Development

What does everyone think? Camps, Private Lessons, AAU, Cal Ripken, Little League? I once heard Michael Jordan asked a similar question about young basketball players and his response was the most important thing a coach or parent can do for a young player is to help build that player's love of the game, and then for the love of the game they will push themselves. (that is not a direct quote rather just sharing what I took from his comments)

Well as a father of a 14yr old who just entered High School this past fall I can attempt to answer. In our case son was hitting little plastic balls at 2yrs old with a little plastic bat and we'd throw and catch anything he could handle. At age 5 he was playing tee-ball and we could play an actual game of catch and have him catch the ball with little trouble. He played Cal Ripken from 5-12 and started majors as a 9yr old. He played all-stars as an 8yr old out of the minor leagues on our league's first 9yr old team. He played all-stars for those 5 years (8-12 (played 9's twice)) and made it to Regionals when a 10U. That was all the baseball we did basically other then playing catch in the yard or at the field with the occassional BP or mound work (a couple of times a season nothing structured). He also played football for two falls (11 & 12yrs old) and rec basketball as a 9yr old on. When he was 12 he was part of the Diamond Devils Cooperstown team and that was the first time that baseball was a year round thing. He had the devil workouts all winter as well as a league in the dome and then he played his 12U Ripken season and All-stars. Cooperstown in august and then step-up fall ball to prepare for the bigger diamond. He tried out for and made the 13U Knights as well. He then had Knights workouts all winter and made Elm Street as a 7th grader. He made Babe ruth that spring as well. He had Babe ruth and school ball during the week and Knights on the weekends. By the time Babe ruth all-stars rolled around he had found himself burnt out on baseball and refused to tryout for 13U all-stars (against my objections which in hindsight were stupid..lol) so we did hit a bumpy spot that 13U year. Last year he played for Elm Street as an 8th grader as team's ace and he loved it..really spiked and recharged his desire for the game. He played Babe ruth again on a good team so that helped make that enjoyable for him. 14U Knights was ok...but kids had been together for 3 or more years and it got stale..so that was a bummer and part of the reason he is taking a year off from AAU baseball this year. He did play 14U Babe ruth all-stars but they lost in district finals so it didn't last long. This winter he will be taking pitching lessons and perhaps some hitting lessons as well as the school tryouts approach in March. He will be going out for the freshman team with hopes of being a swing player up to JV or beyond. Tough to do at Nashua North. He will play his past year of Babe Ruth and possibly try out for Jr Legion if the closest town with a Jr program needs to fill out there roster. If he is still gun ho for baseball after all that he will likely look into one of the GSBA leagues for the late summer or fall.

I am now trying to figure out how to get him to want to work at it more himself other then relying just on team workouts and natural ability...that light hasn't come on yet. Still rather play X-Box 360 with his buddies and such...lol


Sorry if that post was way too personal with too much specific information..just how it tumbled out...lol

A favorite quote of mine:
"Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand."
- Leo Durocher

Redsox 8191, ditto to everything you said. my son has pretty much mirrored your experience. He is now a junior in high school. I see a flicker of light at the end of the tunel. He has put on 20 pounds, with his weight lifting, with no push from me and he is finally prompting me for batting practice....sometimes. But, he still has to spend 4 hrs playing xbox to every one hour of baseball.

Be thankful that its only Xbox... My son has switched to (gulp) Skateboarding.... This is tough but do know that when he is playing he loves the game so I think at some point this 15 year old will come around

BTW on the juice refers to his drinking OJ before a game.

My own son is nineteen and playing in college now.Looking back, he just had a passion for baseball and wanted to work hard.He was small wehn he was young, so had to work harder than most, and that sort of set the table.
I think travel ball is starting so early, we went to Cooperstown when he was 11 and it was a blast, but that was the first travel ball experience.he didnt start travel ball until he was 13-14.
I have seen it all with players, and I really believe you can only push so hard.it has to come from them.Because for the boys that play beyond HS, it isnt always just fun, its hard work.Even in HS to be a really good player, it is work.There are those exceptional athletes that seem to just be able to play every sport, but mine wasnt one of them.he had to work hard.
He played all the other sports for fun until HS and then decided that baseball was his passion.Was too small for football, and not tall enough for basketball as a freshmen.He grew a ton during HS.

I see parents try to make their sons good at the game.But they have to want that.It is work, and from that work comes the fun, when they see their success.Thats how it was for my son.Many of his friends snowboarded(mine wouldnt , afraid he would be hurt for baseball), he directed this from his own desire.

We supported him, paid for trainers, paid for hitting, camps,anything he wanted to do to get better,our stipulation was he had to maintain a 3.3-3.5 in HS.If he worked hard in school, we did all we could do help him with his baseball.

He and about 5 guys from HS have gone on to JC, D1, baseball and continue to play.All of them worked pretty hard to get there.

Sorry, not from the Norteast.Didnt mean to steal thread.

fanofgame,

No worries...doesn't matter where you're from all comments when positive or objective are good!

I feel confident that my son will "see the light" but you are right it will have to come from him. He has always been one of the bigger kids and it has come natural to him to this point so he hasn't had to work at it yet. But now that he is hitting the high school level his natural talent will only take him so far.

It's got to be fun! If it feels like a job or a chore they will quickly lose interest IMO.

My son has been working through the winter (Dec to March) since he was 11. Usually going 4-5 nights a week. He's now a 17 yo senior. Going to baseball workouts all those years was more like hanging out with his friends than baseball workouts. While doing his baseball hour and fitness hour he would be laughing and talking and having fun.

I don't mean horsing around and not doing things but joking and breaking b alls in between reps and swings, like most boys.

If I had to force or push him into going he would have stopped a few years ago.

fillsfan: Would you say your son has developed the mental side of his game? (My guess is yes.)

I think the players that fall away baseball aren't learning the finer details of the game. Baseball can be pretty boring and "stale" if you don't develop a deeper knowledge of the game. If video games didn't have levels, the kids would probably get bored with those too.

When my son was a preteen whatever sport was in season was his favorite sport. In each sport he had the internal drive to play and play and play to be the best he could be. In baseball he wanted to hit and hit. He wanted to take 500 grounders a week. I never had to push. He only played baseball from March to the end of July.

When he got on the 60/90 field baseball started mattering a little more than the other sports. But his 13U season was still only March to the end of July. It wasn't until 14U heading into high school the following year that he played through the end of October. Same work ethic, just a longer season.

My son never took lessons before high school. I played college ball. I could teach him. I assembled a travel team coaching staff in 13U/14U of former college players. We had every aspect of the game covered between the four of us.

I never pushed. My son asked to work out. The most I ever pushed was asking him if he was reaching his goals laying on the sofa. I wouldn't get acknowledgement in the moment. But he would later ask about working out.

Paid lessons and physical training did not start until high school. I don't think he would be in any different place had he started earlier. He played 18U as a sixteen year old.

You can't physically develop a player until his body is ready. In the fall of soph year my son was 5'11", 135 (5'4", 120 the year before). It didn't matter what he ate or how hard he worked out. By winter he was eating like a hound and drinking protein shakes. Eating like a hound was his body's way of telling him it's time. By the spring of soph year. he was 6'1", 165. Now he works out for baseball year round. He can smell the prospects of college ball. Just like playing the game, sometimes you have to let the development come to the player. Then he has to ready to make it pay off.

The emotional motivation came from within and from being five years younger than his sister who plays college softball. From the time he was five he was hanging around travel softball practices. He chose practicing with the 12U travel team over tee ball.

In our house the kids hear a lot about success and being the best whether it's dad's career, mom's career, academics, community involvement or sports. The kids have never heard anything but be the best they can be.

I genuinely believe not pushing him and having plenty off season when he was younger, has a lot to do with his passion and year round work ethic in high school.

quote:

I think the players that fall away baseball aren't learning the finer details of the game. Baseball can be pretty boring and "stale

I think thats true.My own son loves the statistical side of the game, the numbers etc.He would sit and watch a MLB game(BRAVES)and he would keep score for fun.He just likes all the history , players, teams, trades, he could be a sports analyst or a great coach.I do think that kids that like the finer details of baseball, and they see the whole field and whats happening, I do agree they like it more that the ones who get bored.

Bobby,
When I hear the mental side of the game I think of make-up. Is he prepared? How he handles tough situations? Can he eliminate negative thoughts?

So far I think he is doing well with those things. He has had some minor (major at the time) setbacks the past few years (injury, not making the HS teams he thought he should) and he has come out of those very well.

Maybe being around older kids all those winters has made him a more mature player. If so, I wish he had hung out with older kids at school to make him a more mature student.

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
Bobby,
When I hear the mental side of the game I think of make-up. Is he prepared? How he handles tough situations? Can he eliminate negative thoughts?

Since this topic is development, I used the mental side of the game to describe approach to player development more than anything. For example, most players who go to hit at the cages all winter are simply swinging (physical) and not preparing to be a consistent hitter against premier competition (mental). Maybe they have only been taught the physical part or haven't experience competition/failure that would force them to work mentally. Maybe the workouts are poorly designed so they can't get quality reps. Maybe they don't care.

I bet the older kids your son was around were better than him (bigger, stronger, hit the ball harder and more consistently) so he had to pay attention, learn and improve to keep up. The older players probably had higher expectations that were imposed your son. From a development standpoint, these are things he wouldn't likely get from players his age, especially if he was already a top player.

I agree that the winter workouts need to be structured and supervised. Which they were. You are correct that the mental part is just as important as the physical part.

5,000 to 10,000 swings over the winter are detremental unless they are proper swings.

quote:

Maybe being around older kids all those winters has made him a more mature player. If so, I wish he had hung out with older kids at school to make him a more mature student.