Ben Kaplan (Oakton HS coach) explains performance anxiety and how it can affect our game, covers strategies to help overcome anxiety and fears, common issues he sees with youth athletes and their mental approach, pre-game routines, drills, lessons plus much more!

Ben can be reached at DMCKaplan@gmail.com or on Twitter/IG @DMCKaplan

On this episode, we sit down with USA Baseball’s director of coaching development Andrew Bartman at the 76th annual ABCA convention in Nashville, TN. Prior to joining the team at USA Baseball, Coach Bartman coached collegiately for 12 years, including stints at his alma mater Lincoln College, MacMurray College and Bethany College, and also recently worked as the Youth liaison for the ABCA. For this podcast, we discuss new USA Baseball initiatives and resources, coaching, growing the game of baseball and teaching it the right way, recruiting, the ABCA convention and preview next year’s event in Washington, D.C., plus much more!

McLean head coach John Dowling goes over the expectations for incoming freshman & what players should focus to become productive varsity players. We also get into choosing the right travel program, strength and development, being a good teammate, drills and fundamentals and much more!

On today’s show, we are joined Marc Polymeropoulos to discuss his parents guide to surviving the baseball recruiting wars. Marc served 26 years in the CIA before retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service this summer. Marc has presented his recruiting talk to hundreds of parents and players, drawing from his experience with the recruiting process with his son Chris, who will be a senior catcher this spring at James Madison HS and has committed to playing at Roanoke College. He talks about the good times and the bad, but also provides a great perspective for parents and players starting the recruiting process and advice on how to combat the challenges that go along with picking the right showcase team, traveling, communicating with coaches and the many other dynamics that go along with the recruiting process.

On this episode, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Zombro discusses segments on pitching and becoming a professional prospect. We dive into topics on pregame routines, mechanics, injury prevention and recovery, incorporating technology, using weighted balls, mental preparation, competitiveness and some personal stories about his career and his breakout 2019 campaign in which he was named the organization's top minor league reliever.

On today’s show, Washington Nationals physical therapist Seth Blee returns to our podcast to discuss injury prevention, diving into some specific common baseball injuries and how to prevent them, recovery after starts, his thoughts on using weighted balls and a cool inside look into a few of the Nationals players' routines and their World Series run this fall plus much more!

On today’s show we sit down with former professional player Eddie Kim to talk swing fundamentals, at-bat preparation, approach at the plate and off-season training among other topics. Eddie is also the current head of the NOVA Premier baseball organization and coaches kids of all levels with their swings at his EK Baseball facility in Sterling.

Welcome to another season of NVTBL's EDU podcast! On today’s show I sit down with 3 different organizational leaders within NVTBL and discuss how to choose a travel program that best fits your child. First, I talk with Andy Bradley from the Bradley Eagles, then we talk with Nick Sussman, who runs the Win Within program and then conclude with Ken Tyrrell, leader of the PowerU organization. We dive into various topics regarding travel programs, including what travel teams should offer each season, communication between coaches and parents, player interaction and development and discuss each organization in detail, but first we begin by discussing the priorities into choosing a travel program that will be the right fit for you.

Steve Springer (from QualityAtBats.com) gives us his story on how he became a 14-year professional and talks about competing with confidence, getting rid of batting averages and playing everyday likes it Opening Day. He also coaches us on how to study pitchers, how he would run batting practice and goes over 2-strike approach plus much more!

John Porter (lead evaluator for MAC Umpires) covers ways to get involved with umpiring & the MAC association, the training process to become an ump, why umpiring can be a rewarding hobby or side job and how learning the names of coaches and umpires can make a world of difference plus much more!