What challenges did your son have going to the BIG field?

My son transitioned pretty easily.  He has always been bigger, stronger and faster then most kids.  Some kids to well others struggle.  One thing most of the kids need to learn is that the field is actually bigger.  It takes longer to run between bases.  The runners need to know that they really need to be hustling.  The fielders need to learn that they have that extra step or two to make the throw.  Catchers need to learn to stop the ball as the backstop is 30' behind them and any ball past them will result in a stolen base.  Hitters need to learn that a pop-up is not going to result in an HR (with a few exceptions).  Runners need to learn how to take a good secondary but also need to keep an eye on the pitcher.  Kids that used to be able to make the throw from 3rd to first will need a stronger arm.

 

While some of these things seem to be skills that kids need on the smaller field as well the lack of them becomes amplified on the big field.

My son is "transitioning" right now.  Some pitchers seem to struggle with command at 60' that were strike throwers at '54.  I suspect it is mental.  Kids seem to make distance/judgement mistakes first couple of games, such as base runners running and being thrown out by 10 feet on a dropped ball at the plate, advancing an extra base on throws, etc.

 

Slow kids look even slower.  Kids with weak arms look even weaker.  250 ft home runs are now routine pop ups.  But play a couple games and you will forget about the smaller fields almost immediately.

Going through it now as you know.  First thing is all those swing down and hit it hard on the ground kids are dead now.  Ground balls are outs.  And most fields are grass now and they are not exactly smooth and freshly cut every day like mlb.  So balls get slowed significantly.  Need line drives and LONG fly balls.  Not only are 'pop ups' not home runs but 250 ft plus fly balls can be outs.  Batting averages drop significantly.   Mentally this can be tough on the kid used to hitting .500+.  Early in the season we are seeing a few more walks.  Overall the big field will swallow uo a lot of pretenders as will the bbcor later on.

If he can swing it, your son should be using a drop 5 this summer.  Going for a drop 10 to a drop 3 is big.  At least go to a drop 8.  As a catcher (I know your son is one), the trow is longer, but the baserunner has further to run also.  An accurate throw is more important then a fast throw.  

It's not as bad a transition if the team goes from 60' to 70' to 80' to the full 90' foot diamond.  My son's travel team did that over one season.  First few games at 70' then a number at 80'.  The final games of the summer/fall were on the 90' diamond.  By that time they had pretty much adjusted.

 

One additional comment to those already mentioned, the out field gaps (LC and RC) are now much bigger so the outfielders need to be identify gap shots quicker and have more speed.  And yes, the 250' HR's are now just routine fly ball outs.

 

 

It is a very long story but sadly my son is not "allowed" to swing anything but a drop 10 in practice or on the field...seriously don't even get me started.  For right now he is a line drive kid who hits middle or away because those are the only hits guaranteed to keep you in the line up...again, don't get me started.

 

  I figure he is going to have about 2 weeks to acclimate from a 50x70 field swinging a drop 10 to a 60x90 field using a drop 3.  As for catching...another topic that's complicated but at this point it's hard to say if I would classify him as a pitcher or a catcher...either way he has a very hard throw and I'm hoping he can hold his own on the big field.

CaCO3Girl:

The move to the "big" field leveled the playing field for some of the hitters who had trouble catching up to Little League fastballs; they were able to make more contact. Pitchers had to get used to the additional distance and some had trouble with control initially ("walk-a-thon) games. The "Little league heroes" with their big swings were now hitting fly balls that were caught, not check swing HRs.

 

As for my son, he was always more of a contact hitter, so the bat change didn't effect him in terms of his average. He is primarily a middle infielder but played some 3B. You talk about challenges..that throw from third (l-o-o-n-g). What did I tell him? Work on arm strength and most importantly I told him, the field won't change anymore but your arm will. Focus was on accuracy of throw (3B or SS), not just gun it over. When he was a CF, coaching was key at the beginning in terms of where he should stand, especially for power hitters. More bloops over infield on big field, so an OF who played deep would have a number of balls fall in front of him. Your son may have played different rules but running to first on a dropped third strike was new to many.

 

The catcher's throw was tough (longer as well), not always to blame as pitcher's were now to hold on runners. Biggest benefit to my son was being able to steal bases with a lead off, and not waiting until ball passes the plate. . Pitcher (control) and Catcher (no passed balls and a strong arm) were definitely key positions.

 

You will definitely enjoy the transition to the big field...son will too.

I see the most successful players are the ones that start to really understand the game at this age. There seems to be a big shift not just physically but mentally as well.  They go to the plate with an approach, know how the plays should go down and what to do with the ball once they get it. 

Get your bbcor out and measure exit velocity off the tee.  General rule of thumb is you need an exit velocity over 70 for success.  Upper 60's may be ok if you square it up at a very high rate.  Anything below that and you are in real trouble.

CaCO3,

Most of the kids my son played with were very good ball players and had good skills training, but nonetheless many kids tried to muscle the ball at first and their mechanics broke down.  I had to remind my kid to trust his swing mechanics and use his lower half, and if he hits the sweet spot with a BBCOR the ball will go.  Forget about BA and look for solid line drive contact.

 

Also, my son is a catcher and he had to resist the urge to heave the ball to second with too much effort.  A quick release with a good low one-hopper to second works just fine until the arm strength catches up.

Thanks Ripken Fan, his team seems to already have most of those rules at 12u.  Runners take leads, different for lefty vs. righty, they run on a dropped third strike (helpful if you have a runner on third!).  He is middle of the pack on running speed...these extra long base paths should be interesting!

I'd say please use smaller words, but they were all kind of small, so I will say please usedifferent words to explain what you meant by this.

Agree with the above, esp. with FoxDad -- if you're coming from 55-80, 60-90 isn't a huge jump.

 

I'll add:

 

For a good catcher the big field is a great opportunity and be one of the few that can control the running game at that age. Plus you'll play on more fields with lots of foul territory behind the plate, so blocking becomes so much more important, along with the ability to get outs out of foul popups.

 

For pitchers, obviously control and velocity are more of an issue, and often breaking pitches that were devastating become very hittable on the big field. Any kid throwing a football change or slurve probably needs to learn to throw a real curveball.

 

The big field exposes slow runners and rewards fast ones.  It's true that more grounders turn into outs, but quick guys still get to first a lot more often either by hit or by error, and quick guys who can bunt can get on a lot.  Nothing more depressing than a lefty pull hitter lacing liner after liner to the right side only to see the RF throw him out at first base every time.  Speaking of which, big arms become bigger.  Nothing more fun than seeing a CF throw a kid out at first on a what looks like a base hit, or a SS getting the guy at first on a ball in the 5-6 hole.

In wisconsin we go directly from 50/70 at 12 to 60/90 at 13.  It is a complete game changer.  But we played 54/80 in illinois this weekend and one of our pitchers got hit by a vicious line drive.  Hit him in the chest but more by the shoulder.  Inches from heart or head.  All of the sudden that 60/90 diamond was looking pretty good to we dads of pitchers.  And as I have said on here before it is an absolute shame (and sham) that all levels don't use wood or bbcor.  Money makes the world go round and trumps our kids safety.  Sickening.

Agree 100%!!!  My son and I actually counted how many kids got hurt "accidentally" as a direct result of his hitting this weekend.  Over 5 games the answer was 10!!!!  Three of which involved coaches on the field checking out the kids....at this point I'm less concerned with can he keep up and more concerned with how fast can I get him out of 12u, for others sakes!

As others have mentioned, that run to first is now very long. When you are dealing with middle school kids, the difference in leg length and stride, as well as weight, is huge from one kid to the next. For some kids, they will thrive with the extra distance. For others, it will feel like a lifetime for them to reach the bag. Literally, you might go grey waiting for them to make it. The throw from 3rd/short is also quite a bit longer and some kids will have trouble with the transition. The pop-ups become higher, and although they should be caught, a lot of kids have trouble reading the ball off the bat because of the added height and distance. Fortunately, these are all things that the kids adjust to as they get used to the field and as they grow. 

 

The BBCOR doesn't have nearly the pop that a -8 or -10 has, and it's also a lot heavier, so the BBCOR doesn't produce the same ball flight/distance.  Plus with the bigger field it's much more difficult to drive the ball into the outfield.  This can be discouraging to a kid who has always been a good hitter.  To compensate, some kids will start over swinging, using more of their arms and flying open.  It's counter-intuitive to these kids that the harder they try to hit the ball the worse the effect.  They have to trust their mechanics and drive with the legs/hip to generate bat speed.

ahhhh gotcha, thanks.

You obviously haven't seen my kid's freshman team play defense. 

If your kid is 12, why would he have to start using -3?  He should be using a -8 to -5 right now.  Once he is 14, he can start going from -5 to -3 and be ready for HS. 

 

As for the "big field" I would add that it is important for the players to keep their throws DOWN.  As they try to throw it farther, they tend to throw it higher and over the target.  No Rainbows.   

My 13u team (I organized it and coached) was a group of players who were the best all stars in our eighteen league LL district. I didn't look for the biggest kids. I looked for kids most likely to develop into high school players. Our coaching goal was to get them there.

 

There weren't any throwing issues. Every kid had a gun relative to their age. I was prepared to tell catchers one hop it on a line to second versus heaving a rainbow. But it wasn't an issue. About half the team had not played with leads. It only took a weekend of games to get comfortable with leads. We spent an entire practice on getting way off the base and learning where "too far" was. From a fielding standpoint the only issue was learning how far to run and it's still your ball.

 

On the 60/90 slow kids get exposed. The kids who hit the moonshot homers got exposed. Slow runners were thrown out with the long run to first. Or they were held to singles on what should have been doubles. Moonshots on smaller fields were now catchable fly balls. I do remember 13u as being slow motion baseball. It gave the kids reaction time. The game sped up significantly with 14u.

 

My son was 5'2" in 13u. He threw 68 in LL. I wasn't worried about throwing for distance. His line drive homers in LL became doubles and triples on the 60/90.

 

i do remember his first 13u game in the fall after LL. in his first at bat he ripped a line drive shot on one hop to the second baseman for an easy 4-6-3 double play. He returned to the bench bitching he can't hit the ball any harder. It probably would have been a gapper to the fence on a small field. The next time up he crushed one to right for a sliding triple where he just beat the throw. He looked up at our 3rd base coach and asked, "Was that out of LL?" The coach replied, "Son, you're done with LL."

 

Re: out of LL ... We had a very loose bunch in Legion ball. We were always riding each other. If we were winning and one of our hitters flied out routinely he was sure to hear, "Nice try. That was definitely out of LL."

The short story is he will be jumping from 12u to 14u to play with his grade rather than his age.  He will be 12 as he enters 8th grade.

Our middle school followed NFHS rules. 7th graders had to use -3. So we got them started on -3 in the fall after LL. I didn't see where any of our players had an issue with the heavier bats. Most had been swing -3s in BP for a couple of years.

I hope he is ok. That's scary. As soon as we hit 13u I had my son and several others go to BBCOR. Many were ready. Some not. They would be hitting it the next season and middle school (IESA) requires the -3.  I was still astonished how many teams were hitting the -10+. Even at 14U many "bigger" teams were with the -5. We were In a 13u tourney in  JTown and there were no bat restrictions in the rules.  Many were still using the illegal 2 3/4 barrel bats. I was very concerned, asked the tournament director about it and she responded "well the travel league were affiliated with didn't enforce the USSSA rule yet"   So we got out of there and I never went back. 

Did u play in Loves Park? I ask because my cousins son was playing there. They are out of Madison. 

       
       
Yep sure did!  Which team?  There were four teams there from madison.

Madison Monarchs 12u. Also plays with 13u Hitters

And in a sane world my son would have experienced that....sadly, not such a sane baseball world right now in Georgia.  He will be in 8th grade in 3 months and mowed down several poor kids this weekend with his drop 10.  He has a drop 3 but no where to use it *sigh*.

Sorry. Guess it's Hatters

I have a 12 year old 6 grader that's playing on the big field this year. His biggest issue has been getting his timing right for hitting. The ball takes forever to get to home plate. Your son might not have as much of an issue with this going to the 14's though as they through harder. Throwing has not been a issue with anyone on the team.

Some of this has been alluded to above but:

 

1) Speed is now a bigger asset. On the bases and running down OF balls

2) Power arms are a bigger asset. Both pitchers and fielders

3) Quick release throws are a bigger asset.

4) In our ballpark, due to increased distance behind HP, passed balls normally resulted in runners moving up at least one base.

5) Good catchers are a bigger asset. Being able to receive, block, and throw.

6) Hard for weak hitters to get the ball out of the infield

Ryno had trouble with his speed on the big field.  Tall kid, who can really hit, but he is really slow.  He would hit lasers to right field and get gunned down because it took him too long to run to first. 

 

He also wasn't a strike out pitcher at 13.  It took him awhile to get the velocity necessary to dominate on the big field.

There are definitely challenges. IMO, mostly related to 13-14 year-old boys playing a man’s game on a man-sized field. They run slower, they throw slower, they swing the bat slower, they react slower. You will probably see huge developmental differences amongst kids in this age group. Party due to age, and partly due to levels of maturity. I think the transition is less about experience and more about getting physically bigger and stronger. Be warned, it may be painful to watch for a while, especially if they’re required to swing -3 bats. Don't be surprised to see Infield In for the whole game. But it’s all part of the process, and it's still baseball. They’ll figure it out.

 

A word of caution about pitching. My son was bigger and stronger than most of his teammates at 13U. That made him a favorite with his coaches for pitching. To compound the problem of pitching too much, he also started developing better control which allowed him to throw with more effort (he couldn't throw max effort at 12U and still throw strikes). I didn’t know enough at the time to protect him and he ended up with elbow problems.

 

On other thought on catching/blocking. It's even more difficult at this age. In high school, the catcher pretty much knows where the ball is going, so he's actually working with his pitcher when it comes to blocking. At 13U, the pitcher is throwing the ball all over the place. The catcher might have to block a FB off the plate and in the dirt that he was expecting down the middle. Much tougher on catchers at this age.

 

Move to big field ... A couple memories ... the 9-3, right-fielder to 1st, put out.  Until the hitters are strong enough for the outfielders to play deeper (JV HS time), grounders and bloopers into right field are force outs at first.  ...  Hitters begin travelling at the plate.  They start lunging towards the ball.  The boys with the best hand-eye coordination can struggle with this the most.  They ID pitch and location and go hit the ball instead waiting for it to travel to them.  Right handed hitters doing this will ground out to Short a lot.  

2019Son went through this over the last 12 months. My observations are in line with most of the other posters, but I think there have been some positives not mentioned yet.

 

First, BBCOR is a huge, gigantic difference (from 2002 - 2011 there was a -3 requirement, but it was with the BESR standard, which was more similar to the 1.15 you see today with -5, -10 bats, etc.). With a 1.15 bat the ball will go ~15% farther than with BBCOR. That 300 ft. home run in 13U can be a 260 ft. fly out in 14U. 2019Son's team's home field is 330' down the lines, 380' to center (HS Varsity field) . . . I have seen 8th graders hit the warning track, but haven't seen any over-the-fence home runs when playing on that size field.

 

OTOH, 2019Son's coaches changed his swing this year. In 12U and 13U he had been a leadoff hitter -- get on base and steal his way around -- and his coaches this year (different coaches) had him ditch the "hit the ball on the ground" approach. I think the quote from his coach was "you should be trying to hit triples" (note: size of field makes home runs infeasible). The swing changes took some time, but net, net he has hit for more power this year than he did last year. So my takeaway is, with good coaching kids can adapt quickly.

 

Second, yes, as other have noted, slow kids are exposed (on both offense and defense), kids who can't throw are exposed.

 

Third, on the positive side, pitchers who have good movement on the ball (e.g., two-seamer with good armside run) are benefited being at 60 ft. vs. 50 ft. (or even 54). Same thing with sharp breaking balls. Plus the hitters are all using BBCOR (which is an awesome rule when your son is pitching!) For 2019Son, he has been more effective pitching (e.g., higher K rate) on the big field.

 

Overall, for most kids it will take some getting used to, but in a few months time it will seem completely normal. CaCO3Girl, your son will go back and see a small field 6 or 12 months from now and think "How did we play on such a tiny field?!?"

As a pitcher my guy threw harder and better from 60ft. than the 54 or whatever 8th grade was.

If that is the case, I would consider picking up a -5 on clearance just too have.  The pitching will be much improved at 14u than what he is used to.  -10 to -3 is a big jump.  He may want a -5 just in case. 

Funny you mention that...my son confirmed for me this weekend (on the 50' mound) that he was in fact holding back.  Makes me wonder what else he holds back on.

       
       
in fairness all pitchers will tell you they have more.  Some do.  Most don't.

And every kid will throw harder from 60 than 54 when they are a year older!  Some kids may also do better on a real dirt mound with metal spikes.

Okay, so the highlights of this thread, regarding things that might be lacking in the first years transition to the BIG field, are:

 

1. Speed from base to base

2. Arm Strength, regarding throws

3. Hitting line drives, rather than grounder hops

4. Pitching reaching 60 feet

5. Catcher Blocking becomes VITAL

6. Swinging the heavier bat throws some kids off

 

Now, please list these in order from vital you have this to start with to..'eh, it comes with age.

"SELF CONFIDENCE" AND VISUALIZATION OF SUCCESS'!!!!!!

Desire to Learn and to study the game. Parents can help, take a group of players to the larger field, stand back and play "work up". "Greatest game in the World".

 

BOB

My guy wasn't/didn't hold anything back.The reason he threw harder from 60 ft. vs. 54ft (you sure about 50 caco here 6th grade is 54 travel the same) is because he worked his tail off in the winter.

Just to quibble a little:

 

Regarding no. 1, it is not just speed from base to base. Speed and quickness has a huge effect on defense. For example, lots of kids who could play shortstop on the smaller field are not suited for it on the bigger field. And lots of kids who on the bigger field are defensively suited for 1st base or LF but can't mash enough to stick at those positions.

 

Regarding no. 6, I don't think it is that the bat is heavier, for the most part. In 2019Son's case he and his teammates were going from a -5 at 13U to a -3 in 14U, so the weight difference was minimal (though I suppose if your son is going from -10 to -3 that weight difference would be a big jump). But I think the bigger deal is BBCOR vs. the trampoline bats of 13U and below.

 

I'm not sure about ranking them, but the only one I think doesn't really "come with age" (vs. the kids' peers) is speed/athleticism. At least I haven't seen a slow kid become fast.

In GA the mound distance for 12u is 50', 13u is 54', and 14u is 60'.

 

The entire conversation I had with him could pretty much be boiled down to me saying "Is it my imagination or do you throw harder in your pitching lessons?"  His response was "No, it's not your imagination *insert catcher name* already has to tape his wrist and thumb to catch me, he's only 85 pounds, the last time I threw really hard at him it knocked him over and the ball hurt his hand so bad he couldn't catch for a week, since then I just throw about 75%, it's no big deal, it's easier to control the pitches when I throw slower anyway."

 

I think with an extra 10 feet he might actually be able to let loose...well that and hopefully at 14u they will have a kid back there that weighs more than 100#'s.

Where we are, my 12U son plays 50/70 for his travel team and 60/90 for his middle school team.  I much rather him be on the 60/90 for his own safety and the play of the game.  50/70 is just to small for 12 year olds in my opinion.  Thankfully he will only have a few more tournaments on the little field. 

 

The biggest thing I noticed when he started on the 60/90 filed.... he's slow.  Really really slow.  Sometimes I wonder if I am watching him run to first base in slow motion. 

 

The upside to the larger field, there is more room/time for infielders to read the ball and make a decent play.  Kind of slows the game down as others have said. 

I'm going to quibble a bit with your quibbles.  Speed in OF is huge, especially CF, but I've seen some darn fine SS's with speed that is average at best.  Buster Posey, for example, was a SS in HS and he is slow as heck.  My son's HS team has a SS who is a natural catcher or 3B, IMHO. When an injury moved him to SS I thought the team's defense would really suffer. It has not.  He doesn't get to quite as many balls, but he's got a super-quick release and a cannon, so anything he gets to becomes an out.

Also, I have seen slow kids get fast as they go through puberty.  I was miserably slow as a kid but became fast in HS.  On the other hand, I had a kid in 13U travel who set records for his middle school track team in 5 or 6 events. He's now on my son's HS baseball team and his speed is only a little above average.

 

As for that bats, agree.  Up to 14U, players around here use 1.15 BPF bats. Regardless of the drop, those bats totally outperform all BBCOR bats.  It's night and day. 

As many others have said before most people on here have at least decent players for sons.  So when somebody here says the weight of the drop 3 is not the issue I tend to believe them.  However f I r the average kid those extra ounces are a killer.  And then the less lively alloy just is the cherry on top.  Many of these players fade off into the sunset.

Regarding bat size/weight adjustment, here's how I did it with both of my sons.  Doesn't make it the right way, just how I did it.

 

6th grade: -10 for games, -8 for cage/bp

7th grade: -8 for games, -5 for cage/bp

8th grade: -5 for game, -3 (bbcor) cage/bp

CaCO3,

you've made reference to this sort of things multiple times (including hit batted balls hurting fielders).  Perhaps he should be playing at a higher level with better ball players.  You won't see this a majors level for his age group.

I agree Smitty28, jumping him from 12u to 14u next year to try to fix this problem...I didn't know it was a problem when he began 12u.  Hence all my questions about the 60x90 field since he will be jumping from 50x70 to 60x90.

I thought you mentioned that his 12u coach is skipping 13 and going strait to 14u?  Also meant to ask you why your 12u coach only allows your son to use a -10?

No, current coach is not skipping 13u, 80% of the team are 2021's, 13u is appropriate for them.

 

Coach only allows a drop 10 because...well I don't know, coaches decision, he's a bat purist...I have no idea.  It did come up one day and I asked and he said "nah, I like him swinging the bat he's got".

-10 is not the right bat at 12u.  Should be -8 to -5.  Time to "break" that -10 and move to something heavier. 

So you made the choice to move him to 14u then?  Grad year and playing age are two separate things.  So your 12u coach thinks he needs to swing a -10, but you are skipping 13u and jumping right into 14u with BBCOR?  Im slightly confused or I am missing the intent of skipping 13u. 

 

Golfman and I were posting at the same time.  I completely agree with him.  Find a old, used, -5 that he can swing with in the cages or off the tee at home. 

12u coach thinks everyone should swing a drop 10 because it's the lightest bat allowed to be swung.  Our team ranges in size from 4'8 85#'s to my son at 5'7 and 145#'s.  I don't think the coach thinks my son NEEDS to swing a drop 10 I think he wants him swinging a drop 10 because he's allowed to. 

 

School year cutoff is September 1. My son's birthday is beginning of August.  He is one of the youngest kids in his class but a majority of 8th graders are 13/14, and during the school year they will turn 14/15.  So most of 8th grade plays 14u, so that is what we have been advised by several people to move him to...especially since he isn't one of the 85 pounder kids.

Regarding bat size, I went to justbats.com and used the bat coach.  I entered your sons height and weight and it recommended a 32 inch -5.  A -10 is the smallest he can legally use, but is it helping him develop as a player?  I would question whether the 12u coach is playing to win or to develop players.

 

My oldest was the opposite of your son.  He turned 14 in 8th grade.  My youngest is like your son, he will turn 13 at the beginning of 8th grade.  What does that really mean?  Nothing after puberty.  They will all grow, just a matter of when. 

 

Its a marathon, not a sprint. 

I'm betting that a few have advised you to have him repeat 7th grade, too. 

When my son was 13, we went to a try out/practice with a potential new team.  Most of the kids there had already played with the coach.  When he told the kids it was time for BP, everyone of them pulled out a wood bat.  They did not use wood in the games, just for some BP.  But it really helped with their longer term mechanics.  My son is a bigger kid who has been swinging a wood bat since 12, so that coach was a plus for us.  

LOL, yeah I heard that from a few people...lectures on how I should have held him back in second grade or something to that affect.  My response was "It will do more damage to him as a PERSON to remove him from his friends, than any value we could measure in his baseball skills/opportunity."

 

  In my eyes, he is a person first and a ball player second, not sure he would agree...but there has got to be more than baseball in what makes up a kid.

I agree in the marathon vs sprint analogy, hence why I am not throwing a hissy fit that a 12u coach won't let him swing a -5 bat...does it really matter at 12 what he does?

 

What does matter to me is he get on the best team he can that gives him significant playing time...I think that will be a 14u team, guess time will tell.  In the meantime I started this thread to see where some of the holes in his education might be in making that big jump, that way he can have a couple of lessons prior to tryouts to iron out any deficiencies that can easily be fixed with a few practices, while taking advice from a knowledgeable person....lol, which obviously isn't me!

 

Thanks everyone y'all have been great!

I have followed this thread from the beginning. There are some additional things you should think about. You need to take into account the level of the teams you are facing. You mentioned that you feel your son hurt 10 players during a recent tourney. This could be a result of playing against a low level team and not a result of his hitting.There is a huge difference between high level majors teams and some AAA teams. The game is much faster. We are fortunate enough to play on one of the best teams in GA, so I have some experience with all this.

My son is in the same situation as yours. The best advise I received, yesterday, was stay at 13U next year, The game speeds up and it's a good transition. About 1/2 thru the season most 13U teams play up to get on the bigger field. If still necessary, make the move up at 15. If you truly feel your some needs more, tryout for a true majors team and see how he stacks up. I received all the same advice as you did. I searched out the best unbiased opinion I could find before making a decision. Here in GA there are plenty of people that will give you advice, just make sure they actually know something. I could go on about bats, pitching, arms etc but I won't.

 

       
       
Please come back and do go on!  I think you make a lot of sense!

Sent you a PM

My kid was in the same situation - summer (tweener) birthday.  I think what level you play depends on two things.  First, do 13u play a transitional distance?  In our area, they play 54/80 at 13, with several tournament options at 60/90.  So the jump from 13u to HS was not dramatic at all.  Second, what is the level of coaching?  My kid stayed "down" because he hooked up with an outstanding coach - learned more in one year than he did the previous 3 combined.  And playing better (not necessarily older) competition is always a plus  So things to think about.