To get a better understanding of how successful national elite travel teams operate, you should get a better understanding of the various philosophies involved with coaching a youth baseball team. 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. Part 1 can be found here.
Plus Austin Wasserman of WassermanStrength.com tells us about single leg lunges in the Wass Strength Tip Of The Week.
In this 33-minute episode, you'll learn:
- how Rudy evaluates hitters
- what Rudy's philosophy for his hitters is, and why
- how to help kids be more mentally resilient
- how the players work on their personal skill development (hint: it's not at team practices)
- what age to start putting players at their primary defensive positions
- Rudy's philosophy on innings vs pitch counts
- USSSA pitching rules
- how to tell when a pitcher is tired
- why Rudy calls pitches instead of letting his catchers do it
- whether his pitchers have had nagging injuries
- his philosophy on batting order
- what ages kids should start to focus primarily on baseball
- Rudy's thoughts on "big fish in small pond" or "small fish in big pond"
- his feelings on stealing signs
- advice for new travel coaches
- advice for parents looking for a travel team
- Wilson MVP
- The Wass Strength Tip Of The Week on lunge progressions
- The Wass Strength Youngblood Training Manual for youth athletes
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