10 years of my life - trying to be the best youth coach I can be, for my own kids and the kids I've been lucky enough to coach - are wrapped up in this course that you can complete in 2-4 hours on a weekend. https://twitter.com/DrivelineBB/status/1324471552310562817

Ok...and now with that out of the way

It is possible that by emphasizing the need for youth sports to stay fun & to provide positive experiences for the participants (kids) that I've underserved the YBD cert's value for getting kids good, & for making good kids better.

To get...for lack of a better word...elite

First of all, if you think that you can get your kid to an "elite" level of competitor in baseball without consideration for developing the fundamental skills of throwing a ball hard, moving a bat fast and hitting the ball far, well then you're just plain old wrong.

Second, there is nothing more fun than knowing you're improving. Conventionally the only way that is measured in youth baseball is on field results. What we advocate in the YBD cert is that with comparatively inexpensive technology you also can do that w/ Skills That Scale.

Also, sometimes...it isn't fun! But the secret sauce is that it's not fun *not* because the activity isn't fun, it's not fun because you don't reach your desired goal or objective, whether it's on-field results on in training development.

Sometimes you just gotta keep working.

Whether it's an "elite" youth player or a 9 yr old that's just starting in the game, if you want either of those players to persist when it isn't fun, the likelihood they do so is exponentially higher if fun & positive emotional attachment is the carrot on the end of the stick.

Is that true the same way for a 15 or 16 year old? Probably yes, and probably no.

But with kids that age, any questions about ensuring they reach their potential have just as much to do with player's choices, work ethic & commitment as they do with their training systems.

When it comes to younger players - like the ones that the YBD certification was designed for - anyone that tries to sell the idea that you can't package fun w/ elite baseball player development is only doing so because they don't know how.

Or, they don't have the YBD cert yet