YBE 130: Helping Your Team Bond with David Klein

Mental health is declining for more young people than ever before, thanks to digital technology (and possibly also relating to the chaos surrounding COVID-19). Is there anything youth baseball coaches can do to help young athletes? Or is this only a problem for counselors? Previous guest David Klein returns to give practical, actionable advice to help our team grow closer together and improve our players' mental health in part 2 of a two-part interview.

Plus Rob answers the Question of the Week (28:34) about whether kid pitchers should be more conscientious about hitting batters with pitches or to not worry about hitting batters.

In this 34-minute episode, you'll learn:

• how we can help quiet kids open up more (5:35)
• how coaches can plan for open communication time at practices when the practice schedule is already packed (7:51)
• how to handle parents who disagree with your desire for kids to connect more with teammates (10:15)
• four baseball-related scripts for introvert coaches uncomfortable talking with the team (12:00)
• three non-baseball-related scripts to get your team to open up on non-baseball things (14:05)
• whether coaches should also participate in sharing during connection time (18:28)
• how to handle those awkward moments when no one wants to share (20:12)
• the importance of understanding digital wellness elements for youth athletes (21:59)

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

• David Klein's America Offline

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