Baseball coaching question

[Hammer]

Hey all,

 

I am the proud father of an 8 y/o son that is absolutely crushing the ball already. His hitting ability looks to be about 2-4 years ahead of the rest of the kids in his traveling league and has caused a stir at a couple of our spring scrimages. At what point do parents help the maturation process along in terms of training and coaching? I'm currently one of his coaches but I am far from what I think he really needs. We are considering a move to have him playing with either the 10u or 11u local teams but don't know if that is the right path either since those are just "dad coaches" as well. Has anyone here pursued a path like this before?

 

Thanks for any help...

Hammer

[Patrick425]

Personally, even at the young age of 8, I think your son needs to be a big part of the decision process. There are a lot of questions though. Sounds like he's a nice player. Is he passionate about the game? Can he not get enough of it? Is he more comfortable playing with his friends at the local level or would he be happier being challanged with a travel team? What kind of time and money commitment are you willing to take on (travel teams can be a big commitment)?

 

My son loved baseball from the time he could walk, hold a bat, and throw and always showed some talent. I coached teams he was on from the age of 5-14. I had a few people tell me that he should try out for a travel team (like Hitters in Racine). I didn't feel like it was the right environment for him at an early age. He played on local "select" teams and did tourneys in Cooperstown and Myrtle Beach, but most of the playing was done in the Wisconsin State Youth League and local tourneys. He's now a sophomore and starting on his High School Varsity team. Will he play college ball somewhere?...who knows? He'll probably go to some "showcases" over the next couple of years and see what happens. I would suspect that if he did play somewhere it would be D3 (non-scholorship). Would he have had a better chance to play college ball if he played youth baseball on "higher caliber" national travel teams? I don't know...maybe? He took the path that made him the happiest and a path that more realistically fit into our schedule. He's having a blast this year on his HS team. Anything after HS is frosting on the cake.

 

Alot of it also depends on where you live and what kind of local talent there is. If you are in a community that only offers Little League and your son really has talent, you may want to see what else is out there. Some of the select teams in the area are really good and play good competition. Some "dad" coaches are more qualified than other "dad" coaches. You don't always have to do a ton of traveling to play challenging competition.

 

Assuming you live in SE WI, my personal opinion would be to get him on a team that plays in one of these two leages (at the higher level of these leagues):

 

http://www.wsybl.com/

 

http://www.tocbaseball.com/page/m-a-j-o-r-ybl/about

 

In the off season sign him up for group or individual lessons at a place like Hitter's in Racing (opening a brand new facility in Fall) or Stiks in Occonomowoc. My son did hitting sessions this past winter every Sunday morning at Hitters. I also hear rumors that Ed Sedar is also opening a place in Waukesha sometime soon. Then, at age 10 or so you and he can make the decision if he's ready to maybe try out for a team that does a little more national travel.

[stoutdude04]

I cannot speak directly to baseball, or even children for that matter as I have none of my own, but I do coach tennis and give private lessons. I would echo what Patrick had to say. I give lessons to a variety of ages and they all started at about 8 years old. One of them is currently playing regional tournaments and taking extra lessons at a club. Another just comes to see me once a week and is content on learning the game. I would suggest asking your son what he would like to do.

[Hammer]

Thanks for the replies guys! We actually live in the Fox Valley so we are probably going to be utilizing the staff at Players Choice in Appleton. My son is already in the category of "baseball junkie" as he spends all of his non-practice or game time either watching baseball or trying to find a way to play more baseball. He's also starting to dabble with some very light weight training with my wife's bands.

 

On the topic of playing with other teams...it's interesting. I asked him about a week ago if he would like to play on some other local or traveling teams and he said yes...as long as a couple of his buddies did as well. I'm probably going to have to sit him down and have a good dad/son talk because, like you mentioned Patrick and stout, he needs to be in on the process to see exactly what he does and doesn't want to do. I'm not going to be that dad that commands/directs his playing choices. That said, my wife and I have already agreed that we want to give him every chance to succeed in sports as neither of us was afforded that during our childhood.

 

The only hard rule that we have decided in our house is that he will not play tackle football until high school due to the concussion risk...the rest is up to him.

 

I'll keep this thread going this summer when we figure out what his path will be...

[Patrick425]

Just to emphasize Hammer, some travel baseball teams play in tournaments every weekend throughout the summer and some coaches of these teams can be pretty demanding (even at a young age). The costs and time commitments for these teams can also be fairly substantive (It generally cost anywhere from $400 to $700 per team to play in a weekend tourney - more for week long tourneys like Cooperstown and Ripken..not to mention travel costs). Not to mention the stress, bickering, and politics that often times accompanies such teams (worst part of youth sports). My wife and I both work full time, so even if our son was interested in doing that at a young age, it would not have been possible for us logistically (and we only have one kid...I don't know how some of these families that have 2,3,4 kids do it!). Not saying that your son should never play for one of these teams....you just need to be prepared for all the baggage that goes with it.

 

Whatever decisions are made regarding baseball and your son, best of luck. The most important thing is that he's still enjoying the game at whatever level he ends up playing at.

 

Oh..also...if your kid is still hungry for baseball after the summer season ends, look for a "Fall Ball" league. I'm not sure what there is in the Fox Valley in regards to this, but I know there are at least 3 or 4 options for Fall Baseball in SE Wisconsin. You usually can join as a team or an individual (and they will place your son on a team).

[TheCrew07]

The only hard rule that we have decided in our house is that he will not play tackle football until high school due to the concussion risk...the rest is up to him.

 

There has been much misinformation pandered about regarding concussions, not the severity of the injury, but the frequency rate of various sports. For example all forms of soccer, girls basketball, and youth hockey have higher concussion rates than any level of football.

 

The concussion itself isn't the issue as much as proper diagnosis and what comes after it... even though I love hockey as a sport the hockey culture is generally pretty dismissive of injuries. For example there's just no way that Corey Koskie's first concussion was suffered while playing for the Brewers, his symptoms were more along the lines of secondary concussion syndrome and suggested a undiagnosed concussion history likely going back to his hockey days.

 

I would highly recommend that anyone who's worried about concussions get the facts and not just go by public opinion. It shouldn't matter what activity your children are doing... 4 wheeling, riding a bike, sports, whatever... if they have a concussion there are certain protocols that need to be followed: No video games, no school, no sports, basically no activity of any kind except for bed rest, give the brain time to rest & heal without being over stimulated. Your child will likely fight you especially because bed rest is so boring and the simple truth is the majority of family doctors/general practitioners don't really know how to treat or rehabilitate someone with a concussion so they aren't going to be much help either. A hospital system up here in GB finally took the steps to educate all of their doctors on concussions this spring, it had not been done before.

 

I've had multiple conversations with parents of players I coached or who were my co-workers asking about their kids where the parent fought my recommendation saying, "but he says he feels and wants to: go to school/play a sport/what have you". One of those parents repeatedly let their kid back on the ice too fast because his son "felt good enough to play" but when he got a concussion in 8th grade football and the effects lingered for a couple of weeks football was the problem and not the mishandled concussions that had come before it. Concussions are no joke, we're dealing with the rest of someone's life, and unfortunately there's no such thing as eliminating the possibility of them unless you live in a bubble, but some simple common sense will virtually eliminate much of the long-term risk.

 

edit. As far as what to do in regards to the topic, I would recommend keeping it light and encouraging your son to play multiple sports, be active year round. Skills from various sports cross over to each other and the more well rounded athlete your son is the better baseball player he will be in the end. Very few kids from WI are going to get a D1 scholarship or will have a future in any professional sport, if your son is good enough he can specialize when he gets to college and go all in at that point. I wouldn't encourage any HS athlete to specialize in any particular sport and I certainly wouldn't go that route with such a young child. I admire the commitment to sports you and your wife have so the best advice I have is to just let your son be a kid, I don't believe it's necessary to be committed to traveling teams to get his name out there. If he's that outstanding through HS you can start doing some summer showcases and stuff then to see how he stacks up against the other top players at that time.

 

Coaching is always going to be hit or miss, even when you pay for it... A kid who played for me is pitching at Whitewater and the coach his mother hired as a Christmas present told him pitchers didn't lift weights, they just ran, so that's all he did despite what all of his knowledgeable coaches and our trainer were telling him. Well this young man goes to college and finds that in good programs pitchers do in fact lift to develop additional strength and agility, so he wasted a year a half with that clown and is now playing catch-up with his peers.

[FVBrewerFan]

I have pretty strong opinions about this. I'm also in the Fox Valley Hammer, had two children go through HS- a HS with prominant athletic programs. (Yea, that narrows it down, doesn't it?)

 

My first reaction is to warn you about burn-out. Happened to my daughter playing soccer. She was talented, and really enjoyed playing. So at an early age, soccer slowly but surely became a year-round thing. Traveling tem, acceleration training, camps, you name it. She burned by the time she was a senior in HS. Concussion, torn up knee, but mostly she just had enough.

 

I use her as an example, but I know lots of other kids in her grade and in my other daughter's grade that went down the same route. A couple guys that were really good basketball players. Others, same deal with baseball. Just got burned out.

 

Your son is 8, he loves baseball and that's all he wants to do. That's great, it really is. But he's 8. Ten years of this and he may look at it differntly. Hey, it doesn't happen to every kid- just a friendly warning that it's something to keep an eye on. I would encourage him to get involved with other activities- sports or otherwise.

 

The other thing I've noticed from coaching a ton of youth sports is that talent is talent. Yes, it doesn't hurt to go to camps, join a team that's a highe rlevel of competition, etc. But I saw kids dominate a sport that they only played during the season, never had any extra coaching or training. I've also seen "good" players do everything possible to improve in a sport. Parent spending a ton of money. And they really just barely improved- if at all.

 

Hate to be the wet blanket here. There is nothing wrong with a parent wanting their child to be the most they can be. In a sport, in the classroom, in life. Just be careful. And if he is a stud baseball player, just remember open enrollment- I know the perfect HS for him ; )

[BrewersSuperCollector]

The first decision you need to make is do you think your child is emotionally ready to play and be around kids older than he is for a substantial amount of time.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'll keep this thread going this summer when we figure out what his path will be...

splitterpjf seems to know a LOT of people in baseball, & would probably be a good person to reach out to at some point (if he doesn't see this post & respond). Obviously TheCrew07 knows FV area coaching fairly well & it sounds like others who've replied here do as well. I'd guess 'networking' on this one, for lack of a better phrase, might be the best way to find the best fit for your boy once it comes time.

 

Colbyjack might be another good person to PM... working for Perfect Game & being based in WI... I'm sure he'd know which programs to gravitate towards & which to avoid.

[Hammer]

Thanks for the replies! I actually work with a whole group of neurologists and my tackle football opinion is pretty well informed and not moving.

 

As for other sports, he does play basketball in the winter and is planning on joining either cross country or track in the fall while also playing fall ball. I do worry about burnout so I'm thinking that the glove/bats need to be given a rest for the basketball season.

 

I think the biggest thing that my wife and I are trying to accomplish is that he succeeds at whatever he wants. Neither of us had the means to do the traveling sports teams while growing up. Now that we can swing it we want to give him that option.

 

Thanks again for the replies!

[3and2Fastball]

We make our 11 year old take 3 months off from throwing a Baseball every year. Previous to this year it has been 3 months of no Baseball activities period but we are going let him do Batting Practice twice a week after taking a month off from hitting, but still no throwing for 3 months.... anyways yes burnout is important for them to avoid

 

8 years old is a good time to get them some proper instruction. I coach an 11U Travel Team, and I can tell you there are plenty of kids who get away with poor hitting mechanics who rake on Little League pitchers throwing 40-45 mph and end up on All-Star teams. But then if those same kids go to Rockford or Milwaukee for Travel Team tournaments and face the best pitchers throwing 60-70mph, they are going to strike out or hit weak ground balls a lot. They then need to really improve their hitting mechanics in order to face better competition.

 

Let me tell if your kid is a Baseball nut and has taken 5000 swings or whatever between the age of 7 and 11 with poor mechanics, it can take a long long amount of very focused work to undo that.

 

My kid led his league in coach-pitch 8 year olds in HR's, Doubles etc etc... "played up" in Fall Ball that year for his first year of kid pitch with 9-10 year olds and hit .000.... hit .750 in 9U Machine pitch....was 3rd on his All-Star team in 10U in hitting, batted over .500 "playing up" as a 10 with 11-12 year olds in Fall Ball Little League, all using fairly poor mechanics

 

Now he's getting humbled in 11U Travel Ball by great pitchers. He's still getting a good amount of hits due to athletic ability but he's having to completely remake his swing in order to compete. I told him better now than in High School

[Patrick425]

Hey Hammer, just wondering how the summer turned out for your son and baseball.

 

Also, wanted to tack on that if you have kids playing sports enjoy every minute of it now. On Friday, my son finished his first year on varsity baseball. Even though he has two years left it was sad, I can't even imagine how it will be when he plays his last game as a senior. He enjoys it so much and it's so much fun for my wife and I to watch him play. The season goes so quickly!! At least there is fall baseball - but not nearly the same excitement.