practicing at home

Sounds to me like he has some fire going for baseball burning inside. He might not have the competitive fire burning yet, and that's OK IMO. I think that when he realizes that he has some skills and that they will need to be honed, he will want to work at it.

It's great to suggest that you would like to do some practice with him. Personally, I wouldn't force him to do it. He'll be fine.

At 9 years old, I'd let him have fun. If that means practicing with you at home, fine. If it means going out and playing the games only, fine. Remember (and it appears you do) baseball is a game. Keep it fun or else he may get burnt out quickly.

After the national anthem is sung, it's "Play Ball!" not "Work Ball"

In my opinion, I think the kid has to be older in realizing that he has to do it for himself. An I would have to say that sometimes (according to the situation) I would make him go practice in the backyard. Back in the day, sometimes I'd make my son go throw in the backyard and other stuff with me when he didn't want to do it. 95% of the time he would say afterward that he was glad that I did that cause he just wasn't in the mood at the beginning, but he felt good that he did. Good luck!

Re-read your first sentence - "My son is 9".

Re-read your second sentence - "For years, it's always been him..." He's only nine - how long has the child been playing ball?

OK, now take a deep breath of reality and let the boy have some fun. "... he needs to practice because his team was depending on him." What?!? No one should be depending on a nine-year old. They are traditionally quite undependable!

Relax dad. It's all good.

At 9 all my son did was play catch in the front yard with his dad. They had fun.

At 15 he practices with his high school team.

Dad is a bit reluctant to play catch anymore, but he will catch long loss. He will also do some soft toss in a net, but he doesn't like throwing bp anymore. The strength at 15/16 can be too scary.

Have fun while you can.

danocaster.. heres a suggestion if you think the boy needs some additional practice, get him a pitch and field screen / net, it can provide hours of practice and fun.. my boys really liked them. actually i could use another one for my 10 year old. and whiffle ball makes em happy too

dano

try this: keep you glove at the ready at all times so when he says "Dad let's play catch" you are set to go---let him be the leader of the action

quote:

Originally posted by danocaster:


I told my wife that I wasn't going to make him practice at home if he didn't want to. If gets to the game and he's rusty, maybe it will teach him a lesson that he needs to learn on his own. My wife disagrees with me and says that since he's still a kid, he needs to be told to keep up with his responsibilities. If he wanted to sign up, he's got to follow it through until the season is over.

A nine year old doesn't have any responsibility to the team other than to show up. It should be up to him if he wants to practice away from the team. All you should do is offer, not make him do it.

One thing that's different from when we were kids is how hard parents push kids. And how parents seem to think it's a reflection on them whether or not their kids succeed.

danocaster,

Even though mine were always highly self motivated, one of the things that sparked them was to attend some higher quality events than just the local league play.

Take your future star to the local 12U game and really sit down with him and talk about the game and how the better players conduct themselves, make the plays, and how they hit.

Take him to the regional play offs and sit with him and talk about how their level of play is even higher than the local events.

Take him to a high school game and talk about how their level a game is even better. And lastly take him to a college game and sit with him and talk about how their level of play is higher and what they needed to do to get to that point and how fun it can be by having a goal and working hard to get to that point.

Another thing that also kicked them into high gear was not getting chosen for a high level international travel team, I asked what did he think about not getting chosen for the team, his response was he did not like it and he could be better than others who were chose. My question was, what was he going to do about it, his answer quickly was he was going to work harder to get better, and he just followed that up through the years of out working the next guys and also took others with him to out work the guys other teams.

The youth ages are golden and he will not get them back! Don't ruined them by putting too much pressure on them, let them enjoy them but do have them set goals that they can understand and achieve.

Good luck and enjoy the ride, as with most, it will be over before you know it and you cannot get them back!

Homerun04,

Thanks for reminding me of the college games I took infidel_son to, starting back when he was 5. I happened to be laid off at the time, so I was able to hang around the ballpark when the players were just working out in the different stations, no crowds, no game. There was not much to discuss that a 5 year-old could really understand, but I think it made a big impression. Heck, I enjoyed it a ton, too. Just watching and studying.

We did that from time to time as he got a little older, too. I remember one time there were only two guys working in a cage and we watched them for a bit. I'll always remember when 9 yo infidel_son asked if he could pitch a few to the batter from behind the screen and the guys said OK. That was a huge thrill for both of us.

(I might have suggested that he ask, but he was game for it.)

Hi danocaster. For now, your son not wanting to work on his own might be a good thing for his health. 2B was one of those who wanted to play 24/7. He wanted to practice before practice and after practice, he wanted to pitch and hit and throw and take grounders all the time. He definitely hasn't burned out because he is still that way, but from ages 11-14, we dealt with a series of growth-related overuse injuries, and it was tough. I'm sure it had more to do with pitching and playing SS/3B for 100 or so games every year, but all the extra stuff that he did on his own didn't help.

So my advice, like so many others, is to relax, let the boy grow, play, and have fun. Sounds like that is what he wants to do, and he'll be fine.

Son is now 15--played travel since 11. Before that he played rec league. When he joined travel he was not behind any of the long time travel players. Up until 13-14 we pretty much played catch and long toss. He is a pitcher--3rd base and as mom said above he is scary to catch now. As long as you have a coach who is solid with fundamentals early (young age) practices with team and catch when he wants I think are fine. Once they get in 8-9 grade is where I think the extra work needs to be put in. I tell my son I will pay if he dedicates and does the extra work. I am sure some of the more experinced posters will give you great advice--best of luck and have FUN!

Just wanted to join the others by saying relax and let your son guide at home practice.
Mine was one of those who wanted to play a lot, but he still loved other things and needed free time to decide what games he wanted to play.

He often asked his dad to practice with him because they never treated it like practice...it was turned into a game.

If they were hitting whiffle balls or whatever, my husband called the hits based on how well my son connected so they may have man on first with no outs after his first solid contact. Pop-ups were outs, etc. As the game progressed, he tried to score more runs than the previous "inning" My son also got to pitch to my husband and he got to decide if they were hits or not (this was just whiffles at this age....)

They would do the same thing when he practiced pitching only his goal was not give up runs, of course.

Even on long toss, it was a game and they gave each other points on if the ball was not rainbowed and reached on a line, not a bounce. He also got points when he could move back and not bounce it.

He asked his dad to go "play" baseball with me, not practice.

Enjoy this time. It is so precious!

My branch manager and I were talking over lunch the other day. He use to catch at UGA years ago and even went to MILB for a short stint. He now has a 10yr old son who loves golf. He plays on a Jr. PGA kids tour on weekends with other kids his age. My boss was asking how did I try to persuade younggun to practice harder, focus, etc. in baseball. As we talked he had one of them things called an epiphany...lol.

He caddies for his son. As they were waiting between the 6th and 7th hole on the course he looked over and saw his son over on the ground playing with an ant hill. Having a blast. It dawned on him right then that his son was still a boy. There was not need to push him to work harder, etc. He wanted his son to enjoy his years as a little boy and have fun. The time will come when he is ready to take the next step.

I would like to say Thank you for all of your comments- a lot of great advice.

I would like to answer, and clarify a few things:

1. He started playing baseball when he was 6 at the YMCA. He loved it so much, he played spring, summer and fall. After the next spring, there was no team for him to play on, so he tried out for a 9U select team. He was 7 at the time. He made it, didn't get a lot of playing time, but he learned a lot. Went to Little League after that.. We've been thru one extreme to the other...

2. We watch baseball all the time and talk about the plays and approach, etc. He knows a lot about the game. It's funny, he used to go to my softball games with me, and tell me what I was doing wrong!

I"m not saying any of this because I'm bragging that he's a star and destined for the MLB.... I'm just pointing out that he has signed on at every opportunity. He loves to play and he's pretty good. My goal is for him to have fun, learn about baseball, and again, learn the life lessons that go along with it, and spend time with my son, just like my Dad did with me.


3. In response to "Mythreesons"-
I don't think there's anything wrong with teaching a kid that when he plays sports, he has a certain responsibility to his team. Let me explain the situation: He played for this same head coach in the fall. The coach drafted him because he was a good pitcher. Now, in the spring, when he's going to start a game, we gear up for it by practicing pitching for a couple of days ahead. (nothing too taxing on his arm -btw) As I mentioned earlier, the times that he's pitched a good game, he's told me that he's glad he practiced at home. Sometimes he didn't feel like getting out there, but he did, and it paid off in the game. He was glad that he was prepared.

4. I sometimes think of the parallel.... when kids take guitar lessons, for example. The kids are into it, but often they want to be good without doing the work. The parent has to teach the child to follow through, and finish what he started. I don't think that's a bad thing either...

Anyway, I'm not disagreeing with what everyone has posted here, just trying to show where I was coming from. I will try to keep it light and loose. I've noticed that parents seem to have more patience with the other kids than they do their own. I have certainly been guilty of this at times and I do not like it.. just being honest. I will let him decide when to play or practice, but I guess I will give him a friendly reminder when he needs one, and then let him decide. Of course I want my son to succeed, as we all do, but sometimes failure can be the best teacher. It's all part of life. I'm just trying to find the right balance.... he's still a kid.

Thanks again for all of the great advice.