Every parent of a serious athlete should read this. Every athlete who wants to stop losing to themselves should read it twice. It's the talk you wish someone gave you at 15.
An anti-self-help training manual for athletes and competitors who are sick of losing to their own excuses. Chicken soup comforts the soul. This is for the sole — the part that hits the ground, gets filthy, and keeps moving when the scoreboard is ugly.
Self-help is where people wander when they want to feel better about the same problems they keep refusing to fix. This is training, plain and simple. Training doesn't wait for your mood to stretch, hydrate, journal, and finally announce it's ready to show up. Training just shows up — whether you feel like it or not.
Chicken Sh!t for the Sole is written for athletes and competitors who are sick of losing to their own excuses. Not because you're weak or broken or doomed by your last bad season. You are not weak. But you may have been practicing weakness — and that is a completely different thing.
The result is the receipt.Bad things happen. Families break. Bodies fail. Coaches let you down. Life throws cheap shots. You don't have to pretend none of it hurt. What matters more than the excuse is the question that comes after it: Now what?
This book isn't here to insult you. It is here to insult the excuse that keeps stealing from you. Real pain deserves respect. Real injuries need care. Real mental-health struggles deserve honesty and real help. But excuses? Excuses don't get a trophy.
"Motivation is a rookie.Chapter 5 — Discipline Beats Motivation
Discipline is the veteran.
Let the veteran run practice."
"Hard means hard.Chapter 6 — Hard Means Hard
It does not mean quit."
"Your body is whereChapter 7 — Your Body Keeps the Receipts
your excuses go to get exposed."
"Learn it. Flush it.The Rule of the Reset
Next play."
Every parent of a serious athlete should read this. Every athlete who wants to stop losing to themselves should read it twice. It's the talk you wish someone gave you at 15.
Fritz Griffin doesn't lecture. He coaches. This book is exactly what young competitors need — honest, sharp, and impossible to put down.
A locker-room manifesto with a serif backbone. Funny when it needs to be, brutal when it has to be, and useful on every single page.
Endorsement slot open. The next quote goes here.
Endorsement slot open. Reserved for press, podcasts, and program reviews.
Endorsement slot open. One more line, then the wall is full.
Thirty days. No negotiations. No "I'll start Monday." No journal prompts with stickers. Just you, the work, and the scoreboard that never lies. Six rules, repeated daily, until the rookie packs up and the veteran takes over.
These are the coaches who shaped Griffin's sons — and shaped this book. He listened. He took notes. Their voices are thick in every chapter.
Kansas City Royals captain. Five-time All-Star. His Seven C's — Character, Courage, Commitment, Confidence, Competitor, Coachable, Care — are woven throughout this book.
Coached Tommy Haas back to World No. 11 and guided Taylor Fritz from junior ranks to the ATP top tier. One of the most respected coaches in the game.
Chicago White Sox. Two-time All-Star. 2008 Silver Slugger. Nobody works harder. Grateful to have him in our corner.
Former World No. 1 junior. Australian Open junior singles and doubles champion. Coach to ATP players including Sam Querrey.
Head Tennis Professional, Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club. Four-year letterman at Purdue on a full scholarship. The biggest box of tools for mechanics and mental attitude.
Eight major-league seasons. Longtime MLB hitting coach and player-development man. Spent many hours talking shop.
Cal Tennis. Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year. The best backhand in the business. A kind soul who lifted everyone around him. Rest in peace, brother.
Talented youth and high school hitting coach. Taught me a lot.
Tom House disciple. MLB and NFL throwing coach. Wiser than most for his age.
Long Beach State and San Francisco Giants organization. An inspirational story of grit through Crohn's disease. His attention to detail is next level.
Golf Coach, Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Gets the most out of kids without ever raising his voice. Deep baseball mind too.
Catcher, UC San Diego. Fun, positive, hungry. Teaches the kids that winning means stealing lunch money from your opponent.
The book ends. The work doesn't. You already know what to do. The scoreboard does not care how motivated you felt while reading. It only cares what you actually do when Tuesday shows up.