Field Notes · Cage Work
Hang a Hoop
The cage net lies. A ten-dollar target tells hitters where the ball really went.
Field Notes · Practice Design
Four Stations, Nobody Sits
A real rotation: groups of three, a four-second count, a kid at first, and live balls in the dirt.
Field Notes · Scrimmage Design
The Stress Dial
Pitch caps, nobody walks, and pressure you turn up or down on purpose. Never say why.
Field Notes · Game Tempo
You Can't Outrun the White Rabbit
Teach game tempo in five minutes. Time every runner to first and let the defense feel the race.
Stories From the Dugout
The Week Before
A coach's reflection on the week before a high-stakes tournament. Why staying loose under rising stakes is the harder, better call.
Practice Design · Constraints-Led
Let the Game Teach the Game
Change the game so it teaches the skill. What the evidence supports, and where drills still fit.
Practice Structure · Motor Learning
When to Mix Up Your Practice Reps
Straight reps help a new skill start. Mixed reps look messier but look more like the game. When to use each.
Practice Difficulty · Guadagnoli & Lee
How Hard Should Practice Be?
Too easy and nothing changes. Too hard and kids shut down. How to find the middle for each player.
The Big Debate
Drillers Make Killers vs. Let Them Play
The fight that splits every youth complex. Where each side is right, what the evidence says, and when to shift so kids keep loving the game.
Emotional Coaching
What to Say When a Player Cries
Specific language for after an error, a strikeout, and a loss, Name it, give it a minute, then get back in the game.
Retention · Youth Sport Research
Why Kids Quit Baseball, and What You Can Control
The top reason kids give isn't losing. It's that it stopped being fun. What a rec coach can control.
For Coaches Who Feel It
The Kid in the Dugout Isn't My Son
Why your chest gets tight before a game that, deep down, you know isn't life or death, and what to do with it. For moms and dads both.
Long-Term Development · AAP / AOSSM
Early Specialization: What the Research Actually Says
What the evidence says about one sport, year-round, at a young age, and where it is still thin.