Position Specific

If you are playing travel you are playing to win, at least in my mind, thus you play your best players at each position.

On our 11/12 team we used the shortstops as outfielders as well, due to the fact that they were the best athletes and usually had the best speed and arms.

TRhit

I think it depends on what the team objective is.

If you are chasing some kind of championship, then you play your players at the positions that best help the team win.

If your priority is to teach the game of baseball and all that this encompasses, then the players would benifit by learning multiple positions.

cong

"In baseball, you don't know nothing." - Yogi

When our son was in the eighth grade, his summer coach went to the high school where most of the boys would be attending and asked the high school coach what he was looking for. The high school coach said that one of his problems was that his players could not play more than one position. Our summer coach told us that one of the objectives for the boys when they played 14U would be to learn three positions.

Being labeled a utility player can sometimes hurt chances to start. However, it gave my son a chance to play varsity ahead of many of his peers. His sophomore year, he played at least an inning at every position except catcher between varsity and JV. The same thing happened his junior year on varsity.

However, it does depend on the team and the coach. A "jack of all trades, master of none" may not be what a particular coach is looking for.

I think it's imperative that kids learn multiple positions. We start practice/tryouts for HS and the Middle Schools today. At my son's MS, he's one of at least 3 kids who can play a solid short. However, he may be a better 3B and he has the tools to develop into a very good OF. He plays all these posiitons on his travel team as well as pitching.
Rememer this: If you can hit and you can throw you can play. That is, provided you aren't a
defensive liability.
If you can play multiple positions and can hit, a coach can find a spot for your bat.
Of course, if you can't hit it doesn't matter.

Something else to remember. At some point during the transition from youth baseball to HS ball the outfield positions become more important. From little league and younger, outfield is a place to "hide" a player.

When you get to a HS-sized field, there's a premium on the ability to track down line-drives, cut off balls down the line and in the gaps, and throw out baserunners.

Taking away base hits and preventing singles from turning into doubles and triples is an essential asset at the high school level.

In my opinion it is a must to teach all kids multiple positions. In fact, every kid from the age of 8-13/14 should have experience (definitely at every practice....and in some game situations) pitching. We are doing them all a disservice if we do not teach them how to play all the positions. We do not always know how they are going to develop physically and in their motor development.

If, as some posters have said, your most important goal is for youth teams to win, then in my opinion you are also doing your players a disservice. Nobody really cares who wins youth athletic tournaments. Those victories do nothing other than fill trophy shelves and feed egos. Egos can be fed in various other ways, most of which are better for the kids.

Teach them how to play, and winning is important, but certainly not at the cost of developing ALL the players.

I would say that particularly on a travel team it is important to be able to play multiple positions, simply because of the number of pitchers required. For tournament play, you may play five games in a weekend. That requires a lot of arms. Most travel teams carry about a dozen players so the majority of position players are most likely pitchers as well. This would give the coach the greatest flexibility with regard to setting a defense.

R.

OK..thanks for the responses. Here is my philosophy:

Each player will play an IF and an OF position. Every player will have a chance to develop as a P (either in the bullpen or on the mound, depending on their proficiency).

My stud SS will not camp out at SS all year (or even all game). He will also play some CF and, hopefully, he can see a better angle to the ball up the middle or see how one of our other SS's V-cuts a backhand.

I think it is very important for these kids to learn multiple positions and start to get specific around 13 or so.

Winning will happen with bringing everyone's skills to a higher level. (We win 9.3 out of 10 games) We certainly have our 'A' lineup which we may use for 3-4 innings in a tourney Championship but our 'A-' and 'B' lineups get a shot in the Championship as well.

It is harder on the kid who Catches, Plays IF and Pitches (like my son). But, after an adaptation period, things iron themselves out.

My son started 11 yo in CF. They needed speed and they had a SS and 2B that were 12 and paid their dues. He moved next to SS. Now as a 05 he is at 3B. He was a a better reflex guy and the SS that emerged a little more versatile and stylish. My son won the Gold Glove award from the 3B position and played SS some when that guy was pitching. All of it has made him better.
My emphasis all along has been on his hitting because that can be the hardest to learn at pratices. You can be all "D" but you will not go far.

a couple things that i have seen. travel ball- you will have multiple kids play positions..it is inevitable. your ss will probably pitch so you have at least two with that right there.i would bet that 3-4 on each team play some short..same with ist and catcher...so on. i will have 4 kids play short this year with 2 being primary. another thing to think about really for your own children. when they get to high school they will become what the hs program needs them to be. likely there will be several teams "shortstops" on the team which means 10 may become a cf, 1 may become the 2b or 3b....so it is in the players best interests to have some experience at a couple of postions. however even at a young age you know there are kids who will not be a shortstop or lf...so i wouldn't worry about getting them experience there..

Redbird 5 you are absolutely correct in your approach. When kids are young and learning the game they need to work at multiple posistions. There will come a time soon enough where they will settle in to certain posistions for various reasons. Either there physical make up and abilities and or the teams needs. The more posistions a kid can play the more he helps himself and the team.

Some good ideas here. If you have an overpowering pitcher and are facing a predominantly right handed lineup you may want to put your best infielder at second base even if it is a "waste" of his arm.