YBE 003: Proper Infield Play in Youth Baseball with Justin Stone

Justin Stone is the founder of Elite Baseball Training and is the best youth baseball instructor I know. It was at one of Justin's clinics for coaches that I discovered that people teach improper mechanics as fundamentals (you'll hear this story in this podcast episode). Ever since then, I've been driven to discern what are proper fundamentals and what are what I call "fraudulent fundamentals" (Justin calls these "mis-teaches"). Justin frequently gives tips on hitting (as do many others), so when Justin agreed to do the show, I wanted him to teach us something that isn't frequently discussed. And that's where I got the idea of discussing proper infield play with Justin. [Side note: this interview was recorded in early October when the MLB playoffs were still going.]

In this episode, you'll learn:

• what a "strong arm" means for infielders
• whether popular drills like the "crane drill" help infielders
• whether it is wrong to teach kids not to "short-arm" the ball
• whether it is wrong to teach kids not to sidearm their throws
• how to teach throwing to tee-ball kids
• a killer tip to teach how to catch throws with tee-ball kids
• how to teach throwing to older kids and whether drills change with age
• what "soft hands" means
• whether kids should charge routine ground balls or circle to them (you may be surprised by the answer)
• what is a good precursor to good infield play
• an important technique to teach infielders to cut down time to throw
• how to motivate kids to remember to do creep steps
• how to connect with uninterested players
• what coaches look for in high school players

Links and resources mentioned in this episode:

• EliteBaseball.TV

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