Baseball Development AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here -- to the above poster -- do you have any recommendations for good places for private lessons? Our son sounds like yours so I'd like to start lining some things up for the off season. TIA!

I have plenty of recommendations. It just depends on what you are looking for and what area of the DMV you live.

[Anonymous]

Any recs for Montgomery County? Also willing to drive for a fabulous rec!

[Anonymous]

Depends on what specialty. Hitting? Pitching?

[rblitz123]

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[Anonymous]

Recs for a private hitting coach in Northern VA?

[Anonymous]

Looking for a recommendation for hitting private coach in Montgomery County. My DS is 10U. Pitching would also be great because he has velocity but not enough accuracy but hitting would be the priority. Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recs for a private hitting coach in Northern VA?

Sure: Sean Plouffe at Hitterish.com
Works out of Sterling/Ashburn area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for a recommendation for hitting private coach in Montgomery County. My DS is 10U. Pitching would also be great because he has velocity but not enough accuracy but hitting would be the priority. Thanks!!

Nico and Tommy Sanchez out of Training HQ in Rockville. They train both pitching and hitting.

[Anonymous]

How do I help my 10 Yr old overcome fear of the baseball from getting plunked by a pitch and from fielding groundballs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do I help my 10 Yr old overcome fear of the baseball from getting plunked by a pitch and from fielding groundballs?

Hit them with a ball🙈
I kid but am half serious. Every kid is fearful of getting hit until they actually do, and then they realize the fear they have in their mind is far greater than the little bit of sting they received from the ball.

I would advise against saying “don’t be afraid of the ball”. Kids hyper focus on that word “afraid” and it’s tough to get past that.

Last but not least it’s mostly confidence based so make them confident. Play lots of catch with a soft squishy ball and progressively add in harder balls. Before you know it they won’t be flinching when a hard baseball comes their way.

[Anonymous]

How do kids from DC proper (Wilson HS, etc) get on track to play college ball? Seems like the further outlying areas have the more competitive leagues, so if a kids lives in the city, are they logistically screwed?

[Anonymous]

My kid is a young 8th grader, summer birthday, average size for his age. So technically 13u by birthday but 14u by grade. He has always played by his birthdate on metro level teams. We know he needs to skip a year essentially by next fall at the latest and at that point be playing 15u with other 2025 grads. For this spring, is he better off sticking with a 13u metro level team that is competitive and will play other top 13u teams, or moving to a 14u second-division team in the same club that historically has not been very competitive based on reviewing records, box scores, etc on GC (lots of double digit losses)? He would get equal playing time on both teams. For next fall, he will make the rounds of tryouts at all the teams in our area for the 15u level so no particular club allegiance at this point. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do kids from DC proper (Wilson HS, etc) get on track to play college ball? Seems like the further outlying areas have the more competitive leagues, so if a kids lives in the city, are they logistically screwed?

OP here:
Wilson has had a few kids go on to playing college ball, including a pitcher recently who left to play at DUKE. It’s not as important to play on a great high school team nowadays. What’s important is the work you put in off the field - that you play on a solid summer travel team - and that your player does attend showcases to get noticed.

If a child loves baseball and has some talent the most important thing is to establish good habits early and as they get older (high school age) that they have a consistent workout regimen and baseball skills development program in place. 1% better everyday is the goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do kids from DC proper (Wilson HS, etc) get on track to play college ball? Seems like the further outlying areas have the more competitive leagues, so if a kids lives in the city, are they logistically screwed?

OP here:
Wilson has had a few kids go on to playing college ball, including a pitcher recently who left to play at DUKE. It’s not as important to play on a great high school team nowadays. What’s important is the work you put in off the field - that you play on a solid summer travel team - and that your player does attend showcases to get noticed.

If a child loves baseball and has some talent the most important thing is to establish good habits early and as they get older (high school age) that they have a consistent workout regimen and baseball skills development program in place. 1% better everyday is the goal.

Building on this, at what age do those showcase teams really matter? Junior year? Earlier?

I have a freshman who leads the team in hustle and has terrific baseball IQ, but whose hitting has him near the bottom of the order. On the flip side, he’s becoming a pretty good pitcher. Right now, he thinks he wants to play ball in college. Is there any chance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do kids from DC proper (Wilson HS, etc) get on track to play college ball? Seems like the further outlying areas have the more competitive leagues, so if a kids lives in the city, are they logistically screwed?

OP here:
Wilson has had a few kids go on to playing college ball, including a pitcher recently who left to play at DUKE. It’s not as important to play on a great high school team nowadays. What’s important is the work you put in off the field - that you play on a solid summer travel team - and that your player does attend showcases to get noticed.

If a child loves baseball and has some talent the most important thing is to establish good habits early and as they get older (high school age) that they have a consistent workout regimen and baseball skills development program in place. 1% better everyday is the goal.

Building on this, at what age do those showcase teams really matter? Junior year? Earlier?

I have a freshman who leads the team in hustle and has terrific baseball IQ, but whose hitting has him near the bottom of the order. On the flip side, he’s becoming a pretty good pitcher. Right now, he thinks he wants to play ball in college. Is there any chance?

I’d say Sophomore - Senior year. The earlier the better I’d say, but some players bloom late which is ok. It’s really whenever they are ready physically.

High baseball IQ is HUGE as is hustle. This is where a lot of kids who have talent fail to focus and they eventually stop playing.

If he likes to pitch and really isn’t much of a hitter, focus the time and energy on pitching. That’s totally ok. Train in this area (strength/conditioning) and use a pitching coach if finances allow for it. Pinkman Baseball Academy in Sterling would be worth a look for you.