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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This fall, we switched my 11 year old son to a new team where most of the kids have been playing together for the past couple of years.  It's a pretty good team and they have won the majority of their games.  My son is decent, but not the best and also pretty reserved, but plays and practices hard and loves the sport.  He really doesn't get much playing time and and is almost always placed in right field, except for pitching when he gets the chance.  Besides for practicing a lot in the off season, anything else we can do to get him more playing time?  How is he ever suppose to improve if he doesn't get to play in the games?  Also, at his age, is always playing right field a bad thing and a position we should try to get him out of? ( I don't plan on switching teams either as an option).  Thanks in advance for your help!!![/quote]

Sounds like my kid! He joined a travel team at 12u after years of rec. He was the top of his rec team and the bottom of the new team, and it was a hard adjustment. The first year he shared a position with another player, alternating innings. He usually batted at the end of the order, but sometimes didn’t make the lineup. He slowly improved, nothing dramatic, until he was a solid middle of the team player at 13u. Then he sort of camped there. What made the difference was having him do more than his teammates - they were all improving together at the same rate, so if he wanted to climb the ladder he had to do more. We gave him private lessons (went to one of the big baseball facilities) and also got him a net and tee to hit into in the backyard. We go to the batting cage as a family to hit for exercise. We spent the winter and spring hitting fly balls for him in the park. He also started doing daily push ups, sit ups, and pull ups to build strength, and I find him in his bedroom practicing finger positioning or balance for pitching. In short, he started to drive himself. This year is 14u and he starts his position, has added another, and is the #2 hitter. He has found that it took a lot of time to feel like the other boys were friends. He says they are a lot friendlier now that he is at the top of the team than the bottom, which seems not so nice. I hope your son continues to thrive and love baseball![/quote]

Not that you need to hear this, but as a coach, this is excellent parenting. Great baseball lesson - great life lesson! If you want to affect where you are, there’s no magic formula, just good ol’ fashion hard work! As they say “hard work pays off” in your son is proof. He’ll be a stronger player and a stronger individual knowing that what he has was earned not given.💪🏼[/quote]

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