“Get your back elbow up!” Have you heard this at a game? Or maybe you’ve said it yourself? Why do we say this? And is it a valid cue for our young hitters?
Read the full articleYBE 053: Perspectives From A (Highly Successful) College Coach with Tim Corbin
Tim Corbin, head baseball coach of the 2014 College World Series champion Vanderbilt Commodores, shares his perspectives on young player development and being a collegiate coach. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares a video on youth squat patterns in Wass Strength’s Tip Of The Week. Show notes
YBE 052: 10 Lessons Learned From The World Series Champion Chicago Cubs
To celebrate the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series, here are 10 lessons I learned from these championship Cubs. Plus, Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com teaches band-assisted push-ups 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
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
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
Cage Pro Tee Review
Cage Pro tees, with its breakaway tee topper and heavier base, are the new challenger to the Tanner Tee. How does the Cage Pro stack up to the Tanner?
Read the full articleYBE 049: Components Of The Elite Swing with Bobby Tewksbary
Bobby Tewksbary of TewksHitting.com shares what makes up the elite swing and more. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus, Wass Strength’s Tip Of The Week explains the final four youth performance principles. Show notes
YBE 048: Keys To The Elite Swing with Bobby Tewksbary
Bobby Tewksbary, founder of TewksHitting.com, shares some important information on how to strive towards the elite swing. 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 interest in baseball among our youth. Show notes
Tanner Tee Review
Every youth baseball coach needs a tee. And every player needs a tee, regardless of age. What about the original Tanner Tee? What are the pros and cons? Would I recommend it? My review inside.
Read the full articleYBE 047: Strength Training Q&A, Part 2, with Austin Wasserman
Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com continues to answer your questions about strength training for youth baseball players. This is Part 2 of my interview with Austin. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about the proper approach to stealing bases. Show notes
YBE 046: Strength Training Q&A, Part 1, with Austin Wasserman
Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com returns to answer your questions about strength training for youth baseball players. This is Part 1 of my interview with Austin. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about where to find instruction on fundamentals. Show notes
Insider Bat review
The Insider Bat is a muscle memory tool that diagnoses swing flaws, and is endorsed by Carlos Correa. Would I recommend it? My review inside.
Read the full articleYBE 045: More Batting Blindspots with Paul Niggebrugge
Paul Niggebrugge, founder of Be Your Best Academy, warns us about more hitting blindspots from a coaching perspective. This is Part 2 of my interview with Paul. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what advantage comes with having kids play up. Show notes
YBE 044: Avoiding Batting Blindspots with Paul Niggebrugge
Paul Niggebrugge, founder of Be Your Best Academy, warns us about hitting blindspots from a coaching perspective. This is Part 1 of my interview with Paul. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about starting an 11U team. Show notes
YBE 043: Busting Strength Training Myths with Eric Cressey
Eric Cressey, president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, debunks some common myths about strength training for youth baseball players. This episode is Part 1 of our series on Youth Baseball Offseason Strength Training with three different strength training experts. Show notes
YBE 042: Avoiding The Pitching Trap with Paul Reddick
Paul Reddick, founder of The 90 MPH Club, discusses the pitching trap for unsuspecting parents, coaches and players and how to avoid it. This is Part 2 of my interview with Paul. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about conflicting advice on the stride. Show notes
YBE 041: The Simpler Side of Pitching with Paul Reddick
Paul Reddick, founder of the 90 MPH Club, explains how to make it simpler when teaching pitching. This is part 1 of a two-part interview series with Paul on the podcast. Plus, Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about trying other sports in the baseball offseason and how short is too short for an offseason. Show notes
YBE 040: Perfect Game Responds To ‘The Arm’ with Jerry Ford
Jerry Ford, President and founder of Perfect Game, tackles criticisms of Perfect Game by “The Arm” author Jeff Passan. This is part 2 of a two-part interview series with Jerry on the podcast. Show notes
YBE 039: An Inside Look at Perfect Game with Jerry Ford
Jerry Ford, President and founder of Perfect Game, takes us on a tour of Perfect Game and how it works. This is part 1 of a two-part interview series with Jerry on the podcast. Show notes
YBE 038: Lessons Learned in 2016
Every youth baseball season is different. And in this week’s episode, I share ten lessons I learned while being the head coach of two (yes, two) youth baseball teams. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about whether 7 & 8 year olds should be taught aggressive baserunning or station-to-station baserunning. Show notes
Scrimmages: Good Or Bad?
Are scrimmages for lazy coaches? Or are scrimmages useful? I’ve held both views over my coaching career. So do I currently consider scrimmages as good or bad, and why?
Read the full articleYBE 037: Dissecting The Arm with Jeff Passan
Jeff Passan, author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Arm, talks about pitching gurus and more about arm health. This is part 2 of a two-part interview series with Jeff on the podcast. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about what stuff players should know when. Show notes
YBE 036: De-escalating The Arm Race with Jeff Passan
Jeff Passan, author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Arm, talks about overuse arm injuries among youth baseball players, Perfect Game’s role in that, and more. This is part 1 of a two-part interview series with Jeff on the podcast. Show notes
YBE 035: Embracing Each Child with Fernando Arenado
Fernando Arenado, father of Rockies’ All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado, discusses Nolan’s path to the bigs, how it’s different from Nolan’s siblings Cousy and Jonah, and how he embraced each child’s paths. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about off-season pitching drills for control. Show notes
YBE 034: How To Do Long Toss with Alan Jaeger
Alan Jaeger of Jaeger Sports (and the most well-known long toss advocate) describes how to do long toss properly, including pulldowns, progressions and differences between 8-12 year olds and high schoolers. He also addresses long toss detractors, plus much more. Show notes
YBE 033: The Value Of Long Toss with Alan Jaeger
Alan Jaeger, the most well-known long toss advocate, explains the value of long toss and proper arm conditioning. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what to do when a travel team doesn’t meet your player’s needs. Show notes
YBE 032: Commanding the Huddle with Michael Port
Michael Port, author of the best-selling book Steal The Show, discusses how youth baseball coaches can command the huddle. Show notes
YBE 031: Digging Deeper Into Better Pitching (Part 2) with Ron Wolforth
Ron Wolforth, founder of the Texas Baseball Ranch, digs deep to discuss how to teach better pitching to youth pitchers. This episode is part 2 of a two-part series with Ron Wolforth. Show notes
YBE 030: Digging Deeper Into Better Pitching (Part 1) with Ron Wolforth
Ron Wolforth, founder of the Texas Baseball Ranch, digs deep to discuss how to teach better pitching to youth pitchers. This episode is part 1 of a two-part series with Ron Wolforth. Show notes
YBE 029: Improving Hitting Performance Through The Mental Side with Steve Springer
Steve Springer, scout and Performance Coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, explains how to help kids hit better through the mental side of the game. Show notes
Minimizing Use Of The Term “Practice” For Practices
Can a simple change in terminology help increase the rate at which your players improve over the course of the short season? Even without changing any of the content of your practices?
Read the full articleYBE 028: The Art Of Smarter Baserunning
I wrap up my two-part series on important baserunning fundamentals for youth baseball players to make them smarter baserunners. Show notes
Travel Baseball: A Flawed System
While the popularity of travel baseball has soared, so have the problems. Guest poster Larry Owens explains what makes travelball a flawed system.
Read the full articleHitting: The Important Sequence From Batting Stance To Foot Plant
The seeming innocuous sequence of the swing from stance to foot plant is often incorrect among younger hitters. Learn how to diagnose it and how to fix it.
Read the full articleYBE 027: The Case For Smart Baserunning
In Part 1 of a two-part series on baserunning, I talk about why teaching smart baserunning is important and 10 drills to help teach it to our kids. Show notes
YBE 026: High-Level Throwing with Austin Wasserman
Austin Wasserman of AB Athletics and WassermanStrength.com describes high-level throwing and how to teach it to your youth baseball players. Plus, Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about making first at-bats in games as good as later at-bats in games. Show notes
YBE 025: Coaching Travel 101 with Ron Filipkowski
Ron Filipkowski, one of the most successful travel coaches, explains how to start and run a successful youth travel baseball team. Show notes
YBE 024: The Elite Swing with Matt Lisle
Matt Lisle, head softball coach at Menlo College, explains what the elite swing is and gives some practical tips on how to teach it. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about helping overmatched hitters. Show notes
YBE 023: Lessons From 50 Years Of Coaching with Jerry Weinstein
Jerry Weinstein, field manager of the Wareham Gatemen and on special assignment for the Colorado Rockies in scouting & player development, explains higher-level baseball concepts and insights gleaned from 50+ years of coaching experience. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about hitting approach at the plate. Show notes
YBE 022: The Power Of A Wise Parent with Lorenzo McCutchen
Lorenzo McCutchen, father of Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Andrew McCutchen, talks about how he raised Andrew and Andrew’s path to the Major Leagues. Show notes
YBE 021: Nurturing The Love Of The Game
In this second part of our two-part miniseries on Walking Away, I explore four ways to nurture the love of the game in youth baseball players and help reduce the odds they will quit baseball. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about whether it’s possible to help players overcome the fear of being hit by a pitch. Show notes
Assistant coaches: like-minded with head coach, or different-minded?
If you are a youth baseball head coach, do you know if your assistant coaches are like-minded or different-minded? Do you care? What should they be?
Read the full articleYBE 020: Why Talented Youth Players Walk Away From Baseball
In part one of a two-part miniseries on Walking Away, I explain four evidence-based reasons why talented youth baseball players walk away from the game. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about preparing players for the next level. Show notes
YBE 019: Unlock Your Players’ Potential with Gina Parris
Gina Parris of Built To Win Coaching shares her tips for connecting with your players and unlocking their potential through the mental side of the game. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about aloof players. Show notes
Do you tell your kids to “get more hits”?
An all-too-common coach-speak after a loss is “We need to get more hits, guys!”. Few realize how foolish it is to say this. But it’s not just foolish to say; it’s actually harmful to your team. I explain why and what to do instead.
Read the full articleYBE 018: Helping Kids With The Mental Game Of Baseball with Justin Su’a
Justin Su’a, the Boston Red Sox Mental Skills Coordinator, shares his strategies for helping kids navigate the mental side of the youth baseball game. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about whether travel ball is required for high school ball. Show notes
YBE 017: Baseball Tricks Of The Trade with David Klein
David Klein of the Menlo Park Legends shares his coaching tricks of the trade. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about arm bar in an 8-year-old swing. Show notes
YBE 016: Nature Over Nurture: The Ben Zobrist Story with Tom Zobrist
Tom Zobrist, father of Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist, talks about how he raised Ben and how Ben got to the Major Leagues. Show notes
Why saying “Throw strikes!” is not just dumb but dangerous
Tons of coaches say to their pitchers “throw strikes”. A few people know it’s dumb to say that and crack jokes about it. But did you know that saying “throw strikes” goes beyond being an odd statement and is actually harmful to your pitchers? Find out why and what you should say instead.
Read the full articleYBE 015: The Dark Side Of Travel Baseball with Larry Owens
Larry Owens of Bellarmine University reveals the dark side of travel baseball. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the “Ask Justin” Question Of The Week about exit speed. Show notes