Taking a break, and thanks!

Yes, I agree.  I am one of the newer parents.  It does seem that there aren’t many new parents on here.  I’m not even sure if there is another parent of a 2027 like I have.  I have gotten a tremendous amount of help from a number of people which I feel has put me in a good position as my 2027 progresses.  I do wish there were more active members.  It would be nice if there was someone here in western pa as well.

I just had to jump in here I am the parent of a 2027. BUT my son is not a D1 prospect or pro prospect. He's not  6' plus or hard throwing. How do you best help your kid then they are basically swimming up stream to be the best player they can be.

I honestly feel intimidated posting regular HS kid run of mill issues. The crowd can be a bit tough here. We are not a super competitive HS. School ball at the JV level is very disappointing. My son is a bubble player in some regards he was a  JV starter last year and by outside assessment maybe a local D3 prospect. He's spent some years on the travel B team and more recently some years on a higher level  travel team.

I do read quite a bit here and my questions have been answered with respect and honesty.

One of my current issues with my son is trying to figure whether he wants to play in college or not. I think deep down he doubts himself and is trying to figure how passionate he actually is about baseball.

Also how to get him competitive at the bats and lots of exposure to off speed pitching to prepare for a competitive summer schedule while he plays in a very mediocre HS league where the pitching will be 10-15 mph slower.

Lastly how to build arm strength and improve throwing mechanics. What is best at 16 for a catcher? Long toss,  weighed balls, jaeger bands, throwing a football, working out at the gym etc.

If there are any other lurkers here with HS kids feel free to share.

One last observation is I think the travel ball culture is so geared towards selling the possiblity of the college baseball experience that it's not about developing the HS player to have a quality HS experience while having fun doing it.

Enjoy your time @JucoDad. 

Also a long time lurker with a 2027.  Don't post often since there is so much information on the site already and I can generally get my questions answered.  Some of the historical posts are dated (10 - 15 years old) and I wonder sometimes how much things have changed, but generally find all of it to be sound advice.  All that said, happy to network with other current HS parents and share the ride!

Thank you to you and all of those who give advice to those of us with players.  Still have a 2026 in HS and really do appreciate the experiences shared.

If you read older threads, you see that there have always been years when there were only a few active high school posters, and other years when there were a lot.  Just recently, there are a lot of '24s,  (current college freshmen), but only a few '23s, a ton of '22s, far fewer '21s, etc.  (I love this site for many reasons, and I keep my own list of this stuff).

I agree that there is a lot of information in the archive, but what I hate more than anything is when someone replies to a poster with "look at the archive".  Everyone's situation is different.  I think when an active high school player or parent posts a question, it gets a lot of answers - and I too wish there were more such questions.  But, even the venting for various reasons is valuable to someone who wants more examples about how things work.

Google often shows this site when you put a question about high school and college baseball.

JucoDad, your posts have provided a lot of sanity, and I have appreciated them.

@JucoDad, I have also appreciated your posts.

I remember when the board seemed to be mostly about D1 prospects. I got frustrated almost every response assumed the kid was going P5. He did so it worked out.

I remember when Jerry Ford left the board. Among other issues the board had changed. He didn’t want to be promoting PG events to D3 prospects.

It’s the slow time of year. Activity picks up as summer approaches and posters want to know more about exposure.

First, @JucoDad, enjoy your break.  For all else here, this site will be exactly what you want it to be.  That is the nature of the platform and the resources of this site including the archives and the posting membership.  I've been here too long and yet, I still enjoy the conversations, learning new things, and reminiscing about the old days.  I found this site when Bob aka "Head Cook and Bottle Washer" owned the site.  I was so thankful when Julie took over since this site had so much to offer.  It seems that posters come in waves.  If you have questions, please ask.  If you feel mistreated, send me a pm.  We want everyone here to feel welcome. 

@BB328 posted:

I just had to jump in here I am the parent of a 2027. BUT my son is not a D1 prospect or pro prospect. He's not  6' plus or hard throwing. How do you best help your kid then they are basically swimming up stream to be the best player they can be.

I honestly feel intimidated posting regular HS kid run of mill issues. The crowd can be a bit tough here. We are not a super competitive HS. School ball at the JV level is very disappointing. My son is a bubble player in some regards he was a  JV starter last year and by outside assessment maybe a local D3 prospect. He's spent some years on the travel B team and more recently some years on a higher level  travel team.

I do read quite a bit here and my questions have been answered with respect and honesty.

One of my current issues with my son is trying to figure whether he wants to play in college or not. I think deep down he doubts himself and is trying to figure how passionate he actually is about baseball.

Also how to get him competitive at the bats and lots of exposure to off speed pitching to prepare for a competitive summer schedule while he plays in a very mediocre HS league where the pitching will be 10-15 mph slower.

Lastly how to build arm strength and improve throwing mechanics. What is best at 16 for a catcher? Long toss,  weighed balls, jaeger bands, throwing a football, working out at the gym etc.

If there are any other lurkers here with HS kids feel free to share.

One last observation is I think the travel ball culture is so geared towards selling the possiblity of the college baseball experience that it's not about developing the HS player to have a quality HS experience while having fun doing it.

I'd say if your son isn't sure and he's a bubble kid. I'd honestly just recommend he pick a school for school and not necessarily baseball. There's always club and in some areas adult rec leagues. Unless you have the finances I think a good portion of schools have sports programs with large rosters just to bring in tuition revenue. My son is at a juco right now and after that he will transfer to an affordable 4 year school. His plan is to go to a public state school. If baseball permits a more economical option, then he'll continue to play, but otherwise he'll settle with club or a rec league.

For arm strengthening my son did all the above. I'm not sure one is better than the other. My opinion is variety is the way to go to better ensure multiple muscles are being developed. Do read up on studies about weighted ball programs as I believe there was some potential issues with starting too young. I believe Coop DeRenne did some informative studies back in the day, but there's newer studies probably too. Coop's son has been an MLB coach for years.

Also I agree about the travel programs. If you can, try to find a team that prioritizes fun and development. Also one where he's not the best or worst player. There's no need for flashy expensive equipment/uniforms or playing in expensive tournaments for exposure. You can get way more reps practicing than playing in a tournament.