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

As your kid gets older, telling your kid what to do may not get the same mileage as when your kid was younger. 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 Aus...

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 forear...

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 the dangers of plank marathons and sit ups in the Wass Strength Tip Of...

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...

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

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. Please let us (and others) know how you...

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 wh...

How should baseball parents behave and interact with coaches? Dayn Perry of CBS Sports offers his insights into the role of baseball parents that provide the best chance of team harmony. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about whether travel ball is necessary to get into high school ball. Please let us (and others) know h...

Dan Keller of DugoutCaptain.com shares more ideas for making practices 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 for youth baseball and softball players in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week. Please let us (a...

Dan Keller of DugoutCaptain.com shares his ideas for making practice fun again. What exactly does that mean? And how do you do it? Tune in and find out. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers the Question Of The Week about how to improve players' baseball IQ. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com shares his own practice plan and post-game recap t...

Double the fun! Last week, I had 15 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 week, I have 15 more baseball coaches share, including Paul Niggebrugge, Rick Strickland, Houston Astros hitting coach Jeff Albert, Tim Corbin and more. This is Part 2 of a two-part...

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 series. Plus Travis Kerber of Elite Baseball Training answers the Question Of The Week about a "kid-safe" curve ball. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com  tells u...

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...

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...

When parents volunteer to become a coach, these volunteer parents 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. Please let us (and others) know how y...

To get a better understanding of how successful national elite travel teams operate, you should better understand their philosophies. Rudy Garcia, who won the Elite World Series four years in a row as head coach (8U-11U), shares many of his philosophies in coaching his travelball team. This is part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com tells us about single leg...

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 how to handle difficult parents. And Austin Wasserman of WassermanStreng...

Based on our current understanding, we won't be able to guard 100% against arm pain. But with the knowledge we do have, what are some things we can do to help reduce the risk of arm pain? Randy Sullivan of the Florida Baseball Ranch offers some suggestions to help guard against arm injuries. This is part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Travis Kerber of Elite Baseball Training answers the Question...

How can we have strict pitch counts and play multiple sports instead of pitching all year round...and still have so many baseball arm injuries? Randy Sullivan of Florida Baseball Ranch discusses the touchy issues of arm pain. Please let us (and others) know how you feel about the show by  giving us an honest review & rating  on iTunes!

Even in an era of baseball data, a radar gun at the youth level seems like a luxury. But is it a luxury—or a must-have? Pocket Radar co-founder and CEO Steve Goody discusses how the Ball Coach model can help coaches help their pitchers and hitters. Plus Justin Stone of elitebaseball.tv answers whether organizations like Baseball Factory would be useful for instructional or motivational purposes fo...

Is the Motus Baseball sleeve more gimmick or good? Every baseball product claims to do wonders. Does Motus Baseball help improve performance/help prevent injury? I discuss the merits of Motus Baseball with Will Carroll, the Media Relations Director for Motus Global. Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com explains what bullpens are, what the benefits are and how he tracks them in the Wass S...

If you're teaching tee ball kids, there's no nuance. It's all the absolute, bare bones basics. It's a good day if the kids can just throw the ball somewhere within three feet of you. Teaching tee ball requires extra patience, which is why making practice segments fun is so crucial—for both the kids' AND the coaches' sake. Marty Schupak returns in Part 2 of a two-part interview to discuss how to ru...

Resources for tee ball coaches are pretty scarce. If you are—or will be—coaching tee ball kids, Marty Schupak delivers some great advice for coaches teaching the youngest of baseball athletes. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball. TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to find a hitting coach for an 8-10 year old. Please let us (and others) know how you...

What's your #1 baseball goal for your kid? Paul Reddick, who was a previous YBE guest on episodes 41 and 42, is certain there is something deeper there, and that you need to communicate that to your kids. But how? Paul explains this important concept in this interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball. TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to help field leaders become more vocal leaders....

Naturally, confidence is a key component of a player's mental game. But can we really impact confidence? Dr. Tom Hanson, co-author of "Heads Up Baseball 2.0", discusses this and provides some amazing tips to help our kids' confidence. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Plus Justin Stone of EliteBaseball. TV answers the Question Of The Week about how to kindle (or re-kindle) passion for the ga...