Baseball Try Out Tips

Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

Ball41512,

Here's a direct link to the section RJM suggested:
http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/making_the_team.htm

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Julie

You're likely to have heard these things before, but they ARE important:

Always hustle on and off the field (e.g. try to be the first one at your position going on and first one in the dugout when coming off the field)

Always give it a hard 90 whenever going to 1st base, even when you feel you're an easy out.

Be positive with ALL the players and coaches, show encouragement and that you're a team player.

Don't treat any play as a routine play.

Play within yourself (e.g. don't overthrow; don't move too fast, but keep control of your footwork; don't try to hit home runs with every ball pitched to you, but hit the ball hard every time)

Be coachable and always have a desire to be the best.

Respect the game and always dress and look like a ball player on the field.

These are typically my first thoughts when some asks this question.

PS: ALWAYS be on time (helps to be early and start loosing up and working out in preperation for the try out)

Great that you have a passion for something and are working hard. That will come in handy when you are out in the real world. Hustle at all times. If you miss a ball RUN to get it. Don't try to get too fancy-mistakes will happen. Trust in your ability. Good luck, keep us posted.

Relax...let your talent take over.

Look the coach in the eye. Don't look at your feet. Stand up straight, chin up.

Do not touch an electronic device while you are anywhere near a baseball diamond.

Play out of the love of the game, not fear of failure.

Believe in yourself.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

You couldn't just interpret that I love the game rather than telling me I need to make adjustments? I obviously do other things and love their things as well.

All the stuff others have said, with this additional advice:

Do your best

When running, don't be last.

Typically coaches are looking to cut players on the first couple days of tryouts. Don't give him a reason to cut you.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. While there may be a time that you are no longer physically able to play, no one has ever told me that I can no longer play...in fact, I do still play occasionaly when scheduling permits, in an adult league. And if you don't hink these guys are competitive, you would be wrong. They have all the passion and drive that they/we did when we were younger and playing at a higher lever of competition.

So, ball4152, go for it. Give a 100% plus some. you been given a lot of good advice on things to do.

Don't ever lose you r passion for the game...it never goes away if you truly love the game.

quote:

Originally posted by lefthookdad:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. While there may be a time that you are no longer physically able to play, no one has ever told me that I can no longer play...in fact, I do still play occasionaly when scheduling permits, in an adult league. And if you don't hink these guys are competitive, you would be wrong. They have all the passion and drive that they/we did when we were younger and playing at a higher lever of competition.

So, ball4152, go for it. Give a 100% plus some. you been given a lot of good advice on things to do.

Don't ever lose you r passion for the game...it never goes away if you truly love the game.

I don't think you understand my post. first, baseball should never be more important than family, friends, religion and education. There may be moments where baseball takes top priority. Second, if baseball is all you have and it's taken away who are you? There was a good article about this yesterday with Doc Rivers saying his son needs more than basketball in his life to distract from the pressure of being an NBA rookie.

When I said no longer play I'm talking about competitive ball. For everyone who ever played the game at some point from middle school to the end of a Hall of Fame career you're going to be told it's over.

quote:

Originally posted by Ball41512:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

You couldn't just interpret that I love the game rather than telling me I need to make adjustments? I obviously do other things and love their things as well.

BAll41512,
I may be late with my reply if your tryout is truly just one day.
Don't be offended by RJM's comment - take it to heart. Of course you love your family and friends and hopefully you do well with balancing the important things in life. However, most young competitive athletes struggle at one time or another with prioritizing things properly because they are so caught up in their sport. They can all benefit from this type of reminder from time to time even if it gets under their skin a little. When you make a comment like "baseball is practically my life", that is a pretty good indication that you, too, will go through prioritization challenges. Most of us do. That passion is both a strength and a bit of a curse.

Back to your original question...
Mental preparation is very important. With your passion, I'm sure you have worked very hard to become a good player. Think back to how much work you have put in and use that as a reason to have a calm confidence when you take the field for tryouts. As you go through various stations/drills, focus very specifically on each task and see yourself executing successfully before your turn. Occupying your mind with just the baseball task and no outside factors will help you perform to the best of your ability. Between stations, keep reminding yourself how much you like playing and just enjoy the fact that you are out doing what you love to do.
Best wishes..


Oops, Sorry RJM, we were writing at the same time.

I'll add this for comments. Don't be the first victim to take BP if you're going up against live pitching and the guy hasn't even warmed up. It's tough to judge speed and get a good pitch to hit with these guys. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

Originally posted by lefthookdad:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Click articles. Then click on "making the high school team."

If baseball is your life you need to make some adjustments. There's your family, friends, religion and education. They are all more important than baseball. Make baseball important, but not everything. There will be a time when you are told you can no longer play. It even happens to Hall of Famers. You need more than baseball.

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. While there may be a time that you are no longer physically able to play, no one has ever told me that I can no longer play...in fact, I do still play occasionaly when scheduling permits, in an adult league. And if you don't hink these guys are competitive, you would be wrong. They have all the passion and drive that they/we did when we were younger and playing at a higher lever of competition.

So, ball4152, go for it. Give a 100% plus some. you been given a lot of good advice on things to do.

Don't ever lose you r passion for the game...it never goes away if you truly love the game.

I don't think you understand my post. first, baseball should never be more important than family, friends, religion and education. There may be moments where baseball takes top priority. Second, if baseball is all you hace and it's taken away who are you. There was a good article about this yesterday with Doc Rivers saying his son needs more than basketball in his life to distract from the pressure of being an NBA rookie.

When I said no longer play I'm talking about competitive ball. For everyone who ever played the game at some point from middle school to the end of a Hall of Fame career you're going to be told it's over.

Ah, must have missed the notion like you did in the OP's post...LOL all is good my friend

when the coach is talking don't be fiddling around with your shoestrings or gear or packing or unpacking your bag (personal pet peeve but I bet I'm not the only guy in the world that bothers).

Put your work in. Meaning you should have been doing all you can to prepare yourself for the tryout. BP, fungos, throwing, etc.

Give it your best effort and keep it fun.

Good luck!!!

I wonder how his first day of try outs went.

I see no need to criticize the young lad. It's ok for baseball to be important to him and he'll figure out how to prioritize things as he gets older.

You cannot control the coach's decision so let that 800 lb gorilla off your shoulders. All you can control is your own attitude and your effort.

If you have a reasonable chance to get a ground ball, dive for it if you have to. If a tarp needs pulled, then pull it. If balls need shagged, then shag them. If the water cooler needs carried, then carry it. If a teammate makes a mistake, then offer him encouraging words to pick him up. If you are running distances, then do everything in your power to come in first to show the coach that you are in the best shape on the entire team.

Speak with your actions and not your words. Do everything out of the goodness in your heart and people will notice. Think about others more than yourself and that good karma will come back to you. It will also take the pressure off you as the more your can focus on things outside yourself, and not listen to that negative or fearful inner voice, the less pressure there will be on you and the more you will enjoy the process of trying out for the team.

RJM,
I don't know if I could disagree with you anymore, and that is coming from a former player who had his career cut short by an injury. Baseball is the number one most important thing in my life, no debate is necessary. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that just because something is the most important doesn't mean you forget about the rest of the things in your life. I have lived my entire life that way and I don't plan on making too many changes based on the success I have received because of it. Being from Arizona I heard a story this year about how Kirk Gibson missed his son's high school graduation because the team had a game. His reasoning was that being successful in school, or graduating, was something that you were supposed to do. That's the same way I look at the majority of the things on your list of "top priorities". The chance to play baseball doesn't last forever so while a person has that opportunity who are you to tell them not to make it their top priority while they still can. I love this game more than anything in the world, and if the people around me don't understand that I need to find new people to be around. That may be the reason my dad and I are the closest, but what do I know.

Relax,relax,relax. Also, remember that Michael Jordan was cut from his HS team in his sophomore year.I am not saying that you will be cut but if you are ,that will be a test to see if you "really" want to play in the future. Good luck.

Some great advice in this thread..
Having fun being able to do something that you have always have loved is a great opportunity.
Treat it a such..
Remember all they success that you have had and today will provide for the opportunity of more success.
Each day, tell yourself....
It's a beautiful day for baseball and any day you play baseball its a beautiful day!

quote:

Originally posted by jaggerz:
Relax,relax,relax. Also, remember that Michael Jordan was cut from his HS team in his sophomore year.I am not saying that you will be cut but if you are ,that will be a test to see if you "really" want to play in the future. Good luck.

MICHAEL JORDAN WAS NOT CUT FROM HIS HIGH SCHOOL TEAM. He didn't make varsity when he was 5'9" sophomore at a basketball powerhouse high school. He was on the JV team. He grew, improved and made the varsity the following year.

quote:

Originally posted by junior5:
RJM,
I don't know if I could disagree with you anymore, and that is coming from a former player who had his career cut short by an injury. Baseball is the number one most important thing in my life, no debate is necessary. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that just because something is the most important doesn't mean you forget about the rest of the things in your life. I have lived my entire life that way and I don't plan on making too many changes based on the success I have received because of it. Being from Arizona I heard a story this year about how Kirk Gibson missed his son's high school graduation because the team had a game. His reasoning was that being successful in school, or graduating, was something that you were supposed to do. That's the same way I look at the majority of the things on your list of "top priorities". The chance to play baseball doesn't last forever so while a person has that opportunity who are you to tell them not to make it their top priority while they still can. I love this game more than anything in the world, and if the people around me don't understand that I need to find new people to be around. That may be the reason my dad and I are the closest, but what do I know.

I'm not going to applaud Gibson for missing his son's high school graduation. That's not being a father. He could have missed one game for something that only occurs once in his son's life. I would say Gibson's priorities are out of whack.

There were many times baseball was the most important thing in the moment in my life. But it was never the most important thing in my life. And I went reasonably far in the game.

Priorities. You make the team in the off season. You show the coaches the fruits of that labor at try outs.

WIN. What's Important Now. When your on the field or training that's what's important. When your in the class room or studying that's what's important. Nothing is more important than your family and faith.

But this is just my opinion and how I try to live my life.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
You make the team in the off season. You show the coaches the fruits of that labor at try outs.

As usual the simple truth! Also, don't allow more than 8 kids do better than you!

quote:

Originally posted by junior5:
Baseball is the number one most important thing in my life, no debate is necessary.

So, if you had to choose between your father and baseball, what would it be?

quote:

Originally posted by Matt13:

quote:

Originally posted by junior5:
Baseball is the number one most important thing in my life, no debate is necessary.

So, if you had to choose between your father and baseball, what would it be?

Are there really adults on this web site that took a high school kid literally?? Not a knock on high school kids, but c'mon.

At some point in my 18 year old son's life he has stated that his life has revolved around: a girl, baseball, another girl, his car, his friends, his high school team, his summer team, a different girl, playing outfield, pitching, even another girl.

So some are really gonna take one line of his post and run with it?

No longer in high school, thanks Mizzou. And your statement is outrageous, but thanks for making it okay to describe one high school student as all high school students.

Matt to answer your question I'd say 99 out of 100 times I'll be on the baseball field, and I'm extremely confident that's where my dad would prefer me to be. And to be brutally honest, who are you to ask that question?

I'm completely fine with having far different views than most. You can judge the thought process as much as you want, but regardless of your opinion you don't know of my success or motives based on a paragraph on a website.

Have a lovely day. I'll return to my seat at the kiddy table where opinions are over looked and people aren't taken seriously.

junior5, my apologies. I thought Matt13 was quoting the original poster, who is a high schooler and said something very similar to what he quoted you as saying. My mistake.

As for the rest of my post, no apology needed to offer. At what point did I compare one high schooler with all high schoolers. Strange part was, I was coming to the original poster's defense (and yours indirectly). People speak figuratively and some always take them literally. There is a difference. I just used my son as an example as to how he will say something is everything to him, when in fact, it is not true.

Sorry you took offense to my response.

A very important person who most would know if I mentioned his name once told son that a person should never be defined by what they do but who they are.

The deeper you get into the game the more important other things in life become.

RJM has it right. My son plays baseball for a living, and for sure there are moments when baseball is very important but never the most important thing in his life. I don't subscribe to Kirk Gibson's philososphy and you wouldn't find many ML players with families that do either.

This is HS baseball, it's supposed to be fun, the last great opportunity to play baseball with your friends and schoolmates. It does not define who you are as a person.

I posted my advice "Do your best" and that is my best advice. What I neglected to say was that baseball is a sport. It is supposed to be fun, you should enjoy the opportunity.

You're a two sport athelete so you have another sport you've already tried out for, so you understand the process.

Others have posted all kinds of stuff, but basically work your tail off, be the first guy on the field and the last person to leave.

And if you throw strikes at 93 that helps too.

quote:

Originally posted by junior5:
And to be brutally honest, who are you to ask that question?

I'm asking that question so that you think a little more deeply. And to answer yours...

I come from a very intensive background. I have a fairly lengthy career as either military or law enforcement. We have high rates of substance abuse, interpersonal issues, and suicide. One former cop who became a psychologist sought to find out why.

Fundamentally, we deal in activities that provoke the adrenaline response. Not only that, we tend to identify ourselves as Soldiers, Marines, cops, etc. We don't identify ourselves as parents, siblings, friends, or the like. When we aren't doing our jobs, we tend to have two issues--we look for activities that recreate that response. To get that response, the behavior has to have risk...hence, driving fast, wanton ***, and things of that nature. The other coping mechanism is self-medication with some sort of mood-altering chemical. Not only do we seek to alleviate the "down" of not being at work, we also feel that we've lost our sense of identity.

Athletes fall into the same trap. When you participate in a competitive endeavor at a high level, and you identify yourself as that sport being your life, you are at risk for the same issues. That's why it scares the **** out of me when someone says that police work/the Army/anything is their life. For the past two years, part of my job has been to train these professionals as to how to be more rounded thinkers to avoid these traps, as a sort of peer mentor.

I wasn't asking flippantly. I was asking because I have seen very similar statements and justifications by some very talented people that ended up statistics.

.

I'll agree with Matt13 in that striving to be a well rounded and well adjusted person is better than striving to be a person with narrow and intense pursuits which likely will result in high levels of corrosive and debilitating stress.

.