of them lack team skills and lack competitiveness. And, if you’re not a good competitor, in any sport, it’s not going to go well. So, we’re trying to help these kids become great competitors, and to get these kids comfortable in the game and not just comfortable in practice.”
The evolution of Ruggiero Hitting since implementing Upper Hand
As a student of the sport, Anthony is constantly learning and studying new ways to help his athletes work out problems and gain a competitive edge. Upper Hand has given Anthony time back to research new ways to add value to his lessons, as he did through the shift to group instruction. As a result, he has been able to focus on his goal of personalizing his athletes’ experiences and ensuring that they are in the best position to succeed.
“We see a lot of other places around where kids come in and are put into the same cookie cutter program, and the goal of the business is to get as many kids as possible through the doors. That’s a good goal to have, and at the end of the day, we have to grow the business. But, our goal is to make it very personalized. Being intentional [with our programming] allows us to grow the business, but also ensure that the players are really developing.”
Maintaining a personalized approach to training while supporting a growing clientele
A personalized approach to training starts with an initial assessment – an hour-long session that every new client is guided through prior to training at Ruggiero Hitting. The purpose of this assessment is to get to know the athlete and get a feel for the best next step in their training.
Once a parent or athlete reaches out for an initial assessment, Anthony is now able to send them an invite to create an Upper Hand account. From there, “the parents are able to get everything else set up on their own, so it’s very convenient.”
Following that assessment, Anthony and Dave are able to organize their clients and make recommendations for their programming. “We look at a bunch of different things from a hitting perspective, and we try to look at how they learn,” says Anthony. “The feedback that we get helps us put them into either an individual session or a group session.”
Eliminate back-and-forth client scheduling
Prior to Upper Hand, Anthony was running his business manually – fielding phone calls, emails, and messages from parents looking to schedule their kids’ lessons. But, as the business took off, these tasks became more cumbersome, and led to a poor client experience.
“Before Upper Hand, there were times where parents and I would have to go back and forth for 3 or 4 days about trying to get a time set up. It was annoying for me, and was probably even more annoying for them. It was just a poor experience.”
Once Anthony implemented Upper Hand, he was able to take a much more “hands off” approach to managing his availability, giving his clients autonomy to book a lesson at their convenience without taking control of the schedule out of his hands.
“Once we got the software set up, it made it so much easier for them because there’s no phone tag going on, where they’re waiting for time. They can log in whenever and just schedule in advance.”
In addition to the improved client-facing scheduling experience, Upper Hand has also allowed Anthony to engage in more athlete-centered conversations. “We see them at sessions and we’ll talk to parents behind the scenes about their child’s development or talk to the kids themselves,” said Anthony. “But when it comes to scheduling, the best part is I never have to talk to anybody about that because they can just go on to the app and sign up.”
Better planning for future business
Upper Hand has also given Anthony more flexibility to plan out months of his business at a time, from setting each coach’s independent availability to allowing advanced client scheduling.
Anthony understands that parents are busy juggling all of their kids’ activities and sports. So, the ability to buy a bulk package of lessons at once, and schedule them months in advance has been especially impactful for his busy clients.
“Parents can book a lesson 3-4 months in advance and know that time is secured for them. It’s definitely made it easy for them, which then obviously makes it better for us with the business.”
As Anthony thinks through his planned offerings for each season, he is able to prepare his schedule to manage his programming. For example, in the summer months, Anthony is able to block out times that he’d like to reserve for winter group training, and open them up down the road.
“It gives me peace of mind that come December, when we’re rocking with group training, those critical 2-3 hours a day aren’t going to be filled by individual sessions, and we can eventually open those up to group training.”
Upper Hand has also given Anthony more flexibility to plan out months of his business at a time, from setting each coach’s independent availability to allowing advanced client scheduling.
Anthony understands that parents are busy juggling all of their kids’ activities and sports. So, the ability to buy a bulk package of lessons at once, and schedule them months in advance has been especially impactful for his busy clients.
“Parents can book a lesson 3-4 months in advance and know that time is secured for them. It’s definitely made it easy for them, which then obviously makes it better for us with the business.”
As Anthony thinks through his planned offerings for each season, he is able to prepare his schedule to manage his programming. For example, in the summer months, Anthony is able to block out times that he’d like to reserve for winter group training, and open them up down the road.
“It gives me peace of mind that come December, when we’re rocking with group training, those critical 2-3 hours a day aren’t going to be filled by individual sessions, and we can eventually open those up to group training.”
Reinvesting in his athletes and himself
In addition to the functionality of the software to schedule lessons, the simplicity and consistency of the Upper Hand platform is a key reason why Anthony has continued his partnership for over 3 ½ years.
“For me, it’s easy to work with. It’s very simple but it gets the job done above and beyond. And for our customers, it becomes a very consistent thing for them. Parents are so busy with different sports and different activities. So, having it as simple for them is key.”
Today, Anthony estimates that it takes him just 10 minutes to get an event up and running with Upper Hand. For a recent Hit Trax event Athony hosted, “Upper Hand took like 5-10 minutes. I just had to type it in, get the prices up, get the days up, then it’s done. That was the easiest part by far.” But it wasn’t always this way.
Before Upper Hand, Anthony would spend hours on scheduling. Any other free time he had was spent studying trends in hitting development. That meant that on days where scheduling took up significant time, Anthony wasn’t able to prioritize the health of not only his athletes, but of himself.
“The software saves hours of scheduling which I can put towards programs. There’s more time to do other things that I want to do. But additionally, from a health perspective, it has given me more time to take care of my health, which makes me a more effective coach and businessman.”
Hear Anthony discuss the ways Upper Hand's lesson scheduling software has supported his shift towards group training.
With continued emphasis on group training, Anthony and Dave have plans to continue to grow their business around group training opportunities. As the summer ball season has wrapped up, they have taken a look at their athletes’ results, and have “seen way different results with kids in games this summer compared to the previous year.”
Moving forward, Anthony and Dave are also planning to streamline their assessment process, and develop a more structured training protocol as an athlete moves from an assessment to individual training to group training. “Once kids leave the assessment, we have to do a really good job from the outset having clean communication with our customers,” said Anthony.
Anthony looks forward to continuing his partnership with Upper Hand to support Ruggiero Hitting as he continues to study and learn more about the sport and how to best serve his athletes.
TL;DR
Anthony Ruggiero set out to figure out why his athletes showed improvements in practice, but looked like entirely different kids when competing in games. Based on his research of competitive muscle memory, he found the answer. Group training.
In addition to improving his athlete’s in-game performance, the shift towards group training has greatly increased revenue for Ruggiero Hitting, who is now able to make up to 1.8x the amount of revenue per session compared to his individual hitting lessons.
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