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Cdub100

Coaching little league

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I coach my sons LL team. I'm not the head coach and my primary focus is fielding. The head coach does pitching and game management and the other coach works hitting.  Both missed our last game so I ran the team that game.

The kids are a rag tag team thrown together completely by the draft. Most of the other teams have returned 6 players from previous years. We shouldn't be competing but we are in the top 4 (out of 14 teams) and going to make the playoffs.

Parents can suck and kids can be little aholes, but every once in a while you get some appreciation. I received a nice email from one of my kids grandpa. He does our score book every game and keeps awesome stats.  Names have been redacted to protect the innocent.

************

Dear Cdub

I thought the changes you made for this game proved fruitful.  I have been impressed with how you personally strive to improve the boys' knowledge of the game and attempt to help them individually improve.   I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but I had hoped (HEAD COACH) might have scheduled a bit more practice sessions to allow the boys some time to drill and absorb these lessons.  I know KID was always asking when practice was scheduled only to find out there was none. 

I appreciate your work with all the boys this season, but particularly with KID.  Thank you so much.
 

Grandpa

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That's great to get that kind of feedback.  We were lucky that my daughter was drafted on a team with two great coaches (and one not so great; he left after a while and I joined).  We were together about 5-6 years.  In the first league we had to game the system to keep the team together; when that became unfeasible we moved to a league which had a bunch of club teams with matching shirts and helmets and bags... we were a ragtag fleet, called our team "Angry Birds," and had a rainbow of Angry Bird shirts.  We managed to make the championship game one year despite that. The umps loved us because we weren't pretentious dooshes. Parents loved the team for similar reasons, plus there was a true team camraderie.  My home office is littered with team photos to this day.

On the coaching front, one day one of the other coaches bemoaned that our girls weren't very good at catching fly balls.  I replied "that's because we need to hit them 1000 fly balls."  Catching a fly ball is a learned skill through repetition, seeing different arcs and distances again and again.

Anyway, glad to hear it is going well.  :cheers:

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I used to troll MDC for being an Eagles fan (Cowboy fan here), then he said he coached T-ball. What kid of guy gives a T-ball coach a hard time? Anyway, I am glad the Eagles got something to put in their trophy case, besides participation ribbons. I feel like a better person now.

Oh, and good on you too, man.   :thumbsup:

 

 

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Good work. Having good parents is the key to a successful season.  Sounds like you’re building a good team there.   

This year, I drafted only kids with good attitudes whose parents are helpful and normal. 

I passed on a half dozen of the better players in the league because I didn’t wanna deal with them or their parents.  

Our kids have had a great season and have learned a ton about baseball.  They’ve all gotten hits, (some more than others) played infield and outfield positions and 12 out of 15 of them have pitched in a game. 

Meanwhile, the team with all the sh!theads is in shambles.  Parents storming the dugout, demanding their kid go in the game at certain positions, writing letters or texting board members weekly about what the coach did wrong.  

Kids saying they wanna quit, throwing their helmets, telling coaches they don’t have to listen to them, crying, not shaking hands after games and so on.  

I also selected my all star team using similar criteria and as expected, the sh!theads who weren’t selected are all up in arms.  

Fock ‘em. Teach your kid not to be an ass hole, keep your own mouth shut and then maybe I’ll consider him for my team.  

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16 minutes ago, vuduchile said:

Good work. Having good parents is the key to a successful season.  Sounds like you’re building a good team there.   

This year, I drafted only kids with good attitudes whose parents are helpful and normal. 

I passed on a half dozen of the better players in the league because I didn’t wanna deal with them or their parents.  

Our kids have had a great season and have learned a ton about baseball.  They’ve all gotten hits, (some more than others) played infield and outfield positions and 12 out of 15 of them have pitched in a game. 

Meanwhile, the team with all the sh!theads is in shambles.  Parents storming the dugout, demanding their kid go in the game at certain positions, writing letters or texting board members weekly about what the coach did wrong.  

Kids saying they wanna quit, throwing their helmets, telling coaches they don’t have to listen to them, crying, not shaking hands after games and so on.  

I also selected my all star team using similar criteria and as expected, the sh!theads who weren’t selected are all up in arms.  

Fock ‘em. Teach your kid not to be an ass hole, keep your own mouth shut and then maybe I’ll consider him for my team.  

That sounds like a nightmare.

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Just now, Cdub100 said:

That sounds like a nightmare.

For that coach and some of those parents, it is.  

It’s also a pain in the ass for members of the board and the commissioner (me).  

In a way, the sh!theads beat me at my own game.  I don’t have to deal with them or their kids on my team, but I still have to listen to their bitching and moaning  

 

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Little league is an abomination.  It single-handedly destroyed baseball in this country.  I would ban little leagues across the nation.  Baseball used to be a kids passion.  They would eat dinner, then run outside and self-organize games in the street.  Parents decided to meddle and pushed kids into organized little leagues which changed the perception of baseball from a fun kids game to a chore that parents made them do.  Instead of baseball as an enormously fun getaway, it became something mom and dad screamed at you to try to make you better at.  As a result, kids abandoned the game and its popularity plummeted.

As a man who loves baseball, fock you little leagues.  I hate you with the fiery passion of a thousand white hot suns.

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7 minutes ago, riversco said:

Little league is an abomination.  It single-handedly destroyed baseball in this country.  I would ban little leagues across the nation.  Baseball used to be a kids passion.  They would eat dinner, then run outside and self-organize games in the street.  Parents decided to meddle and pushed kids into organized little leagues which changed the perception of baseball from a fun kids game to a chore that parents made them do.  Instead of baseball as an enormously fun getaway, it became something mom and dad screamed at you to try to make you better at.  As a result, kids abandoned the game and its popularity plummeted.

As a man who loves baseball, fock you little leagues.  I hate you with the fiery passion of a thousand white hot suns.

I played in organized leagues and pick up games. I think you're off on this one. I think it's all these travel teams that are the problem. When I was growing up the rec league was dominant and there was only one travel team in town, for the best players. It seems now that rec leagues are ignored and there are numerous travel teams now. 

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8 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

I played in organized leagues and pick up games. I think you're off on this one. I think it's all these travel teams that are the problem. When I was growing up the rec league was dominant and there was only one travel team in town, for the best players. It seems now that rec leagues are ignored and there are numerous travel teams now. 

Yep. 

8-12 yr olds should be playing with and against their friends in rec league. 

If they’re still serious about the game after that, then go compete in higher level travel ball.  

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Coached rec level ball for years. It was a fantastic time. I loved giving every player an opportunity to try something new. The parents were great and really made everything happen. Great memories.

 

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5 hours ago, BiPolarBear said:

I used to troll MDC for being an Eagles fan (Cowboy fan here), then he said he coached T-ball. What kid of guy gives a T-ball coach a hard time? Anyway, I am glad the Eagles got something to put in their trophy case, besides participation ribbons. I feel like a better person now.

Oh, and good on you too, man.   :thumbsup:

 

 

I was just an assistant / parent support and it was little league. Also who are you? :dunno: 

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8 hours ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

I played in organized leagues and pick up games. I think you're off on this one. I think it's all these travel teams that are the problem. When I was growing up the rec league was dominant and there was only one travel team in town, for the best players. It seems now that rec leagues are ignored and there are numerous travel teams now. 

I agree.  I think travel/club teams are what sucks.  We had minor, little, teener leagues, then "American Legion" which was our 16-18 all star team.  Mixed in there was HS baseball.  We didn't have club or travel teams back then.  

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6 hours ago, jerryskids said:

I agree.  I think travel/club teams are what sucks.  We had minor, little, teener leagues, then "American Legion" which was our 16-18 all star team.  Mixed in there was HS baseball.  We didn't have club or travel teams back then.  

Travel is the best and worst thing to happen to sports. Sure it gets good players better competition. BUT, it makes parent nuts. They all want their kid to play it and unscrupulous people feed on it. Suddenly there are 20 travel programs in an area poaching from each other and making money off kids who aren't actually good enough.

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I just recommended two of my kids for the organization LL tournament team. Hopefully they do well.

 

 

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4 hours ago, TimmySmith said:

Travel is the best and worst thing to happen to sports. Sure it gets good players better competition. BUT, it makes parent nuts. They all want their kid to play it and unscrupulous people feed on it. Suddenly there are 20 travel programs in an area poaching from each other and making money off kids who aren't actually good enough.

I can't imagine driving hours every weekend to play in a tourney. But hey some families love that kind of stuff. It's not for me and my boy isn't good enough to begin with.

We form an all star team from our organization and send those kids to the LL championship.

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This is the first year in the last 12 that I don't have any baseball to coach.  No shuttling of kids, no tournament planning.  Sort of nice after all of those years taking up my summer.  

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1 minute ago, Cdub100 said:

I can't imagine driving hours every weekend to play in a tourney. But hey some families love that kind of stuff. It's not for me and my boy isn't good enough to begin with.

We form an all star team from our organization and send those kids to the LL championship.

I would have done it if my kid wanted to.  I wasn't going to force him. He would have been on the lower spectrum of travel, but he was good enough.  He wasn't in to it.  I have several kids I coached who were really good and their parents loved the experience.  Plus the parents also kept them in rec, to play with friends.  

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There's no "standard" when it comes to kids, parents, the little league, and travel/fall.  Every team, league, and make-up are unique.  I'm much more involved with my nephew than I was with my son (due to circumstances at the time - but I made sure he always was active and participated - played until he graduated h.s.).  It all boils down to chemistry.  The team that has coaches who want to help kids that gets the parents who want the kids to play - who have kids who want to, will do better than anyone else... whether it's travel, fall ball, or little league.

 

My nephew has 2 games a week, sometimes 3, but they never practice during the season.  That makes no sense to me.  The kids that are bad, never really improved.  The kids who were pretty decent did get better because they were already on that trajectory, but they could've gotten better than what they did.  My brother set my nephew up with one-on-one training because my he didn't start playing until he was 10.  He's one of the best kids on his 11-year old team because of that.  This team wasn't all that good.  They won 5 games, including a playoff game, and got killed in the 2nd round.  The coach was pretty good, but he never had practice in-season and when they did batting practice, the pitches were always lobs.  How's a kid supposed to learn how to hit 50 mph balls when he's only hitting 25 mph meatballs in practice?

 

My nephew made to the all-star's this year and through 3 practices, you can tell that the parents are more invested, the coaches are more invested, as are the kids themselves.  It's a huge turn around.  This team has some legit talent and will definitely win a bunch of games, and my nephew is way more excited to play on this team than he was his regular team.

 

Also, because last year was my nephew's first year playing organized baseball, my brother had him play fall ball.  That team wasn't all that good to start with, but everyone was interested in playing/coaching.  They significantly improved because of that.  They started out 0-12 and finished 7-13.  In the playoffs, they were the 8-seed and beat the 5-seed in the first round (first 4 seeds had byes).  They then beat the 4-seed before getting smoked by the 1-seed.  Still, they were a lot better at the end because everyone was active.

 

You don't need 7-days a week, but you should always strive for 4.  Baseball is a very hard game to play.  The failure rate is extremely high and the kids need to understand that.  You need to be out there as much as possible so that when they fail, there's time to get better.  If you have a kid who never played, but only sees time during games because the team never practices, he'll NEVER improve.  But if there's multiple practices during the week, then they'll get better over time.  They'll see the improvement.

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Here is the reality.  With all sports, it is about coaching.  The coach that teaches the kids and has them enjoy the experience will end up better off than either the guy that doesn't care or the guy that just berates the kids.  Kids that have good coaching want to play again next season.  Those that don't often quit.  People can complain about participation numbers in sports dropping for all sorts of reasons, but coaches are probably the #1 reason.  

If you are not coaching, consider whether you should be.  If you are a parent who adds no value and just complains no matter what the coach does, then you are part of the problem, too.  If you are a coach that is focused on winning and not whether the kids get better (e.g. just play games with no practices) or you just yell at the kids, then you are part of the problem.  

Travel teams are a problem.  The talent level is definitely better, but much of it is short-lived.  The kids are better because they are playing 50+ games a year, but if they don't learn fundamentals, then they end up not being as good as they think they are.  You can have a travel team without good coaching and some of these teams are just a money grab.  Not all kids should be on a travel team, but some parents think their little sport is the next coming of Mike Trout.  

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30 minutes ago, Patriotsfatboy1 said:

Here is the reality.  With all sports, it is about coaching.  The coach that teaches the kids and has them enjoy the experience will end up better off than either the guy that doesn't care or the guy that just berates the kids.  Kids that have good coaching want to play again next season.  Those that don't often quit.  People can complain about participation numbers in sports dropping for all sorts of reasons, but coaches are probably the #1 reason.  

If you are not coaching, consider whether you should be.  If you are a parent who adds no value and just complains no matter what the coach does, then you are part of the problem, too.  If you are a coach that is focused on winning and not whether the kids get better (e.g. just play games with no practices) or you just yell at the kids, then you are part of the problem.  

Travel teams are a problem.  The talent level is definitely better, but much of it is short-lived.  The kids are better because they are playing 50+ games a year, but if they don't learn fundamentals, then they end up not being as good as they think they are.  You can have a travel team without good coaching and some of these teams are just a money grab.  Not all kids should be on a travel team, but some parents think their little sport is the next coming of Mike Trout.  

In our rec league, we schedule  2-3 games and 2 practices per week.  Cold weather, rain outs and lack of field availability drops that avg down to 2 games and 1 practice per week.  Because of this, I use a 45 minute pre-game warm up for additional instruction.  That effectively gives us another full practice every week.  Even then, I feel like we just don't have enough time with the kids to teach them everything.   All star tournaments are mostly weekends, so those teams practice 3 days per week and play 3 games.  

My oldest son's 12U coach is a win-focused screamer.  He's one of those guys who gives some sort of instruction after every single pitch.  They were undefeated for awhile and strutted around acting like that was a big accomplishment.   Sad to say, but I found myself actually rooting for my son's team to lose.  They finally did, and most of the kids were crying afterward.  

My youngest is always being asked to join various travel teams, but I think 9 is too young for that.  Last year, they played rec league fall ball in a nearby town.  That was a good compromise for us.   They got to continue playing, but it wasn't traveling every weekend and constantly playing in that tournament format.  

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My thoughts, from a distance,  about Travel teams, is they are a way for coaches to make sure their kid gets playing time, and a moneymaker for others. There just can't be that many good players in one school system/town whatever  to support what are supposed to be akin to all-star teams. If that were the case the major leagues wouldn't be teeming with Caribbean ball players. 

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so do you pitch or catch?

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24 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

My thoughts, from a distance,  about Travel teams, is they are a way for coaches to make sure their kid gets playing time, and a moneymaker for others. There just can't be that many good players in one school system/town whatever  to support what are supposed to be akin to all-star teams. If that were the case the major leagues wouldn't be teeming with Caribbean ball players. 

This is true.  Many of those travel ball kids won’t even play in High School. 

I heard a stat on a podcast the other day that said only 10% of the elite athletes at age 10 will still be elite in High School.   

So, for every travel team of 12 players, less than one of them will be a standout in HS   

 

 

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On 6/9/2019 at 3:20 PM, Hardcore troubadour said:

I played in organized leagues and pick up games. I think you're off on this one. I think it's all these travel teams that are the problem. When I was growing up the rec league was dominant and there was only one travel team in town, for the best players. It seems now that rec leagues are ignored and there are numerous travel teams now. 

I coached at all ages and then Select(travel) ball for my son until he went to high school. I have seen it all from terrible parents, coaches and kids. Fortunately we had a great group of parents. We really tried to set good examples for the players too. We would have umps tell us how much they enjoyed doing our games because of how we coached. That was a great compliment.

The problem with Select(Travel) ball now is that if a few parents don't like their kids playing time they go off and start a new teams. There are too many kids playing Select ball now. Many of them will never be good enough to play in high school and many kids play because their parents force them.

For those still coaching cherish it. Time flies. Cherish the memories. When my son was 12 we won state on a triple play. My son was on the end of that making the last out at 2nd base.

As a freshman he threw a no-hitter on Father's Day on this first ever start pitching. He was put in the rotation and allowed one earned run the rest of the season. As a sophomore he was one of 3 sophomores that played with varsity when the won State.

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3 minutes ago, vuduchile said:

This is true.  Many of those travel ball kids won’t even play in High School. 

I heard a stat on a podcast the other day that said only 10% of the elite athletes at age 10 will still be elite in High School.   

So, for every travel team of 12 players, less than one of them will be a standout in HS   

 

 

Exactly. I just wrote about that.

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6 minutes ago, vuduchile said:

This is true.  Many of those travel ball kids won’t even play in High School. 

I heard a stat on a podcast the other day that said only 10% of the elite athletes at age 10 will still be elite in High School.   

So, for every travel team of 12 players, less than one of them will be a standout in HS   

 

 

That's actually a really high number.  Only 1% of college athletes get to the next level, so to say that only 10% of the little league'rs get to the next level (high school), that's substantial.

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11 minutes ago, TBayXXXVII said:

That's actually a really high number.  Only 1% of college athletes get to the next level, so to say that only 10% of the little league'rs get to the next level (high school), that's substantial.

We’re in a small town but there are 29 kids playing 10u rec league.  12 of them are all stars.

Of those 12, roughly 1 will be an elite HS player.   

There are kids who will emerge from this and other age groups to fill the HS roster. 

Point being, you can’t accurately project who will be the best HS players from a group of 10 yr olds. 

 

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Just now, vuduchile said:

We’re in a small town but there are 29 kids playing 10u rec league.  12 of them are all stars.  

There are kids who will emerge from the remaining 17 to play in HS.  

Oh, I have no doubt that in smaller towns that this is the case.  There are parents who want their kids available in the summer for vacations or other activities.  Generally, the better overall athletes aren't 1-sport athletes, so there are also kids who like to spend the summer (and fall), focusing more on other sports.  Still though, I think that if you look in your high school district, there are probably 4 or more ascending districts (if there are a bunch of small towns), so eventually there'll be a bigger pool of kids.  I will maintain though, 10% is a substantially high number.

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5 minutes ago, vuduchile said:

We’re in a small town but there are 29 kids playing 10u rec league.  12 of them are all stars.

Of those 12, roughly 1 will be an elite HS player.   

There are kids who will emerge from this and other age groups to fill the HS roster. 

Point being, you can’t accurately project who will be the best HS players from a group of 10 yr olds. 

 

To me where I saw the kids start to show their true ability was around the time they were 12 but usually 13.

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My buddy coached his son in little league...the main coach would get the allstars...he would get the learning kids.  He would throw bp and throw hard...by the time season started they were crushing it.  They actually beat the all star team.  The other coach was sooo pissed.

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35 minutes ago, cmh6476 said:

so do you pitch or catch?

Pitch it in the pooper

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From what I'm seeing with my nephew, the really good kids that are of a certain age, will play on teams with the older kids.  So, the really good 10's play on the 11 year old teams and so on.  With boys, puberty is the biggest factor in all sports.  The kids who start off good, could be getting a testosterone boost from puberty that the lesser kids just haven't gotten yet.  As with all sports, the kids who grow the earliest tend to grow the fastest and most (generally).  It's why most MLB players (as well as other sports), are over 6 feet tall.

http://wearefanatics.com/baseball-players-shapes-sizes/

 

There will be a bunch of kids who weren't really all that good at a young age that develop because they were late bloomers, but for the most part, the taller and stronger kids will pretty much be the end result.  They're also the ones who are most likely going to be the better kids.  The one caveat is the kids that grow too fast and too soon and they're not coordinated enough to develop and take longer.  In the end, always bet on genetics.  When you're at your kids next game, take a look at their parents.  Not so much about who's skinny or who's fat, because you don't really know their other health issues, but look specifically at the height of their parents individually and comparatively (i.e., dad and mom both being tall or short... or one is tall and the other is short), their postures, their builds, and if they wear glasses.  I'm willing to bet that most of the really good kids have 2 tall parents with a few others having 1 tall parent.  The kid with 2 short parents (or a taller mom), will generally be the lesser athletes... unless mom was a great athlete.

 

But baseball skills are very much tied in to maturity.  From a physical and mental standpoint (as a physical therapist), I've seen this and studied this a lot (through work and school), there is a cutoff point where age is involved.  First off, eye sight is absolutely imperative.  It is the most important trait and more important than any other sport.  Though, you will find that most elite athletes don't wear glasses (aside from players where sight isn't as important - such as a pitcher, defensive linemen, swimmers, etc).  But I digress.  With baseball, age 14 is a major/significant marker for future development.  if a child has not developed to read the laces of a baseball by age 14, there is almost no chance at all that he will ever be able to hit a breaking ball with regularity as he gets older.  If a child hasn't developed an strong sense of hand-eye coordination by then, he'll never never be able to hit a baseball with any regularity.  If a child hasn't been able to develop a high level of depth perception by age 14, you almost be assured that'll never be able to judge fly balls.

 

No other sport has such a significant point of development at such a young age.  It is the very reason why kids, who are really excited and interest in baseball, should play as much as possible at a young age.  If your 9 year old truly loves playing baseball, then travel/fall-ball should be encouraged.  To note, other sports/activites/hobbies, should be stressed too.  If your child plays baseball 10+ months a year, he will most likely burn out.  Golf, tennis, and bowling are great sports for kids who like baseball, to participate in.  They are sports with an emphasis on repetitive muscle memory (golf and bowling), or extenuate the need for high impact/short bursts (tennis).

 

Oh, one last thing, STAY AWAY FROM WEIGHT TRAINING UNTIL THE CHILD HIT HIGH SCHOOL... preferably sophomore year.  Encourage strength gain from general exercise and light manual labor such as mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, gardening, etc.  Those chores build stamina for smaller muscles.  They also encourage relative motions that train your muscles to learn motions.

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18 hours ago, TBayXXXVII said:

From what I'm seeing with my nephew, the really good kids that are of a certain age, will play on teams with the older kids.  So, the really good 10's play on the 11 year old teams and so on.  With boys, puberty is the biggest factor in all sports.  The kids who start off good, could be getting a testosterone boost from puberty that the lesser kids just haven't gotten yet.  As with all sports, the kids who grow the earliest tend to grow the fastest and most (generally).  It's why most MLB players (as well as other sports), are over 6 feet tall.

http://wearefanatics.com/baseball-players-shapes-sizes/

 

There will be a bunch of kids who weren't really all that good at a young age that develop because they were late bloomers, but for the most part, the taller and stronger kids will pretty much be the end result.  They're also the ones who are most likely going to be the better kids.  The one caveat is the kids that grow too fast and too soon and they're not coordinated enough to develop and take longer.  In the end, always bet on genetics.  When you're at your kids next game, take a look at their parents.  Not so much about who's skinny or who's fat, because you don't really know their other health issues, but look specifically at the height of their parents individually and comparatively (i.e., dad and mom both being tall or short... or one is tall and the other is short), their postures, their builds, and if they wear glasses.  I'm willing to bet that most of the really good kids have 2 tall parents with a few others having 1 tall parent.  The kid with 2 short parents (or a taller mom), will generally be the lesser athletes... unless mom was a great athlete.

 

But baseball skills are very much tied in to maturity.  From a physical and mental standpoint (as a physical therapist), I've seen this and studied this a lot (through work and school), there is a cutoff point where age is involved.  First off, eye sight is absolutely imperative.  It is the most important trait and more important than any other sport.  Though, you will find that most elite athletes don't wear glasses (aside from players where sight isn't as important - such as a pitcher, defensive linemen, swimmers, etc).  But I digress.  With baseball, age 14 is a major/significant marker for future development.  if a child has not developed to read the laces of a baseball by age 14, there is almost no chance at all that he will ever be able to hit a breaking ball with regularity as he gets older.  If a child hasn't developed an strong sense of hand-eye coordination by then, he'll never never be able to hit a baseball with any regularity.  If a child hasn't been able to develop a high level of depth perception by age 14, you almost be assured that'll never be able to judge fly balls.

 

No other sport has such a significant point of development at such a young age.  It is the very reason why kids, who are really excited and interest in baseball, should play as much as possible at a young age.  If your 9 year old truly loves playing baseball, then travel/fall-ball should be encouraged.  To note, other sports/activites/hobbies, should be stressed too.  If your child plays baseball 10+ months a year, he will most likely burn out.  Golf, tennis, and bowling are great sports for kids who like baseball, to participate in.  They are sports with an emphasis on repetitive muscle memory (golf and bowling), or extenuate the need for high impact/short bursts (tennis).

 

Oh, one last thing, STAY AWAY FROM WEIGHT TRAINING UNTIL THE CHILD HIT HIGH SCHOOL... preferably sophomore year.  Encourage strength gain from general exercise and light manual labor such as mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, gardening, etc.  Those chores build stamina for smaller muscles.  They also encourage relative motions that train your muscles to learn motions.

On genetics, I agree.  Years ago the Cron kids (CJ and Kevin) worked out in our gym; their dad was tall and played briefly in the bigs (currently the Reno coach), mom was also tall.  Both of them are in the show, CJ with Minny and Kevin with AZ.  I'm average height and my wife is short; no pro athletes here.

On weight training I also agree, with the caveat that I would get kids into stretching or dare I say yoga as early as possible.  The one thing I realize now that nobody taught me earlier is that core flexibility and strength is critical to hitting and throwing.

Great post.  :cheers:

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I agree about the weight training. Our team worked in the off season indoors at a facility owned by a former Florida St player. It focused on speed, agility and a little strength and it helped immensely. I remember the first game we played after doing that my son hit a ball in the infield and beat out the throw. Me and the two other coaches just looked at each other and said "wow". His next at bat he hit a ball off the outfield fence and he had never done that before.

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It's nice of you to coach so your kid gets a chance to play

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1 minute ago, edjr said:

It's nice of you to coach so your kid gets a chance to play

My kid sucks. I'll admit that freely

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1 minute ago, Cdub100 said:

My kid sucks. I'll admit that freely

Don't ruin my fun damnit :mad:

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36 minutes ago, Cdub100 said:

My kid sucks. I'll admit that freely

That can change.  Both of my kids had challenges with their skills in youth sports, but turned out ok.  My oldest played baseball in HS.  My youngest was a bench warmer when he first played football and eventually became a started.  Kids mature at different rates.  Just be supportive and keep teaching.

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1 hour ago, jerryskids said:

On genetics, I agree.  Years ago the Cron kids (CJ and Kevin) worked out in our gym; their dad was tall and played briefly in the bigs (currently the Reno coach), mom was also tall.  Both of them are in the show, CJ with Minny and Kevin with AZ.  I'm average height and my wife is short; no pro athletes here.

On weight training I also agree, with the caveat that I would get kids into stretching or dare I say yoga as early as possible.  The one thing I realize now that nobody taught me earlier is that core flexibility and strength is critical to hitting and throwing.

Great post.  :cheers:

 

46 minutes ago, Mr. Hand said:

I agree about the weight training. Our team worked in the off season indoors at a facility owned by a former Florida St player. It focused on speed, agility and a little strength and it helped immensely. I remember the first game we played after doing that my son hit a ball in the infield and beat out the throw. Me and the two other coaches just looked at each other and said "wow". His next at bat he hit a ball off the outfield fence and he had never done that before.

Yes, a great thing for kids to do is flexibility and coordination exercises.  Yoga (as mentioned), ballet (a hidden gem), and endurance routines are great things for kids to be a part of.  Not only for baseball and other sports, but life in general.  Yoga and ballet/dance, are great for core workouts and overall body health.  Both should be a part of physical education in school.

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20 hours ago, TBayXXXVII said:

From what I'm seeing with my nephew, the really good kids that are of a certain age, will play on teams with the older kids.  So, the really good 10's play on the 11 year old teams and so on.  With boys, puberty is the biggest factor in all sports.  The kids who start off good, could be getting a testosterone boost from puberty that the lesser kids just haven't gotten yet.  As with all sports, the kids who grow the earliest tend to grow the fastest and most (generally).  It's why most MLB players (as well as other sports), are over 6 feet tall.

http://wearefanatics.com/baseball-players-shapes-sizes/

 

There will be a bunch of kids who weren't really all that good at a young age that develop because they were late bloomers, but for the most part, the taller and stronger kids will pretty much be the end result.  They're also the ones who are most likely going to be the better kids.  The one caveat is the kids that grow too fast and too soon and they're not coordinated enough to develop and take longer.  In the end, always bet on genetics.  When you're at your kids next game, take a look at their parents.  Not so much about who's skinny or who's fat, because you don't really know their other health issues, but look specifically at the height of their parents individually and comparatively (i.e., dad and mom both being tall or short... or one is tall and the other is short), their postures, their builds, and if they wear glasses.  I'm willing to bet that most of the really good kids have 2 tall parents with a few others having 1 tall parent.  The kid with 2 short parents (or a taller mom), will generally be the lesser athletes... unless mom was a great athlete.

 

But baseball skills are very much tied in to maturity.  From a physical and mental standpoint (as a physical therapist), I've seen this and studied this a lot (through work and school), there is a cutoff point where age is involved.  First off, eye sight is absolutely imperative.  It is the most important trait and more important than any other sport.  Though, you will find that most elite athletes don't wear glasses (aside from players where sight isn't as important - such as a pitcher, defensive linemen, swimmers, etc).  But I digress.  With baseball, age 14 is a major/significant marker for future development.  if a child has not developed to read the laces of a baseball by age 14, there is almost no chance at all that he will ever be able to hit a breaking ball with regularity as he gets older.  If a child hasn't developed an strong sense of hand-eye coordination by then, he'll never never be able to hit a baseball with any regularity.  If a child hasn't been able to develop a high level of depth perception by age 14, you almost be assured that'll never be able to judge fly balls.

 

No other sport has such a significant point of development at such a young age.  It is the very reason why kids, who are really excited and interest in baseball, should play as much as possible at a young age.  If your 9 year old truly loves playing baseball, then travel/fall-ball should be encouraged.  To note, other sports/activites/hobbies, should be stressed too.  If your child plays baseball 10+ months a year, he will most likely burn out.  Golf, tennis, and bowling are great sports for kids who like baseball, to participate in.  They are sports with an emphasis on repetitive muscle memory (golf and bowling), or extenuate the need for high impact/short bursts (tennis).

 

Oh, one last thing, STAY AWAY FROM WEIGHT TRAINING UNTIL THE CHILD HIT HIGH SCHOOL... preferably sophomore year.  Encourage strength gain from general exercise and light manual labor such as mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, gardening, etc.  Those chores build stamina for smaller muscles.  They also encourage relative motions that train your muscles to learn motions.

I was listening to a podcast awhile back about a study of MLB players and pitch recognition.  Their conclusion was that pitch recognition was mostly bullsh!t. Many good hitters hit well because they sit on certain pitches, guess correctly, make the pitcher work, learn his pre-delivery tendencies and win the chess game at the plate.  They also understand that a 95 mph fastball behaves like 98 or 99 depending on location.  Some players claim they can see spin , or read seams, while others admit they can't.  

I'll look for the podcast, but here are some articles with a similar slant.  

https://projects.seattletimes.com/2017/mariners-preview/science/

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/what-can-hitters-actually-see-out-of-a-pitchers-hand/

 

That’s important for spotting a fastball, which might be the most important thing a batter can do. For Machado, it’s the only thing he can do. “I don’t pick any of that stuff up,” he laughed. “I see fastball, I swing. You know how fast the pitcher can throw, so you can see it coming out of his hand. If it’s coming in hot, I’ll swing at it. I can’t tell out of the hand if it’s going to be a slider or a changeup.”

He’s not alone. Oakland’s Khris Davis could see some spin, but focused more on targeting fastballs and spotting location. “You can see some location early, too,” he said, pointing out that the angle of the hand and the ball coming out could tell him if the ball would be up or down. “I like to look for release location,” he added. “Lots of guys have different release points. Some hide it better than others.”

MVP candidate Mookie Betts:

“I don’t really know what I see. I see this white thing coming, and I somehow try to read it. I try to look at a window where his slot is and try to pick it up as fast as possible. You try to read spin, but the way I do it, I have no idea.”

Edwin Encarnacion:

“I just see the ball, it’s white or red, but I try not to think, and I don’t want to start thinking.”

Panik:

“It’s hard to talk about.”

Astros hitting coach Dave Hudgens:

“I know when a hitter is locked in, or in the zone, nothing is in their mind and everything slows down.”

Coach Ochart:

“Some of the best hitters I’ve ever coached will “black out” when they hit. Very interesting. I’ll ask them what pitch they hit, or what location the pitch was, and they won’t remember. ‘Idk coach, I just see ball, hit ball.'”

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