Originally Posted by jolietboy:
My opinion don't waste one second of practice or game time on a play that won't be used later in high school or college against a good team. Even in high school I don't like doing anything against a bad team that I wouldn't do against a good team. Practice to beat the good teams not the bad teams. So to answer the question of when to stop using them I say immediately. And better if you never started. To execute these things properly takes a lot of practice time. Isn't there something you could be doing to make the kids better baseball players? And while 1st and 3rds aren't necessarily considered trick plays we still did not see a single one all season by us or against us last year and not likely to see it much more this coming season.
I agree 100% with the above.
My son has been playing baseball for 23 years and only once did he see a trick play while in the game(hidden ball) executed properly (college). They are not USUALLY a part of the college or the pro game.
Learn to play the game the right way, not in ways to fool or trick your opponent,