Value of a Lefty

i too have a lefty. he's 16yo now. your story sounds just like his did. i took the praise & compliments in stride and just crossed my fingers. i never took him to pitching lessons since i did and still do that stuff myself with him. but what i made sure i did was play catch with him often. not a workout, but simply catch. id throw grounders & popups, i'd play the 1st baseman then he would,etc. we played.... i never worried about velocity until this past summer, where we did alot of work with velocity & mechanics. alot of video and fine tuning. his mechanics were pretty good already. but you'll always need to watch because its very easy for a pitcher to get off track and pick up bad habits...
have fun, don't sweat it too much & play catch

Let me put it to your from my perspective as a dad of a lefty:

My son is not big, but he is growing, always smaller and yopunger than the guys he has played against growing up. He is a JR in HS now. He made V at the beginning of is Freshman yr for two reasons, he was fantastic on D and he could pitch...slow for varsity, but he could chew up some innings and get experience. The coaches all along siad he would excell as a Pithcer, and so far they have been right. Now, my son has always worked on pitching, so nothing new to hear.

Now, enter last summer into the travel ball circuit, PG events, East Cobb, Jupiter etc.....his eyes were opened as to great pitching opportunities being a lefty produced.

He complained to his Travel ball coach that he wasn't getting much outfield time during the summer. His coach bluntly told him that yeah, he may get noticed as an outfielder, but THEY(scouts), will come to watch you pitch. AS the season went on my son realized the importance of that statement.

After his teams season concluded, I put my sons availability on this very forum in a couple of the threads. Thanks to some of the other parents/coaches who are members on this site, a very BIG thanks, I was surprised at how quickly he was snapped up on the two separate occasion that I said he was available. One happened to be a local team and the other was an out of state team.

Thanks to those opportunities, great contacts were made, invaluable contacts!

So, yes, take the time to devote some effort into developing him as a pitcher. It will pay off. I am guessing your son is like mine, and still wants to play a second posiotion. After a few showcases over the winter my son asked me to stop listing him in a secondary position and go with P only.

Just beware of those that will over use your son. Let him make his own choices but be there for guidance and as a sasfety net for his health.

Good luck.

Lost Dad,

Unfortunately, you’ll get a lot of “overthinking” from this group as much as any other!

I have to make note of something. This is not to say your kid’s pitching coach is a liar or a mercenary, but you need to understand that you’re paying this guy, so his opinion isn’t gonna be exactly unbiased. You really won’t know how “good” the boy is until he gets into several games where he has to pitch against both strong and weak competition, and he’s evaluated by people who both know that they’re talking about and have no connection at all to him.

Now for your question. A good lefty or righty is unique when you consider how many pitchers there are at his age. The trouble is in trying to define what “good” is. I see you’re in Tx, so a good 12YO lefty is likely gonna be a heck of a lot different than a good 12YO in say North Dakota.

In the end, at 12 ½, I wouldn’t be getting over excited one way or the other. If the expenses aren’t hurting too badly and you have confidence in his coaches, keep right on doin’ what your doin’. Just make sure you look at everything with a jaundiced eye and don’t bet the house on everything you hear.

Good Luck.

I read something awhile ago that said that slightly more than 25% of players on MLB rosters were lefties while less than 10% of the population is actually lefthanded. By that metric, lefties are about 2.5X as important as the righties in baseball.

there are a number of reasons for this:

- Lefty hitters start out closer to first base and have thir momentum going that way on the first step out of the swing. Thus, they can get to first base faster than righties with thieir same speed.
- There are more righty pitchers that lefties. And a lefty hittercan see the ball much better coming from a righty pitcher than a righty hitter can.

As for pitchers, I've heard the value of lefties put a couple of ways, but I think this puts being a lefty in perspective.

- A righty has to prove he can pitch while a lefty has to prove he can't.
- Lefties are still prospects until they've been dead at least a couple of years.

I hope your son keeps enjoying the game. Get him somewhere where he is challenged, but not overwhelmed. Good luck.

My son is a lefty pitcher in his senior year. As my boy grew up and people found out he was a lefty their eyes would light up and I would hear how he was set and all that other stuff. Kinda got tired of it actually.

Two points I will bring up:

1. If your son is really that good of a pitcher, chances are, he will have to give up being a position player and concentrate on pitching only. As few of high schoolers get to play college ball, even fewer go both ways. My son was able to give up outfield easier than his mom and dad did. It was rough on us at first to go to games and know he wouldnt see the field since he just pitched the last game. He told us that concentrating 100% of his baseball activities on pitching made him a better pitcher than wasting his time on batting practice and shagging flies. Makes sense to me.

2. No matter what you hear, velocity matters, even for a lefty. I have no clue if 60 something is fast for a 12 year old. He was never gunned until he was 15. My son is not a hard thrower but is as accurate of a pitcher as you will find his age, but D-1 schools just wouldnt pull the trigger. No matter how many scoreless, walkless games he would pitch, the scouts would flock to the harder throwers. He went down to East Cobb last year for the WWBA thing, made all tournament team, no walks, no runs 10 K's in 9 innings, but not one look. They didnt think his 82 fastball was fast enough. No biggie, though. Hopefully it all changes after 2 years of JUCO ball.

Have fun with him, and play catch whenever you can. My son still asks me to throw with him and I still love it

quote:

"Ok I am being told my son seems to have something special going on - now what do I do about it? How much is too much?"

If he has something special, let it play out in due course. What other people say shouldn't matter. Let the boy enjoy being a kid, and let him have fun playing baseball before you have people talking you into going Knute Rockne on him.

Encourage your son to have fun and love the game. Get him pitching lessons if that is something he might like to do.

The trick is not to have the parent supply the motivation. You want that to come from the player. The easiest way to make that happen is to ensure he loves the game.

A lefty's value starts to diminish about three years after the first expert thinks he's done. Just ask Terry Mulholland.

How important is a good lefty? Very!
I live in North Texas, My son is RHP and OF with a big stick. He's a Junior in HS - I have friend here who's son is a lefty, also a junior in HS. They have played high level of travel ball for years. They are equally as good as the other in the game, velocity is about the same, physical characteristics are too. But the LHP made varsity as a freshman - my son the RHP not there yet; at his school RHP's are a dime a dozen.

So being a lefty who has fun playing the game, very unique! - Keep paying for lessons. And find someone who really knows how to develop his scapula muscles.

I should mention one of the reasons my eyes were opened to all of this is because when the fall season ended - we decided to look for a new team to get a bit more of a challenge. I figured we could look around and see if anything popped up, if not no problem we stay where we are at.

I think the third call I made was to his current team about a month+ ago. The initial response was they were set for the spring roster and weren't going to do try outs but asked to have me tell about my son anyways. The minute I said "hard throwing Lefty" the entire conversation changed from no interest to recruiting him. And this was from a team that was a year head and one level ahead (AA versus AAA). The try out went well and offered a roster spot when we were done.

I was quite surprised - thats when my eyes kind of opened up. I figured at a minimum I need to make sure he isn't taken advantage of and at a maximum we might have something here that I need to really pay attention to. I was pretty clueless as I now am beginning to understand.

quote:

Originally posted by Lost Dad:

So this lefty thing - I get it that there aren't as many lefties, etc. And I get some of the technical benefits of lefties - especially in pitching.

Hi Lost Dad,

Good lefties are indeed sought after as only 10% of the general population is left handed. So the pool for finding "good" lefties is much smaller. If you have and lefty and a righty that are equal in skill, size, velocity, and all other aspects, the lefty will be more sought after. . . because there are fewer of them.

At your son's age, having a pitching velocity in the mid 60's is an excellent place to be.

Paying for pitching lessons at this age is a very personal decision. IMHO, I feel it's way too early for that. . .and not really because boys of that age can't benefit from the lessons. It's just that so many things can change over the next few years. I didn't do it for my son, though many parents (who were providing their sons with pitching lessons) and even some coaches of my son's travel teams suggested it as my son at that age also pitched in the mid to high 60's (a RHP). And looking back, I feel I made the right choice for that reason (it was too soon). As time moved on, most of those parents who had their sons involved with pitching lessons at that age didn't find that that there was any advantage over those parents who started pitching lessons at a later age (like 16 or above).

I might add, at the younger ages the "good" pitchers tend to also be the more athletic and better players than others and that's why they're often a two-way player. And as time goes by, kids often change their perspective on things and make decisions about what they like and what they want to do that's different from when they were 12 or 13. I've very often observed that though a kid may really love baseball at this age and playing a particular position, many will not progress and may even become discouraged as their body doesn't mature in a way that's hoped for as other kids who were not very good early on advance quicker and father . . .which results in a kid deciding on some other sport or position.

I've seen many parents who spent a lot of money on pitching lessons find that their son reached a certain plateau and wasn't able to go beyond that and some would then chose some other avenue for their pleasure. Was it a waste of money for them? It depends on one's perspective. Even if a kid doesn't find much of a future in pitching, but still has fond memories of the instruction, then I guess won can say it's worth it in that case too.

As has mentioned, and in my opinion the most important thing is, if the child is really enjoying it and you can afford it. . .why not. But it'd be prudent not to place too much emphasis on the future since you just don't know where the ball is going to land.

The Jr. High years is a good time to let a boy have a really good time exploring his athletic talents (participate in other school sports along with the baseball). And I feel it's best to always raise the bar to see how he responds to higher levels of play. . . that's where money is better spent. IMHO

There are so many kids who attract a lot of attention at 12 who aren't playing any more at 16. Lots. It isn't a big deal to be a good 12 year old lefty. It is a big deal to be a good 18 year old lefty.


Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

Lost Dad, my pitcher is a RHP so I can't speak to the lefty aspect of your question. With that said, based on your comments about not being a “baseball” guy it might not be a bad idea to find someone for pitching instruction.

Like your son, my guy was a hard thrower when he was twelve however I noticed when he moved up to the big field it took much more effort to pitch from 60ft. Things weren’t quite as fluid in his motion and I was afraid that he might do damage to himself if he didn’t learn good pitching mechanics. We were lucky to find someone that was very good at teaching solid mechanics and focused just as much on having a pitching philosophy. We didn’t spend a fortune on individual instruction and once we felt he had a good foundation he would only meet with his instructor periodically for check-ups. At the end of the day, I feel those early sessions set a solid foundation for his success throughout his high school years. While he continued to be a hard thrower, one of the biggest complements my son received throughout the years was that he knew how to pitch and not just throw. He certainly didn’t learn that from me or his early travel coaches.

Best of luck, try not to over think it and most importantly enjoy this time with your son…I miss those teenage baseball years.

quote:

Originally posted by twotex:
There are so many kids who attract a lot of attention at 12 who aren't playing any more at 16. Lots. It isn't a big deal to be a good 12 year old lefty. It is a big deal to be a good 18 year old lefty.


Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

I have to agree with that...I saw lots of young men who were studs at 12 that weren't playing baseball when they got to high school...some got passed by, some lost interest and some found that they weren't as good on the big diamond as on the smaller diamonds. That is not to say that will happen to your son, just that it can and does happen to some. I'd just keep it fun and encourage him. If you can afford the lessons and he wants to do them, then go for it...Also, in my opinion, I would allow and even encourage him to play as many positions as he can for as long as he can...at some point the coaches may ask him to pick or they may pick for him, but the more versatile he is, the more reasons the coaches have to keep him. Granted lefties don't have as many positions to choose from, but I know a lefty who is playing in college now because a coach made the right decision when he was 13 by "forcing" him to learn how to play OF even though he was a talented P and 1B. He still pitched some in HS, but seldom and a big-stick righty played 1B...

Twotex had a great comment "its a big deal to be a good 18 year old lefty".
I remember a lefty 12 yr old in little league that was throwing 70-73 from 46 feet. No one could hit him & every travel team wanted him. He burned out of baseball.
As a dad of a lefty, I've heard it all & luckily 2013 LHP signed NLI to play D1, but it did not have anything to do with what was said about him at 12. Teach your son to have fun, love the game & work hard. Good things will happen. My son never played year round, took lessons from 12 yr vet MLB pitcher several months a year until HS. Once HS began lessons 6-8 weeks before the season or to prepare for a showcase. Play other sports & let the baseball thing happen if that's what he wants. Just my opinion. Good luck!

Lostdad, my son is LHP in pro ball. My advice to you is to first do a thorough check on your son's pitching coach. There are a LOT of guys out there that are teaching the wrong things and yes, if your son is throwing 65 at 12 1/2 that's pretty good. I think my son was 62 at that time.

Learn about the kinetic chain. Learn about the Jaeger long-toss method. My son trained year-round long-tossing 5x week at that age and has never stopped.

My son is the only player on 13u team still playing the game. One other player from his 14u team is in pro ball. One other player from his h.s. team is in pro ball.

There are so many hurdles for your son. Don't be discouraged, but don't get overly confident about where your son will be a few years from now. A lot can happen. And remember, overuse is the #2 reason he could be out of baseball before he ever gets to h.s. or college.

#1 reason is he doesn't love the game anymore. Remind yourself of that. It's okay to train and dream.. but listen to his heart.. make sure it's his dream.

quote:

Originally posted by Lost Dad:
...So everyone keeps telling me how fortunate he is to be a lefty who can throw, throw hard and seems to excel at pitching (and hitting for that matter). I get other people watching him when he practices - kind of drooling like LOL.

My question is - is this really a big deal? ...But my question is - how unique is a good lefty - am I crazy paying for pitching lessons weekly? Do I worry about if he is getting stronger and throwing faster? My question comes from the stand point of - "Ok I am being told my son seems to have something special going on - now what do I do about it? How much is too much?"

Tons of great advice so far.

Try to strike a good balance. Enjoy (and allow him to enjoy) his accomplishments but play down "it's a big deal". If his passion persists and he is fortunate enough to stay in the game for another six or eight years or so, he will certainly realize that where he is now is really not a big deal.

As he continues to climb the ladder, he will be able to use the "hard throwing lefty" thing to his advantage but only if he keeps the passion, steadily increases his work efforts, stays reasonably healthy and is blessed with good physical makeup. He will also need to continue learning how to PITCH at each next level. If he stays in the game and the pond gets bigger, there will be plenty of other very good lefties out there, hoping for that same spot on the college roster or draft slot???

Perhaps his passion will grow more strong as a position player and not as a pitcher. My LH son has changed direction on this no fewer than ten times and three or four of those were dictated by injury, team needs or other outside factors.

"How much is too much?" - If it is more than your son is enjoying, it is too much. If it is more than your pocketbook can comfortably handle, it is too much. If it is making him a one-dimensional person or taking away from the other things a 12 y.o. boy should be enjoying, it's too much.

I just saw this comment in another thread here and it is so important...
"...because we all want our boys to see life as something bigger than baseball."

Continued best wishes

my son is a lefty. pitcher and hitter. was pretty good at 12,really good at 14 very good at 18. played at a CC,drafted in 06.

our plan? we didn't have one. just played hard for today , but he was a gamer everyday. i'm not sure that can be taught.

my advice to him, work hard on his study's as well as the game. lot's of doors will be opened because he is a lefty, good grades will allow him through the door.


my advice to you. enjoy every minute of the ride,the next few years go by quick. remember them. don't go talking him up,if you find yourself alone at games, you either planed as some of us do, or no one wants to listen any more.

lefty's draw attention,don't let it change you or him. good luck to you and your son. enjoy the ride.

Great topic! I am a lefty and so is one of my sons, so this may be some what bias but IMO lefties are a huge part of this game.

As far as lefty pitchers, they give the hitter a different look than a right hander. Spin, rotation, etc.

As far as hitting they can flat out hit!

Lefties rule...

Lefty

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
My advice to you is to first do a thorough check on your son's pitching coach. There are a LOT of guys out there that are teaching the wrong things and yes, if your son is throwing 65 at 12 1/2 that's pretty good. I think my son was 62 at that time.

Learn about the kinetic chain. Learn about the Jaeger long-toss method. My son trained year-round long-tossing 5x week at that age and has never stopped.

Excellent advice. Our pitching coach played AA ball for the Yankees and is a left hander. He seems to know what he is doing. This was really the genesis of me finding this site, etc. All of a sudden there was all this interest in my son and I figured I better get educated pretty quick.

I will definitely check that out that method.

To everyone - thanks! The one thing that is for sure is his love for the game is only growing. And so is his love of pitching. He is really getting into it a lot. We will see.

At the risk of repeating some of the very good advice you've gotten so far:

(1) He is young, but...
(2) Before you know it he'll be looking at colleges
(3) It's great that he is passionate and loves the game; as much as you can, make sure he doesn't burn out at this early stage (see #6, below); playing multiple sports throughout the year is a great preventative measure
(4) An experienced pitching coach at this stage is essential--one that believes in the importance of developing a plus change-up
(5) While it's fun to experiment, breaking balls (curves, sliders, slurves, etc.) should be kept to a minimum for another year or two
(6) Remember you are the boss--do not let any coach overuse your son on the mound

I can only address the pitching lesson? My son has been seeing a pitching instructor for about 3 yrs now, whenever we can work around teams/schedules. It has been the best thing we ever spent money on. We got lucky and found a great one. My son always gets compliments on his form and has had very little injuries(knock on wood). The "coach" has taught him how to prepare his arm in the off season, what drills work and which ones to stay away from. Most coaches are great, but very few have the knowledge for developing pitchers. They can teach the basics, but IMO it's like finding a medical specialist over a reg. MD when needed. Our HS coach respects the fact that our son(one of the starting pitchers) is seeing a pitching coach who in turn has made him a better pitcher. I've seen so many kids who have potential but do not have somone to work with and from what I've seen they fall prey to injuries over time. IMO good mechanics is the foundation for which all else is built for a pitcher. If your coaches cannot teach that to them, then look for a good instructor. Ask around and check out what's there and make the best choice for your son.

One last comment. 12 is NOT too young to start pitching lessons. It's a good idea to get them before they learn the "wrong" way if you will and have to change a lot. If they learn bad habits it's harder to change as a 15 yr old than at a younger age. Learn all you can about keeping their arms healthy. So tired of seeing 14 yr olds getting surgery, complaining of shoulder/elbow injuries that could have been avoided.

Hey lost dad, you aren't alone, at being lost that is. I felt the same way about many things even though I knew something about pitching when mine was young. You have some good advice to filter through on this thread. I want to add to some of playball2011's comments. I believe that at 12 and 13 boys are getting stronger and they are trying to throw harder and their bodies are getting strong enough to do damage to the elbow and shoulder without really trying too hard. Make sure you are GETTING GOOD PITCHING INSTRUCTION before your son can do damage to his arm.

Also don't let any coach OVER pitch your son. You need to ask his coaches about pitch count limits and rest between trips to the mound. Then make them stick to their statements. You can find many other threads on this site about these aspects. If he pitches well coaches will over use him unless you have an understanding with them and then it can still happen. If a coach tells you one thing and does something contrary you will have to decide how to handle situations like this.

Good luck! By the way, lefty is GREAT, and my son is one too! It was hard for me to teach him when he was young because I am right handed. My son developed a passion for the game and is still playing today in the minor leagues. It takes so much of their time to play at the higher levels, college and pro, that the player really does have to love being on the field and working out to succeed at this level.

My 2 cents...

In this world 1 out of every 9 people are left handed. So when you compete for something like a pitching spot, you may have lots of RHP's but only a few lefties to compete with.

When people look at pitchers - lefties get a discount. You start opening eyes at 88 for RHP and 85 for Left (again just a numbers thing)

When mine was 7 I started pitching lessons NOT to make him a Major Leaguer but to teach him the right way to throw and hopefully to avoid injuries. In addition - I didn't want to look back and say shoulda, coulda, woulda....if he did develop.

As others have said - I've seen absolute studs at 12 and 13. Kids that were recruited to be on the best teams and coaches didn't care if they even practiced with them - just wanted them on the roster for a tournament so they could win. Well MOST of these studs peaked early and were passed up by others by Freshman HS ball.

As the name implies - I have a lefty son who pitches. He's doing very well and keeps trying to improve. As Mizzou said - he had to give up playing a position cause coaches want him to concentrate on just pitching. However that pitching made him stand out vs being one in a thousand position players who were good. Problem is there are too many out there that are great competiting for limited spots.

Bottom line - help him develop and continue as long as he has the passion. Look at pitching lessons (if you wind up getting them) as an INVESTMENT. Not as in $$$$ down the road rather as TIME with your son.

Mine is now a HS senior who will be going away to college. I will miss the time we had...Lssons he learned on and off the field wil play a big part in how he develops!

Great discussion. Both of my brothers and my Dad are lefties. My brothers are 6'3" and 6'2". I got stuck being 5'10" and RH. But I still have hair. ;-)

My almost 14YO son if RH but is left eye dominant and has always batted LH. He's been the only LH hitter on a few teams. And being truly LH is that much rarer. Thus, in demand. Good pitchers are always in demand, thus, good LHP are premium.

It is too bad that good LH position players will likely (eventually) have to focus on pitching, but that's just how it goes.

Another advantage to LHP, of course, is looking right at the runner at 1B.

I can't thank you all enough for all the input. Finding this site has been great and I would encourage everyone to make a donation for the kind people who keep it up and running.

With my two posts I have made over the past couple weeks and all the advice I feel like I know so much more now. Not feeling quite as in the dark really allows me to relax a bit and allow my son to enjoy the spring.

For the time being - he seems to really be excelling - I would say to anyone else out there thinking about lessons - his lessons have helped TREMENDOUSLY - not only in just pitching better but in understanding mechanics, body motion, ball grip, mental control, etc. He now has a really great change up and the success and improvement in just a month of lessons has him even more into pitching and baseball. So far I would say this has been a very good investment especially since in practice he pretty much struck out his whole team this past weekend - he was quite pleased - LOL.

One thing I have learned and his pitching coach commented the same - you hear dads and coaches say "just throw strikes" and "just play catch" to the poor struggling pitcher in a game - I now realize that pitching is VERY hard to do well. You really have to have the right physical gifts to be able to do it and do it well.

I am definitely going to look at the Jaeger long toss - my wife is really into physical fitness and doing proper exercises, etc. so we can see the importance of that if he continues.

All good stuff - thanks again!

The dad of a twelve year old doesn't need to be thinking long term. He only needs to be thinking "What does my son need to be successful this year?" and "What do we need to be looking at for next year?"

Work hard. Nothing is guaranteed. As fillsfan can validate, his son played with the most dominating 13U lefthanded travel pitcher in our region (PA/NJ/DE). By 16U he was ordinary relative to travel.

Hi RJM - yah not worried too much about college or MLB or something.  Mostly making sure I protect his arm, get him good advice, grow his love of the game and educate my self.  The only one decision I have to really think about sometime this year is if we will switch him to a high school that will have a baseball program.  But that decisions 9 or so months away before private school enrollments will be due for 9th grade.  

 

It will be fun to see how spring goes for him.  THanks!

Son is a lefty, at 12 mine had some real good mech. easy throwing, balanced, plane of shoulder, elbow all non-stressed.  Learn a change up, divide the plate in half and throw to both sides accuratly, hold runners, change his tempo with runner of first and learn a pick-off move. If he has velocity later learning those traits will be nothing but a + if its HIS desire to play later.

 Mine will be 16 soon as he may have the tools to play at the next level.  I wanted to teach mine a baseline with respect to being a pitcher and the greater rewards were forth coming if HE wanted to continue. He is just now seeing his first pitching coach as he's now projecting now physically growing taller and gaining weight.  A pitching coach is up to you if a good one is available, but it's a pretty good idea.  

You don't really learn a good change-up until you're 20+.  Trust me on this one.  Focus on the fastball and a curveball.  These are critical pitches.   The pitch that will get you in the rotation--the changeup--is the most advanced pitch of all, and you don't learn it at 12.

My son is a LHP that has worked hard to be successful. From age 12-14 he was a standout in his leagues. At 15 he learned that he had to work harder to remain successful on the mound. We told him that "Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard." He had a pitching coach since age 12 and has never had an injury to his arm. Proper mechanics, a consistent long toss program and having a life outside of baseball have made him successful at the college level. He threw his first Perfect Game last Spring for his college team. The first in the school's history. Keeping him grounded after that and many other successful seasons throughout HS has been tough, but we always tell him to take each game one out at a time. Enjoy the successes with your player and never take the fun out of the game.

Thanks PapaLefty - I am trying to learn more about a long toss program.  It seems thats somewhat important to ensuring good arm strength and health.

Hi All - One question - our team has encouraged parents to not attend practices.  I don't normally watch every practice - but I watch some to see how its going.  Is this pretty normal (its a 13U AAA team).  Seems like I would want to watch every so often to see what they are doing.  Thoughts?

Yeah, I would be watching too at that age...just make sure you are not coaching from the stands...lol

I'd still want to "observe" at that age, but probably at a distance.  Might want to wean yourself now.  Go and get a cup of coffee and the paper and keep yourself occupied until practice is over.

 

Many HS coaches (JV & V) close tryouts and practices to parents.  At least my son's HS coaches did.  Their stance is the parents are a distraction even if they are quiet and say or do nothing.  If you really needed to see a practice, he would make arrangements for you to observe one practice, but it would not be a daily thing.

 

Besides at 14-15 it's time for Mom & Dad to let go and let them become "Men".

 

My son played 2 years of JV and 3 years varsity and I never observed a complete practice.  Maybe the tail end of a JV practice when I came to pick him up before he got his license.  At that age, your only requirement is to show up for "games".

 

 

Yes - its a new team as well so I think I will keep an eye on it and the boys are all a year older - probably doesn't matter much but I think it makes sense for me to keep an eye on it.

 

I would also add that incorporating a good long toss, weight lifting and running program will greatly enhance your sons abilities.  And also will keep his arm healthy.

 

Lefty