From Tommy John Surgery to D1 Baseball Player w/ Chris Newell
Season 2, Episode 1
Podcast #20
Welcome back! This week, Q kicks off season two with PTW Newtown Square athlete, Chris Newell. Chris grew up in Newtown Square and is currently a sophomore center fielder on the University of Virginia baseball team. In high school, he played baseball at Malvern Prep where he won three state championships. In 2019, he was named Pennsylvania’s Gatorade player of the year and an Under Armor all-American. During his first year at UVA, Chris was named as a second team all-American and one of the ACC’s best freshman.
In this episode, Mike and Chris talk about Chris’s background in baseball, his elbow injury and Tommy John surgery, and the mindset he developed throughout his rehabilitation. They also touch on the psychology behind an injured athlete, Chris’s strength and conditioning training as a D1 college athlete, and coaching/mentorship.
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4:00 - Chris talks about his background and how he got into baseball.
7:45 - When he was 13, he won the Babe Ruth World Series.
10:58 - Chris discusses what led to him getting Tommy John surgery on his elbow when he was a sophomore in high school.
15:37 - He committed to UVA at 15 years old and tore his UCL at 16 years old. At the time, Chris felt like baseball was all he had. Q says that is a psychological component that medical professionals and parents need to understand; for a young athlete, their sport is everything.
17:56 - Q asks how Chris’s injury affected him mentally, socially, and academically. Chris explains why tearing his UCL was actually the best thing to happen to him.
20:45 - “You hear it so much: it’s how you handle adversity. I saw it first hand with myself and I knew I had to come out of the situation better than I came into it, and that’s the mindset I had.”
21:21 - One of the main takeaways from his injury was to appreciate the little things in life.
22:30 - Q asks how his training program has developed over the years. Chris talks about working with Jordan Quinones (Trainer at PTW Newtown Square) since he was 12 and how it prepared him for college ball.
30:40 - Chris answers how his time in baseball has helped him physically and where he sees himself going in the future.
33:42 - Q asks about coaching techniques, motivation, and where Chris gets it from.
34:50 - “You’re going to hear so many different things from so many other people so, what I said about being a sponge, obviously respect them and hear what they have to say, but one thing I always tell myself is try and take at least one thing that [a coach] tells me and put it into myself”
36:43 - Chris discusses how he depends on his coaches, past and present. The number one thing he looks for in a coach - whether that be a baseball coach or strength performance coach - is a meaningful relationship. This is something Chris keeps in mind when he coaches little kids.
CONTACT
Instagram - @chris_newell
Twitter - @c_newell20