@BB328 posted:All the advice is sound and makes sense except maybe the steak umms and stud comment and lol. I am alot newer to this then everyone here but appreciate the constructive advice.
Don't pay attention to THAT GUY!
Something to remember, your son is in 8th GRADE!
I would also say to every parent of a catcher. Make sure your son can play other positions. I have seen too many kids who were ONLY catchers get left out. Normally only one per team in HS. There can only be probably two catchers per team in college and a bullpen catcher, who normally never gets promoted. All it takes is for someone really good to move in, transfer in, or a fielder bounced out of their position, who has a cannon for an arm, to decide he wants to play catcher some. there are two positions on the field that kids get stuck in. First base and catcher.
I don’t know how normal this is. The varsity coach for the high school was a middle school teacher. When he got the job he started occasionally having lunch with the kids he expected to play varsity at some point in the future. My son said he felt he could talk about anything.
I believe the big strategy was keeping players from leaving for privates and Catholics in high school. He ran a couple of 8th grade practices and attended a couple of games.
My son was the heir apparent for varsity shortstop. One game the varsity coach asked the 8th grade coach to have him catch a few innings. He hadn’t caught regularly since LL all stars and a handful of innings in 13u.
The coach knew he didn’t have a viable catcher the following year. He ultimately went with moving the senior, good hands, starting second baseman to catcher.
My son was a primary catcher preHS. At HS, he spent time at almost every position except on the bump. Played DH too. He went to his college camp as a catcher and played RF as freshman.
A long read....bare with me.....
My (baseball playing) son wanted to play the drums.
So, I had him take several years of weekly piano lessons so he could learn to read music (plus we HAD a piano, and we didn't have drums).
Then we moved on to private drum lessons the year before middle school, where his elective would be band. We invested in the lessons and a snare drum..... and the silencer.
At tryouts, I thought he would be a shoo-in for drums, especially after years of piano and drum lessons. He came home that night and said, proudly, that he will be playing the trombone. Trombone?? Huh? Because HE COULD PUCKER said the teacher and not everyone could pucker! (insert snicker)
We invested in a used trombone and he played trombone for 6th and 7th grade. On the last day of 7th grade he was trudging up the hill from the bus stop with a HUGE black monstrosity. A TUBA. A loaner for him to play around with during the summer. It was a looooong summer.
He learned the tuba pretty well and played by ear several popular tunes by the end of the summer and it was fun watching him in the concerts at Christmas and the end of the year. Did you know there are tuba solos?
All this to say, be versatile. Trust the teachers/coaches. Enjoy where you are. My son played SS on almost every team after LL, except when he was playing on teams where player's dads coached. He played SS on the JV and varsity teams. He was recruited to play in college as a SS. But, he played 2B in college, with some SS on the side. He was drafted as a 2B, but played 2B, SS, 3B, 1B, RF, and LF. In every instance, IF YOU HIT YOU WILL PLAY.
Invest in the lessons, but be willing to play the tuba.
@keewart posted:A long read....bare with me.....
My (baseball playing) son wanted to play the drums.
.....................................................................
All this to say, be versatile. Trust the teachers/coaches. Enjoy where you are. My son played SS on almost every team after LL, except when he was playing on teams where player's dads coached. He played SS on the JV and varsity teams. He was recruited to play in college as a SS. But, he played 2B in college, with some SS on the side. He was drafted as a 2B, but played 2B, SS, 3B, 1B, RF, and LF. In every instance, IF YOU HIT YOU WILL PLAY.
Invest in the lessons, but be willing to play the tuba.
Great analogy!
However, there was no mention of golf lessons in there, anywhere? 
BTW, Keewart's son hit a hole in one a couple weeks ago on the golf course. This speaks volumes to being versatile and talented.
@keewart wrote, “Invest in the lessons, but be willing to play the tuba.”
I absolutely love this! What a great line!!
Does anyone have any stories of positive outcomes that resulted from a player speaking with a coach? My son has spoken to different coaches at various times about what he can get do to get on the field, what they'd like him to work on, etc. The coaches he's spoken to have always been vague. Basically saying continue to work hard, get stronger, faster, stay positive, etc. He does what he's asked, yet nothing ever really happens or changes. This just seems like poor coaching. As a teacher, if a student were to ask me what they needed to do to raise their grade I have specific steps on what they would need to do. If a student was willing to put in the work, I was more than willing to let them have the opportunity to raise their grade.
I've had some with players when I coached HS but it was in daily conversation not in a meeting format. But I can tell you there was never a positive conversation with me and a parent. Told a few to either go back to stands, relatively and physically, or take their kid and go home.
I think the conversations come out of the relationship. The meetings don't normally go good because everyone is put on edge. When a player says, Coach can I talk with you the coach goes on the defense. In practice, when the player and coach are just talking, which they should do if there is relationship, the player can ask the questions in the right way. If there is no relationship, the questions are kinda meaningless. I've always taught my sons to build relationships with their coaches, and now that two are coaches with their players. If the players can't do that, it will be a long season or seasons.
I agree with @PitchingFan about the importance of building a relationship between the player and coach. However, I believe the current state of the game is working against that. College baseball has become more transactional and business like - especially at the highest level of D1. The general over-supply of players, the transfer portal, and over-recruiting are all factors that don’t favor relationship development. IMO you are most likely to develop a relationship with your coaches at the JuCo & D3 levels. It’s less likely to happen at D2 & NAIA. And much less likely to happen at D1. That’s how I see it. Of course, there are always exceptions.
@Momball11 posted:Does anyone have any stories of positive outcomes that resulted from a player speaking with a coach? My son has spoken to different coaches at various times about what he can get do to get on the field, what they'd like him to work on, etc. The coaches he's spoken to have always been vague. Basically saying continue to work hard, get stronger, faster, stay positive, etc. He does what he's asked, yet nothing ever really happens or changes. This just seems like poor coaching. As a teacher, if a student were to ask me what they needed to do to raise their grade I have specific steps on what they would need to do. If a student was willing to put in the work, I was more than willing to let them have the opportunity to raise their grade.
I coached from kiddie ball 7-12yo rec and 9u-16u travel. To be honest every kid who ever came to me (or worse the parent came to me) asking what they could do to earn a specific position had an unrealistic view they could play that position supported by a parent.
The worst year was 13u when a couple of parents didn’t understand their kid didn’t have the speed, quickness and/or range to play short or center on the big field. I got tired of the hassle and didn’t invite either kid back for 14u.
One situation was a fatherless player. The mother approached me about things a parent should never approach a coach (playing time, position, place in the batting order). She was under the impression she needed to advocate for her son because she felt I must have been having those conversations with the other player’s dads. She even had the nerve to come into the dugout mid game one time.
In high school my son was afraid of his coach soph year. They barely spoke. But after an all conference soph year and a hot start junior year all of a sudden he felt he could joke with the coach. His performance on the field earned him the access.
The only real conversation they had soph year was the end of season exit discussion. The coach told him he expected a big junior year. When my son came home that night he said until then he didn’t know if the coach liked him or not.
In college he said he had two real discussions with his head coach. The first one was about where he might be drafted. The second was an introduction meeting with the new coach because my son was a returning starter. Ongoing conversations were with assistants.
My son was on varsity as a freshman, but didn't play much. He didn't understand all of the decisions. I know he had an exit interview with the coach, but I don't know/remember what he said, or what the coach said (getting it filtered through a 15-year-old - hmmph). Sophomore year and after he was a starter, he played different roles each year, depending on the other players and what the team needed.
I agree with PF that many coaches are put on the defensive by any type of question about playing time. And how can a player or coach talk about this without mentioning other players? It's the right thing for a coach not to talk about other players, so then he necessarily has to be vague: get stronger, faster, etc.
Some great responses on this thread from 2017: https://community.hsbaseballwe...king-to-coach?page=1
@Momball11 posted:Does anyone have any stories of positive outcomes that resulted from a player speaking with a coach? My son has spoken to different coaches at various times about what he can get do to get on the field, what they'd like him to work on, etc. The coaches he's spoken to have always been vague. Basically saying continue to work hard, get stronger, faster, stay positive, etc. He does what he's asked, yet nothing ever really happens or changes. This just seems like poor coaching. As a teacher, if a student were to ask me what they needed to do to raise their grade I have specific steps on what they would need to do. If a student was willing to put in the work, I was more than willing to let them have the opportunity to raise their grade.
Yes. My son approached his 14U travel coach (at the end of the season) about playing in the field and hitting more in 15U as he played the field and hit 3 or 4 on his JV high school team (8th graders can play JV). We've known the travel coach for a long time and he gave my son the best answer and honest feedback that motivated him even more. This would end up being a milestone in his baseball journey
He said my son had a great feel for the game, and knew when to throw certain pitches especially his change up that many times resulted in a ground ball or double play. The coach was very much in tune with what my son was doing on the mound, and told him his ticket to college baseball was on the mound not in the field. He was 100% right despite my son's further objections about playing the field and hitting. He added that my son's velocity was elite for this age, but that he wanted him to go deeper into games with his 3 pitches (FB, Cutter, ChangeUp). He needed him to get in better shape and work on his pitching endurance. His travel coach had recommended that my son try out for a new national travel/showcase 15U team that was being formed and that his son was trying out for the same team. This national travel team ended up being the path to more competition, exposure, opportunity, and instruction. This team would go on to win the PG National 16U WWBA.
The advice his former coach gave him was priceless. He saw things we didn't see at the time, but we would eventually see.
Just my experience....
@fenwaysouth, that’s a great testimony to listening to good advice from someone that knows more than you do. It seems to me that went on much more in years past than it does now. I advise a lot of players and parents. The ones that listen to me and follow my advice tend to have good results. But a lot of players/parents don’t listen to my advice or any other advice that they don’t agree with. And they tend to not have good experiences - at least not in the beginning. I consider the people that frequent this board to not be in that category for the most part. But I do wonder why so many players/parents now think they know better.
My son is definitely willing to play the tuba lol metaphorically speaking.
In fact the focus this year in the off season was to practice skills in the outfield and infield to become a more well rounded player.
A few years ago he was basically thrown into being a catcher it was a trial by fire. He ended up catching almost every game that summer and the majority of them last summer. He loved it so we invested in training and he focused heavily on that for the past 2 years.
But his travel ball coaches who have been around the block encouraged him to become more versatile. He played and practiced multiple positions during winter workouts.
Regarding hitting he's a pretty good hitter with good EV usually placed in the upper part of the order but needs to develop more power and muscles like most 14 yos.
He choose a really competitive (not school related) summer team. He moved up a level after the fall. They have too many options for catcher so competition will be tough. They are all good players and all can hit. Being realistic he may only get behind the plate as a guest player locally. That's why I thought it might be good for him to have a conversation with the school coach.
We've encouraged him to continue his catching training because he loves it. However catching can be all encompassing and can take away from developing other skill sets if your player is good but not elite with a plus arm.
I keep going back to the fact as a parent it's great to practice non attachment (like Buddha says) to any one idea about where my son will end up in the field and be steady in your support and encouragement.
In baseball there are so many ups and downs and twists and turns who knows where he will end up.
@RJM posted:I coached from kiddie ball 7-12yo rec and 9u-16u travel. To be honest every kid who ever came to me (or worse the parent came to me) asking what they could do to earn a specific position had an unrealistic view they could play that position supported by a parent.
This is probably a common occurrence for sure.
I'm just sitting as a parent observer and letting everything play out between my son and his coach. I don't think it's an issue with unrealistic expectations. This is a top ranked team for the largest school division within our state. I think it's more an issue of there being too few spots and too many good players. This will be the third year my son has been on varsity. Granted first year there was no play time, but that was expected. Fortunately they let him get play time with JV. My son's an introvert, so I appreciate @PitchingFan's thoughts. It will give him something to work on. The coach has made a concerted effort and gone out of his way to tell me how he appreciates my son.
I just find it interesting that too often the advice is for the player to have a conversation with the coach and this is exactly what coaches request a player do (as announced at the start of the season meeting with parents). Yet, in reality the coach doesn't provide specific answers and/or they act as if they don't want to be asked.
So advice. Been asking around, albeit carefully. The recommendations from other coaches have been to have my son transfer because he's not getting fair treatment and he'd be playing at any other school in the state. Unfortunately, the damage of him having little play time in HS will unfortunately be a potential red flag. I know it's not the end of the world sort of damage, but let's face it....it is a red flag. So I guess the thing to do is for him to just keep grinding and rely on continued success during travel?
Being able to play Catcher will absolutely open a ton of doors in College. It’s a huge plus. Definitely keep him training in learning the Catcher position regardless of where else he plays moving forward
Not having the wear and tear of playing Catcher very often in meaningless Travel Ball games in the next few years is also a huge plus
Try to see it as a win win
@Momball11 posted:Does anyone have any stories of positive outcomes that resulted from a player speaking with a coach? My son has spoken to different coaches at various times about what he can get do to get on the field, what they'd like him to work on, etc. The coaches he's spoken to have always been vague. Basically saying continue to work hard, get stronger, faster, stay positive, etc. He does what he's asked, yet nothing ever really happens or changes. This just seems like poor coaching. As a teacher, if a student were to ask me what they needed to do to raise their grade I have specific steps on what they would need to do. If a student was willing to put in the work, I was more than willing to let them have the opportunity to raise their grade.
What isn't communicated and probably should be was the part that the player had to get faster and stronger than the others he is competing against. It doesnt matter if you improved from a 7.2 to a 6.7 running the 60 if the other kid is at 6.5 or if you exit velo jumped 10 mph if the other kid jumped 15. Its what you have to do relative to all others.
@NewUmpire posted:What isn't communicated and probably should be was the part that the player had to get faster and stronger than the others he is competing against. It doesnt matter if you improved from a 7.2 to a 6.7 running the 60 if the other kid is at 6.5 or if you exit velo jumped 10 mph if the other kid jumped 15. Its what you have to do relative to all others.
Yes, absolutely. Son did improve to the point he was either best or second best in all that could be measured. This was a big factor for why others advised transferring.
@NewUmpire posted:What isn't communicated and probably should be was the part that the player had to get faster and stronger than the others he is competing against. It doesnt matter if you improved from a 7.2 to a 6.7 running the 60 if the other kid is at 6.5 or if you exit velo jumped 10 mph if the other kid jumped 15. Its what you have to do relative to all others.
Please don’t take this personally, but this advice that specifically focuses on improving metrics is exactly why so many players now have a low baseball IQ. Good metrics alone do not make a good player. To address the examples given, most players would be better served to learn how to improve their baserunning (and reads off the bat) than working on straight line speed. They would also be better served to improve their situational hitting, going opposite field, and bunting than trying to achieve higher exit velo. The people that embrace what I just said are the ones that have a better chance of improving - and maybe getting on the field more often.
