Private coaching age age 7 and 8?

[Anonymous]

That sounds like too many sports/activities. My kid who turns 8 next week is wiped at the end of the day and needs to be in bed by 7…when does your kid play and watch TV? Or read a book?

My kid has a weekly swim lesson and does karate twice a week right after school (done by 5). Some weeks, that’s even too much for him. Yes, I know he’ll never be a D1 athlete, so what? Not everyone wants to be.

[Anonymous]

We got our baseball playing kid some private coaching early on because his rec coach said his batting stance was off and DH were clueless and couldn't help. If the parents aren't athletically inclined, private coaching can help make up for what other kids get from their parents. In OPs case, private coaching seems unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hired a (less-expensive) trainer/basketball coach for my son at age 10 only for a limited time to teach him proper shooting form...THAT was a great investment at the time because since then he shoots properly so doesn't have to unlearn bad shooting form. He's 12 now and I still haven't hired him a trainer but at his level, I may consider it now. I do pay for general summer camps and occasional group training sessions (apx $50/hour).

This, and the baseball PP above, are examples that make sense, and are reasonable. I can see 8-10+ year-olds getting 1-1 instruction to work on a sport-specific technique. For what you describe for your son, private coaching doesn't seem to be a need at all.

[Anonymous]

So I have a friend who played D1 soccer and professionally overseas for a few years. He does some private coaching and thinks that before 10 it’s just important to practice and the private coaching is unnecessary. I suppose if the parent has no knowledge of the sport then maybe it would be worth it?

[Anonymous]

I was picking up my son from a baseball training facility last week, and I was gobsmacked to see a dad show up with his what appeared to be kindergarten kid. The kid was tiny. T-ball tiny.

At $130+ an hour I truly don’t get it.

The place was full of 5’7 dads and their equally tiny kids. Sports marketing has clearly tapped into something absolutely genius.

Where did this all start is this the Tiger Woods just do it phenomenon? Setting aside that Tiger was a physical beast. As are most successful athletes. We’ve lost our collective minds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hired a (less-expensive) trainer/basketball coach for my son at age 10 only for a limited time to teach him proper shooting form...THAT was a great investment at the time because since then he shoots properly so doesn't have to unlearn bad shooting form. He's 12 now and I still haven't hired him a trainer but at his level, I may consider it now. I do pay for general summer camps and occasional group training sessions (apx $50/hour).

This, and the baseball PP above, are examples that make sense, and are reasonable. I can see 8-10+ year-olds getting 1-1 instruction to work on a sport-specific technique. For what you describe for your son, private coaching doesn't seem to be a need at all.

NP - Our son has had private baseball coaching off and on from 7 - (now) 10. DS and I have no idea about most baseball technical aspects and we wanted to make sure DS had proper form early on so he didn't get hurt and felt confident. The Little League coaches might be nice guys, but they don't focus on technique at all, just stats (at least here). We have zero expectations for DS to be a star baseball player, but he's not naturally athletic and focusing on technique has really helped him at least not lag behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was picking up my son from a baseball training facility last week, and I was gobsmacked to see a dad show up with his what appeared to be kindergarten kid. The kid was tiny. T-ball tiny.

At $130+ an hour I truly don’t get it.

The place was full of 5’7 dads and their equally tiny kids. Sports marketing has clearly tapped into something absolutely genius.

Where did this all start is this the Tiger Woods just do it phenomenon? Setting aside that Tiger was a physical beast. As are most successful athletes. We’ve lost our collective minds.

When the colleges stopped admitting students based on smarts everyone pivoted to sports as a way to get in the door. The irony is now admissions are even less equitable when wealthy kids are receiving private coaching at age seven. It’s madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was picking up my son from a baseball training facility last week, and I was gobsmacked to see a dad show up with his what appeared to be kindergarten kid. The kid was tiny. T-ball tiny.

At $130+ an hour I truly don’t get it.

The place was full of 5’7 dads and their equally tiny kids. Sports marketing has clearly tapped into something absolutely genius.

Where did this all start is this the Tiger Woods just do it phenomenon? Setting aside that Tiger was a physical beast. As are most successful athletes. We’ve lost our collective minds.

Dam

[Anonymous]

We did this during 2020 and 2021 only because school was virtual and we were trying to keep them as busy as possible. We didn’t pay for expensive trainers, it was college kids looking to make money.

Neither of my kids are currently playing the sports they went to the private lessons for during those years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to 2023 when kids specialize at 6 and burn out at 12

So true!

Puberty is a game changer. Most of these parents that are jumping on this bandwagon are doing it out of insecurity and fear of missing out. Most never played a sport competitively. I was a D1 athlete and I don’t push my kids; if they want to be competitive they need to push themselves. Their “favorite” sport may even change after puberty as new skills and strengths emerge. Just keep your kid in as many things as he wants to do, so long as it fits with your schedule and it works for your family. Make sure he stays physically fit. Let him specialize later when HE TELLS YOU that he wants more lacrosse training and less of whatever. Personally, I loved basketball and baseball until I was about 11 years old. All the kids grew and I grew later. Turned out in soccer speed was more important than size and brute strength, so I developed more skill as a smaller quick player. Then, when I finally grew, I was very powerful. That was unexpected because until age 11 it was kind of a 3rd tier sport to me. I notice similar things in my kids. My 16 year old changed her sports at 11 years old and tried some sports that weren’t even on my radar screen. My 13 year old, I thought would be a runner, but has decided to focus on swimming. My youngest is 7 and does a variety of things. Right now she thinks ballet is everything (eeewww, I don’t know why, but we just support what she wants). I fully expect her to change her mind like the others did in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was picking up my son from a baseball training facility last week, and I was gobsmacked to see a dad show up with his what appeared to be kindergarten kid. The kid was tiny. T-ball tiny.

At $130+ an hour I truly don’t get it.

The place was full of 5’7 dads and their equally tiny kids. Sports marketing has clearly tapped into something absolutely genius.

Where did this all start is this the Tiger Woods just do it phenomenon? Setting aside that Tiger was a physical beast. As are most successful athletes. We’ve lost our collective minds.

When the colleges stopped admitting students based on smarts everyone pivoted to sports as a way to get in the door. The irony is now admissions are even less equitable when wealthy kids are receiving private coaching at age seven. It’s madness.

Most of these parents are just wasting money. Their money will be better spent with private tutors than coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to 2023 when kids specialize at 6 and burn out at 12

So true!

Puberty is a game changer. Most of these parents that are jumping on this bandwagon are doing it out of insecurity and fear of missing out. Most never played a sport competitively. I was a D1 athlete and I don’t push my kids; if they want to be competitive they need to push themselves.[b] Their “favorite” sport may even change after puberty as new skills and strengths emerge. Just keep your kid in as many things as he wants to do, so long as it fits with your schedule and it works for your family. Make sure he stays physically fit. Let him specialize later when HE TELLS YOU that he wants more lacrosse training and less of whatever. Personally, I loved basketball and baseball until I was about 11 years old. All the kids grew and I grew later. Turned out in soccer speed was more important than size and brute strength, so I developed more skill as a smaller quick player. Then, when I finally grew, I was very powerful. That was unexpected because until age 11 it was kind of a 3rd tier sport to me. I notice similar things in my kids. My 16 year old changed her sports at 11 years old and tried some sports that weren’t even on my radar screen. My 13 year old, I thought would be a runner, but has decided to focus on swimming. My youngest is 7 and does a variety of things. Right now she thinks ballet is everything (eeewww, I don’t know why, but we just support what she wants). I fully expect her to change her mind like the others did in a few years.

Also a former D1 athlete and I agree completely. It takes a unique combination of talent and an inner drive that most kids just do not have. A lot has changed about youth sports, but I think that is a constant. A lot of parents think they can mold their child into a great athlete. Very few have the talent that makes all the time and money worth it, and even fewer are willing to put themselves through the day in and day out hard training in their teen years when there are so many other competing interests.

[Anonymous]

If he wants to go D1 in lacrosse hold back a year in school that is what all the local D1 kids do then be prepared to send him to Gonzaga Bullis or Saint Johns or GT prep otherwise no chance of a D1 offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to 2023 when kids specialize at 6 and burn out at 12

Also a former D1 athlete and I agree completely. It takes a unique combination of talent and an inner drive that most kids just do not have. A lot has changed about youth sports, but I think that is a constant. A lot of parents think they can mold their child into a great athlete. Very few have the talent that makes all the time and money worth it, and even fewer are willing to put themselves through the day in and day out hard training in their teen years when there are so many other competing interests.

So True and Accurate!!! I might be guilty.....

[Anonymous]

We started private lessons for our boys around age 10 but once they had zeroed in on their main sports and specific areas of need. For example, our son’s main sport was travel soccer. He was lacking confidence on the field once playing at a higher level, so we did a few weeks of lessons to build confidence. A few years later, he was playing GK which is highly specialized and for which most clubs don’t provide adequate training. He began training privately but the frequency depended on his specific needs, interest level and the amount of free time he had. So sometimes weekly, sometimes not for 3 months straight (he didn’t want to do it during the winter). Both our boys played baseball and wanted to pitch. Each had a handful of lessons to learn the basics. Once it became clear that wasn’t their strength, we stopped. We didn’t do private training at the rec level.