Coaching Youth Baseball artwork

Coaching Youth Baseball

90 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★★★ - 56 ratings

Dave Holt shares his 19 years in professional baseball player development experience with youth baseball coaches. Discover the baseball coaching methods, processes, and philosophies that will make you stand out in the crowd and be "THAT" difference- maker coach. Dave helps mentor youth baseball coaches and baseball parents in the vitally important areas of player development. You will hear from someone who has inside experience and knowledge on how to use some of the best coaching approaches and teach player development to your ‘flock’ of players. For all baseball coaching levels and experience from T-Ball to High School. And, you might just get an edge on the ways you can help your kids survive the 60/90’ fields and reach the high school baseball funnel.

Sports Kids & Family baseballcoach baseballparent coachingbaseball playbaseball youthbaseball youthbaseballcoach
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

CYB 082: What if I Had a 10 yr old Ballplayer

March 20, 2024 20:53 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MB

Someone asked me recently, “Hey Coach Dave, What would you do in youth baseball if your son was 10 years old?” So, here is the six things that I would use to analyze the situation and come up with my answers. What is the best-practice methods and systems to help your kids maneuver through youth baseball from 10 years old and beyond. coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 081 Have We Been Duped?

February 21, 2024 20:58 - 40 minutes - 56 MB

Youth baseball leagues and travel tournament industry has a for-profit business model. And the models work very well to make money at our kids expense. Do you understand the business model? Once you know their methods then we soon realize the maybe, just maybe we have been duped. Come listen to see how the business model works and if should be a part of it. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 80: Measure Twice and Cut Once

February 01, 2024 21:08 - 35 minutes - 50.5 MB

Wood working carpenters have a saying, “Measure Twice – Cut Once”. Obviously the take away here is to slow down and carefully calculate your measuring prior to sawing a piece of wood. Careless measuring can cause a bad cut and a wasted piece of wood. We carry this same metaphor into youth baseball here so listen in and see the similar saying we use in youth baseball player development. Carpenters advise applies to baseball too. Coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 079: The Word of the Year: Baseball "Practice"

January 16, 2024 20:55 - 36 minutes - 51.4 MB

Who needs to practice? What do we do during practice? When should we practice? Where can we practice? Why do we need to practice? Finally, how do practice? We are going to put the pedal to the medal this year and promote baseball practice this year. So, buckle up, here we go into all the reasons we need to practice in youth baseball. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 078: It Only Took Me 25 Years to Learn This

December 20, 2023 21:47 - 40 minutes - 56.9 MB

I have been working in baseball my whole life and in youth baseball for the last 25 years or more. I have always been perplexed at the lack of desire in the vast majority of youth baseball coaches in learning how to run better practices. And it just hit me the reason why coaches shy away from learning. It only took me 25 years to figure it out. Come listen and find out. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 077 #1 Thing Baseball Coaches Can Do for Their Players

November 13, 2023 13:00 - 37 minutes - 52.3 MB

There are certain skill sets that are beneficial for players to have in order to survive the game of baseball longer. Listen in and hear what you as coaches can focus on to help prep your players for the long haul. When you have a bunch of weapons in your arsenal you have lots more opportunities to sustain your baseball careers. Coaches need to know what they need to invest their time in for their players to give them the best return. CoachandPlayBaseball.com

CYB 076 How to Convert to High Tempo Baseball Player Development

October 23, 2023 20:28 - 39 minutes - 55.6 MB

We want to play less games and practice more with our youth baseball teams. But we are not sure how to put High Tempo Baseball to action. We are not sure our facilities will be able to provide enough practice times for our baseball teams. Well, this is the episode to tune in to and take a look at some of the scheduling situations that you might have in your own town or league. How to bring High Tempo Baseball to your own town. CoachandPlaybaseball.com

CYB 076 How to Convert to High Tempo Baseball Practice

October 23, 2023 20:28 - 39 minutes - 55.6 MB

We want to play less games and practice more with our youth baseball teams. But we are not sure how to put High Tempo Baseball to action. We are not sure our facilities will be able to provide enough practice times for our baseball teams. Well, this is the episode to tune in to and take a look at some of the scheduling situations that you might have in your own town or league. How to bring High Tempo Baseball to your own team in your town. CoachandPlaybaseball.com

CYB 075: Player Development: The Big Lie

October 16, 2023 13:15 - 38 minutes - 53.4 MB

When we ask the ‘Big People’ how important is baseball player development to you? The response is overwhelmingly something like, “Yes, we are all about player development—definitely our #1 goal for our youth baseball players”. But, when we drill down and look at the body or work all we do is play ballgames. Why? Because youth baseball is largely adult entertainment. CoachandPlayBaseball.com

CYB 074: Baseball Practice, Practice, Practice

September 28, 2023 19:34 - 43 minutes - 61.5 MB

What would youth baseball look like if every single coach had a coaching guide that teaches them how to be in line with 100% concentration on player development? And, totally in on helping and preparing the most kids to reach the high school baseball funnel? Well, we might just have the tools to help youth coaches implement their practices and game management into a 100% player development friendly system and take the off ramp on the phony baloney systems we are using currently. CoachandPlay...

CYB 073 System is Not Going to Change But Here is an Off-Ramp

September 07, 2023 21:17 - 39 minutes - 55.5 MB

Youth baseball has a system in place whether it is local Rec-Leagues, All-Stars or Tournament Travel Ball on the weekends. These models are etched in stone and not going away. The question is if someone wants to opt out of this system and is there another off-ramp to get off the freeway? Well, listen in this session and see if taking the off ramp is an option for you. Coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 072 Report Card Time Yes Baseball Coaches Are Graded

August 03, 2023 20:39 - 48 minutes - 67.8 MB

We dive into some areas of your ballclubs season and do some assessment of what went pretty good during the season and maybe some areas that need some attention as we go into our next season. We look at five areas of importance and give our coaching selves a school yard grade and then we check our GPA. Come and see what your grades are.  coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 071: Travel Ball: Truth or Myth? Chipper Jones Weighs In

July 12, 2023 20:27 - 38 minutes - 54.4 MB

First, we listen to an audio from HOF’er Chipper Jones on his take on youth baseball. We then look at travel baseball and discuss some topics to see if it is truth or myth. And then we talk about various possible youth baseball options to try to make our youth baseball experience make more sense to coaches, families, and ballplayers.

CYB 070: The Only Way to Change Youth Baseball is to Change Youth Baseball

June 29, 2023 19:34 - 39 minutes - 55.6 MB

Listen in to real life stories about the issues youth basebll coaches are experiencing as they deal with the “Big-people” in youth baseball today. Are kids really enjoying all the adult domination and drama? Doubt it. Listen in to hear Dave’s take on the problems and what might be a good way to inch our way out of this and into a system that is much more player friendly and enjoyable. coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 069: I Barely See 17u 18u Baseball Teams

June 09, 2023 19:58 - 33 minutes - 47.2 MB

What happens to kids when they reach the upper levels of high school? Are there Very many if any summer ball team options? Listen in with Dave as he dissects the timeline of kids playing baseball and how baseball starts running out of gas when kids reach 17 & 18. And then we get into how youth baseball compares on the intensity level in the lower age groups. What we really need is a common sense approach as we get ready to “pick a fight” with traditional youth baseball. www.coachandplaybas...

CYB 068: Youth Baseball: Rather Play Ballgames OR Have a Baseball Practice?

May 16, 2023 20:20 - 38 minutes - 53.3 MB

Ever wonder why we constantly play ballgames but rarely if ever have baseball practices? Ya, me too. Let us take a look at why we are so enamored by the ballgames and go to great lengths to play ballgames but blow off opportunities to have team practices. Who is at fault? The ‘Big-people’ (adults) or the kids? You decide after hearing the discussion on baseball entertainment.CoachandPlayBaseball.com

CYB 067: Develop 8 OR Develop One?

May 02, 2023 20:33 - 36 minutes - 51 MB

Ever imagined what youth baseball might look like when we focus on everyone else besides the pitchers. What if we tried to develop the other eight players and the hitters and leave the pitchers on the sidelines. Can you visualize the amount of action, at-bats, fielding tries, baserunning turns, increased action all over the field with the pitchers staying out of the games and having machine and/or coach pitch all the time? You would have to be ‘stuck on stupid’ not to realize how much differ...

CYB 66: You Go As Far as Your Bat Takes You

April 19, 2023 20:19 - 43 minutes - 61 MB

Hitting is a huge skill to try and master. Coaches must be able to build a culture of hitting on your teams. The ability to hit will increase the players longevity for sure. The kids that hit the best usually play the longest and have more enjoyment playing ball. Listen in to hear Dave’s conversation on the importance of hitting development.

CYB 065: How Non-Baseball 'Big People' Stymie Player Development

March 27, 2023 14:00 - 31 minutes - 44.7 MB

Where are the baseball “experts’? Where are the player development gurus? Why do we rely on non-baseball people to write the script, set up systems, make the rules, set up the programs and administer youth baseball policies? This is the discussion today when we look into the inter workings of youth baseball systems and realize this was all invented by non-baseball people for the most part.Coach and Play Baseball.com

CYB 064: Do You Know the 'Elephant in the Room?'

March 20, 2023 19:51 - 41 minutes - 57.4 MB

What is it that slows down the baseball development of our kids? What is it that makes youth baseball so slow paced, lacks action, and dampens the enjoyment level? Well Dave discusses the ‘elephant in the room’ and give us a way to change the way we develop ball players. Coach and Play Baseball.com

CYB 063 Youth Baseball World is 'Stuck on Stupid'

February 23, 2023 22:42 - 35 minutes - 50.5 MB

Today’s youth baseball world is afflicted with the notion that we have to play ‘Real Baseball’. We have a better system to allow for increased action, more player development reps, more freedom for players to interact and more enjoyment for playing baseball. The ‘Big-people’ are often so ‘stuck on stupid’ they don’t realize what they are missing. At least we have to try this!

CYB 062: Are We REALLY Developing Players?

February 09, 2023 22:20 - 38 minutes - 53.8 MB

Take a listen to this list of current youth baseball status topics and see if you are seeing the same things I am seeing. Asking the question, “Are our kids REALLY receiving the developmental skills needed at this age to become fundamentally sound ball players and gain a high level of enjoyment playing baseball? Lets compare this list of topics and see if we can answer these questions. Coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 61 FOMO Sucks the Enjoyment Out of Youth Baseball

January 25, 2023 21:45 - 41 minutes - 57.5 MB

Chances are you are a youth baseball parent that has experienced the FOMO. Yes, we all want the best for our kids in youth baseball but we do need to put up some bumper guards to make sure we don’t go off the rails into extreme fear that we might be missing out. Jump in and listen as Dave goes over some ways to keep from getting overly fearful of some of the ‘myths’ going on around youth baseball. coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 60 How to Bring the Joy Back to Mudville

January 12, 2023 21:39 - 38 minutes - 54.4 MB

Let us go over and talk about a few ways that the ‘Big-people’ are notorious about stripping the joy from the ballplayers. Yes, the ‘Big-people’ have a lot to say about how much enjoyment we have in youth baseball. Here are 6 ways to help remind us how we can increase the enjoyment level for our kids. Coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 059: Turtles Cant Go Anywhere Until Its Head Sticks Out

November 02, 2022 21:01 - 38 minutes - 53.6 MB

Who will be the first to convert their entire league format to Accelerated Baseball Development? Most of us just follow the herd and keep doing what everyone else does even though we sense that something is not right. We just will not stick our neck out of the turtle shell and go anywhere. Here are a few options on how to bring the awesome power of Accelerated Baseball to your own teams and stop following the herd. Be a turtle and stick your neck out.

CYB 058: Did You Tell em I've Got Your Back?

October 17, 2022 19:53 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MB

Have you as one of the ‘big-people’ made it known to your kids and players that they are “allowed” to mess up? Yep, players are going to fail from time to time and we expect that. It is very important to talk to your kids about the difficulty of playing baseball well and there will be times of tribulation. As the adults we need to listen to Dave’s approach to give the some “room’ to mess up.

CYB 057 The Baseball Road to Nowhere

September 15, 2022 20:37 - 37 minutes - 52.3 MB

Where does the baseball road end for most youth ballplayers? Well it varies for sure. Dave take’s a look back to his kids that he worked with over the recent years and checks in to see where they are at. How many made it to high school baseball, or college level baseball? The game is very difficult after age 12 so we better make the road enjoyable for as many kids as possible. That’s where Accelerated Baseball Development comes on to the scene.

CYB: 056 Fifty (50) At-Bats Per Week

September 06, 2022 19:05 - 30 minutes - 42.6 MB

The template and format for Accelerated Baseball Development is now available for everyone in youth baseball and softball. This action packed, kid-friendly youth baseball practice system and competitive games formats is in a coaching course format for easy consumption for all youth baseball coaches. What is keeping you from implementing this new system in your local ballclubs? Let’s check it out and see what’s in it.

CYB: 055 Are You Ready to 'Rock the Boat' on Youth Baseball?

August 15, 2022 20:10 - 31 minutes - 44.9 MB

How do we know that we are doing things correctly in our youth baseball systems today? Is there improvements we can make, adjustments to make the game more enjoyable, adaptations to increase player development opportunities? Well, listen in as Dave talks about some new ideas that might just rock the boat and may even turn the boat over. Accelerated Baseball Development is here and you can hear from those that are experiencing it now.

CYB 054: Time to Rethink How We Organize, Operate & Execute Youth Baseball

July 25, 2022 20:52 - 46 minutes - 64.5 MB

USABaseball in conjunction with MLB have given us plenty of suggestions on how we can turn baseball back to the kids. Along with Aspen Institute’s Project Play and USABaseball, Dave dissects many of the creative ideas to allow youth baseball’s pendulem to swing back toward ‘free-play’ and ‘sandlot’ style, kid-centered,  youth baseball organizations. Check out what this ‘sea change’ might look like.

CYB 053 Did Big-People Hijack The Game?

July 07, 2022 21:16 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MB

Adult emotion drives almost everything to do with youth baseball. Have the adult emotions helped or hurt player development? Are we operating to cater to the adult’s emotions or are we doing all we can to make it all about the kids? Dave talks about the situation and some ways to throttle back some of the high-octane, parent/adult emotions that drive the sport model.

CYB 52 Creating Your Culture Statement

June 21, 2022 20:38 - 37 minutes - 52.5 MB

We know that winning is important to everyone in youth baseball. But, if we don’t win that day do we have anything we can talk about despite the game outcome. We do if you build a culture statement about the other real important elements that represent your team. Dave will throw out some ideas for you to ponder and put together your own personal culture statement for your ballclub. Everyone needs a culture and this statement gives you goals to shoot for it. CoachandPlayBaseball.com

CYB 051 Real Baseball Starts at Age 13

June 02, 2022 20:24 - 30 minutes - 42.6 MB

Baseball played in the 12 & under ballfields can be very deceiving especially to the ‘Big-People’. In other words, we should take caution and realize that once we hit the 13 & over 60’ 90’ ballfields it’s going to be game-on. Challenges of enormous size wait lurking for us in middle school years playing baseball. Most turn from the game because it is so difficult to perform as they once could at the smaller dimensions. Listen in to Dave’s warnings about 13 & over baseball.

Ep 051 Real Baseball Starts at Age 13

June 02, 2022 20:24 - 30 minutes - 42.6 MB

Baseball played in the 12 & under ballfields can be very deceiving especially to the ‘Big-People’. In other words, we should take caution and realize that once we hit the 13 & over 60’ 90’ ballfields it’s going to be game-on. Challenges of enormous size wait lurking for us in middle school years playing baseball. Most turn from the game because it is so difficult to perform as they once could at the smaller dimensions. Listen in to Dave’s warnings about 13 & over baseball.

CYB 50 Youth Baseballs Dramatic Shift Developing Players - 51922 3.39 PM

May 19, 2022 22:49 - 36 minutes - 49.4 MB

We follow up again on the recent report from USA Baseball and take a deeper dive into how baseball will be affected. Can you imagine what youth baseball will look like practicing more than playing games? This could really upset the apple cart and change baseball as we know it and for the better for kids too. Listen to see how The “Big-people” are going to make adjustments.

CYB 049: A Peek Under the Hood of Youth Baseball

April 26, 2022 19:43 - 37 minutes - 51 MB

USA Baseball just released a report on the status and groundwork for developing youth baseball players. The report lacks for any real detailed plans, but it does touch on some very pertinent aspects of player development that you should hear about. Listen in to Dave’s breakdown of the report and see where this leads down the road. Reach us at coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 048 Increasing the Player's "Fun-Level"

April 05, 2022 21:53 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MB

What aspect of playing baseball will give players the most enjoyment? I think that ‘squaring up’ and smacking the ball perfectly on the barrel and having the ball ‘jump’ off the bat is quite rewarding. This is where the “fun-level” meter goes way higher. This is what brings kids back year after year—being able to hit. Learn how to use PRO hitting terms to help foster a hitting environment on your ballclubs.

CYB 047: Are You Using Baseball as Your Vehicle?

March 09, 2022 21:59 - 34 minutes - 49.4 MB

Baseball knowledge and experience is nice to have as a youth baseball coach. Knowing the in’s and out’s, the x’s and o’s, the techniques of the game and all the technical strategies is a valuable asset to coaching success. But, maybe more important in leaving a positive foot print on kids are some of the character growth potential we have. Here is one of Dave’s coaches in his own words on how he envisions impacting his players over the season. https://www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 046 Rubber Meets the Road: Real Life Baseball Coaching

February 17, 2022 21:31 - 38 minutes - 54.1 MB

One of my baseball coaching student disciples was kind enough to share a letter to his team’s parent with me. Dave goes through the letter with his commentary with examples of best methods and philosophy to help develop your youth ballplayers. Your coaching success increases when you have a strong philosophical foundation to build from and communicate to the players and parents. visit us at www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 045 One Thing All Baseball Coaches Have to Do

February 03, 2022 21:23 - 40 minutes - 55.5 MB

This is one step we never want to circumvent. We should always make time to get together in some form or another to state our case in front of our youth baseball parents. This sets the stage for the coming season. This gives us a sturdy foundation to work from. When the oceans get rough we have something to steady the ship. Dave goes over some information you might want consider going over with your youth baseball parents.

CYB 044: (5) Ways to Reach the High School Baseball Funnel

January 19, 2022 21:46 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MB

This podcast episode we go into some of physical areas of the game to focus our player development on. In order to sustain themselves in baseball until high school age players have to excel in various skills to be able to make the high school teams. Here we go into these areas and let players, parents and coaches know exactly what areas to focus on that will give us the edge we need to be successful on the ballfield. Coach and Play Baseball.com

CYB 043 Accelerated Baseball Development

December 09, 2021 21:50 - 32 minutes - 45.9 MB

Are we as coaches getting the most out of the field time we have? Are we providing enough baseball plays for our kids to develop? Are we allowing opportunities for our players to really learn the game? Try this accelerated format out in your practices and see kids build the freedom and confidence to play the game at higher levels someday. And have a blast at the same time.     Coach and Play Baseball.com

CYB 042 We Won the Battle but Lost the War

November 18, 2021 20:32

It is very satisfying to win games. Winning the battles is nice for immediate gratification, but we may be missing the big picture. From age 5-14 years old we want to try to win the war. That is winning the player development war which takes several years to make happen. Our focus changes drastically when we approach youth baseball with the long view always smack dab in front of our minds. coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 042 We Won the Battle but Lost the War

November 18, 2021 20:32

It is very satisfying to win games. Winning the battles is nice for immediate gratification, but we may be missing the big picture. From age 5-14 years old we want to try to win the war. That is winning the player development war which takes several years to make happen. Our focus changes drastically when we approach youth baseball with the long view always smack dab in front of our minds. coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 041: Do You Have a "Matheny Manifesto"?

September 23, 2021 21:07 - 46 minutes - 65.4 MB

Dave does a review of the famous “Matheny Manifesto” written by former MLB player and now manager Mike Matheny. Mike jumped into his own kid’s youth baseball world after he retired from baseball. The “Manifesto” went viral and is now mandatory reading for all adults in youth baseball. Dave dissects part of the highlights and elaborates on why this is such a lifeline to helping parents and coaches look at youth baseball from ‘player development’ eyes. https://www.coachandplaybaseball.com/  

CYB 40: What Is Your 'End Game'?

August 05, 2021 21:30 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MB

My curiosity in youth baseball is often spent on the “Big-People’s” view on how far the train goes before we get to the end of the baseball road. What is your ‘end game’? The data tells us just about all we need to know. Come and listen to my talk on my prediction to how far your child will go in baseball. Statistics tell the story. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 039: MLB Draft Relates to Youth Baseball

July 14, 2021 22:04 - 32 minutes - 45.2 MB

We just finished another MLB baseball draft. Dave takes time to breakdown the data on the first three rounds. How does this data relate to us in youth baseball? Well, come listen in and see some astonishing data. Dave will talk about how this information directly effects on the way and methods we train youth baseball players. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB 038: Baseball Signs

June 24, 2021 21:51 - 29 minutes - 41.1 MB

Get the inside scoop on baseball signs. Dave discusses the baseball scene on the topic of baseball signs and how it relates to baseball player development. Baseball signs are a big thing to youth baseball coaches, but it may be overrated. Let’s see and tune in. Check out Dave's personal sign system, too. www.coachandplaybaseball.com

CYB: 037 Coaching Your Own Kid

June 16, 2021 20:45 - 33 minutes - 47 MB

Thankfully we have a lot of Moms and Dads coaching our youth baseball teams. We could not provide youth baseball without the help of parents in the coaching trenches. At the same time we want the parent/kid relationship to stay strong and healthy. It can get real blurry coaching your own kids. Dave goes over some of the issues and some solutions for you try in your baseball coaching toolbox. CoachandPlay Baseball.com

CYB 036: (5) Coaching Tips to Teach Your Hitters

May 27, 2021 22:59 - 37 minutes - 52.9 MB

What do most all good hitters do? Dave goes over a short list of tips to help develop your hitters to move up the baseball ladder into the 60’ 90’ high school baseball funnel. See how many of your hitters can check the 5 items off their list. Our jobs as coaches is to help as many kids as possible reach proficiency in all 5 of these hitting tips. Coachandplaybaseball.com