Question

Most every kid goes through this and yours playing against older kids is very understandable. You will just have to talk to him (often) and teach him how to roll away from the pitch to avoid getting hit in the chest or face. Many kids want to jump back, which exposes their chest/face and potentially can be very damaging. Some kids are able to get past this ans some are not.

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

A few questions

Why a 5/6 year old playing baseball 10 months a year?

Why is a 7 year old playing with 9 and 10 year olds?

TRhit

He plays that much essentially because he wants to! He is, however, taking this season off because of the problem explained above.

Playing with older kids because his overall skill level is comparable to them.....dunno if that is good or bad.....thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Perhaps the problem above is happening becayse he is being rushed up the ladder

There is no way a 7 year old mixes in with 10 year olds

JMHO

TRhit

Fanatic

He may have the skills to play up, but hitting against kids that much older and bigger is not in his best interest.

I hear different opinions on the age/league question all the time. My son is an August born so he already has an advantage for age. He is also pretty big which helps, but I will never play him up. Even though he has the skills and size he is still the same age mentally.

My job is to teach fundamentals and instill confidence. I let him be the "big dog" his final year in coaches pitch and this year will be his final year in Minors. He certainly could have moved up to Minors and Majors early, but why?

I think that the mental part of the game is equally as important as the physical part and being one of the best players is good experience for him mentally. It builds confidence and it also teaches him other aspects of maturity as well, like helping the younger kids and learning to be a leader on the field and in the dugout. That alone is worth it's weight in gold!

I see other dads "beating their chests" that their sons moved up early. IMO, it is more for them, than their sons. That is probably not your case, but the result, as you are experiencing, can be negative. The worst thing that could happen is that a boy with advanced athletic ability could actually be turned-off by the game and stop playing all together.

My recommendation would be to build confidence again. Take the season off or let him play with kids his own age (even if the other parents don't like it). Take him to the cages and let him get used to seeing the ball where he won't get hurt. Take a step or two back and let him have fun again. Rekindle the joy and enthusiasm for the game and build confidence. Being frightened is NO fun!

R.

TRhit & Callaway -->

The best rule of thumb I've heard about playing up is this- would the player be one of the top 5 players for the team he is playing up? In other words, if he's not one of the better players on the older team it probably better for him to be one of the best players on the younger team. Playing 2-3 years up makes me think either your son is one stud or the older kids just aren't very good.

I'm not a big supporter of kids playing up. In does work in some cases, but for most the emotional maturity will catch up to them. IMHO his fear is an indication that he's not ready to face kids 2-3 years older than him. What league permits this anyway? Most only permit 1 year due to common sense and insurance purposes.

Do him a favor and find an appropriately skilled team in his age group.

Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions!

When he isn't afraid to step into the box, he is probably one of the top 5 on the team, clearly one of the top 3 defensively. It is not so much that he is a stud, although he is good. I think it is more of a mixed bag as far as skill level of the team.

He is already taking a season off. I, too, was skeptical about playing up and I will talk to coach about letting him play with kids his own age.

Thanks. This is a great site, by the way.

If at all possible I'd avoid the 7 YO playing against 10 YOs for the reasons already discussed.
I had this problem 5 years ago when I was coaching a rec team. It was supposedly 8 and 9 YOs and I had my son and one other boy playing up. Unfortunately the league had a setup with a neighboring community that we would play several times per season. This area allowed 10 YOs in the same organization (pretty poor outfit I might add.)When we played the 10YO team it looked pretty ridiculous as my 2 seven YO came up to their chests.
Nevertheless, My 2 best pitchers were my boy and the other 7 YO.I remember throwing them both against a team of all 10 YOs and they combined for a 1 hit shutout in a 1-0 win.
Both of these kids are turning 13 this month. The other boy was named Baseball America's top 12 YO this year.

rbinaz

you have a PM

I have a suggestion that has not been mentioned.

My son is now 14. The teams that he has been a part of since he was 9 years old have always scheduled about 10 or 15% of their games against teams that are one year older. They also would play up in one local turnament if another team was needed to fill in for a no-show.

This is commonly done in my area so it is not all that difficult finding an older team to agree to play a younger team. The biggest difficulty, and the biggest benefit of doing this is the introduction they get playing on the next size larger field.

Typically, they feel pretty good about winning 40% of these games depending on the quality of teams they play.

By doing this they grow as players but spend their time with kids their own age.

Swing hard - just in case you hit it!

Thanks for all your comments and I thought you might want an update.

After taking a season off, my son went back into the same league and did MUCH better. Back to his old self and he even won the award for most improved player.

I think it was a physical size issue....he is bigger now and the fear is almost completely gone.

Thanks again for all the input from you guys.