Youth Baseball Edge

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YBE 083: An Inside Look At A Successful Travel Team

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How does a top travel team get run? Rudy Garcia, head coach of an elite national travel team from Wilson MVP Elite, gives some fantastic tips on running a successful travel team, although much of the discussion can also apply to rec leagues. This is part 1 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about handling difficult parents. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces us to Turkish Get-Ups in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 082: Guarding Against Arm Pain with Randy Sullivan

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What are some things we can do to help reduce the risk of arm pain? Randy Sullivan of the Florida Baseball Ranch offers some suggestions to help guard against arm injuries. This is part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Travis Kerber of Elite Baseball Training answers the Question Of The Week about what age to introduce the curve ball to pitchers. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com brings us the Pallof Press with Weighted Perturbations in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 080: Should Pocket Radar Be In Your Toolbox?

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Even in an era of baseball data, a radar gun at the youth level seems like a luxury. But is it a luxury—or a must-have? Pocket Radar co-founder and CEO Steve Goody discusses how the Pocket Radar Ball Coach model can help coaches help their pitchers and hitters.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers whether organizations like Baseball Factory would be useful for instructional or motivational purposes for a 13-year-old. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com teaches us about one of his all-time fave exercises—trunk rotation for youth baseball players in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 079: Can Motus Baseball Help Improve Performance?

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Is the Motus Baseball sleeve more gimmick or good? Every baseball product claims to do wonders. Does Motus Baseball help improve performance/help prevent injury? I discuss the merits of Motus Baseball with Will Carroll, the Media Relations Director for Motus Global.

Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com explains what bullpens are, what the benefits are and how he tracks them in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

Libke Pro Review

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A product that physically forces a player’s fielding hand into the perfect glove presentation and pro-style palm-out position inside the glove? Sounds like a winner. But is it really? My review inside.

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YBE 078: Tee Ball Practices with Marty Schupak

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If you’re teaching tee ball kids, there’s no nuance. It’s all the absolute, bare bones basics. It’s a good day if the kids can just throw the ball somewhere within three feet of you. Teaching tee ball requires extra patience, which is why making practice segments fun is so crucial—for both the kids’ AND the coaches’ sake. Marty Schupak returns in Part 2 of a two-part interview to discuss how to run practices for tee ball teams.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to help structure practices for a 7U machine pitch team consisting of players of varying skill level. Show notes

YBE 077: Help For The Tee Ball Coach

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No disrespect to other baseball coaches but tee ball coaches have it toughest. Yet help is scarce for tee ball coaches. Marty Schupak provides some great advice for coaches teaching the youngest of baseball athletes. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to find a hitting coach for an 8-10 year old. Show notes

YBE 075: Heads Up Confidence with Dr. Tom Hanson

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Naturally, confidence is a key component of a player’s mental game. But can we really impact confidence? Dr. Tom Hanson, co-author of “Heads Up Baseball 2.0”, discusses this and provides some amazing tips to help our kids’ confidence. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to kindle (or re-kindle) passion for the game among youth players.
Show notes

YBE072: #FridayFielders Fundamentals with Kai Correa

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As discussed in Session #70 with Billy Boyer, elite infielding is not just about “get in front of the ball” and “get your glove dirty”. Kai Correa, assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado and creator of the #FridayFielders series on Twitter, breaks down how to teach fielding fundamentals to young players. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what to do for a 12-year-old who plays 70 foot bases in travel but 90 foot bases for school. Show notes

YBE 071: Nuanced Game Planning (Even Without Data) with Tommy Hottovy

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Tommy Hottovy, Chicago Cubs’ Coordinator of Advance Scouting—Run Prevention, has a fun job. But what can you and I do, given that we don’t have the benefit of reams of data? How can we still help our teams improve their odds of success? This is Part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about making the hitting part of our practices more efficient and less boring. Show notes

YBE 069: Double Play Feeds with Billy Boyer

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Billy Boyer, assistant coach at the University of Washington, gives a detailed tutorial on how to teach the many intricate aspects of high-level double play feeds. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to help tee-ball players hit with more power more consistently.
Show notes

YBE 065: Higher-Level Catching with Tanner Swanson

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Tanner Swanson, assistant coach at the University of Washington and popular speaker on the topic of catching, gives some key insights on how to help your intermediate-level and advanced youth, high school and college catchers. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about whether kids should cheer and enjoy the moment, or keep calm and “act like they’ve been there before”. And Austin Wasserman of WassStrength.com tells us about his Base Stealing: Leads & Footwork ebook that talks about creating shin angle and direction in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 064: The Value Of Youth Catchers with Tanner Swanson

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Tanner Swanson, assistant coach at the University of Washington and popular speaker on the topic of catching, sets the vision for us on what it takes to develop good catchers and then begins to share how to make that happen at the younger levels. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about whether it’s worth teaching kids how to bunt. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares the Supine Anti-Resistance Movement to create separation between the pelvis and the torso in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 063: Pitcher Whispering with Brent Kemnitz

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Brent Kemnitz, distinguished former pitching coach for Wichita State, shares some insight on how he coached the mental side of pitching with his pitching staff. We don’t want to talk our pitchers into a slump, as he warned in Part 1 of my interview, but we do want to get them feeling happy, strong and confident. This is Part 2 of the two-part interview. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com talks the progression of the Kettle Bell SOT Press. Show notes

YBE 062: The Mental Side Of Pitching with Brent Kemnitz

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Brent Kemnitz, renowned former pitching coach for Wichita State, shares about how to coach the little-discussed aspect of the mental side of pitching. The mental game of baseball doesn’t just apply to hitters! This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what parents should focus on with travel kids during off-team practices. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces us to sled drags. Show notes

YBE 059: Organizing Practice with Tug Gillingham

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Tug Gillingham of Lincoln Park Baseball Academy chats about how to organize and structure baseball practices. We also segue into fungo golf and defending 1st & 3rd situations. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about why advanced players should not catch the ball in the web of their glove. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com talks about three different steal starts and which is best. Show notes

YBE 058: Handling Challenging Coaching Situations (Part 1) with Tug Gillingham

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Tug Gillingham of Lincoln Park Baseball Academy discusses how to handle some challenges youth baseball coaches face. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to create a lineup that maximizes offensive output. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares an article about practice plans and post-game recaps (see below). Show notes

YBE 057: Efficient Practice Planning

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Rob discusses the theory behind efficient youth baseball practice planning so you know what to avoid and gives some tips to help you plan for next season. Plus, Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com shares his 2016 CatcherCon slides for the Wass Strength Training Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 055: Building A Complete Player with Nate Trosky

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Nate Trosky of Trosky Baseball explains what complete player development is—and how to achieve it. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv gives some tips to incorporate game pressure into practices in the Question Of The Week, and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com discusses reverse lunge tips in Wass Strength’s Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 051: The Making Of A Prep Prospect: The Hunter Greene Story with Russell Greene

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Russell Greene, father of prep superstar Hunter Greene, explains how Hunter grew to become potentially the #1 overall draft pick in the MLB amateur draft in June 2017 and where they may go from here. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview, Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week regarding helping kids not give up on plays and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares a water ball reverse throw drill in Wass Strength’s Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 050: Overcoming Adversity: The Hunter Greene Story with Russell Greene

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Russell Greene, father of prep superstar Hunter Greene, explains some of the significant struggles Hunter had to overcome on his way to being potentially the #1 overall draft pick in the MLB amateur draft in June 2017. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week regarding glove sizes for shortstops and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com takes us through Sever’s Disease in Wass Strength’s Tip Of The Week. Show notes