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Welcome to the Youth Baseball Edge podcast

  • Over 300,000 downloads!
  • The #1-ranked amateur baseball podcast on iTunes
  • Hit the Top Ten podcasts in the entire Amateur Sports category in iTunes
  • Awarded "New & Noteworthy" in iTunes just two weeks after launch
  • Past guests include:

    Jeff Passan
    Yahoo Sports
    Tim Corbin
    Vanderbilt
    Alan Jaeger
    J-band creator
    Kyle Boddy
    Driveline Baseball
    Sam Miller
    Baseball Prospectus

    Justin Stone
    EliteBaseball.tv
    Kai Correa
    Cleveland Indians
    Jerry Ford
    Perfect Game
    Ron Wolforth
    Texas Baseball Ranch
    Austin Wasserman
    Wasserman Strength

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    If you like the podcast, please leave me an honest rating and review on iTunes by clicking here. It will dramatically help the show and its ranking in iTunes! I greatly appreciate it. Enjoy the shows!

     

YBE 114: Coaching Lessons Learned in 2018

By Rob Tong | February 3, 2019 1 Comment

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In with the new, out with the old. But before we truly say goodbye to 2018, it’s important to take stock of any lessons learned over the past year as a youth baseball coach. I share some lessons learned by two respected coaches as well as some lessons I learned. Show notes

YBE 113: Practical Peak Mental Performance with Brian Cain

By Rob Tong | January 9, 2019 Leave a Comment

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We’ve heard about the mental game but how do we actually apply it to our baseball coaching? How do we make the concept of mental game more practical? Brian Cain, #1 international best-selling author, speaker and coach, helps us with exactly that. Show notes

YBE 112: Coaching Peak Mental Performance with Brian Cain

By Rob Tong | December 21, 2018 Leave a Comment

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When one of your players doesn’t feel confident on a particular day—or even throughout a particular season—what do you do? When a kid isn’t having the results he wishes he had, what do you do? When you are looking for team leaders, what do you do? Brian Cain, a #1 international best-selling author, speaker and coach, helps answer some of these mental game questions and many others to help you give your team the edge. Show notes

YBE111: Big Tips, Big Gains

By Rob Tong | December 7, 2018 1 Comment

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Last time, I gave several small tips that can yield big improvements. They were small in the sense that they are minor changes to what you already do for your team. In today’s show, I give several big tips that can yield big improvements. This round of tips is “big” in the sense that they will change the culture of your team or program and generally will require a long-term vision and implementation. Show notes

YBE 110: Small Tips, Big Gains

By Rob Tong | November 20, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Did you know that if you are traveling from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. and are off-course by just one degree, you’d end up in Baltimore? Small changes can sometimes have big consequences. And sometimes that applies to coaching youth baseball as well. Many times we’re looking for that magic bullet that will make our kids enormously better—yet sometimes we just need to make some small, fine-tuned adjustments. Rob Tong shares seven seemingly minor changes coaches and parents can make to help kids make big improvements. Show notes

YBE 109: From Good To Great: Improving Pitch Recognition with Peter Fadde

By Rob Tong | October 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Can pitch recognition skills separate the good batters from the great batters? Can pitch recognition training help overcome some common hitting flaws? Peter Fadde, author of “The Sixth Tool: Training Baseball Pitch Recognition”, explores this and other topics related to pitch recognition. Show notes

YBE 108: Intro To Pitch Recognition with Peter Fadde

By Rob Tong | October 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

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What is “pitch recognition”? How is it different from “vision training”? How do you recognize pitches anyway? Peter Fadde, author of “The Sixth Tool: Training Baseball Pitch Recognition”, shares his thoughts on these questions. Show notes

YBE 107: How To Be A (Reasonably Good) Baseball Umpire with Brandon Jackson

By Rob Tong | September 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

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How do you become an ump in youth leagues like Little League? How do you become a high school ump? College? Pros? What makes a good ump? Brandon Jackson, a long-time and well-respected collegiate umpire, shares his thoughts on these and other umpire-related topics. Show notes

YBE 106: Commonly Misunderstood Baseball Rules with Brandon Jackson

By Rob Tong | September 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Ever wonder what an umpire’s thinking? Here’s your chance to find out. Brandon Jackson, a long-time collegiate umpire, explains umpiring philosophies and goes through some commonly misunderstood baseball rules that you might need to know someday.

Plus, Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about whether the tennis swing will ruin a baseball swing. Show notes

YBE 105: The Open Baseball Journal: 10 Questions Baseball Parents Should Ask Their Child Every Season

By Rob Tong | August 9, 2018 Leave a Comment

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How is the health of your relationship with your baseball-playing child? How would you know? Is pushing your child always wrong? Rob Tong addresses these questions and introduces the Open Baseball Journal. Learn ten questions you should ask your player(s) after each season that will help keep your relationship with your player(s) on the right track—or to get on the right track if you’ve been derailed.

Plus, Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about helping players who always short-arm their throws. Show notes

YBE 104: From Scrawny To 95mph: The Importance Of Strength Training with Ben Brewster

By Rob Tong | July 20, 2018 Leave a Comment

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If you had $5,000 to spend on youth baseball, what would you spend it on? Pitching coach? Hitting coach? Travel teams for exposure and experience? Strength training? High tech gear? Ben Brewster, founder of Tread Athletics, explains why strength training should be the majority of your budget. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus, Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week about healing rifts between the better players on your team and the weaker players on your team. Show notes

YBE 103: Busting Ceilings Via Strength Training with Ben Brewster

By Rob Tong | June 28, 2018 Leave a Comment

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YBE has devoted several sessions to strength training. But how important is strength training anyway? Ben Brewster, founder of Tread Athletics, explains why strength training can help you bust through your current limitations. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus, find out who won free YBE swag! Show notes

YBE 102: Modernizing Hitting Practice with Josh Rodrigues

By Rob Tong | June 7, 2018 1 Comment

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Does your hitting practice primarily consist of you pitching, one kid hitting and everyone else standing around in the field…while you tell the batter to swing level? Josh Rodrigues, assistant coach at Salve Regina University, talks about modern hitting terminology and some practical ways you can have your kids hit better. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to help kids know how to end plays on defense. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces us to offset squats. Plus, this is your last week to enter a giveaway for free YBE swag (hint: listen to YBE Session #100)! Show notes

YBE 101: Modern Hitting Philosophies with Josh Rodrigues

By Rob Tong | May 21, 2018 Leave a Comment

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What are the hitting philosophies you teach your players? How did you come to embrace those philosophies? And what evidence do you have to support your philosophies? Josh Rodrigues, assistant coach at Salve Regina University, talks about modern hitting philosophies that’s backed by stats and research. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to help hitters overcome the fear of getting hit by a pitch. Show notes

YBE 100: Baseball Brain Training 101 with John Kennedy

By Rob Tong | May 10, 2018 17 Comments

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How does brain training for athletes differ from, say, doing a bunch of Sudoku puzzles? John Kennedy, founder and primary neuroplastician of Combat Brain Training, explains more about brain training and how it can benefit athletes. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to help hitters prepare for pitchers with wildly differing velocities. And find out how to win YBE swag! Show notes

YBE 099: Intro to Brain Training with John Kennedy

By Rob Tong | May 3, 2018 Leave a Comment

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You’ve likely heard of the mental game of baseball—especially on this podcast. But you may not have heard of brain training, which is different from the mental game. John Kennedy, founder and president of Combat Brain Training, explains what brain training is and how it can benefit youth baseball players. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about lunging during the swing and handling parents who offer unhelpful tips. And Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com discusses first baseman training protocols in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.Show notes

YBE 098: Influencing Your Kid’s Development with Rob Friedman

By Rob Tong | April 26, 2018 Leave a Comment

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In this latest in my series on Baseball Dads, Rob Friedman, the Pitching Ninja, shares how he helped influence his son Jack’s development, as well as the high school team that Rob helps coach, without needing to bark commands and make demands. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com explains frontal plane movements in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.Show notes

YBE 097: Building A Better Pitcher with Rob Friedman

By Rob Tong | April 10, 2018 Leave a Comment

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The latest in my series on Baseball Dads, Rob Friedman, the Pitching Ninja, shares how he helped his son Jack to get a baseball scholarship to Georgia Tech, a Division I college baseball team. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about machine pitch vs. coach pitch. And Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com shares a forearm strengthening tool and exercise in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.Show notes

YBE 096: Getting Started With Strength Training with Nick Esposito

By Rob Tong | March 14, 2018 1 Comment

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Getting started with strength training for youth players? Nick Esposito of espositostrengthclub.com gives some thoughts on functional movement screens, planning workouts and whether certain familiar warmup routines are helpful or hurtful. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com shares why he no longer prescribes long-duration planks and crunches in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.Show notes

YBE 095: How To Start Strength Training with Nick Esposito

By Rob Tong | March 6, 2018 3 Comments

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Is strength training important for youth baseball? How do you get started? Nick Esposito of espositostrengthclub.com and the Strength & Conditioning Coach at Austin Wasserman and Bobby Tewksbary’s AB Athletics facility shares his thoughts. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about why in-step pressure is important in the swing. And Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com shares fitness games for youth athletes in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.Show notes

YBE 094: Pitching Tips with Lantz Wheeler

By Rob Tong | February 28, 2018 Leave a Comment

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I talk pitching with Lantz Wheeler of BaseballThinkTank.com and creator of the Core Velocity Belt. A variety of pitching thoughts are discussed and perhaps you can take away a few things and implement them with your team. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.Show notes

YBE 093: Stop Focusing On Pitching Mechanics with Lantz Wheeler

By Rob Tong | February 20, 2018 1 Comment

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How do you best teach kids to pitch? By NOT focusing on pitching mechanics, of course! If that raised your eyebrow, Lantz Wheeler of BaseballThinkTank.com and creator of the Core Velocity Belt explains why. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what to say to kids before a big game. Show notes

YBE 092: Better Parent-Coach Relationships with Dayn Perry

By Rob Tong | February 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

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What do you do as a coach when a parent is giving you grief? What do you do as a parent when a coach appears to be doing something you don’t like? Dayn Perry of CBS Sports goes through some scenarios to help give some guidance on how to help improve those parent-coach relationships. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about whether game experience is more important than training, or vice-versa. Show notes

YBE 091: The Role Of Baseball Parents with Dayn Perry

By Rob Tong | February 11, 2018 1 Comment

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The parent-coach relationship is usually good. But coaches will almost always encounter a bad baseball parent, whether it’s someone who undermines the coach to his kid, confronts the coach publicly, or backstabs him to league officials. Dayn Perry of CBS Sports discusses healthier, more responsible ways for baseball parents to interact with their kid’s coach. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about whether travel ball is necessary to be considered for high school ball. Show notes

YBE 090: Fun-damentals with Dan Keller

By Rob Tong | February 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Dan Keller of DugoutCaptain.com share more ideas for making practice fun. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what it means to ‘stay connected.’ And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com explains the floor dumbbell press (in audio this time) in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 089: Making Practice Fun Again with Dan Keller

By Rob Tong | January 25, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Dan Keller of DugoutCaptain.com share his ideas for making practice fun again. What exactly does that mean? And how do we do that? Tune in and get some ideas. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about where to play lefties on the field. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares his own practice plan and post-game recap templates for youth baseball and softball players in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 088: 15 More Lessons Learned in 2017 with various coaches

By Rob Tong | January 16, 2018 Leave a Comment

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15 more baseball coaches share the lessons they’ve learned in 2017, including Paul Niggebrugge, Jeff Albert of the Houston Astros and Rick Strickland. This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about where to play lefties on the field. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com explains the kettlebell waiter walk (in audio this time) in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 087: 15 Lessons Learned From Various Coaches In 2017

By Rob Tong | January 11, 2018 Leave a Comment

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15 different amateur baseball coaches share the lessons they’ve learned in 2017, including Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv, Tucker Frawley of Yale University and Billy Boyer of Seattle University. This is Part 1 of a two-part theme.

Plus Travis Kerber of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about a “kid-safe” curve ball. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com tells us about the floor dumbbell press for youth baseball and softball players in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 086: Volunteer Coaching 201 with Pete Caliendo

By Rob Tong | December 19, 2017 Leave a Comment

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You have a full-time job that doesn’t involve coaching baseball. You volunteer to coach your kid’s team and want to be as efficient as Tim Corbin. Is it a pipe dream or is it possible? Pete Caliendo, host of the Baseball Outside The Box podcast, offers multiple tips for volunteer coaches to be more effective. This is part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about where to begin when teaching six-year-olds to play. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com tells us about Kettlebell Waiter Walks in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 085: When Volunteer Parents Become Coaches with Pete Caliendo

By Rob Tong | December 12, 2017 Leave a Comment

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When parents volunteer to become a coach, they often soon realize coaching is not as easy as they thought and become overwhelmed by the responsibilities. Pete Caliendo, host of the Baseball Outside The Box podcast, offers tips for helping the legion of volunteer parents who are coaching youth baseball. This is part 1 of a two-part interview. Show notes

YBE 084: Philosophies Of A Successful Travel Team with Rudy Garcia

By Rob Tong | December 5, 2017 Leave a Comment

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What do the philosophies of a successful national elite travel team look like? Rudy Garcia, head coach of an elite national travel team from Wilson MVP Elite, shares many of his philosophies. Can any of this apply to your team? This is part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com tells us about single leg lunge progressions in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Show notes

YBE 083: An Inside Look At A Successful Travel Team

By Rob Tong | November 28, 2017 Leave a Comment

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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

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