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KelleyRN
4 Posts |
 Posted - 08/03/2015 : 09:36:26
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I've asked several coaches for feedback and I'm not getting any solid answers. So possibly there are others who could help guide us?
My son decided to play ball late. He played his first season this past Spring at 9 on the 9/10 rec level. He became passionate about ball very quickly. It was obvious he was well behind the other boys fundamentally, so I signed him up for batting practices through a local facility. He moved to 2nd in the lineup and was consistently hitting, albeit mostly grounders. He's still slower to get on base, and he's still struggling with some fundamentals. It's evident he hasn't played ball for years like some others, but he practices for hours and you would never know he's only played one season.
We are looking for more than REC ball. We were very disappointed with our local REC league. They only played 7 games, many practices were cancelled, only had 4 teams in his age group, and we never had an end of the year banquet.
He desperately wants to be part of a local organization and they are starting a new team. We've considered going to tryouts, but I don't want him to feel humiliated. I'm thinking he's not ready for travel ball. Where do we go from here? How do we catch up with out getting way behind all the travel ballers? |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 09:57:58
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| What part of town are you in? |
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Be69chevy
18 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 10:24:01
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At that young an age there is still time to catch up and develop skills and note to over simplify but .....practice and repetition is the only way.
His father needs to be throwing with him everyday, take him to the rec field with a bucket of balls hit him grounders and fly balls for 2 hours 3 times a week, take him to the batting cage and pitch to him 3 times a week.
Go get private lessons for hitting and fielding watch and listen to what the instructions says and does then duplicate on your own.
To get better you have to practice and drill ALOT. |
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SoxIn7
42 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 10:24:57
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Hi Kelley,
I will take a crack at this for you as it is just one opinion and hopefully you will get many more to ponder.
Travel baseball is not something that your son will miss out on at 9 or even 10 years old. There is plenty of time for that as he gets older. So first and foremost, if he does not play travel this year, don't think he is necessarily falling behind.
There are many options out there that can be taken advantage of to build his skill sets. There are good rec. programs and there are bad ones. As a good example, I would say take a look at Hopewell if you live near Milton. That program tends to have plenty of players and also mandates for playing different positions. Everyone that I have talked to speaks very highly of that program. The ability to learn ifs fantastic and any chance to play all-stars will give him plenty of reps and introduce him to more competitive baseball.
Travel is a different animal. One thing you will realize is that the really good players at 9-10 are not always the best ones at 13, 14, and high school. There are a lot of things that come into play, like size, genetics, continued love for the game, etc.
If you do want him to tryout for a team, I would highly suggest you start by looking at a AA team that is a little less competitive and tends to be a good introduction to higher level. These teams are out there and they may even have smaller tryouts set up (if not private tryouts) where he can go out and they can provide some feedback.
If there is a specific team you would like to tryout for, I would recommend that you go to another first so both your son and you can see what the workouts will be like.
That's my 2 cents anyway!! Best of luck to your son!!! |
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KelleyRN
4 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 10:58:12
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We are on the south side of Metro Atlanta. Practices with dad are exactly what we have been doing and the reason he's improved, but he doesn't receive constructive criticism as well from dad. We just get bummed about the very small and under funded/supported rec league. I suppose we should look into a close by rec league.
The team he wants to try out for is a AA level. But they are a more popular organization here on the south side and have very talented kids. I imagine the tryouts will be very competitive.
It's nice to know he won't fall behind if we stay in rec ball for a couple more years. I don't look for this to supplement college, he just truly fell in love with ball but has a long way to go. |
Edited by - KelleyRN on 08/03/2015 11:02:51 |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 12:46:43
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| I would search the "Teams Looking for 10U Players" tab on the main page to see if you can find a developmental team in your area. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 13:56:38
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Hi KelleyRN, the beauty of travel ball is there really is a level for anyone who wants to play. At 10u perhaps he isn't as coordinated due to all the growing and his body changing, that is totally normal and nothing to be bummed out about. If he wants to play travel ball, which is typically about 2 months in the fall and then February to June/July in the Spring at that age, then he should find a team without a problem. There are many A and AA teams that are looking for players. You actually shouldn't have as hard of a time as you think because to be blunt most people think their kids are better than they are, they are looking for the Majors teams, and at the very least AAA and often times a dad will start a team and claim it is AAA just so their kid isn't playing AA.
If your son really enjoys baseball I say let him attend the tryout, if it really is AA he shouldn't be too far behind anyone. There are 68 teams ranked by USSSA that were 9u last year and under the AA grouping.
Follow these steps:
Go to http://www.usssa.com/landing/usssa_landing
Click baseball near the top of the page
Under "Teams and Participants" tab click "Rankings"
Select Baseball Boys 9 and under AA, state is Georgia, year is 2015 (not 2016 like it is set for)
Find a town close to yours that is listed there then google the team homepage and you should be good to go. |
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KelleyRN
4 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 16:43:43
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| Thanks for the feedback! CaCO, I happened to find another team that may be a great fit following your suggestion. It'll offer more than our rec league but isn't super competitive. If this falls through, we'll look at making a drive to a farther away rec area and keep doing what we're doing. I'm glad to hear others feel he's not missing anything if he doesn't make it to travel ball this year. It does sound very appealing. Hopefully we'll be joining your ranks some day soon! |
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Critical Mass
277 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2015 : 17:32:05
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| Hey Kelley, if you can find a travel coach who is motivated to teach and be patient while developing kids who love the game, that would be your best bet. Winning doesnt usually come with that recipe tho and most travel coaches' egos don't tolerate losing. He's behind and while i think you are wanting to escape a lacking rec league, "most" travel teams are trying fill rosters with better than rec ball kids because their kids progressed beyond it etc. Good luck. |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2015 : 08:58:35
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In our experience if a kid wants to play more baseball than the rec park can provide that's when he goes to travel ball. It use to be that travel ball was made up of ONLY the best of the best kids, but that just isn't the case anymore. If you stick to A or AA your kid can get the longer season he is craving and it won't be as competitive as you think of travel ball being.
I also wouldn't focus too much on extra lessons outside of practice just yet, they can get VERY pricey and until your boy adjusts to his body and gets the coordination thing down it really probably isn't worth it. I agree with Critical Mass, find a coach who wants to develop kids with a great attitude. I call these guys hugs and compliments coaches, they aren't about the winning, they more about the fun/love of the game. |
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Feedback needed please
