Evaluation

Go to a winter college camp. You will get the most bang for your buck and they will be completely honest in their evaluation. Most college camps (especially a smaller college) are around 300$ or less. Some one day camps are only around a 100$ or less. As a freshman, going to a "showcase" is a little premature and they cost a lot.

We went to a JC camp when our son was a 8th grader and we paid like 275$ for a three day camp. They evaluated him with video and with three separate coaches opinions and advice. Best money I ever spent.

I don't know how quickly you want to go, but there is one in Palm Beach in July for about $250. It's run by Joe Arnold, the former UF coach and Yankees Supervisor of Scouting. The site is getmynameout.com Of course, you can take in a PG showcase in Ft. Myers at the beginning of June. perfectgame.org

Good luck.

Come on down to my Baseball Evaluation clinic. For $695 you can be evaluated by my professionals...

Play for a good summer coach. You'll get an honest evaluatin of your fundamentals. Where a freshman scores as a college prospect isn't important. There will be a lot of physical and skils development over the next two years when it really matters.

The winter camp at a college is a great idea. Thanks Skylark.

BOF - too funny....that is exactly what I envision when looking into the evaluation.

RJM - we are looking for a good summer team now. The tryouts for numerous teams are over the next few weeks. Does anyone in South Florida have any recommendations for good summer team programs?

If your honest you can do a lot of evaluating yourself.

What's his:
Height
Weight
60 time
Velo on throw downs
Accuracy on throw downs
Pop times
Footwork
Blocking skills
What kind of build
How does he compete against top talent

Stuff like that...it's free.

Watch him play this hs season. Watch the other players play this hs season not just your son. Get out to as many hs games as you can get to that your son is not playing in. Find out who the best players "catchers" in your area are. Go watch them play. Go to a college game or two at any level of the college game. Watch them play. Go to a showcase regardless if your son is in attendance or not. Educate yourself on the game and the ability of players. Be honest with yourself and your son.

Who has verballed or signed in your area to college programs? Go watch them play. Who is considered the top young players in your area? Go watch them play.

When your son throws the ball to 2nd base how does it compare to these other players arm strength? Etc etc.

If your son wants something I think its very important to know what it looks like. If your son aspires to reach a certain level I think its very important to know what it actually is that he aspires to reach. I think its very important to understand what its going to take to get there both on the field in games, in the off season and in the class room.

If its that important to your son then get out there and educate yourself and be honest with yourself and him. IMO thats the best thing you can do and its not going to cost you anything but some time.

quote:

Originally posted by MickieD:
My son is a high school freshman.

I am looking for the best place to go for an honest evaluation of his strengths (but most importantly his weaknesses - so he has time to work on them). I looked on the PG website for showcases but I don't think I searched properly - since only 1 showcase in Iowa came up for all of 2012.

I am not certain that he will get honest evaluations from individual hitting coaches, catching coaches, etc. who want to tell me B.S. to have me sign up for lessons, etc.
For those of you (especially those in South Florida) are there showcases or the like to attend down here?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Welcome aboard!

Your son is young, he needs to work on his skills, the best way to do that is to play as often as he can. He doesn't need to be on a showcase team.

Shoot me a pm, main position, etc. and where you are located, HS etc.

pm is private message, click on my name when logged in and will give you the option, "invite to private message".

BOF, too funny!!!!!

Coach May hit the nail on the head.

Be sure to take the blinders off by watching just your son and see who the big arms behind the dish are in your area, and WHY they are.

It's amazing what you will learn.

I have to agree with Coach May as well, good advice as always. In addition...after your son's HS frosh season is completed, find a good summer team. Also, look for a college or showcase camp that's relatively inexpensive, under $150 to get his feet wet. As others have stated, it's still early and you'll see many changes in your son over the next few years...Best of Luck and welcome to the HSBBWeb.

Coach May is right on and it doesn't cost too much except some gas. Put your $$ on his hitting.

There are several showcases on the PG site for 2012 and they've only posted into early June so far, so there will be more. Not sure where you were looking but I already see one in Ft. Myers in early June.

That being said, if you are still in the phase where you want to identify weaknesses and address them, then I'm not sure I'd want a PG web page just yet. Get with a trusted instructor and tell him you need a "warts and all" evaluation so he can know where he needs to improve. Then maybe by late summer your son will be better prepared to create a web page record of his showcase performance for all the world to see.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cball:
If your honest you can do a lot of evaluating yourself.

What's his:
Height
Weight
60 time
Velo on throw downs
Accuracy on throw downs
Pop times
Footwork
Blocking skills
What kind of build
How does he compete against top talent

Stuff like that...it's free.[/QUOTE

IMO, I do not think a parent without baseball experience can properly evaluate between kids, especially catchers. There have been a few other players that I have compared my son to and seen little difference, (based mostly on appearance and numbers), but coaches and scouts have told me there are significant differences. I think there is some quality for catchers that is hard to quantify.

MickieD,
If you can afford the cost then PG is a great option and it doesn't hurt to be seen by them early, especially if he continues to improve over time.

The best alternative if you are simply looking for an evaluation is to go to a college camp near you. That will tend to be half or less the cost of a PG showcase event.

Here's one source of college camps. I haven't looked at in quite a while so I don't know if they've got anything in your area. Make sure that they offer an evaluation as part of the camp. Not every camp does that.

College Baseball Camps