One pothole

Unnecessary camps/showcases.......have learned a lot during this journey with my first one(and from this site)....will definitely change philosophy with the second son.

Getting "all worked up" when son comes home with things HS Coach did or said. Funny thing is, next day no big deal to son. Let him work through it on his own, because son may have been dramatizing the event.  

not starting early -  with research of school and doing prospect camps a year late

Beware of ACADEMIC advisers.  I can't tell you how many kids my son played with who got bad advice from academic advisers.  (Though I am sure some were blaming the advisers for their own mistakes).    

Getting on the right travel team. Pick the best one in your area. Limit the camps and showcases.

Learning the difference between a school casting a wide net and real interest.  Take a step back and think about who is the buyer and who is the seller.  The goal is to be the buyer.  Who's phone is ringing? - yours or theirs.  That can tell you everything.

To prove a point to another parent I got my dog invited to the same camp as their son. I filled out the same online form they filled out for my dog. I had to lie on the dog's sixty time. They wouldn't have believed he runs the sixty in five seconds.

Do your research on what camps and showcases to send your kids to. And make sure that schools that have an interest in your son will be there. So many of these are just an utter waste of money.  

Pothole? - potholes.

Literally... if there were one in the road, my kid would find it, fall in it or try to jump over it and get hurt.

So, trying to turn that into a more serious learning point, I still don't know what I would have done differently.  It's both his blessing and curse.  When he competes, he goes 1000%.  It is what has allowed him to stay in the game thus far into college.  It is also what has come very close to putting him out of the game many, many times.

Good topic JB, been thinking hard all day about this.

I found the whole process to be overwhelming, that's why I try to help folks understand, but sometimes folks don't want to listen.

Looking back I don't think I would change much, but then again all situations are different and we did what was best for our player, which is the number one thing to always remember.

I don't know what pothole (s) I would avoid, can't speak for son, but looking back there are two minor things (sorry I know you said just one).

I would make him take more ownership to the process and I would sit and enjoy more games instead of worrying about what coach was watching, what scout, and what velocity he was throwing, maybe not in that order.  I understand it is tough, I still have a hard time with it, and in the end, things do tend to work out.

Good advice...

With my daughter (softball) I felt like I was blindfolded and playing pin the tail on the college. Fortunately the right school found her. The biggest mistake was wrong showcases. Sometimes we were throwing spaghetti off the wall to see what stuck. Between that and finding this site we developed a business plan for my son. Then he got injured (seriously) and ended up walking on. But the process aligned him with a mentor who recommended him to the program.

It's about developing a plan, and understanding how it all really works, not grabbing at straws (offers).

jbb, you can really come up with some doozies. This a great topic.

From  my perspective, the very biggest pothole was underestimating the quantity of very/highly  talented  prospects who compete for D1 roster spots in California every year coupled with overestimating how few slots/openings there are in all D1 programs, combined, in California each year to accommodate all that talent.  Talk about a lesson in supply and demand!   I should not have missed those 8am econ classes. .

Thanks infielddad...I ponder these things for a while before I start them.  And still, I worry that I pushed the wrong button.  

Since we've had 2 sons go through the recruiting process, I'm gonna use my second son to post a second pothole.  

(I was reminded of it while having lunch with my favorite HS baseball coach today...as I am presently an unemployed and furloughed federal employee - non-essential rocket scientist!  ).

My 2nd pothole...which we largely avoided...was over-pitching our son.  Both of our sons were well-known pitchers in our area and both were in high demand from area travel clubs.  "Rent-a-pitcher" is a common practice amongst travel coaches as they 'stock up' for weekend tournaments.  But I was wiser the 2nd time around...and I listened to hsbaseballweb advice too!...and we exercised much more control on son #2 as he progressed through HS.

Since #2 was a decent hitter too, we did indeed let him play Fall ball and other 'extracurricular' venues.  But inevitably in one of these venues, he was asked to pitch...at least a little.  So I implemented 'restraints' such as...no more than 2 innings...and within those 2 innings, you get 1 curveball per inning...work on fastball command and your changeup.  I told him, 'you choose where to use it.'

Pothole?  Yes.  Improved parental management?  I think yes on that too.  

A pothole I would share came up more during the my son’s pre-recruitment years.  While it might not fit JBB's topic exactly I think it’s still part of the process so I’ll throw mine out there…

I should have taken more responsibility to educate myself about the importance of protecting our sons arm during his 12-15 YO years. At that point we had no idea he would/could play at an advanced level so I didn't think much about it and let him play A LOT of weekend tournaments.  Looking back I think the wear and tear on his arm at a younger age caused him some troubles later down the line (he was out for most of his junior year with an impingement).

It all worked out however looking in the rear view mirror those weekends where he pitched 7 to 10 innings and then played SS was a big pothole in my opinion.

This is exactly what my son's College coach does with his projected starters. Freshmen and transfers get many more inning in the Fall. He needs to see what they can do.

Great topic JB.  Potholes?  Let's see, after reading some of the responses thus far....my son played on a few of the best Travel Teams in So-Cal as a two-way player, so that doesn't apply.  He attended several showcases and college camps, and I spent a chunk of change...but I wouldn't call it a Pothole, because I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  I too tried to limit my son's innings on the bump during the Fall/Winter, but did a poor job protecting him.  The number of innings pitched during his senior year of HS including Scout-Ball, Travel-Ball, HS Spring, and the numerous showcase camps easily exceeded 175 innings, in addition to playing in the outfield.  That likely led to his torn UCL the following year!? Yep...that's my Pothole!  Try not to get caught up in the hoopla for your son, and do what's best for him. Parental Management is good advice.

Moreso what I saw with others as we went through the process...Overestimating the player's talent level leading to unrealistic expectations of where they want to play after high school...thus time wasted on schools they would not be recruited by...and eventually, not ending up anywhere...

We are in the midst of 2014 panic so I'm still figuring out our potholes. So far the biggest one in my mind is letting him play basketball last winter instead of attending camps and working on off-season hitting, etc. Being a three sport athlete has been a good experience with that major exception. Now we are behind the 8 Ball still looking for the right fit for his college years and feeling like he's running out of time!