"What's Happened, Happened": World Series Lessons About Competition for Kids - Academy Youth Baseball Podcast EP 103 | Driveline Baseball

About this episode

Deven analyzes World Series moments to extract lessons for youth players and coaches, focusing on competition and mental discipline.

"What's Happened, Happened": World Series Lessons About Competition for Kids Fresh off the most chaotic World Series of his lifetime, Deven dissects game seven's critical moments to extract actionable lessons for youth players, coaches, and parents. He opens with new Driveline youth assessment packages, then dives into Shohei Ohtani's masterclass in mental discipline—giving up a three-run homer to Bo Bichette in his dream scenario (pitching game seven), then returning to compete effectively as a hitter. Deven contrasts this with Miguel Rojas's game-tying home run on just his second hit in a month, using both examples to illustrate trainable competitive mindset work. The episode pivots to practical troubleshooting: when your kid goes 0-for-the-week, the first conversation must be "Are we on time? Are we swinging at hittable pitches?"—not mechanical minutiae. He breaks down hunt-the-heater approach work, go/no-go training rounds, and why thick-grip bats aren't the leverage point parents think they are. The Yamamoto workload discussion gets serious: 200+ pitches in a week is extraordinary, not replicable for 12-year-olds, and can't be "wished into…

People in this episode

Host: Deven

Topics covered

• World Series
• youth baseball
• competition mindset
• mental discipline
• coaching strategies
• player development

Keywords

• World Series
• youth assessment
• competitive mindset
• hittable pitches
• coaching curriculum
• swing mechanics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Driveline, Driveline Pulse, Players Way

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