He’s still pretty scrawny tho. Not big enough to check me….yet.
Edit to add: I would NOT get in the batters box, however.
Baseball dad thread
- Thread starter Kingseve1
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Edit to add: I would NOT get in the batters box, however.
I wouldn’t either. As a pitcher only, I faced 80 just a couple times in HS, and My bat didn’t want any part of that.
I’m told that nowadays, it takes about 85 mph to make HS varsity at bigger highschools
Nah - I’d say the studs in the upper rotations of big high schools may push mid to upper 80s…but that ain’t the norm.
HS upper 80s to low 90s are probably on draft lists…mid 80s is bringing it!
Makes sense. In the 1990s, a 90 mph fastball was rare. I think only a handful, hit 90 in KY Hs baseball, and all those guys were drafted. The only guy we faced that touched 90 was Jimmy Osting. Believe he was drafted the next year.
PbrKentucky Twitter has a lot of clips of all different age prospects….most in the upper 80s are D1 guys.
Yeah - you have kids like Evan Hart (UK commit) and Leighton Harris (UK commit) who are mid 80’s. Think both those kids are 2023’s, so still a lot of time for gains.
My kid *touches* 80. Sits around 76-78. BUT, he’s still young and I’m hoping the fact he’s a tall lefty will also help.
This is key.
I played youth baseball with a kid who had potential but an overbearing dad. This poor kid did nothing but play baseball his entire childhood. His dad tried to coach him from the stands, would come to the dugout and scream at him for striking out, etc. He never got to enjoy a normal summer, just baseball all day everyday.
He quit playing in eighth grade because his overbearing father ruined his love for the game.
I say let em have fun and learn fundamentals until middle school. Then get serious.
kid was killing it today after learning a new one leg balancing drill
Kid from Georgetown Great Crossing last year hit 98 last summer. He struggled with control in HS but had better catchers in the summer and kept it around the plate. There weren’t a ton of kids who hit 90’s in HS back in the day but there were several. Todd Campbell (Lafayette), Paul Morse (Danville), Jason Jenkins (Henry Clay), Mark Robinson (Tates Creek). I am sure there are plenty more but that was just a few I thought of who played around 1990-93.
My kid (freshman) got to pitch the last inning against Male today (a top 10 team in the state).
Against top of order…….3 up, 3 down. 8 total pitches. 1 K. We outplayed them all but 1 inning, still Lost 5-2.
Against top of order…….3 up, 3 down. 8 total pitches. 1 K. We outplayed them all but 1 inning, still Lost 5-2.
How's everyone's team looking so far? I took over my son's tee-ball team at the last minute and it's been great to this point. Nine of our twelve are either new five-year-olds or six-year-olds new to the league, but they are remarkably well-behaved and eager to play. Anyone who has coached tee-ball knows that's more than half the battle. Should be a good time!
Moved up to Coach Pitch this season. Team looks alright, I'm an assistant. 3-4 pandemic newbies so I'll focus on getting them catching and making contact. Let the skipper focus on the more polished kiddos.
As for my dude, he's a hard worker, actually really prefers fielding drills. But we've been working the tee and soft pitch to death. Trying to get the hands right, which turned into stiff legs. Got that fixed.
Really concerned with pushing too hard on some of the stuff, so he doesn't get negative, because he a solid player. Trying to come up with little games and keep the drills fun. Finally get some outdoor run in tonight.
As for my dude, he's a hard worker, actually really prefers fielding drills. But we've been working the tee and soft pitch to death. Trying to get the hands right, which turned into stiff legs. Got that fixed.
Really concerned with pushing too hard on some of the stuff, so he doesn't get negative, because he a solid player. Trying to come up with little games and keep the drills fun. Finally get some outdoor run in tonight.
Your kid sounds a lot like mine. Mine loves to take infield more than anything. He's a tall skinny guy and genetics tell me he won't have a lot of lateral quickness as he gets older, but for now he gets mad at me any time I move him away from short, second, or pitcher. He's all-out all the time which makes up for a lot.
So far we've really only focused on contact when hitting pitches but we are slowly working on more mechanics to prepare for coach pitch in the Fall. He's got a really bad tendency to pull his shoulders away from the plate as he's swinging so now we are working on staying over the plate. I'm purposely pitching outside (and telling him I'm doing so) to make sure he's staying in.
As far as the approach I'm taking, I might be going too far overboard on the positive reinforcement, but I see way too many psychos out there at there at the field already. If I get to the point I can be heard across the park screaming at a 7-year-old for improper foot position on second base when trying to turn a double play, it's probably time for me to hang them up.
Biggest obstacle I’ve seen for transition to kid pitch, is staying over the plate and starling towards pitcher
That's why I'm working on keeping his feet on the ground. No big steps. Just a slight rotation. Not overly concerned if he's armsy now because coach pitch can develop a ton of issues.
Had @bradyjames hook up a box of cheap Topps to use as post practice rewards for hustle and listening. That should be a hit.
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I’m big on incentivizing for the little dudes. They play harder for 💰
Softball dad. There is crying in softball. Up until 12u anyway.
Looks good King. I'm certainly not a guru, but he may be starting his hands down a little before he gets his stride foot on the ground. I think he may need to stay back a bit because the knob is getting away from the optimal swing starting position of being towards the catcher. I might also like to see him get a little more inward hip coil as he loads.
I'm dying a slow death trying to get my little guy to take a more direct bat path. He's looping it and his rear elbow is getting in front of his wrists. Bat drag and pop-ups.
I'm dying a slow death trying to get my little guy to take a more direct bat path. He's looping it and his rear elbow is getting in front of his wrists. Bat drag and pop-ups.
Grab a glove, hold it out and tell him to hit it. Yank it if it’s slow. He will get to it straight. High tee work is another thing. Last thing I’ve done to get kids swinging hard and direct is load up the tee with a kick ball….have to go at it hard and direct to square it up….and it’s fun.
You can also put something behind the tee at similar height as tee - don’t let him knock the object behind the ball.
Thanks for the advice. I've had some success with obstruction behind the tee. I'll have to give the kickball a try. No doubt he'd love that.
Had one girl on team who swung in slow motion on the coach pitch - like 5 secs after ball got past and loopy….put the kickball on the tee in the cage and she was lining it to the back net on ropes.
The glove deal is juvenile- but once they see you pull it, hands go straight to the object.
Top hand only choking up could help, but idk how little.
I think the load is too fancy for my kid at this stage. I’m thinking about presetting his load as such? What Do you think?
I know it’s short toss is , but front hip?
Keeping it simple is important that young. All swings are different, but I think need a few components (at least when I coached HS) had a few things I liked philosophically.
I like lessening the hand movement as much as possible - doesn’t have to be nil, but don’t want to be herky jerky. So something pre-set makes sense - only thing I can see that you’ll want to avoid is if he loses some pre pitch motion, don’t lose the explosion to the ball. You want that leg explosion working to the pitcher, not stagnant and not rotational.
Take the important mechanics you believe in and kinda reverse engineer them into his natural swing. You don’t want a mechanical robot - just want to knock out some bad or potentially bad habits.
Front hip toss. Short toss, but literally at his body, at his hip or even behind him. You’ll want him to hit against his body (not completely open up for the swing). Hands have to be fast, it teaches power, hip explosion, fast hands, strong front side after exploding back leg. We did it in college, and I saw a YouTube video with Trout saying he does it every day pregame.
Coached 9 and 10 year olds one year. Had a pitcher that threw hard but was wild. His dad would stand behind the back stop and call pitches. Don’t be that dad.
Don’t see any videos. But just get 10 feet away out in front of him, lined up with him. Underhand toss it at him, at his hip or even behind him a little. You don’t need a screen, everything should be pulled.
This speeds up kids swings (or the ball hits them, softly), gets the hands direct, quickens bat path, helps teach them to attack. It’s simple for a dad to do, but provides tons of benefits.
I did it with the fall coach pitch team of 5-6 yr olds of all talent levels and everyone was capable. Some better than others, but helps 100% of them.
Tell them you want to step straight and normal. Can even mark the ground in front - but honestly, they weren’t pulling open at all after just telling them to step at me.
A slight open step every now and then in the drill isn’t the worst thing in the world if they are roping it. And if someone is skilled enough and you see them opening too much, just tell them you’re gonna throw one outside - they’ll figure it out.
Biggest thing I’ve learned in doing lessons and camps younger and coaching last couple years - raise expectations and challenge them, bc they will surprise…and keep it fun.
(we throw at bowling pins, hit kickballs, run races etc)
I bought a couple sets of those velcro paddles and extra fuzzy tennis balls to mix it up for playing catch.
My son is 6 and it makes it easy to focus on a “target practice” session for throwing to a small target. I made up a game wherein you get 10 points for throwing it to other person without making them move a pivot foot, 5 points for two steps, 2.5 points for three steps and we play to 100. Towards the end I made up a 25 point throw for not having to move my hand.
It’s actually competitive because I’m handicapped by his smaller range of motion and my nonchalance and he gets a boost from my my bigger wingspan and better coordination.
It gives a better “throws” per minute efficiency because it’s easier to deal with than a glove and I’m able to amp up the velocity and get him to react quicker without worrying about drilling him with a harder ball (it’s a lighter ball and he doesn’t have to worry about glove orientation).
The only bad part is he gets on me for not hitting the middle of the “X” stitching on the paddle that I told him to aim at - like I’m just not concentrating enough.
My son is 6 and it makes it easy to focus on a “target practice” session for throwing to a small target. I made up a game wherein you get 10 points for throwing it to other person without making them move a pivot foot, 5 points for two steps, 2.5 points for three steps and we play to 100. Towards the end I made up a 25 point throw for not having to move my hand.
It’s actually competitive because I’m handicapped by his smaller range of motion and my nonchalance and he gets a boost from my my bigger wingspan and better coordination.
It gives a better “throws” per minute efficiency because it’s easier to deal with than a glove and I’m able to amp up the velocity and get him to react quicker without worrying about drilling him with a harder ball (it’s a lighter ball and he doesn’t have to worry about glove orientation).
The only bad part is he gets on me for not hitting the middle of the “X” stitching on the paddle that I told him to aim at - like I’m just not concentrating enough.
GD is HS SR in softball. Decent pitcher, very good 1B - lefty - & decent hitter. Great throwing arm. Speed is so-so. Has batted 4th last two years & maybe 3rd this season. They have decent OH top class size team. Missed 1st scrimmage last week, Sat got rained out & Tu likely will also. First game next Sa. Can't wait. Coached her with her dad through 6th grade. Then she went into club regional travel ball.
I coach league kid pitch and we have four that has never played before. Our numbers are a little down so I have 9 here. My kid and 3 others play travel ball to so its been hard to have a complete practice that challenges them and pulls the others along.
With the kids who have not played though, they are coming a long. The main issue is correcting bad habits and getting the fundamentals down. We start at from warmup to the last minute preaching fundamentals. One of those kids is really coming around quicker than the others field wise.
But i got 4 who played and 4 who this is their first time. Then the one who just doesn't listen. He complains on each thing and doesn't even try to do what is asked. His parents have called me complaining about what my assistants and I are teaching. Once I told them why and showed how other coaches taught the same way, they don't complain as much. But once we start games, he will not get the consideration that the others will.
The 4 travel kids I got, my assistants and I take turns with them. Just they may see something that I don't and vice versa. I think for each the main thing has been hip rotation either at the plate or on the mound. Just getting that hip through.
