Avoiding Daddy Ball

Fungo,
When I coached my son's team at that age, I had 15 players on the team .We played the game with 4 outfielders , so that made 10 positions. Based on a 6 inning game that amounted to 60 total positions. What I did was made a chart and every player got 2 innings in the outfield and 2 innings in the infield. Everybody, no matter how good they were sat 2 innings. I used this age group for developement , everybody needs to learn all positions. In our league everyone had to bat, so I would use the batting order to reward the players , moving them up the order when deserved. In our league at that age every team made the " playoffs " , so I told the players and the parents that we would rotate positions thoughout the season and then my coaches and I would pick the best players per each position and not rotate in the playoffs. It worked pretty well, I had no complaints from the parents or the players and with the chart hung in the dugout, I didn't have 15 boys running up to me every inning asking to play a position. By the way, we ended up winning the championship. Great age group.

Hoov15

See if you cannot get a few of the local HS players to work with you - at that age you can use as many coaches as possible and the kids seem to like the HS players working with them

And it should be FUN FUN FUN and BASICS BASICS BASICS!~

Im sure it depends on the area you live in and the availability of alternate quality programs. However where I live and umpire the basic program is the local recreation league and to be honest without the "Dads" there would be little or no baseball opportunity for the kids.

I'll give the "Dads" credit for what they do, the practice, the game schedules, the money that comes from their own pockets to fund basic needs, and getting grief from less involved parents.

All the bad things you hear about daddy ball are there Im positive, but its clear that without many of them, there would be no baseball in many areas.....

I see the parents who use baseball coaches as babysitters, do not participate, never volunteer, never come to games and never fail to criticize the coach for playing time for their kid......

Fungo,

At 6-7 years of age, it should be about learning the game and having FUN.

My solution was to play the kids at all infield and outfield positions. Also we batted the whole team. If the #6 hitter made the last out of the game the #7 hitter led off the next game. We were fortunate in that we had a pretty equal team. It did make for some laughs between our coaching staff when our weakest hitter hit cleanup and the opposing team had their outfielders backing up. It worked well for us and at the end of the season there wasn't more than one or two at bats difference between the whole team.

When we were 14+under we won the league going 24-0. Legally we could have picked up three additional players for the state tournament, but that would have meant we would have to sit regulars. The team voted to go with what got us there. We ended up finishing second, losing in the finals to an elite travel team from Denver. To this day (8 years later) the parents and kids are still friends.

What about all of us "Daddies" that were actually tougher on our own kid then the others? What about all of us "Daddies" who made it perfectly clear from the start that if junior wanted to play he must earn it through hard work and production? What about all of us "Daddies" who put teams together, not because junior wouldn't play if he wasn't playing for his old man, but because there was a serious need to form a team for the purpose of making better players out of these young men? What about all of us "Daddies" who strove to help guide these young men into becoming not only better players, but better people as well? I have no data to back this up, but there are a whole bunch of kids playing or who have played ball for "Daddy", and wouldn't have it any other way.

rbi99, nice post, so true.

I like hoov's plan for that age group. It's about as egalitarian and instructional as you can get, and would give the coach a good feel as to where the players were most comfortable and could contribute the most. (As long as your friend doesn't have the problem of his own begging to play a particular position, and caving. Perhaps a talk up front with Junior explaining the plan and 'making him a partner' would forestall that.)

Daddy Ball is usually a bigger problem as they get older, by which time this coach will have had a lot of experience.

rbi brings up a good point -- for all the negativity assocaited with Daddy Ball, there are other manifestations of it --- like good parent-coaches who keep the program rolling smoothly while teaching good fundamental ball.

And then there's Evil Daddy Ball (the one I errored on the side of, even if it was Mommy Ball in my case); another one to warn your friend of. The one where Coach demands much more of their son than any other player. That one is a double-edged sword: the coach's son has to be clearly better at his position in order for the team parents to believe he deserves his innings and they should never hear "worse" said to their own than has been said to the Coach's (that came out sounding more harsh than I intended, but I think everyone knows what I mean). However, it's easy for the parent to cross the line and make it too antagonistic toward their son --- I watched a few father-son relationships sorely damaged on the field.

And apparently Daddy Ball goes on and on . The Cardinals have their first-base coach's son in camp (he has been up with the Big Club before) AND their pitching coach's son in the OF. We find ourselves grateful that LaRussa only has daughters .

Daddy Ball is a typical term for the fence hanging criticizers that have never run a practice or put together a lineup.
I am sure that Roger Clemens even has parents that say Kolby wouldnt be playing where he is if it werent for daddy.
Nothing is harder for a child than to have his dad coaching. Seeing players not listen to his dad. He grows up quick.
If there was no daddy ball there would not be a hell of a lot of teams.
The guy that ran the encinitas reds was a daddy- and they were a heck of a club.Just my 2 cents.

Somebody has to coach these kids. If it is to be done right a coach who has his son on the team has a lot to deal with. Even if the kid is a real good player it is a no win situation. if he plays it is because he is his father. If you pinch hit for him or sit him on the bench you have to go home with him.

Orlando is right in that plenty of dads have provided quyality coaching for bunches of kids from the start of their careers. Nearly every player can thank a dad/coach for their start, and most likely not their own.

The bad part of daddy ball does seem to rear its head around age 11 or 12 and continues through college and beyond. It's just another traffic cone to drive around for most players.

Few years ago I was coaching a 14 and under traveler team for a local baseball academy. My son was part of the team, and was a kind of utility: back up SS, back up 2nd baseman, back up catcher, and some pitching only when necessary. It was a very good team with great talented players, and of course everybody (parents) want their son to be the started at each position.

What I did was: I met with the other coaches and made a line up scheadule for each game of the season. Depending how good the team we have to play against were, we structure the starters line up for that game and we could get to most of the players similar game time, and at bats, and innings pitched to our pitchers. Players didn't knew about this scheadule (only the coaches), and depending the situation of the game, we did some changes at the final innings of the game, to try to win when we were down in the score. Any ways some parents complained still, but at least I was fair with the kids.
By the way, we won several championchips playing this way. At this academies, parents pay a monthly fee, for that reason I did whatever I have to do to give them an equal opportunity.

I watched an inning of T-ballers (6yo) last Saturday. Most of the kids were more concerned with tying their shoes, pulling up their pants and keeping their helmets from covering their eyes while they swung a bat and ran. I saw one little guy chasing a butterfly in the OF. It reminded me of my boy a few short years ago...

At 6-7yo, I don't think they even know how much playing time they get and I don't think they really care. It takes a lot of dad's help at that age and thank goodness for them!

As long as they have fun nothing else really matters. JMO

R.

besides my older boy's 14U travel team, I coach my 8 yr old's little league team. At the first practice, I always tell the kids "First and foremost, we're going to have fun. Second, you're going to learn how to play the game properly. If we do those things correctly, the winning will take care of itself. Winning is an output, not an input."

so far, so good. Nothing makes me feel better than a parent coming over and telling me that their kid really loves playing on my team.

To help instill a "love of the game" is all the payment I'll ever need. And to be honest, it can be alot more rewarding than the day job!!!

I have coached for over 10 years Babe Ruth AAU/USSSA/Legion. My son has played for me.

From a parent/coach stand point I have probably been tougher on my own son than some of the other kids. ie. could never miss a game, always had to be the first one there and last one to leave, being the coaches son has always felt he had to produce and being a pitcher as well meant more pressure. Not to mention the flak he's caught from his teammates if the old man made a bad call, and over the years I've made some.

He has not had it easy by any means.

I do not coach the HS Team, although I have known players that their dad coaches the HS Team, there again it's probably been tougher on the kid with his dad being the coach.

CV

The best possible advice is for Luke Bell to coach the team...

DadofPlayer, yes it was. I guess I get a little defensive when some (not you) automatically figure junior mustn't be any good so he has to play for daddy. Or that daddy will favor his kid over another. Let's face it, there are some god awfull coaches who don't have a single kid on their team that is even remotely blood related.

On a much brighter note - tomorrow is the start of the high school season for us here in Cleveland, and it is suppose to be 79 degrees and sunny!!!

CV

He turned out pretty well for all that darn father-son bonding he had to endure now didn't he !?!

Daddy Ball does get a bad rap these days. In reality, daddy usually only has one child on the team and therefore only one position. That shouldn't be an excuse for the parent's to complain. After all, daddy wants to win and will play the best players he has. After 12 year old league, try-out for select teams that have coaches that themselves played college ball if possible. They tend to know what they're doing.

If it wasnt for all those dads that took the time to : Organize the practices, cut the fields, pick up the trash, pick up players and take them home, make all those phone calls, work with everyone elses kids while thiers watches, buy a needy kid a glove or cleats etc etc etc. There would be alot of kids that would have never experienced what it was like to play baseball at any level. Thank god for daddy ball at the younger ages. Who else is going to do it? There comes a time when dads have to step aside when it comes to their kids as far as Middle School or High School and above. But that doesnt mean that they have to stop working with then at home or on the weekends etc. Im not advocating that they play their son at ss or pitch him if he is not the best option. And I am not saying that they should show preferential treatment to their sons. Most of the time they are the ones that get treated the toughest when dad is the coach. Dads that get envolved give alot more kids an opportunity than just their sons. If it was not for the dads that step up to the plate alot of kids would never get to step up to the plate at all.

Interesting side note to this daddy ball thing. I stopped coaching my son when he turned 11, because he was ready to move up in competition, and quite honestly, he needed to spread his wings a little bit.

Last summer (six years later), I organized the high school summer team because kids were split up all over the area because there wasn't a single team for them to play on. I organized it, but my plan was not to coach it. Ended up being the coach anyway. When the kids were younger I had a fantastic relationship with both the players and parents, and over the years I maintained contact with many of them. However, I never envisioned myself "coaching" varsity ball players 17 and 18 years old, and I had no idea how well I would be able to relate to them now. Mind you, none of these kids are supermen on the ball field, so the monster ego's that some of the top echelon kids might have didn't come into play here. What a wonderfull experience it turned out to be!! The 18 year old responds the same way to slap on the back or a high five as the eight year old. Showing the 18 year old you believe in him, even after he stuck out with the bags juiced means as much to him as the eight year old. When explaining to an 18 year old how he could have done something better, while keeping the instruction positive, is just as effective as when you instruct an eight year old. These boys were here to play hard, win, and have fun, just like any eight year old. It was nice I must admit that when I did need to rip into a player, at least I didn't have to worry he would start crying!! And I wouldn't have believed this unless I saw it with my own eyes - my wife baked some cookies (we ended up winning the game), and the boys were all over those things - just like when they eight year olds!! She ended up bringing home baked cookies to the rest of our games. I was afraid to mention Dairy Queen!!!!

Just wanted to throw in a few thoughts.....

Back in the day when my son at 6-7 and just leaving t-ball for coach pitch, we still rotating ALL positions, not just infield/outfield.

Throughout the season, every child played in every position. It helped them to learn where these positions were in the field and learn a small bit about what they did there.

Practices were all about drills that kept the kids engaged at all times. There were very few times of standing around the field watching other people hit or "do infield"

One thing I remember about the "Daddy" coaches in those days, they forgot they were talking to 6-7 year olds and would tell them to do things that were not explained to them. Terms like "fly ball" or "throw to the cut-off" come to mind.

An example (true t-ball story)
Ball popped up to the second baseman who actually caught it in the air.
The base runner was running of course.
The defensive coach starting yelling, "Tag him! Tag him!" while the offensive coach was yelling, "Tag up! Tag up!"
As children at that age do not tend to differentiate between adults and usually try to follow instructions, the runner ran to the player and touched him and then the second baseman started chasing him to touch him back. They were having fun

You can avoid the daddy ball thing by remembering to teach the game to all the kids on the team, not just the ones that will "get you to the play-offs"

These may be of interest...

http://www.decatursports.com/articles/coaching_your_child.htm

http://www.charactercounts.org/sports/youth-sports-summit.htm