Shoveit4Ks posted:I’ve got one for you. It’s real and personal. My son lost is ability to hit a baseball at 13-14U. The transition to the large field and introduction of breaking balls compromised his ability to get on base.
He lost his infield spot, remember now we played “major” ball back then and you had to produce to be on the field. Winning was everything.
I guess I would agree with TPM that back then it was a world stopper for me to the degree that we had a serious talk about him not playing for me, and playing for himself and quitting baseball if that’s what he wanted to do.
He had pitched some and got a chance to relieve some games and start others. That’s when his passion for pitching began. He made varsity as a freshman in HS and got to hit on his HS team but was never the best hitter, same for travel ball.
He stuck it out and needless to say I am beyond impressed with his maturity and growth as a man, teammate and a baseball player.
Have fun, it goes fast and believe me you’ll wish you were having a bit more fun back then.
Son had a similar experience at 11U. I remember having the “I think this is his last season” discussion with other coaches. Next practice I noticed that he wouldn’t move until ball was in flight while taking fungos in the outfield.
Luckily, instead of becoming a PO he got contacts. :-)