We talk quite a bit about the mental game here on Youth Baseball Edge. But is it a separate area of focus from the physical? Dr. Tom Hanson, co-author of "Heads Up Baseball 2.0", discusses this and provides some practical tips to help our kids up their mental game. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview.
Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to handle kids who miss practice when you're teaching a progression.
In this 44-minute episode, you'll learn:
- whether grit & resilience can be learned or whether it is a personality trait
- whether you can break down the mental game separately from the physical game
- a great technique to ingrain the defensive mindset of "hit it to me" to kids
- why the simple drill of hitting ground balls to your kids is fraught with mental game landmines
- the simplest way to practice mental game toughness
- how young kids can be when working the mental game
- a coach's goal for his/her players until they get to high school
- the single most valuable mental game tool
- why a player routine is so important in so many different situations
- Heads Up Baseball 2.0 book
- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance book on Amazon
Dr. Tom Hanson is generously giving away a free copy of "Heads Up Baseball 2.0". The winner will be drawn at random among the YBE newsletter subscribers. Current newsletter subscribers are automatically eligible. Not yet an email subscriber? Sign up below (it's free) and you'll be entered. Want MORE Edgy Info?
Never miss an article! Enter your info to get more practical, actionable youth baseball coaching info like this.
Are you a new coach? I have a free 15-day email course just for you, where I walk you through coaching a team for an entire season over the course of 3 weeks.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
