Baseball dad thread
- Thread starter Kingseve1
- Start date
A few things. I'd honestly never seen him miss more than a ball or two in a bucket. Has a nice swing. Still arm heavy and tends to get long but nothing to fret with being 6 still. The fundamentals are fine.
Anyway, preseason he was killing it. Season starts and he's not making good contact, late on everything, some unlucky breaks as well. Then last week our pitcher essentially strikes him out first AB, 2nd he didn't touch a pitch, same for 3rd(also the final out of the game) and he was crushed, crying, pissed, a mess.
So, I'm lost. Am I pushing too hard? How do I turn this positive? I definitely don't want to turn this negative. So kept it really loose this week and was liberal with letting him play whatever goofy game he created as long as I could get him taking BP. Finally, after several buckets and talking, he was waiting for his "perfect" pitch. Lol. I'm like "you get 6 pitches you're swinging at everything." So timing was the main issue. Just super late. Then confidence took a big hit. So we did some mock 6th pitches with some type of bet on if he hit/missed to stimulate the pressure. Tonight we hit for 90 minutes, he made me chase each down to try and get him out, which was a helluva workout btw, and we didn't make it through a half bucket because he was hitting everything.
Anyway, preseason he was killing it. Season starts and he's not making good contact, late on everything, some unlucky breaks as well. Then last week our pitcher essentially strikes him out first AB, 2nd he didn't touch a pitch, same for 3rd(also the final out of the game) and he was crushed, crying, pissed, a mess.
So, I'm lost. Am I pushing too hard? How do I turn this positive? I definitely don't want to turn this negative. So kept it really loose this week and was liberal with letting him play whatever goofy game he created as long as I could get him taking BP. Finally, after several buckets and talking, he was waiting for his "perfect" pitch. Lol. I'm like "you get 6 pitches you're swinging at everything." So timing was the main issue. Just super late. Then confidence took a big hit. So we did some mock 6th pitches with some type of bet on if he hit/missed to stimulate the pressure. Tonight we hit for 90 minutes, he made me chase each down to try and get him out, which was a helluva workout btw, and we didn't make it through a half bucket because he was hitting everything.
Get 4 pitches in our league, but then 2 tee swings (if necessary). Pitching is hell - but especially on that final pitch.
Haven’t really had too many with issues going to game action (with the skill it sounds like he has), but did have this girl who was sometimes decent in practice - who couldn’t hit a ball if she got a million pitches in a game. Too much going on during the game.
I wish I could get mine to practice like that. He’s naturally pretty good, but would rather Minecraft or Roblox. Smh
Haven’t really had too many with issues going to game action (with the skill it sounds like he has), but did have this girl who was sometimes decent in practice - who couldn’t hit a ball if she got a million pitches in a game. Too much going on during the game.
I wish I could get mine to practice like that. He’s naturally pretty good, but would rather Minecraft or Roblox. Smh
Oh. He'll go 2 hours a night as long as we're playing some type of game. Prefers fielding too, which warms my heart.
What don't you like about that bat? That's the exact model and size I have near the top of my list for my son as he moves into coach pitch this fall.
I don't know. Loved the regular version in 26" but this one seems a little dead to me. Then again, he's had other issues at the plate.
It's getting ridiculous. There have been so many days this spring where our league has been the only one in town to cancel, including days when it's stopped raining 12+ hours before the first game. I don't know if it's a field problem, a maintenance problem, or both, but frustration is mounting.
Was working with a kid hitting with that 27 Marucci tonight - sounded kinda hollow/emptiness and weird…? Didn’t look to pop off of it either?
Hard to tell in a cage - but strange to me. Nice looking stick and good grip tho
Hard to tell in a cage - but strange to me. Nice looking stick and good grip tho
What's the play on USA bats these days? He currently swings the 26" teeball version (-13!!) of the Easton ADV, which is a great bat for teeball, but the baseball versions get universal terrible reviews for quality. I think we will have to stick with a -11, as he's a skinny little guy. 27/16 seems like the sweet spot.
That connect is the USA version. I think the composite portion is what gives it that dead sound.
I'm a brand loyal Louisville Slugger guy - so cannot give unbiased opinions. LOL
But the Eastons and even Adidas bats I've seen used sound good and look good off the bat. Sluggers too.
But the Eastons and even Adidas bats I've seen used sound good and look good off the bat. Sluggers too.
We have this one - and it’s hit true when used - it’s just been a little big (ordered up too much).
The yellow one I posted earlier has been solid - but it’s a standard old school kids barrel…not the fat big barrel end.
This one hits a little hollowimo - below:
Louisville Slugger 2021 Meta (-13) TBall Bat - 25",26" Amazon product ASIN B08LNSLJRZ
This one drew my attn at store - but haven’t used:
Main opinion - there probably arent any bats that outperform all others especially at this age...but there are shitty ones.
The decent ones should all do the job.
The decent ones should all do the job.
I bought my kid a used Dirty South bat for BP when he was in coach pitch and that was the hottest bat I have ever seen. The whole team ended up using it in games that year. He's in middle school now and plays with most of his travel team from that year and they still talk about that bat. It sounded awful though.
As far as gloves, he still uses his Mizuno glove from coach pitch on 2nd base for his middle school team. He has an A2000 that he won't even take out of his bag. The Mizuno has been repaired by a local leather shop 3 times but he just won't let it go.
As far as gloves, he still uses his Mizuno glove from coach pitch on 2nd base for his middle school team. He has an A2000 that he won't even take out of his bag. The Mizuno has been repaired by a local leather shop 3 times but he just won't let it go.
Speaking of bats, Mike Shannon was the Cardinals announcer for many years. He broke in as a player when Stan Musial was still playing. Mike said you could go to the bat rack and look at the different bats. They had dings all over them where bat met ball, except for Musial's bats. The dings were all in a six inch circle around the sweet spot.
Welp, kid had a good run. His scoreless streak ended at 18 innings. Gave up a few runs in the 4th inning of a game he started, but he still got the W. Now 3-0 with 3 saves and the team is on a 10 game winning streak.
Oh, boy. Had a pitchers duel going in first round of region. 0-0 through 4…… then the rain came and they called it. Resume tomorrow night.
HOWEVA - both starting pitchers can not pitch tomorrow due to pitch count rules.
My kid will now get the nod when the game resumes and I can’t possibly be more nervous than I am right now.
HOWEVA - both starting pitchers can not pitch tomorrow due to pitch count rules.
My kid will now get the nod when the game resumes and I can’t possibly be more nervous than I am right now.
It really helps. I spent hours a day year round doing it, so I went through a lot of tennis balls. One day I found a golf ball and tried it, cautiously at first. After a short while, I'd throw the golf balls very hard. The hardest hit balls in games were a can of corn compared to the golf balls.
Boom! Kid set the tone early. Sat down the top of their order (2k’s) his first inning (which was the bottom of the 5th) and got out of the bottom 6th unscathed as well.
We were up 3-0 going into the bottom 7th and they took him out. Other guy closed it down.
My kid with his first regional tourney win and he’s still available to go tomorrow if needed.
We were up 3-0 going into the bottom 7th and they took him out. Other guy closed it down.
My kid with his first regional tourney win and he’s still available to go tomorrow if needed.
Hard to put into words what happened tonight, but long story short…..my kid went 2 scoreless innings (1 bunt single as only hit) to keep us within striking distance and we won on a walk-off double!
He’s credited with the win….his second in as many days. Region championship at 11a 😬
He’s credited with the win….his second in as many days. Region championship at 11a 😬
Is this thing on? How's everyone feeling heading back into baseball season? My guy is jumping into his first season of coach pitch this spring. Practices get going this week and games are slated to start in a few weeks. Our league switched to USSSA bats for league, which should be an interesting development for the 7 year olds moving up. The best time of the year is upon us!
Wow. Surprised they are going with the USSSA bats. They definitely make a huge difference.
I couldn’t be more excited about the start of high school season. We bring back literally everybody from a region runner up team. Would be very surprised if we aren’t a top 15 team.
My son has gained about 5mph since last season (should sit around 82-83). Not bad for a very young sophomore.
He’s starting to see some real interest from some big colleges 😳.
I couldn’t be more excited about the start of high school season. We bring back literally everybody from a region runner up team. Would be very surprised if we aren’t a top 15 team.
My son has gained about 5mph since last season (should sit around 82-83). Not bad for a very young sophomore.
He’s starting to see some real interest from some big colleges 😳.
Enjoyed reading this thread. My son is 25 now, played rec and travel ball growing up. I coached a lot of it, both rec and travel. Great memories for both of us. He recently had his girlfriend over and took her out back and did some drills I did with him when he was little. She didn't like it too much. LOL
My kids (softball) have been practicing with the high school team for a month now. Ready to start games. We scrimmage ourselves but that is limited fun.
I'm not reading all 4 pages. Just adding in some thoughts from my experience with my 2 boys (one now in college, other in HS).
The Pushing vs Encouraging thing is a fine line. I really tried hard to not cross it. My oldest was more gifted/skilled in baseball, and he liked playing it, but didn't "love it". So we never did travel ball, but did do Rec-leagues which did give him the chance to play in some all-star tournaments that we all enjoyed (state runner-up for 11-12 yr olds, and state champs in 13-14 yr olds). I believed the time commitment for travel teams would quickly burn him out and make him hate it.
I got a Small-Ball pitching machine. That was fine for him to use with friends. But when just me and him, I would hand pitch the Small-Balls to him (you can't replace the timing factor of seeing the ball coming out of the hand). I would even do this with his middle school team (10 pitches each) before games, and they hit better in games when we did that. Hitting that 1.6" ball leads to hitting the center of a full-size (2.9") ball. That's also what my dad did with me 40-45 years ago, although was homemade balls of tape wrapped toilet paper.
When he was younger, coaching his coach-pitch team, I would get down on my knees to pitch to them to get a better age appropriate angle and throw to them with more speed than most coaches. They can learn to hit the speed better than they can learn to hit a pitch dropping significantly. Also there was a rule after 3 swings-&-misses they were to hit off a tee. My team did not. I would instead soft toss to them in that situation, which was something we also did in practices. Had the best hitting team at that age-group by far. Also at that age (6-8) you got to make it fun. So I would do competitive games as drills. Like relay throws, charging grounders & coming up throwing, low pop-up find & catch competitions, or 4 vs 4 vs 4 scrimmages (learned a few of these at Durham Bulls camp I took my son to). Actually the 4 vs 4 vs 4 is a good way to scrimmage with any age group, where 2 of the 3 teams are in the field and the other one is batting until either 3 or 6 outs.
I later assisted with my other son's next age group team, and his coach did not want the pitchers pitching to the batters in practice. Too many balls (not strikes), too many swings and misses, too much standing around. So he'd have us coaches pitching to the kids (luckily I pitched my whole life, so I did 90% of it for his team), and he had the 2 kids on deck and in-the-hole hitting soft toss or off tee into the fence. In that league most teams would average maybe 1 hit to every 3 strikeouts, but our team was the opposite about 3 hits per every 1 strikeout.
The Pushing vs Encouraging thing is a fine line. I really tried hard to not cross it. My oldest was more gifted/skilled in baseball, and he liked playing it, but didn't "love it". So we never did travel ball, but did do Rec-leagues which did give him the chance to play in some all-star tournaments that we all enjoyed (state runner-up for 11-12 yr olds, and state champs in 13-14 yr olds). I believed the time commitment for travel teams would quickly burn him out and make him hate it.
I got a Small-Ball pitching machine. That was fine for him to use with friends. But when just me and him, I would hand pitch the Small-Balls to him (you can't replace the timing factor of seeing the ball coming out of the hand). I would even do this with his middle school team (10 pitches each) before games, and they hit better in games when we did that. Hitting that 1.6" ball leads to hitting the center of a full-size (2.9") ball. That's also what my dad did with me 40-45 years ago, although was homemade balls of tape wrapped toilet paper.
When he was younger, coaching his coach-pitch team, I would get down on my knees to pitch to them to get a better age appropriate angle and throw to them with more speed than most coaches. They can learn to hit the speed better than they can learn to hit a pitch dropping significantly. Also there was a rule after 3 swings-&-misses they were to hit off a tee. My team did not. I would instead soft toss to them in that situation, which was something we also did in practices. Had the best hitting team at that age-group by far. Also at that age (6-8) you got to make it fun. So I would do competitive games as drills. Like relay throws, charging grounders & coming up throwing, low pop-up find & catch competitions, or 4 vs 4 vs 4 scrimmages (learned a few of these at Durham Bulls camp I took my son to). Actually the 4 vs 4 vs 4 is a good way to scrimmage with any age group, where 2 of the 3 teams are in the field and the other one is batting until either 3 or 6 outs.
I later assisted with my other son's next age group team, and his coach did not want the pitchers pitching to the batters in practice. Too many balls (not strikes), too many swings and misses, too much standing around. So he'd have us coaches pitching to the kids (luckily I pitched my whole life, so I did 90% of it for his team), and he had the 2 kids on deck and in-the-hole hitting soft toss or off tee into the fence. In that league most teams would average maybe 1 hit to every 3 strikeouts, but our team was the opposite about 3 hits per every 1 strikeout.
Another year of kids 11 and under playing way too many games, their parents thinking they have the next Jeter and spending a shitload of money on travel ball.
Another season starts next week. Can't freaking wait.
I think travel ball is creating even more separation and a class system. They're pricing people out of the sport. It's basically what hockey suffered from (the cost) and is now bleeding over into baseball, soccer, basketball, etc. The cost is crazy and is favoring the upper middle class and wealthy.
It's crazy how much has changed in 20-30 years.
It's crazy how much has changed in 20-30 years.
No doubt about it. Fortunately there are still some good rec leagues around, including here in Lexington, with all star teams for those who want to continue to play tournaments in the summer, but no question a lot of folks are priced out of baseball these days.
I've just now re-read all of these. It is neat to feel all the pride in and hope for your kids with a new season. Try to remember to be careful in helping that he/she you are not disapointed in their play. On the way to the practice or game just "have fun". Not good to remind him to "keep your eyeon the ball, hold the bat_ _____, you throw to _____, All these tips before the game raises their fear that they could
mess up, and that means fear of messing up. Not so fun. Do the coaching stuff in a fun way in the backyard on the next or another day. After the game talk about the fun in the dugout, "the fans cheering for the team, the fun you had watching with his team and the game". Smile. And don't worry that he keeps making the same mistakes. When youdo something twenty-five consecutive times without a mistake then it becomes a habit.
And dont confuse your intention of helping with his perception of what you are doing. Parents and seven , twelve year olds have very different perceptions.
And never give up....he'll understand your helping him not yourself if you keep your patience.
I worked with kids and middle and highschool kids over twenty years. Just be thankful your kid is having fun. When he or she is having fun they'll love it and get better.
It is so neat to read your hopes for your kids to learn the love for playing that you learned.
mess up, and that means fear of messing up. Not so fun. Do the coaching stuff in a fun way in the backyard on the next or another day. After the game talk about the fun in the dugout, "the fans cheering for the team, the fun you had watching with his team and the game". Smile. And don't worry that he keeps making the same mistakes. When youdo something twenty-five consecutive times without a mistake then it becomes a habit.
And dont confuse your intention of helping with his perception of what you are doing. Parents and seven , twelve year olds have very different perceptions.
And never give up....he'll understand your helping him not yourself if you keep your patience.
I worked with kids and middle and highschool kids over twenty years. Just be thankful your kid is having fun. When he or she is having fun they'll love it and get better.
It is so neat to read your hopes for your kids to learn the love for playing that you learned.
