"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 existence" without tracking tools like Driveline Pulse. The episode closes with a fired-up blueprint for Players Way amid federal investigation—stop carving registration fees, build coaching curriculum, reward compliant leagues with free national tournament experiences, and quit arguing about swing mechanics when competitive mindset and experience design matter infinitely more.

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro, AxeBat code & new youth assessment packages
05:49 – Game Seven chaos & Kershaw's legacy moments
10:06 – Shohei gives up Bo Bichette dinger in dream scenario
16:36 – Competing after failure: trainable mental discipline
22:08 – Rojas: second hit in a month, game-tying homer
27:15 – 0-for-the-week fix: "On time? Hittable pitches?"
31:19 – Hunt-the-heater & go/no-go training rounds
34:22 – Thick grip bats vs. move it fast, move it accurate
40:46 – Yamamoto's 200+ pitches: can't wish workload capacity
48:21 – "My 12-year-old can do it too"—the terrifying take
50:38 – Baseball is hard: character through difficulty
01:00:17 – Players Way investigation & the blueprint
01:07:42 – Train coaches, reward leagues, stop arguing mechanics
01:10:17 – Outro: game seven lessons for kids

Links

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