Level of competition vs Quality of coaching?

What age group are we speaking of here?

1st Which team will your son have more "fun" playing for?

My first impression is to pick Group B. Why? If the coach for Group B is as good as you suggest, the consistent baseball knowledge your son will be exposed to will be of great benefit to him.

My child was asked to play/tryout for a "power team" a year ago in St. Louis. She really likes her present coach and the people that assit. Now they are Dads but the Head Coach runs the show and that's that. Just_Learning's Daughter also plays for this team. They don't play as tough of a schedule (other team plays 80+ games each summer we play approx. 40), didn't win as many tournaments and they don't have professional softball coaches. However, she has soooo much fun playing for this coach and with these girls. In her case - FUN WON OUT.

You have to decide knowing your own child what is best for them.

Learning is a funny thing. Not everyone learns something the same way. Some folks need to SEE something demonstrated, some need to HEAR it explained, others need to TRY IT themselves.

The type of player you have certainly helps determine the type of team that is best for him.

If he needs to hear it explained, you better go for the good coach and forget the level of competition. He will learn more from someone who takes time to explain it to him.

If he simply needs to see it, he might learn more from watching some of those very good players in action. Some kids truly can watch a good middle infielder, or catcher in action and pick up a lot of good tips to improve their own game.

If he needs to try it himself then the prime consideration would be which team will give him more playing time. Because he needs the repitition to improve.

We need to know as much about the player as we do the situation to know which is best for him.

And CoachB25 is 100% correct about the fun part. We all learn a lot better when we're having fun.

larrythompson:

Excellent question. I believe there are several factors to consider here. TRhit's question is relevant. If it is a younger age group, Team B is the clear choice in IMHO. You want the good coaching. For older players (say 15 and above) it becomes a bit more difficult. I think we need to make certain assumptions before we proceed. I assume that both teams have a fair tryout, both teams will play the best players at their position regardless and my son wants to play baseball at the next level. With those assumptions made and before deciding which team, I would ask my self several questions:
1) How much does my son know about the game and how badly does he need the "better coaching"? IMHO you get better with better coaching but you also get better playing against better competition. The ideal would be to have both but if I had to choose I need to get a good objective answer to this question.
2) Does he want to go to a college close to home or does he want to be 'exposed' to a wider audience of college coaches and scouts? If it is the latter, I would need to know where the July tournament for Team A is.
3) What is the money involved for either choice?

"I really believe that a player/parent should consider what the coach brings to the table far more than the overall level of talent the player will face. Am I all wet?" No you are centainly not all wet. Whether you should consider the coach "far more" than the talent of the competition is subject to debate but certainly the choice should be made on a rational basis.

Again, excellent post.

I value the opinion of many on this board and appreciate your thoughtful responses. I kept the age group out of the equation just to make this a less cut and dry argument.

I agree that the age group factors into the decision. I also agree that individual aspects of the player need to be factored in as well.

Most everyone who has asked me this question have above average players at the 13-16 year age range. I believe this is a critical age for learning to play the game the right way. At the 17-18 level, we found that we focused as much on the mental aspect of baseball, as we did the physical. I also found that many of the kids who played for us were more successful early if they played for a good coach at the younger age group. Found that they were more prepared for the advanced competition and the situations that arise during a game that can be the difference between winning and losing.

In an area such as ours (central MD) we have lots of affluent people who can pay for their son's to have private lessons, personal trainers, etc... While this is nice for the physical aspects of the game, it does very little for the mental approach. I believe by supplementing the advanced training that these kids get with solid coaching from an established staff (if possible) sets the players up for more long term success.