What's missing

Some of it is physical maturity and then I would say just about everything you mentioned. Footwork, mechanics and the mental approach are things that are always lacking. But, will many say that youth coaches aren't knowledgeable enough or committed enough to teach these?

Play more than one position. Practice a lot instead of just going to a zillion tournaments and playing games in the same position every time.

Trojan-skipper,
Well said. I think that one thing that would be of terrific benefit to younger players is to practice twice as much as they play. It is great to get game experience but if you don't have the fundamentals down, then all you are doing is the wrong things everyday. Being able to break down pieces of the game and still make it fun is what makes a true ball player. Then, as they get a little older, playing more can be of benefit. In a perfect situation, a team would practice most of the spring with games here and there, and then play more intensely as the summer heats up.

Throwing

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Style Mismatch

There a load of things the kid today do not get trained in the lower levels before HS

01-- the basics--all of them
02-- how to prep before the game ie- warmups/stretching
03-- the biggest thing is respect for the game

physical fitness...

Watched a kid practice baseball conditioning for one year with an ex-college pitcher. They worked out , ran, rotary exercises , and a full year throwing regiment.

He is about 168 lbs and I love to stand behind the mound and watch him throw. The elastic energy he stores and releases effortlessly is amazing. He was #4 now #1 in the rotation.

The lack of fitness,technique, and work ethic is the limiting factor.

I would absolutely have to say bunting. At the high school level I see so many kids who don't know proper bunting form. The mistake I see most often is when a kid gets a bunt sign with a ruuner on and it's an obvious sac situation. Nine out of ten times they try to drag bunt. What's even more scary is the coach will give them a sign again and they'll do it again.

Number two on my list would be old school baseball etiquette. Kids nowadys don't know the "unwritten" rules.

agree with linear and hscoach on this one.
we get kids coming in and have supposedly played "elite" and "select" baseball and dont even know how to throw. same thing in basketball - get kids coming in from these aau/travel league teams that have won all these games and cant even shoot a lefthanded layup right. and its just not here - we host national championships in aau and usssa baseball and basketball both and its just amazing.
quit worrying about the number games you win and play with these kids and teach them something. practice.

maturity both pysically and mentally

Linear is right on here. Throwing. Most kids coming into HS programs are hurt by the fact that they lack arm strength. Kids do not throw enough. Who hires a long toss coach? People hire pitching coaches, I watched several kids tonight at a local baseball complex working with pitching coaches. These kids were HS age and what they really should have done is gone and long tossed. I could careless how much instruction they get it aint gonna matter. 65 from 16 year olds? I want to see the guy no meet the guy that can fix that with pitching instruction lessons. Long toss routine needs to start before you enter HS. Too many kids wait untill its too late. Im not saying that kids cant make a push after entering HS dont get me wrong. But I just hate to go to these baseball instruction complexes and see what I saw tonight. Of course they are going to take the check and tell you your son is doing great. They want another check next week. Teach them proper throwing mechanics at a young age and throw throw throw. After that its footspeed. Both can be products of youth. But they dont have to be behind the curve.

Lack of arm strength-- nobody plays catch anymore !!!

I agree....practice more than you play and at multiple positions. Some of the weaker players are in the outfield before hs, but you can not afford that in hs. You need your faster/athletic kids in the outfield. The hardest thing for me to do each year is find 3 quality outfielders.

Thanks for the input from everyone. Among other things, I'm adding these replys to my arsenal to explain to parents and players why we're running things the way we are this season. When we work on basic throwing mechanics I can just see the looks that say "c'mon coach, I already know how to throw". We've also already told parents that each player is going to LEARN both an infield and outfield position ("but Johnny only wants to be a shortstop").

It was interesting that nobody mentioned hitting as a weakness.

Style

When I was running our LL program we had a 11/12 year old team that traveled and played some 30 games during the summer in tournaments--our entire outfield was comprised of kids who played shortstop regualrly-- they we simply our best athletes and made us a stronger team - my son wa sone of them and he went on to have a great HS career as a Centerfielder and played all three outfield positions in college at the Division I level

Careful for what you wish for. I've seen plenty of well-meaning LL coaches that really don't know much and actually teach some very wrong/bad things. Practice that stuff for an extended period of time and see where that gets you.

quote:

Originally posted by raiderbb:
quit worrying about the number games you win and play with these kids and teach them something. practice.

Exactly! But not the norm in my experience.