As a young player, Tom Dodd was a two sport athlete playing both baseball and football while growing up and throughout his high school career.  He was an All-CIF pitcher, earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of California, Irvine, and became an NCAA baseball National Champion.  After college Tom became a State Champion and multiple time All-State player in slow pitch softball, and has played on several men's open baseball and basketball championship teams since that time.
   Both of his daughters, Sara and Lisa, played multiple sports while they grew up, excelling at softball, soccer, field hockey, and cross country.  Both girls became All-CIF pitchers and CIF Champions in high school softball, and ASA National Champions in travel softball. 
   For much of his baseball career Tom was a power pitcher with great velocity who didn't need or have much knowledge about pitching.  After arm injuries in high school and college however, his velocity was reduced and he could no longer just blow it by people so he learned how to pitch to get people out.  This is when Tom started to become a student of the game, and a student of pitching and hitting.  His philosophy and understanding of the game of softball have continued to grow since then and have evolved to what they are today reinforced by the success he has had as a player and a coach.
   Tom has been a youth sports coach for the past fourteen years in club soccer, travel softball, and high school softball.  In softball, his overall career coaching record is 957-135.  He continues to coach today with San Diego Thunder, a fastpitch softball travel team he formed in 1998.  San Diego Thunder has become a nationally recognized name, has a career win loss record of 859-126, and has finished in the top ten at ASA Class A Nationals six times.  Tom’s Thunder teams have twice won ASA Class A National Championships and Tom is the only coach in San Diego to ever win more than one.  In 2002, San Diego Thunder was voted the 14U fastpitch softball Team of the Year by Softball Today magazine.  At the high school level Tom's leadership and strategies helped lead two different San Diego high school softball programs to their first ever CIF championship. 
   Tom's primary purpose for writing What’s the Count? is to share the understanding he has acquired about how to be successful in the sport of softball with those desiring to know it.  All players on Tom's teams have used the plans and strategies explained in What's the Count? and now you can too
   Tom currently resides in San Diego and provides individual private instruction in all phases of the physical and mental aspects of softball and baseball.  He continues to coach San Diego Thunder.
 

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