YBE 149: Helping Entry-Level Players with Justin Sherman

Entry-level players aren't always tee-ball kids. They could be 7 or 8 years old or even 10 years old. If you are coaching beginner-level players (which obviously also could include tee-ballers), what do you do? Justin Sherman from justintimebaseball.com shares his techniques for helping the kids who need the most help. This is part 1 of a two-part interview. Plus Rob answers the Question of the Week (33:57) about whether 18-20 players is too big for a varsity team.

In this 48-minute episode, you'll learn:

• Justin's view on the nurture vs nature debate in sports (4:19)
• whether coaches can instill tenacity in their players (5:38)
• what made Justin's biggest baseball moment so defining (7:06)
• two key takeaways from "Winning" by Tim Grover (11:02)
• three ways to be more empathetic to your kids (12:30)
• how to reach kids in youth baseball when they are not yet intrinsically motivated (14:25)
• the key to making baseball more fun (15:53)
• how to create competition for entry-level players who don't possess skills yet (18:18)
• many variations to help kids who don't know how to catch (20:02)
• a fun team-building game (23:31)
• a drill that also helps build team unity (27:08)
• how to teach rules of the game (27:59)
• a helpful technique to teach the concept of force plays vs tag plays (29:13)
• the three elements that must be present in every practice, and three other important elements (30:31)

Sponsor

Driveline Baseball

Driveline Plus is a growing library of everything baseball player development. Members get how-to videos on youth training, discounts on products and inside access to Driveline trainers. Listeners of today's episode get $25 off their first year of Driveline Plus. Tune in to the episode to get the code, just for YBE listeners.

 

Resources and links mentioned in this episode

• Session 105: The Open Baseball Journal: 10 Questions Baseball Parents Should Ask Their Child Every Season
• Session 140: Lessons Learned in 2020
• Session 78: Tee-Ball Practices with Marty Schupak
• Session 77: Help for the Tee-Ball Coach with Marty Schupak
• Austin Wasserman equipment
• Austin Wasserman ebooks

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