You aren’t seriously giving him a writing assignment on baseball games?
Just remember he’s 12, won’t come close to developing into a protectable player until he’s through puberty and needs your friendship and support more than he needs baseball.
I was hands-off with baseball because I didn’t know a darn thing about it. It’s turned out great though. My son loves it and owns his training. So it can be a good thing to be the emotional support rather than the technical support.
@TexasLefty posted:You aren’t seriously giving him a writing assignment on baseball games?
Just remember he’s 12, won’t come close to developing into a protectable player until he’s through puberty and needs your friendship and support more than he needs baseball.
I was hands-off with baseball because I didn’t know a darn thing about it. It’s turned out great though. My son loves it and owns his training. So it can be a good thing to be the emotional support rather than the technical support.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^
Put gas in the car, but let the athlete drive. It’s their journey, we’re just support and opinionated passengers.
Just gonna add that we are all able to post here and you should feel free to put things out there and get responses that you might not have been expecting.
Recently, I had a post and I reached out by DM to some on that post. I didn’t realize my words were misinterpreted as trying to brag or something. I think they thought I was a d$ck. I especially wasn’t trying to come across that way. So keep the dialogue going and, like I said, this group will be brutal but honest ( or honest but brutal). Welcome to the board 😁😁
I agree, quickest way to make him hate baseball is give him homework. Don’t need to do anything but play and have fun. Maybe some lessons if he needs them. At 14 or so maybe a trainer.
Just my .02. If I did that with my sons I don’t think they would have continued playing.
@Fanofdagame posted:Greetings TexasLefty. I appreciate your sincere welcome to the group. I’ve been reading through threads for a while and there is wealth of knowledge and experience that I’m grateful to learn from.
One thing I have to share is beginning this week I’ll be giving my son a weekly assignment. It consist of him choosing 1 game to watch a week (any level of play) and he’s to choose 1 defensive play and one at bat. He’ll explain in writing why he chose the plays and what happened. Nothing too heavy, just a weekly exercise to get him looking at the game with a little more focus and intent.
Instead of writing, maybe he can share (verbally) what happened in the game and why he thinks it happened. Possibly this will give him some deeper insights why certain strategies or tactics work or don't work in a particular game.
So, back when I used to coach a 12-year old travel team I wrote down 14 Hall of Famers names and put them in a baseball cap. My plan was for each one of my players and coaches to pick a name in the cap, research the player and when called upon after practice tell his teammates about the HOFer. I allowed written notes on a flashcard. After practice, I'd pick someone to tell us (1-2 minutes) about the their HOFer. The goal of the exercise was to teach 12 year olds about baseball history and its best players. But, not every 12 year old boy loves history or any form of homework! Bottom line...50% of the kids liked doing it and 50% didn't. You know your son best.
Just my experience.....good luck!
How about on a sunny day you take your son to a college baseball game and buy him his favorite food or ice cream. While there maybe play dumb and ask him casually to explain a few of the plays he thought were interesting or cool.
My son a catcher would sit there and explain some of pitching calls to me and and critique the pitcher's overall delivery and how he would approach them if he was at bat. I enjoyed his commentary.
