Baseball: Which is the best option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell us your high school and we can give you a much better answer. My kids go to Madison in Vienna. I'd say your kids would have slim to no chance here no matter what you do now unless they are just super athletes. Baseball is a sport many kids start at 4 or 5 years old.

Get a grip! The top public high schools for baseball and even WCAC schools in DMV have rosters loaded with players who do not play high level travel baseball or who focus on other sports. The coaches who develop those players in 9th and 10th grades build the best programs. Any travel baseball beyond the NVTBL-type before 13 or in most cases even 15 is a total waste of time and money that should be dedicated to baseball skill development.

None of the starters on WCAC teams did not play travel when 13-14. Almost none of the players on the good WCAC teams (ie anyone other than The Heights) play another sport. This really goes for all sports, not just baseball.

You are very wrong on player development. Having a kid going through SJC, there is little player development. The coaches are really just managing…most development is done with personal paid coaching/trainers.

This. It’s nearly impossible to make the jv team as a freshman at the WCAC schools coming from the top travel teams in Arlignton. Those schools recruit and they will only take the best players and even then, they might now even play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this age, practice >> games. Do wiffle ball, hit off a tee, play catch, join whatever team has a quality coach and some kids your child likes spending time with.

HS team competitiveness depends on the school, but you have time to let them develop and have fun. Strong athletes will catch up to the dad ball kids pretty quickly once puberty pans out. A kid who falls in love with baseball at 10 can absolutely catch up.

This is very true. To add to this this, for HS baseball, size does matter (even though that can be frustrating), so if you end up with a late bloomer those fundamentals can really buoy them through freshman and sophomore years (if they don’t make the HS team and have to keep working with club or babe Ruth)

[Anonymous]

You're talking about twin 10 YO boys? If you want them to play HS baseball, then choose the right high school.

I have one playing in college and one on a high school JV team. Both always played like they're trying to get recruited, so it was lots of private 1:1 lessons, plus some travel. Not every single season. Usually spring & summer, taking fall off and winter workouts. You have to balance the need for reps & games with overuse. They both have a lot of teammates who have gotten Tommy John as high schoolers or college Freshmen.

Spend some $$ with a quality coach who can teach them proper technique. That will increase their confidence when it comes to trying out for teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this age, practice >> games. Do wiffle ball, hit off a tee, play catch, join whatever team has a quality coach and some kids your child likes spending time with.

HS team competitiveness depends on the school, but you have time to let them develop and have fun. Strong athletes will catch up to the dad ball kids pretty quickly once puberty pans out. A kid who falls in love with baseball at 10 can absolutely catch up.

This is very true. To add to this this, for HS baseball, size does matter (even though that can be frustrating), so if you end up with a late bloomer those fundamentals can really buoy them through freshman and sophomore years (if they don’t make the HS team and have to keep working with club or babe Ruth)

+1

My freshman DS is a very late bloomer (just hit puberty and started to grow this year) and made JV at the end of the roster. He has great fundamentals- has played travel and taken batting lessons for years and definitely wouldn’t have made the team if he didn’t do those things. For a very big athletic kid or early bloomer the bar is a little lower- coaches will forgive some lack of baseball skills or rough fundamentals. It is just the way it goes.

OP, since they just started playing I’d keep them in rec for another year or so. Then (if they want to) look for a low level travel team to start. Age 10 is actually not that late. I’d also recommend putting them in batting lessons now if you have the time and can afford- because hitting is fun, and is really the most important baseball skill. Hitting skill is going to be the most important factor in making teams in the years to come. Fielding and throwing can be worked on at home with the parents at this age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our local Babe Ruth has travel integrated into the league. Does yours? That makes it a little easier to decide because you aren't leaving the organization.

Ours does too, but at 10, all of the travel players are already playing majors 60 and they are required to play rec. So, at 10, your kid will be falling further and further behind by playing minors and only getting 2 games a week and 1 practice. The travel players get that plus another travel practice and a double header on Sundays. We are in Arlignton, and we know a bunch of kids who played on the A travel team who did not make their high school teams. It was pretty shocking to me.
I think op gave good advice above. If your kid wants to play in hs at one of these big schools, they are going to need a lot more reps. A lot more. Tell them to get out there everyday and hit off a tee and throw with them. Start at 10 feet, back up and work up to 60’. That’s the base path length. It will help tremendously if they are good athletes and can catch and throw somewhat accurately. Our 10U team definitely has some kids on to who probably don’t deserve to be. With that being said, if your kid practices all summer, there’s a decent chance he could get one of the 2-3 openings for an 11u team that will start training in the winter.
T

I’m not familiar with Babe Ruth but are you saying 10 year olds are playing on a 60-90 field?? Or what is Majors 60? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks. This was all very helpful. I talked to a coach yesterday to book them for summer private lessons so they will be doing that for sure. Leaning towards continuing with Babe Ruth in the fall. Then will assess how to proceed further.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our local Babe Ruth has travel integrated into the league. Does yours? That makes it a little easier to decide because you aren't leaving the organization.

Ours does too, but at 10, all of the travel players are already playing majors 60 and they are required to play rec. So, at 10, your kid will be falling further and further behind by playing minors and only getting 2 games a week and 1 practice. The travel players get that plus another travel practice and a double header on Sundays. We are in Arlignton, and we know a bunch of kids who played on the A travel team who did not make their high school teams. It was pretty shocking to me.
I think op gave good advice above. If your kid wants to play in hs at one of these big schools, they are going to need a lot more reps. A lot more. Tell them to get out there everyday and hit off a tee and throw with them. Start at 10 feet, back up and work up to 60’. That’s the base path length. It will help tremendously if they are good athletes and can catch and throw somewhat accurately. Our 10U team definitely has some kids on to who probably don’t deserve to be. With that being said, if your kid practices all summer, there’s a decent chance he could get one of the 2-3 openings for an 11u team that will start training in the winter.
T

I’m not familiar with Babe Ruth but are you saying 10 year olds are playing on a 60-90 field?? Or what is Majors 60? Just curious.

Majors 60 is 46/60

60/90 starts at 13u which is why ops kids need to work on arm strength.

[Anonymous]

Another longtime baseball parent here. If I understand you correctly, your kids (twins?) just started playing baseball for the first time this season. Before you go looking at the IMG camp schedule or booking your Cooperstown hotel, you may want to let them finish out the season and see where they're at. Baseball is a game of failure and heartbreak -- the best pros strike out 2/3 of the time, and entire games/seasons/championships can turn on one little mistake (*cough* Buckner *cough*). They love it now, three weeks in. But will they still love it in May, when it's hot, their hitting slump continues, they're in right field, and both teams are still scoreless?

If they do love it, great! Get them all the baseball IQ you can. Watch games (their level, high school, college, pros) and talk about each situation. Notice how and when fielders move their feet. Notice when runners try to steal -- and when they're successful. Try to predict pitches. Try to suss out signs.

All the mechanical fine-tuning in the world doesn't make a difference if a fielder doesn't know what to do with a ball, or takes too long deciding. It's this sort of knowledge that takes a long time to build, and what gives the earlier-starting kids an edge.

Barring that, teach them to pitch and/or catch. Teams always need more of both.

[Anonymous]

What I’ve been hearing over and over from freshman boy parents whose very good baseball player kids didn’t make jv is that they need to get bigger and stronger. So starting around 13u they really need to be doing workouts, eating well and getting strong. Obviously they can’t do anything about being short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I’ve been hearing over and over from freshman boy parents whose very good baseball player kids didn’t make jv is that they need to get bigger and stronger. So starting around 13u they really need to be doing workouts, eating well and getting strong. Obviously they can’t do anything about being short.

+1. During the middle school years don’t waste time and money going to far away tournaments and fancy uniforms. Find a quality local travel team that will give your kid a ton of reps. Then spend all the saved time and money getting your kid bigger and faster in the gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I’ve been hearing over and over from freshman boy parents whose very good baseball player kids didn’t make jv is that they need to get bigger and stronger. So starting around 13u they really need to be doing workouts, eating well and getting strong. Obviously they can’t do anything about being short.

+1. During the middle school years don’t waste time and money going to far away tournaments and fancy uniforms. Find a quality local travel team that will give your kid a ton of reps. Then spend all the saved time and money getting your kid bigger and faster in the gym.

+2 In high school, coaches really look for physical attributes, along with baseball skills. If skill levels are in the same range the bigger and stronger kid will almost always get the nod- whether that is for a place on the roster or a starting position etc. At least initially. Also speed is important- there are only so many rosters available for the big slow kids. Kind of the flip side of things. Playing on a good travel team is important, but doing conditioning work (strength agility training etc) on the side and eating well is just as important before and during high school. Some things will be out of a kid’s control (when they hit puberty, height etc) but all of them need to be working to get bigger stronger and faster. Large high schools are so competitive so it is the reality.

[Anonymous]

I’m curious how “successful” some of the kids of people replying in this thread have been at baseball. I feel like that is important information to have before OP can determine whether a particular piece of advice is worth listening to. Because a lot of this sounds like overkill, to put it mildly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how “successful” some of the kids of people replying in this thread have been at baseball. I feel like that is important information to have before OP can determine whether a particular piece of advice is worth listening to. Because a lot of this sounds like overkill, to put it mildly.

NP here. I’m an interested observer with no skin in the game (my son is 14u and 8th grade), but we’ve seen good kids with years of travel baseball under their belts who don’t make high school teams. I totally believe all what has been written here about what’s necessary.

Of course, it depends on the high school, but where we live, there’s a ton of interest and only so many spots. My son admittedly doesn’t have the commitment to do what it takes to prepare just to try out for the HS team, so he has decided he isn’t going to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how “successful” some of the kids of people replying in this thread have been at baseball. I feel like that is important information to have before OP can determine whether a particular piece of advice is worth listening to. Because a lot of this sounds like overkill, to put it mildly.

NP here. I’m an interested observer with no skin in the game (my son is 14u and 8th grade), but we’ve seen good kids with years of travel baseball under their belts who don’t make high school teams. I totally believe all what has been written here about what’s necessary.

Of course, it depends on the high school, but where we live, there’s a ton of interest and only so many spots. My son admittedly doesn’t have the commitment to do what it takes to prepare just to try out for the HS team, so he has decided he isn’t going to.

For all players, obviously the more playing and practice the better. But all of the private coaching, hitting and pitching lessons… I suspect that’s for the kids who don’t have a natural talent or are not natural athletes. I dunno, maybe that’s most kids? But I suspect there are enough actually gifted players out there to fill some high school rosters without necessarily all of these bells and whistles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious how “successful” some of the kids of people replying in this thread have been at baseball. I feel like that is important information to have before OP can determine whether a particular piece of advice is worth listening to. Because a lot of this sounds like overkill, to put it mildly.

NP here. I’m an interested observer with no skin in the game (my son is 14u and 8th grade), but we’ve seen good kids with years of travel baseball under their belts who don’t make high school teams. I totally believe all what has been written here about what’s necessary.

Of course, it depends on the high school, but where we live, there’s a ton of interest and only so many spots. My son admittedly doesn’t have the commitment to do what it takes to prepare just to try out for the HS team, so he has decided he isn’t going to.

From what I understand, the teams are very small and they only need so many catchers, 3rd basemen, shortstops, etc. They are filling positions not just taking "the best" so you can be a good player but there isn't a roster spot because there are a lot of kids who also play your position that year.