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Field Notes

Short, honest reads on coaching kids, with sources cited. Every one opens with a thirty-second TL;DR you can read in the parking lot.

Practice designPlayer developmentCoaching the personThe Pressure SeriesFor parents
Featured · The Philosophy Behind DugoutLab
Your One Job as a Youth Coach

Every piece of research in this library points to the same conclusion. Nine researchers. One sentence. Here's what it means for how you run practice today.

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Field Notes
Latest
Field Notes · The Mental Side
Put It in Your Back Pocket
Where are you going to hit it? A card for every hitter, and what the research says about seeing it and saying it.
Field Notes · Purpose & Process
The Low Tee, the Long Road, and the Blueprint
A nine-spot Wiffle ball routine, a vision board, and a two-out single. Before the process, the aim.
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.
The Big Debate & Stories From the Dugout
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.
5 min read
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.
5 min read
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.
10 min read
Practice Design
Coaching Cues · Gabriele Wulf
The One Cue Rule: Say Less, Say It Clearly
Kids can hold one idea at a time. How to pick the one cue that matters and aim it at the target.
4 min read
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.
5 min read
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.
5 min read
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.
5 min read
Coaching Language · Questioning
Ask, Don't Tell: Coaching With Questions
The player was there. We were watching. How to ask what she saw, wait, and add only what she missed.
5 min read
Decisions · Joan Vickers
How to Train Decision-Making, Not Just Mechanics
Kids make the decision in games, so they need to practice making it. Simple ways to build "Where's the play?" into every rep.
5 min read
Player Development
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.
5 min read
Mindset · Carol Dweck
Growth Mindset on the Baseball Field
What to say after an error, how to praise the work, and what the research does and does not show.
4 min read
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.
5 min read
For Moms & Dads
The Sideline That Helps
Six words help more than any tip you could shout. What to say from the stands so your kid is free to play, and how to find your own calm.
Coaching the Person
The Philosophy Behind DugoutLab
Your One Job as a Youth Coach
Nine researchers, one sentence. What it means for how you run practice today.
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.
6 min read