My son just went to Stanford camp this weekend and I was very impressed with the format. 1 hour a day was spent on hitting, another hour on positional defense, and then a game is played. I was told by some coaches that this helped to get a better read on a player's capabilities. I wonder why more camps are not run this way? Other than Headfirst are you guys aware of other similar evaluation camps?
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This is similar to how UCLA ran their HS camp.
I do think Stanford's camp has been the model. Many other schools now run their own version of it. Not sure how many other camps attract the plethora of coaches that Stanford does.
OTOH...I sometimes think parents' expectations from the Stanford camp can be too high. Many (some of them have been my friends) go in believing that its the key to the palace and come away disappointed about which field their son pitched on or lack of the flood of interest they anticipated.
Still, for high end academic kids I highly recommend the Stanford camp. Great experience and lots of exposure across a wide swath of college baseball coaches. If I could pick one, thats the one I'd pick.
"I wonder why more camps are not run this way?
Stanford doesn't have to worry about one of the camp coaches from another school poaching a recruit from them thru their own camp, Most kids go to the camp hoping the Stanford coaches will noitce them, The other D1/D2 camp coaches are from schools which Stanford doesn't generally compete for top players. I am pretty sure the UCLA coach was NOT asked to work the camp
Most other schools don't feel that way about there own camp, hence Stanford camp is one of the few school sponsared camps with a lot of D1 coaches working and/or observing the camp..
The camp has traditionally been very competitive, when my son attended, average players stood out like sore thumbs.
The OP was asking if Stanford is unique in having drills plus games. This is par for the course in my experience, except for indoor camps in the offseason where there are no games.
What sets Stanford apart are the points many posters have posted many times, I think, not the fact that they have drills and games.
Not exactly greenlight. My son went to PG camp and another college camp and they were different than Stanford Camp. The main advantage -- I thought -- from Stanford camp was the hour of work per day on hitting and defense. I was told by a coach that they did not care if he hit in game, as they already saw ability and potential in drills. At PG camp all son got was a few swings, which provided more limited information. I was wondering if Showball or other general camps used this format.
Oh, you were asking if every camp has drills and games? Yes, you are right, not all of them do............even though this is par for the course in my experience.
Have you tried going on the website for the camps you are interested in? Usually....not 100% of the time......but usually.....I think they describe the format
