My son is a competitive junior tennis player and had been struggling with his mental toughness for years.  His coaches weren’t so helpful “Just forget about that last point and move on!”  My son would ask “How? How do I do that?” “Just do it…" They are great for teaching technique and strategy, but mental toughness - no so much.    We tried books, talking through strategy, mindfulness training and meditation but nothing made a difference.

My son started meeting La Shawn once a week for an hour or so each week, and after the third week we started to see a big change in his play.  Before when he was down in a set we knew that most likely he was going to lose. In a tiebreak against a tough player? Too much pressure.  Working with La Shawn gave him the mental tools he needed to re-focus and steel himself mentally against the pressure tough matches bring.

In my son’s first tournament after that third week he lost the first set, then came back to win in a tie break.  “Wow!” I thought that was great.  Then it happened again in the next match!  The third match he won handily.  The fourth match he got down 2-5 in the first set and then came back to win that set and the next!  Amazing results! 

It’s been two months since he has been meeting La Shawn, and in that time my son has won two tournaments.  I’m convinced working with La Shawn has been the key - and missing - ingredient to his success.  Very happy to have met him and would recommend him to anyone with a player struggling to take the next big leap in their performance.

 La Shawn, thank you for being the downright BEST coach I could have. You have taught me so much both in the game and outside the game of softball that I will carry with me forever.

La Shawn B. Wells, I have known La Shawn for over 10 years and we have coached together for the past 5 and those 5 years were some of the best experiences I have had as a coach.  I can honestly say, La Shawn has lifted my teaching skills to another level and his dedication to his players and coaches is second to none!  A true friend for life inside and outside the lines.

Without all of your support, I would not be where I am today. Thank you for always believing in me and for teaching me many life lessons through the game of softball.

La Shawn is more than a softball coach to my 12-year-old daughter.  Within one year of knowing him, he has taught my daughter how to be a leader on and off the field.  My daughter has learned that working hard for things she wants in life, will lead to rewards.  Having La Shawn in our lives as a softball coach and friend has added a piece to our lives that we did not even know we were missing.  He has helped teach us as parents; how to allow our children to set their own goals and then they decide the steps they need to follow to reach them.  

La Shawn was my youth coach for 10u and 12u softball. He, not only, taught me the game and mechanics, but also the characteristics needed to improve and compete at my personal highest level. He also utilized the sport, practices, and games to assist in my understanding of the bigger picture of life. He was instrumental during my growth as a player and person.

My daughter, Lena, came to La Shawn with already strong pitching skills and having achieved a fair amount of success.   While La Shawn certainly knows the mechanics and finer points of teaching pitching, our reason for selecting La Shawn was his ability to instill and build confidence, to help frame the lessons from a loss and set-backs, and to help translate the lessons of elite sports to life. Lena strongly desired to “get to the next level”, which for her included pitching at the highest level in 16 & 18U including National Tournaments and being recruited to play at a D-1 University.  

What was important to us, was that La Shawn was able to help Lena see her strength and capabilities. La Shawn also utilized a personal assessment tool that provided Lena a valuable new way of seeing and understanding herself. La Shawn reviewed her games, tournaments, practices.   He took the small lessons along the way and framed them to help Lena see the next steps. I appreciated watching La Shawn draw upon his years of experience coaching including his personal experience working with his daughters.

Over the course of time, there were some big wins and some losses to some terrific national teams. There were D-1 schools that expressed interest, and others that just blew her off. Today, Lena is pitching at UC Santa Barbara, where she continues to apply many of the lessons learned while working with La Shawn.