The Youth Baseball Edge Podcast with Rob Tong: Coaching | Drills | Strategy

Kai Correa, assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado and creator of the fantastic #FridayFielders series on Twitter, lays down the foundations we should be teaching to young players and presents a ton of ideas for how to teach them. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

As discussed in Session #70 with Billy Boyer, elite infielding is not just about "get in front of the ball" and "get your glove dirty". Kai Correa, assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado and creator of the fantastic #FridayFielders series on Twitter, breaks down how to teach fielding fundamentals to young players. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to make hitting sessions in practices more efficient and less boring. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tommy Hottovy, Chicago Cubs' Coordinator of Advance Scouting—Run Prevention, has a fun job. But what can you and I do, given that we don't have the benefit of reams of data? How can we still help our teams improve their odds of success? This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to make hitting sessions in practices more efficient and less boring. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tommy Hottovy, Chicago Cubs' Coordinator of Advance Scouting - Run Prevention, helps explain what his job is and how he helps his team prepare better game plans using data analytics. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Billy Boyer, assistant coach at the University of Washington, gives a detailed tutorial on how to teach the many intricate aspects of high-level double play feeds. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to help tee-ball players hit with more power more consistently. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Billy Boyer, assistant coach at the University of Washington, helps break down some of the nuances that can help elevate the infield play of your players. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

One of my favorite guys, Kyle Boddy, founder of Driveline Baseball, is back to discuss technology in amateur baseball. What is promising? What has some bumps to smooth out? What gets him really excited about the future of amateur baseball? Kyle chats about these things as well as some other pitching-related issues in this part 2 of a two-part interview. Part 1 is here. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to handle fielding slumps. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

You are in for a treat. Kyle Boddy, founder of Driveline Baseball, is known for his passion for sports science and helping players properly recover from injury. And while he discusses this during this interview, you are going to also hear about other data-based findings, such as overload/underload training with bats—a new area of research-backed baseball training—as well as overload/underload training for pitchers and more. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about what the hands should be doing during the load & stride. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the Aug 1, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode discussing favorite drills is the most popular episode ever. This was originally episode #56 and originally aired Dec 6, 2016. Rob rounds up the favorite drills of several coaches and former podcast guests in this Favorite Drill Roundup Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the Aug 1, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode discussing efficient practice planning is the 2nd most popular episode. This was originally episode #59 and originally aired Jan 10, 2017. Tug Gillingham of Lincoln Park Baseball Academy chats about how to organize and structure baseball practices. We also segue into fungo golf and defending 1st & 3rd situations. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tvanswers the Question Of The Week about why advanced players should not catch the ball in the web of their glove. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.comtalks about three different steal starts and which is best. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the Aug 1, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode discussing efficient practice planning is the 3rd most popular episode. This was originally episode #57 and originally aired Dec 13, 2016. Rob discusses the theory behind efficient youth baseball practice planning so you know what to avoid and gives some tips to help you plan for next season. Plus, Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com shares his 2016 CatcherCon slides for the Wass Strength Training Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the Aug 1, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring John Fitzgerald is the 4th most popular episode. This was originally episode #61 and originally aired Jan 24, 2017. Fitzgerald, the founder of Sports Vision Training, explains the core concepts of vision training for baseball and how coaches and parents can help. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview; part 1 is session #60. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to teach pitching to 9-year-olds. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces us to side lunge slides. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the Aug 1, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Bobby Tewksbary is the 5th most popular episode. This was originally episode #48 and originally aired Oct 11, 2016. Tewksbary, the 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; part 2 is session #49. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week, this time about how to create more interest in youth baseball. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com debuts his new strength training segment, Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the May 30, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Tanner Swanson is the 6th most popular episode. This was originally episode #64 and originally aired Feb 14, 2017. Tanner, who is the assistant coach at the University of Washington and a popular speaker on the topic of catching, sets the vision for us on what it takes to develop good catchers and then begins to share how to make that happen at the younger levels. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview; part 2 is session #65. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about whether it's worth teaching kids how to bunt. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares the Supine Anti-Resistance Movement to create separation between the pelvis and the torso in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the May 30, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Brent Kemnitz is the 7th most popular episode. Originally episode #62, Brent Kemnitz, former pitching coach for Wichita State, shares how to coach the little-discussed aspect of the mental side of pitching in part 1 of a two-part interview. This session originally aired Jan 31, 2017. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com talks the progression of the Kettle Bell SOT Press. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the May 30, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Xan Barksdale is the 8th most popular episode. Originally episode #13, Xan Barksdale, founder of catching-101.com, breaks down how to teach catching to your youth catchers in part 1 of a two-part interview. This session originally aired Feb 9, 2016. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the May 30, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Nate Trosky is the 9th most popular episode. Originally episode #55, Nate, founder of Trosky Baseball, explains what complete player development is—and how to achieve it. Coaching youth baseball effectively is not just random drills pulled off YouTube or elsewhere on the internet. It's planning for complete player development. This session originally aired Dec 5, 2016. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv gives some tips to incorporate game pressure into practices in the Question Of The Week, and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com discusses reverse lunge tips in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Re-airing the Top 10 most downloaded YBE sessions leading up to the May 30, 2017 return of YBE to new episodes from a multi-month hiatus, this episode featuring Russell Greene is the 10th most popular episode. This is part 1 of a multi-part interview with Russell Greene, father of prep superstar Hunter Greene. Originally episode #50, Russell 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. It's an amazing story. This is part of YBE's "successful baseball dads" series. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week, this time about glove brand recommendations and what sizes are too big or too small for shortstops. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com discusses what Sever's Disease is—and how to handle it if you have it—in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Ready for a 201-level course on teaching the catcher position? Tanner Swanson, assistant coach at the University of Washington and popular speaker on the topic of catching, gives some key insights on how to help your intermediate-level and advanced catchers. This can apply to youth, high school and college catchers. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. If you missed Part 1, you can catch it here. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about whether kids should cheer and enjoy the moment, or keep calm and "act like they've been there before". And Austin Wasserman of WassStrength.com talks about his Base Stealing ebook for help with creating shin angle and direction. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tanner Swanson, assistant coach at the University of Washington and popular speaker on the topic of catching, sets the vision for us on what it takes to develop good catchers and then begins to share how to make that happen at the younger levels. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.TV answers the Question Of The Week about whether it's worth teaching kids how to bunt. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares the Supine Anti-Resistance Movement to create separation between the pelvis and the torso in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Brent Kemnitz, distinguished former pitching coach for Wichita State, shares some insight on how he coached the mental side of pitching with his pitching staff. We don't want to talk our pitchers into a slump, as he warned in Part 1 of my interview, but we do want to get them feeling happy, strong and confident. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com talks the progression for the Kettle Bell SOT Press in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Brent Kemnitz, renowned former pitching coach for Wichita State, shares about how to coach the little-discussed aspect of the mental side of pitching. The mental game of baseball doesn't just apply to hitters! Coaches and pitchers may inherently know that the mental game is just as important as the physical game but how exactly do coaches and pitchers improve their mental game? Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about what parents should focus on with travel kids during off-team practices, and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces sled drags in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Sled drags aren't just for football, people! Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

John Fitzgerald of Sports Vision Training explains the core concepts of vision training for baseball and how coaches and parents can help. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to teach pitching to 9-year-olds, and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com introduces side lunge slides in his Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

John Fitzgerald of Sports Vision Training explains the concept of vision training for baseball and how it can help young baseball athletes improve their game. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about why advanced baseball players do not put their entire hand inside their glove. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tug Gillingham of Lincoln Park Baseball Academy discusses ideas on how to organize and structure practices. We also segue into fungo golf and more interestingly, defending 1st & 3rd situations. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about why advanced baseball players should not catch the ball in the web of their glove. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com talks about different types of steal starts and which is best in the Wass Strength Training Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tug Gillingham of Lincoln Park Baseball Academy discusses how to handle some challenges youth baseball coaches face. 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 a lineup that maximizes offensive output. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares an article about practice plans and post-game recaps Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Rob discusses the theory behind efficient youth baseball practice planning so you know what to avoid and gives some tips to help you plan for next season. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Rob rounds up the favorite drills of several coaches and former podcast guests in this Favorite Drill Roundup. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Nate Trosky of Trosky Baseball explains what complete player development is—and how to achieve it. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv gives some tips to incorporate game pressure into practices in the Question Of The Week, and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com discusses reverse lunge tips in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tim Corbin, head baseball coach of the 2014 College World Series Vanderbilt Commodores, gets real honest as he shares some inside information on coaching and recruiting for a Division I college. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com discusses the importance of understanding youth athletes' lifestyles in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Pardon the lousy sound quality. Rob's mic broke so a backup mic was used. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Tim Corbin, head baseball coach of the 2014 College World Series 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. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

To celebrate the Cubs winning the World Series, here are 10 lessons learned from the Chicago Cubs. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shows us how to do band-assisted push-ups in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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. Plus Justin Stone answers the Question Of The Week regarding helping kids not give up on plays and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shows us a water ball reverse throws drill in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week regarding glove sizes for shortstops and Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com takes us through Sever's Disease. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Bobby Tewksbary, founder of TewksHitting.com, and I have a side discussion of why Albert Pujols stopped becoming the best hitter on the planet once he joined the Angels. Pressure to live up to the contract? Or change in mechanics? This wasn't part of the interview but I thought it might be interesting for you to eavesdrop on this conversation. Bobby agreed it would be ok to air it. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Bobby Tewksbary, founder of TewksHitting.com, helps us understand what makes an elite swing. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus, Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com discusses four youth performance principles in Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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. And Austin Wasserman of wassermanstrength.com debuts our new weekly segment, Wass Strength's Tip Of The Week. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com answers more of your questions about strength training for youth baseball players. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview with Austin. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about the proper approach to stealing bases. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com answers 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. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 the advantage of playing up. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 up an 11U team. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Eric Cressey, president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, debunks some common myths about strength training for youth baseball players and shares some fantastic insight on helping young baseball players to improve various aspects of sports performance. This episode is Part 1 of our series on Youth Baseball Offseason Strength Training with three different strength training experts. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about trying out other sports during the baseball offseason and how short is too short for the offseason. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 with Jerry. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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 this past season. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers our Question Of The Week about whether 7 & 8 year olds should be taught aggressive baserunning or station-to-station baserunning. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Jeff Passan, author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Arm, continues the discussion about arm health and pitching gurus. This is part 2 of a two-part interview series with Jeff on the podcast. Plus, Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers our Question Of The Week about what stuff players should know when. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

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. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!

Fernando 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 our Question Of The Week about offseason pitching drills to improve control. If you love the show, please let us (and others) know by giving us an honest review & rating on iTunes!