Opinion: Understand T-ball's importance

In a recent viewpoint, parents suggested a coach-pitch league for 8-year-olds to prepare for pitch leagues, and to protect the younger boys. [Take the danger out of T-ball, Viewpoints, Jan. 13] I believe that if Oak Park wants to continue proving its strength and dominance of Illinois baseball, this cannot happen.

For the past five seasons, I have worked as an umpire for Oak Park Youth T-ball. I feel that there is an advantage to having 8-year-olds in T-ball. It benefits the competitive summer baseball program, and even the high school team. For the boys who play because their parents signed them up or who just weren't cut out to become athletes, T-ball is a fun experience that introduces them to a new activity and new friends. For those who find an instant love for the game and excel, T-ball is the beginning of a career. The reason these young baseball lovers develop fundamentals is because they are still playing T-ball at 8 years old.

To many T-ball players, 8-year-olds are known as "the big kids." They bring power and strength to the tee. There is only one proven way to counter their muscle. Defense. When that "big kid" rips a line drive at the shortstop, a play has to be made, or the ball rolls into the outfield for a homerun. Having 8-year-olds in T-ball forces an emphasis on defense because the fielders have to be able to make plays on hard-hit balls. The players who are solid defensively are the ones who control the infield where the hardest balls are hit and the most damage can be done. In order to succeed and protect themselves from the ball, they must be good on defense.

Many parents would argue that these same skills could be learned and developed in a coach-pitch league. At the young age of 8 years old, very few players make contact with the ball and are even less likely to make a solid connection. Therefore, the fielders are seldom used and are usually not challenged by the little dribblers that almost reach the pitcher's mound. This does not simulate the true speed of the game, and players do not develop skills as quickly. In fact, most coach-pitch leagues have a rule that, after a certain amount of swings and misses in an at bat, a tee is brought out for the batter. The use of the tee happens more often than one would expect. Players at this age will swing at anything, no matter if it's a strike or bouncing in.

For those parents who do have 8-year-olds playing competitive travel baseball, a difference can easily be seen at tournaments. Oak Park's defense is superior to the vast majority of its opponents. These players' success is because of the extra time spent learning defensive skills in T-ball. As a bonus, the time spent improving the technique of the swing using a tee gives players a better chance to hit in pitch-ball leagues.

Rather than throwing 8-year-old boys into a new league, keep them in T-ball to fine-tune their fundamentals. As a current Oak Park and River Forest High School baseball player and former reduced-impact factor T-ball player, I owe part of my success to my three years spent in T-ball. I started playing competitive travel ball since I was 8. My teams dominated Illinois baseball because we were fundamentally advanced compared to many of our opponents and still continue to win on a regular basis in high school.

I believe that if Oak Park wants to continue its winning ways, it needs to keep 8-year-olds in T-ball. While winning may not matter to all T-ball participants, it does to those who love the sport and who will continue to play it. After all, that is what competitive sports are all about. It would be a shame to see the winning history and tradition of Oak Park baseball diminish because of a decline in player skill level due to an unnecessary change in the Oak Park Youth Baseball system.

Kevin Schwartz is an Oak Park resident, Oak Park Youth T-ball umpire and baseball player for OPRF.

Source: http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/2-2-2010/Understand-T_ball's-importance/

SO YOU WANT TO BE A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER?

Perhaps every young man who’s put on a baseball uniform has had a dream to become a major league baseball player. It is the pinnacle of success in this great game and you couldn’t reproach anyone for having that dream.

We all need our dreams but this article is about reality, the experience of day in and day out baseball. There is a road young players must take to become major league ball players. And it is a long and difficult one.

Let’s look at what it takes to go through a minor league season. Many people don’t realize the demands placed on players in the minor leagues.

We are going to examine what players who have made it to high A Ball (specifically the Florida State League) experience.

After the excitement has worn off they come face to face with the real challenge of professional baseball- the daily mental and physical grind. Day after day in which the games eventually run seamlessly together. Most of the players are unprepared for the long hours and days of learning, practicing and playing; and failing.

These are players who were top dogs before. They were used to hitting .450 in high school or .400 in college. The pitchers blew the ball by everybody in high school. They all had .0-something ERA’s.

No more. Now the hitters only hit .270 and many pitchers get rocked. And there is little time to rest, to reflect, to relax. The days are endless and the grind goes on and on.

The hitters are facing top pitching prospects day in and day out. They’re hitting against 92 mph fastballs and devastating breaking pitches-with wood bats. What’s that old joke? “Dear Mom, having fun, hitting the ball really well.” A month later she gets another letter. “Dear Mom. They’re throwing curve balls-be home soon.”

The pitchers now have to face the best young hitters in the country. There are no easy outs and there are no easy games.

Every college had easy games on its schedule. There are no patsies in the Florida State League. Every team has its rosters filled with outstanding players.

In the Florida State League the players play 140 games, from April to September. Not counting the occasional rainout they get maybe ten Sundays off. People with real jobs don’t work that much. Many college players are unprepared for the rigors of a minor league season. They now play more games in one season than they did in two seasons in college. (High school players play maybe a 30 game schedule in the spring and then another 40 in the summer.)

And while these new minor leaguers are learning their craft they have to confront failure everyday. That can mentally wear a player down after awhile. It can be difficult to adjust.

And you can add the daily stress of each player trying to do his best, knowing that there is always someone behind him that could move up to take his place.

Whoever said, “Baseball is like life, you play it everyday” knew what he was talking about.

Remember our articles on developing mental toughness in your players? Now is when they are going to need it. Now is when they find out if they really love the game. Remember our article on what scouts look for and how important it is for a player to have a good attitude and make up?

Will their dreams of childhood be enough? Are the beautifully manicured fields, the irresistible baseball smells, the excitement of the games going to be enough to sustain them? For a successful few it will. There are only 750 major league players in the world.

I have unrestrained respect and admiration for a young man who wants to turn his baseball dream into his profession. Folks, it’s really hard.

A Day in the Life

Let’s look at a typical day in the life of the average minor leaguer. This report is from the perspective of the Vero Beach Dodgers, a long-standing asset in our community. Every organization has its own way of doing things but we will examine the Dodger way.

What immediately impressed me was the structure the Dodgers have set up for their players. They have a fixed procedure and things are done that way every day- no deviation from the routine. (Remember our article, The Power of a Routine?)

The following daily routine is performed at home games. Away games are not quite as exacting because of travel and available facilities.

The players arrive at pre-determined times on the field beginning at 1:35 PM every day. That means the early arrivals have to be in the locker room at least by 1PM.. Beginning at 1:35 each hitter gets 5 minutes of individual instruction. The Dodgers call this daily “Hitting Maintenance.”

A coach works with each player off the hitting Tee. They work on some area of their game that needs improvement.

One hitter may have a problem with balance, one may have a tendency to lean forward on outside pitches, and one may have trouble adjusting to hitting with the wood bat.

This instruction takes place in the batting cages. Those waiting their turns hit off tees into the nets, on their own. Every hitter has some area in which he can improve. These 5 minutes are devoted to that.

You can give quite a bit of meaningful instruction to one player in 5 minutes. It doesn’t’ sound like much time but on a daily basis it is quite a lot. It is a lot of time for the coaches too; to spend 5 minutes with each individual player. “Hitting Maintenance” takes about one and a half hours for all the players to get their turns.

Then at 3 PM everyone spends 15 minutes stretching. This is also a structured routine. They do it the same way every day. They have a strength and conditioning coach who guides them.

Next, comes the long toss routine. The position players pair off on one foul line and the pitchers on the other. The long toss routine is also very organized. Instead of counting the number of throws, the players are timed by the coaches. They use a stop watch. They begin throwing from 60 feet. They throw for 4 minutes. Then they back up to 90 feet and throw for 3 minutes. Then it is 120 feet for 3 more minutes.

They throw at less than maximum effort, putting a slight arc on the baseball. At all times they work on good throwing mechanics. (There aren’t many professional players with poor arm actions.)

At the end of 10 minutes the infielders come back in to 60 feet and throw to each other very briskly, moving their feet and getting the ball out of their gloves as quickly as possible.

The outfielders remain at 120 feet and throw to each other, one-hopping the ball. (This drill reinforces staying behind the ball and not letting the hand flop off to one side. If the hand doesn’t remain behind the ball and if they don’t have a 4-seam grip, the result will be a ball that does not travel on a straight line.)

The pitchers come in to 60 feet and do flat ground throwing. They don’t use catchers; they throw to each other. This is time when they work on the “feel” of their pitches. And they work on their mechanics. They throw this way every day: 5 fastballs from the windup, five breaking pitches and 5 change ups. Then they throw 15 more from the stretch. One pitcher in each pair acts as a catcher and they switch every 5 balls. The pitchers throw at about 50-60% of full velocity. They do this every day, even if they had pitched in a game the day before. They are always under the watchful eye of the pitching coach. He will make occasional suggestions as to their mechanics. The pitchers take longer than the position players so while they are completing their routine, the position players play pepper.

What impressed me as I watched their day was the positive way the coaches taught the game.

Think back to your school days and remember your best teachers. It was like that. Those coaches are highly motivated and dedicated to helping these players reach the next level.

And you know what? The coaches have to have a working knowledge of Spanish. I watched Manager John Shoemaker working with a Latin hitter in the batting cages. The player was having a hard time keeping both of his hands on the bat as he completed his swing. It was a bad habit that John was trying to help the hitter break. After every soft toss, Coach Shoemaker would say, “Dos manos, dos manos. Bueno” until the hitter got it right. Never Give In is NGI in any language.

Next, at about 3:45 they perform their outfield-infield drill, every day. (I’ve used those two words a lot; every day.) The reason the Dodgers do this (another buzz word) is “ball maintenance.” They want their position players to stay involved in the physical and mental “flow” of the defensive game. Coach Shoemaker calls it “taking care of the ball.”

They want them handling the baseball as they would in games. (We have been telling you how importantcatch and throw is.)This drill is done at “game pace” and it is fun to watch. Starting with the left fielder they hit fungoes to each outfielder so they can get all the plays they will have to make in a game. Every other day they practice their “double relays”, 4 times, once deep down both foul lines and deep into each gap.

Then as they take their infield, the pitchers take up backup positions in foul territory at third base and behind the plate. They begin their infield drill with “infield in” and progress to “one and cover”, double plays long backhands and slow rollers. It is similar to most pre-game infield drills but on some days they may do a little more work on one aspect or another.

I noticed that the players worked very hard on fielding technique, throwing accuracy and velocity. Everyone hustled and game speed was observed at all times.

After outfield-infield the coaches put the players through 15 minutes of some fundamental such as lead-offs or 1st and 3rd base running, double plays or run downs.

At about 4:30 the portable batting cage is rolled out and they take batting practice. They break into three groups with the catchers hitting first. That way the catchers can go down to the bullpens with the scheduled pitchers.

In the first hitting round they do situational hitting. With a runner on first: 2 bunts, 1 hit and run, 1 hit behind the runner and one “get in” from third base. The hitter then gets 5 swings to hit to the opposite field. The hitter then becomes the base runner. The Dodger situational hitting drill is similar to the one we teach. They hit several more rounds with a decreasing number of pitched balls.

When the outfielders are not hitting they are in the outfield “breaking” on every batted ball. This is not just “shagging balls” time. They break 2 or 3 steps toward every ball whether they catch it or not.

This is how outfielders develop their tracking skills. They learn to see how every ball acts off every type of swing and they learn how to get a “jump” on the ball.

When the infielders are not hitting they take ground ball fungoes from the coaches. The shortstop and first basemen take ground balls from the third base-side fungo coach. The second and third basemen take ground balls from the first base-side fungo coach. This is done that way so that the infielders can take balls that are the same approximate angle as they would come off a hitter’s bat; so their footwork and throwing angles are the same.

The pitchers that are not throwing a bullpen stand on the warning track in the outfield and shag deep fly balls.

They take Batting Practice until about 6:15. Then they go into the locker room to get dressed into their game uniforms.

They take the field at about 6:30, do some individual stretching and light throwing, a base stealing drill with one of the coaches acting as the pitcher and then get in some dry swings to get loose and fortify their hitting mechanics. (This is done in the outfield grass.)

The pitcher throws his bullpen at about 6:40. The pitchers throw their bullpens in a similar fashion to the way we teach. They establish command of their pitches one at a time, fastball first. They throw ½ from the stretch and the pitching coach watches every pitch they throw. Then they get a drink of water and play baseball.

The games begin at 7 PM and last until 9:30-9:45. Whew, their day is over right? Wrong.

After the game the players pay a visit to their strength and conditioning coach for an hour of lifting in the weight room. Coach Shoemaker likened their day to a 3-11 shift- a long 3-11 shift.

The players must also get in their specialty drills, such as catchers blocking balls in the dirt or hitters taking extra batting practice. When do they do that? They have to find the extra time. These drills are outside the everyday routine but they must find the time to do them.

So the next time you go to a minor league game and the home team commits 4 errors and makes a few mental mistakes, show a little tolerance. These young men are learning their craft and failing is an integral part of learning. Tip your hat to these guys and show them some respect. They earn it every day.

Source: http://www.baseball-excellence.com/index.cfm?Method=Instructions_Instructionsdetail&id=12

How to coach-pitch to small children

I’ve spent many years coaching small children in baseball and softball, and the hardest skill to master is pitching. Not for the kids — for the grownups.

In the early years of kidball, after removing the tee but before teaching a 9-year-old an arm-busting curveball, the coaches are responsible for pitching to the batters, under the theory that the coaches will consistently give them good pitches to hit, thus helping them become better batters. That theory is often wrong. I’ve seen coaches who pitched too fast, too slow, too high, too low, and too parabolic. I did that myself, before I mastered the art of coach-pitching.

So in advance of my inevitable formation of the Your Kid’s Not Going Pro School of Coach-Pitching, and the scads of cash it’s sure to bring me, here is some advice for you kid baseball and softball coaches out there on how to make your coach-pitching is effective. Through my Tom Emanski-like techniques (though, sad to say, they are not endorsed by Fred McGriff), you won’t kill the confidence of the batter, but most of all you will not kill your own confidence by feeling like you have suddenly forgotten how to throw a ball.

First, how to stand. Or not stand. For baseball, it’s advisable to keep one knee on the ground and throw. One big problem in coach-pitching is the size difference between pitcher and hitter. You’re like Randy Johnson pitching to Eddie Gaedel. So getting closer to the ground gets you closer to the height of the batter, and thus gives you a better chance of throwing a straight ball across the middle. The risk is that if the ball is hit straight back at you, you’re at risk of getting hammered, so be ready to field your position! (Yes, as coach-pitcher, I actually caught a boy’s line drive as an instinctual move to protect my pretty face, even though technically the kids were supposed to be the fielders. I then collapsed in a shivering heap like the old man I am.)

In softball, kneeling is not necessary, because of the underhand pitching. So you can stand.

Next, delivering the ball. Most coaches already know not to fire it in like Aroldis Chapman. But you can’t throw a ball that’s too slow, either. Going too slow ends up giving a pitched ball that comes in on a parabola. What you want to do is make sure, whether it’s baseball or softball, that the ball comes in straight and flat. It’ll take some fiddling to get the right speed. But what you want is a ball that consistently comes in at the same speed, and can reach the catcher (or the coach standing behind the batter). Too many times, I see coaches pitch slow, rising-then-sinking balls that hit home plate, especially in softball. Just because it’s softball doesn’t mean the pitch has to touch a cloud on the way to the plate.

Another tip for delivering the ball: Watch where the batter is swinging. Often, small children new to baseball or softball aren’t adjusting their swing to where the ball is. They’re just hacking away at the same spot. That’s OK. What you can do as a coach-pitcher is not only get that flat, straight ball there for the taking, but also try to pitch the ball to where they’re swinging.

So, for example, say one girl keeps swinging at shoulder height. Don’t pitch the ball at her knees — pitch it where she’s swinging the bat. That way, she develops some confidence, and it will make it easier to teach her later how to adjust to the pitch. Now, adjusting your pitch to where the batter swings is a difficult skill, equal, in my mind, to being able to place your 3-2 slider in the right place every time against the Yankees. It’ll take a few times around the lineup before you figure out where the ball should go and how to time the player’s swing, before you figure out how to throw such a pitch and not aim it. But if you’re coach-pitching with any regularity, you’ll figure out the peculiarities of your batters, and you can adjust your pitches accordingly.

Remember: straight, flat pitch that isn’t too slow and can reach the catcher, located where the batter is likely to swing.

If you need to practice these coach-pitching skills, make sure to grab a small child (which you probably have if you’re coaching a team that needs a coach-pitcher) for practice. Your child might not feel like playing ball with you, but if you nag the child and make him or her feel guilty enough, you’ll get the practice you need!

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2011/05/17/how-to-coach-pitch-to-small-children/

1920's Blackstone Valley Baseball League

    Most of us know that baseball has been an established American institution for well over a hundred years. But did you realize how much of this national pastime was enjoyed in the Blackstone Valley? While there exists some doubt as to whether Mr. Abner Doubleday invented the game, or whether it came from the combined results of a native American game and the English game of cricket, baseball will always be regarded as an exclusively American tradition, and no where was it more popular than in the towns of Douglas and Northbridge, MA since the 1920's. There has been a Renaissance of Soldiers Field in Douglas, largely due to the untiring efforts of a group in 1995 to form the Soldiers Field Baseball Association. They refuse to let their town's involvement in baseball be just memories. The town recently celebrated (1996) its 250th celebration, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Yankees-Red Sox exhibition game held at Soldiers Field in 1946, during the town's 200th anniversary celebration. Douglas and Northbridge always had a love affair for baseball since the sport's inception.

Soldiers Field in Douglas, MA

     As long as I can recall, baseball played an integral part of the lives of mill workers in their recreational pursuits as residents of the Blackstone Valley. In 1921, the Whitin Machine Works financed and assumed total responsibility for their town's baseball team, which ten years earlier, had some of the best semipro ballplayers in all of New England. I was personally influenced by some "shop workers" in the late 1940's, and more so, in the 1950's and 1960's. Some of the men had lofty ambitions of playing in the major leagues, although I recall those who built character and good sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, discipline, fair play, and team work. Names like Fran Lash, Mac McCool, Louis "Chewey" Lucier (had pitched for the Red Sox), Charles "Rusty" Malkasian, Harley Buma, Leo Roy and especially Jackie Ratcliffe, stand out, along with my strong Northbridge High School coach and teacher, the late Mr. Leo Smith. As a southpaw pitcher, I played a lot of baseball. I loved it! First, it was the "farm team" as a lad of 10 and 11, then, the Little League, then the Intermediate League (13-16). I made the 1956 all-star team as "Braves" player, and later high school ball, and college at Worcester State, as an all-time Lancer Varsity Letterman. The various leagues were set up by volunteers who coached and managed teams sponsored by "The Shop," starting in 1951. Mr. Jim Brosnahan, the first President as well as coach of the Northbridge Little League, had a tremendous love for the game, and impacted many lives of young men who grew up in Northbridge. He was a wonderful, warm, personality who deeply touched many of us, who were later saddened to hear of his early death.

     The years, 1946-1958, saw huge amounts of capital investments by the W.M.W. on the sponsorship and proliferation of many different athletic programs, which included soccer also. "The Shop" started all the ball teams, as well as soccer back in the 1920's. There was the Industrial Soccer League and the Sunset

Whitin Machine Works "The Shop"

Baseball League, in addition to the old Industrial Baseball League. At the time of World War II, and afterwards, during 1946 and later, sports and the Whitin Machine Works was indeed "the big issue." "The Shop" started a second version of the Blackstone Valley League.

     Winfred A. Schuster and other mill owners in the Blackstone Valley area, brought in college boys from Yale University in particular, like "Arty" Moher, and Norm Felske, two players well known then. Later on, "The Shop" sponsored basketball at "The Gym" (Whitin Community Center); a softball league, also from 1946 on; and the Blackstone Valley League. As the years progressed, they recruited more and more collegians. So, smaller towns and districts in the Valley, like So. Grafton, and St. Peter's in Rockdale, could not compete with the talent in Douglas and Whitinsville. (In the late 1940's, ball players such as centerfielder Jackie Ratcliffe, newly inducted into Northbridge High Sports Hall of Fame, would get $50.00 per week to play ball. Meals and uniforms were also provided at no additional cost.) The teams that the Whitin Machine Works supported financially were like those of the professionals. There were 25 team members, having two sets of baseball uniforms, travel and home, along with the best equipment and bats and balls that money could buy. The athletic facilities in Northbridge, particularly Vail Field (commemorated after a fallen W.W.I comrade, Jeffrey Vail) was kept in "tiptop" shape by a skilled grounds crew from the Shop's Maintenance Dept. This field, where the Balmer School stands today, was so well cared for and maintained, that it was often remarked to be "the second best cared for ballpark in Massachusetts" second only to Fenway Park in Boston, during l946-1956. Lights were also installed for night games when "The Shop" sponsored Little and Intermediate League teams. American Legion games were also played there. There was an annex "The Shop" provided for the players. It was at the base of Forest St. in Whitinsville and there the team members would "suit up," store their athletic equipment, and relate their preparations for the games.

Gabby Harnett (Catcher)

     At the time when the Blackstone Valley League was in its heyday, a Texan and Whitin executive, Mr. Fletcher 0. Rizer-a lover of baseball and imposing tall figure--over 6’4" in height, and manager of Jackie Ratcliffe's team, would strongly caution his players, prior to a game the next day, to "rest up, go to bed early, and be sharp for the game." He would always remark, "who are we playing tomorrow?" Other famous baseball greats, legends like Hank Greenberg, of the Detroit Tigers, and Gabby Hartnett, of Rhode Island, who hit a total of 236 homeruns lifetime, had their origins in the Blackstone Valley League. Douglas baseball was made even stronger when Winfred Schuster, owner of the local woolen mill in East Douglas, brought in pro baseball players to compete with the mill workers of Whitinsville at Vail Field in the New Village section of Whitinsville. Competition was at its best then.

     In addition to some of baseball greats previously mentioned, there was Mike Roark and Chet Nichols--once pitched for the Boston Red Sox--who recently passed away in 1997. I recall the name of Walt Dropo, an outstanding first baseman and a long-ball hitter, who drove a baseball into one of "The Shop's" garden plots adjacent to Arcade Pond! I also remember Gerry Moss, the tall lefty, fast-baller, who made it big from Legion Ball and the Intermediate League to try out with the Boston Red Sox. Jackie Ratcliffe willingly shared some of his memories and past experiences, as a coach and player, with former workers of the Whitin Machine Works at a recent meeting at the Whitin Community Center. And he had some good things to say about Joe Morgan, past manager of the Boston Red Sox. Will this be the year they enter "the series," Jack? (After 80 years---)

     I wish the days of popcorn, baseball, and nostalgia of the Blackstone Valley League would re-occur. Baseball parks, where Valley folks would be so comfortable, could host people who could come on down, watch their youngsters, and see them make a play, see the glow on their faces and the reaction of the fans in
the grandstands, and wish with all of their might that they could enjoy more than nine innings of a good game, part of Americana, and summer in their neighborhoods.

Source: http://www.blackstonedaily.com/whitinbaseball.htm

Coaches should pitch because...

-Machines put the ball in the same place, at the same speed, all of the time. What about the motion of a pitcher? As kids get older they get more from reacting to a thrown ball.

-The only way you're going to get better is by facing live pitching. The machine just throws flat pitches in the same spot each time.

-6-8 year olds need to work on their ball handling skills; catching and throwing.  Everyone seems to be so preoccupied with 'great' hitters.  Coaches seem to be able to hit the bat more than the players hit the ball off the machine. With coaches pitching, it is a more realistic situation. You can teach batters to pick up the ball behind the coaches hat, etc.

-I think the batter learns how to pick up the ball if he hits live pitching.  At the same time you need to be able to pitch hittable pitches consistently. The machine is very useful for working on mechanics.
A coach pitching to a child is not always the same perfect pitch all the time like a pitching machine would. No one is perfect not even the pros. So when the child moves up to the next league they will be used to people pitching instead of a perfect pitch from a machine.

-Our league incorporates some kid pitching along with coach pitching.  This gets the 8 years olds a taste of pitching before they have to do it all the time in the 9 year old division. We really don't have the money in our little league to purchase pitching machines. Kids need to get use to seeing the windup from a real picher not a machine.

-It is easier to time a person pitching and it makes you have the right timing in games.
You want someone throwing accurately but yet you don't want the unaccuracy of young pitchers. The pitching machine only gives you one pitch in only location you need the ball to move around in the strike zone.

-Coaches should pitch because when you get older you will not be able to hit it in other places in the strike zone. The machine pitches in the same spot every time.

-It's better for the coaches to pitch to the kids after T-ball. It allows them to get used to the motion of a pitcher in front of them, follow the ball from the release of the hand. It also allows the coach to work with each child as an individual: how fast and where the ball will cross the plate. If you can put it across the plate at the right speed and location for them they can't help but hit it and that does more for their confidence than swinging at ten pitches from a machine and comming up empty. This year we went one step farther and started batting practice off with our own pitchers to let them get used to hitting against their peers right off the bat (no pun intended).

-Coaches should pitch for two reasons.  First, so that hitters see different speeds as well as different locations.  Second, it helps the kids pay better attention to what is going to happen when they get into a live pitching situation.

-Our minor division consists of 7 & 8 year olds.  We have the players pitch first then after 3 walks in an inning the pitcher's coach comes out and pitches.  It has worked real well for years.  This way the kids gain pitching experiences and the games don't go on for hours.
They learn to groove rather than hit the pitch. We had the pitching machine and after we went to live pitching they had to relearn to hit.

-Coach pitching allows for the 'pitcher' to ensure the attention of the hitter each and every time.  Encouragement also plays a role in the development of the hitter. I have found that more often than not I was attempting to hit a bat rather than having the batter hit my pitch.  This is the start of a confident hitter who now believes he/she can do it. It is critical at that age that the child doesn't feel defeated as they exit their turn in the box. I never let them leave on a bad note, no matter how many pitches I throw. I'm just not sure a machine can do that.  As they get older, even at 9 & up, facing a machine in some situations, (indoor/winter league) is less intimidating.

-I have found that kids can perfect or practice their swings on a machine because they do not fear being hit as machines are rarely wild.  These same kids have difficulty hitting off a coach pitched ball, or worse, a kid pitched ball.  To really teach a kid how to bat in game situations, not merely working on one's swing, coach pitch is better.

-Too much practice on a pitching machine grooves the hitter on the perfect fastball pitch, but no other pitches. A little time on a pitching machine is good, too much hinders I feel.
A young hitter can better pick up the flight/trajectory of a thrown ball.The hitter can utilize the arm's mechanics to better time the ball.

-I feel that it is better to face live pitching, it moves the ball around, and gets the hitter used to not hitting just one pitch everytime. Plus, if you have an assistant coach on the side, it gives him a better chance to work on the hitter's mechanics in an actual at-bat atmosphere.

-Pitching machines are generally right on the  mark every time. This may build up a false sense of confidence in young batters who feel that if they swing every time, they will likely get a hit. Batters need variations. My real preference is to have youth pitchers.

-Players should get used to the motion of a pitcher as soon as possible, confidence in staying in the box is better acheived with a coach than with a machine.

-The coach pitch method teaches the players how to hit balls pitched in different areas of the strike zone. Hitting is a skill that requires instant adjustments. Two years of developing this ability will be an advantage, a nearly instinctive thought process when he faces live pitching.

-I have been a coach for over 28 years. I have seen many different ideas introduced for teaching young athletes. The machine does not help the batter, it gives him/her a false sense that the ball will always be in the strike zone. Thus live pitching makes more pure hitters!

-One league that I coached in several years ago, did both. Machine pitch for the first half of the season, and coaches pitch for the second half of the season.  In the last few years, I have been coaching both rookie and minor league.  I can tell you from experience, that with machine pitch, many players who haven't developed good hand-eye coordination tend to 'stick' their bats out in the general area the machine tosses the ball to. They will succeed in connecting with the ball after about 8 tosses.

-When a coach pitches, he has the ability to do several things to help develop each player:

   Strengthen the players hand-eye coordination

   Never put a child into a position where he/she will fail. The coach can more easily adjust the speed of      delivery to compensate for a slower developed player.

   The coach can pitch from his knee to demonstrate a ball's more natural angle of delivery. Pitching machines tend to arc. Thus when the child advances to the next level of play, they often go 3/4 of the season till they finally connect with the ball.

-The inherent inconsistency in the coach's pitching will help the younger player learn to control his bat. A machine is tossing the ball at a constant velocity and to a fairly specific spot. This doesn't help the player's hand/eye coordination when he comes up against live pitching at the next level. I will admit a certain amount of confidence may be gained by the fact the player will most likely hit at a more consistent level. However, I don't think that will help them to be a better hitter in the long run.

-Pitching machines are simply too easy. The best way to learn how to hit in baseball (and hit good) is with live coach pitching. The player can get a feel for how to hit balls on the inside and outside of the plate.

Our league uses a coach pitcher and I like it because it gets the players used to hitting off a live pitcher.

Coach pitchers also run directly off the field when the ball is hit, so they are not an obstruction like I would guess a machine sometimes could be.In our baseball association, we have done away with Coach Pitch and Pitching Machines. After T-Ball, our kids start pitching to one another. This way, they become accustomed to pitches from their peers, and learn to watch the ball closer.

Source: http://www.webball.com/cms/page1483.cfm

Intangible Attributes of Baseball’s Best Players

1 Dealing with adversity
Baseball is a game of failure, and the top players are comfortable with adversity.  They don’t base their self confidence on the results during the game.  They aren’t attached to outcomes.

2 Body language
The best athletes walk a certain way.  Their body language displays a confidence, an expectancy, a presence, on and off the field.

From the field of psychology we know that nonverbal communication trumps over verbal.  This means how you walk, facial expressions, how you look at opponents (i.e. the eye of the tiger), how you carry yourself and your body when things aren’t going well, tells more than what you say.

Body language not only communicates to others (teammates, opponents, scouts, coaches, etc), but it’s also self-talk (see #19), meaning it communicates to yourself how you feel about yourself.  An easy example is to try to feel really happy and excited when slumped over and frowning,  or really sad when you’re smiling broadly; tough to do.

3 Breathing 
(during competition and in visualization)
Breathing has a huge role in athletics, not just baseball.  Breathing affects many things including heart rate, blood pressure, light-headedness, nervousness, and focus.

The best athletes get oxygen circulating well throughout their body, and they control their breathing during chaotic points in the game.

4 Ability to get in the zone
There is a place, mentally, where each player performs their best, often called the zone.
When a player is in the zone, he is completely in the moment, not thinking about the past or future, not really thinking anything, just focusing on the task at hand and enjoying that task, the competition, the challenge.
Time slows down, the ball looks big (to a hitter), actions are easy and smooth, and there is an intensity and focus that is hard to describe.

5 Concentration
The ability to concentrate comes largely from the ability to get into the zone.  They are intertwined:  concentration is an ability to block out distractions, including your own thoughts, and focus on the actions needed; concentrating is a part of being in the zone.

6 Staying in the moment
The greatest athletes play their best when they have a moment-to-moment focus.  Nothing else enters their mind or garners their attention.

7 Quieting the mind
The mind, being like a spoiled child, wants to think whatever it wants to.  It can start to chatter with what we call the monkey mind, continually spewing forth distracting thoughts, negative thoughts, whatever.
Those who excel know how to control their mind this way.

8 Keeping internal focus
Having an internal focus is the ability to concentrate on the task and not on the result or outcome.  Our culture is so results-oriented, largely caused by the media, and great athletes know how to block that out, and focus on tasks they can do, (i.e. running hard to first base), rather than whether they were called out or safe.

9 Hyper-focus
Hyper-focus is a term I use to describe an ability to block out incredible distractions and chaos while performing nearly perfect (dialed in).  When it’s the 7th game of the World Series and the game is on the line, the crowd is going wild, how well do you tune in and use that energy around you to your advantage.

10 Controlling the mind
As mentioned in #7, an undisciplined mind will think whatever it wants;like a little kid, it has to be trained to focus solely on the goal desired.  Themore focus, the more powerful.  It takes practice like any other aspect ofsports.  Focused thoughts are powerful, weak and scattered thoughts areweak and scattered.

11 Confidence
Confidence comes easier to some than others, but it can be developed. Learning to control what you can control is one way; a feeling of being out of control is hand in hand with lack of confidence.
Another way is to set small, process-oriented goals that you can build on.

12 Process Oriented
(Setting process-oriented goals as well as outcome oriented.)
Process oriented goals  are goals that seek to accomplish things that you can control, things that are part of the overall process of achieving your big goal of becoming a major league player or whatever.  (i.e. setting a goal to take 100 extra ground balls a day)

Outcome oriented goals are the typical goals such as hitting .350, winning ten games as a pitcher, making the team, etc.

Process oriented goals are even more important than outcome, because process goals make it happen, whereas outcome goals are often out of one’s control.

13 Courage
Courage is facing your fears and doing it anyway.  It’s not an absence of fear or nervousness, it’s having those feelings and still charging ahead.

14 Making fear your ally
Fear is a powerful thing, and causes untold numbers of athletes to fail. Fear is like fire, uncontrolled it will burn you and can cause you to lose everything, but controlled, it can provide energy and power to propel you.

Fear is powered by one of the most powerful forces on earth, the imagination.  The best players have used their imagination their entire lives to their advantage.

15 Self-coaching
Success in baseball as well as athletics in general is about making adjustments, reacting to an uncontrolled and often hostile environment and doing what is necessary to keep yourself poised, and change what’s not working.

16  Eliminating negativity
Part of being in the zone is controlling that voice, that part of your mind that says “hey, you struck out last at-bat, or "this guy took you deep last time."  Those thoughts are there even with the greatest athletes, but they know how to control those thoughts.

17 Poise
Poise is playing up to your ability in situations that are chaotic and/or pressure-packed.  Players that lose their poise, that aren’t the same player in those situations have not learned how to control their thoughts, or  programmed their mind well.

18 Excelling in pressure situations
There are many factors to why a player does or doesn’t perform well inpressure situations, but the main one is that those who do not perform well are not in the zone, and those who do are.

19 Trying too hard vs. achieving flow
Baseball is a game filled with failure, and those who succeed work very, very hard.  But like running, success comes from being smooth, controlled, and in the zone.  When you press, or get anxious, slumps begin.

20 Having faith
Faith is the ability to stay with the program even though results are not what you desired at the moment; it’s knowing that there is land out there even though all you can see is the ocean; it’s knowing you’ve worked as hard as you possibly can, and that it will all pay off if you stay the course.

21 Self-talk
24 hours a day, 7 days a week your mind is going, talking to you.  What you say to yourself, determines what you focus on, and what you move toward.  The greatest have a distinct manner in which they (largely subconsciously) talk to themselves.

22 Visualization
night before, during day, pre-game, during game
You cannot outperform your self-image.  Self-image comes from thoughts that you think, and dwell on, and pictures that you focus on.  When you program the thoughts and pictures to be of the goal you want, and you do it vividly, repeatedly, you will move towards those things.

23 Emotional control
There are many things that happen in baseball, and in life, that are very disappointing.  The best players may or may not be very emotional, but they know how to control their emotions so their emotions don’t control them.

24 Studying the game
To be successful in this game takes a lot hard work and some cognitive ability.  Hitters need to study pitchers and pitchers need to study hitters as well as the act of hitting and pitching.

25 Acting as if
Champions are always born in the mind of the individual, then it happens physically on the field.  It can’t happen unless it is first seen in the mind.

26 Enjoying the game with the game on the line
Enjoying the game in these situations means you have freed yourself from being attached to the outcome; you’re completely in the moment, and you’re playing for the love of the game at that time right there, nothing else.

27 Visualizing every possible scenario
Like an Olympic skier visualizing the bumps around every turn before she hits them, baseball players play their best when they’ve recently seen the play that just happened in their mind’s eye first.

28 Using affirmations
Great players are continually affirming to themselves their greatness (usually done with self-talk).  It often becomes a fine line between cockiness and confidence, but that is what the greatest have.

29 Have routines
Having routines in pre-game, the night before, and during the game gets them into a rhythm, into the zone.  And when the game speeds up, routines help slow the game down.

30 Take responsibility
Don’t blame teammates, the weather, injuries, umpires, etc.  You control your destiny.

Source: http://www.webball.com/cms/page5328.cfm

Baseball Hitting Instruction: Raise hitters to bat left-handed

One of the biggest favors one could ever do for a youth player in baseball hitting instruction is to start them batting left -handed from day one. The minute the youth player toddler puts a bat in their hands put them into the left-handed batters box.

From t-ball on, put them baseball hitting on the left side of the plate. Make this the norm. Switch the hands on the bat accordingly and keep them there. Before you know it that will be normal for the kids.

I remember how frustrated I was years ago when my youngest son was a tee-ball player. He would go up to the plate for his turn at baseball hitting and set up in the lefty batters box.

The coach would literally guide him over to the right-handed batters box. I’m like, “What are you doing? Leave him alone!”

But most youth league coaches only know that normal to them is where 90% of the people bat ---from the right side. The typical youth baseball dad coaches think unless you bat righty there must be something wrong with you.

It is estimated that roughly about 10% of the world population is left-handed. It is reportedly estimated that major league baseball has about 25% of the players that are left-handed. In a recent major league baseball All-Star Game 18 of the 40 players were left-handed or switch-hitters.

Why Make Lefty Hitters?

The fruits of harvest and rewards coaching baseball hitters will not surface until the teenage years. That is when curve balls and breaking pitches start to become more commonly thrown by pitchers.

As baseball instructors we know that at least 75% of the pitchers are righties. That simply means a large majority of youth league pitchers curveball will be breaking into the lefty hitter.

The righty pitcher on the pitching mound loses much of their deceptive pitching advantage when the breaking ball is coming toward you rather than away from the batter. The advantage in baseball hitting is on your side.

From t-ball to age 12 it will not make much difference whether a player bats right or left. There will not be as much advantage either way in the little leagues and youth leagues from age 12 and under.

If your players are able to reach the high school levels and beyond look out. It comes down to supply and demand.

In higher baseball coaches and managers have to have good lefty hitters to counter good right-handed pitchers on the pitching mound.

I managed in AA one year in the Eastern League with only a slap hitting switch hitter as my only lefty hitter. We struggled all year and finished in the cellar.

We would face these average to mediocre right-handed pitchers with like 4.75 ERA’s and they would mow us right down. I’m like, “someone in this league is beating up on them, but not us…they go through us like butter.”

It is because we were too right-handed. We had no answer, no strategy and no counter punch to put many rallies together to score runs. Then we would see the Albany Yankees, the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees come into town with 8 lefties on their line-up cards. All those southpaw hitters would beat up on our pitchers.

Pro Scouts Bring Out the Radar Guns and Stop Watches

In higher levels of baseball it is a necessity to have a balanced line-up to compete over the long haul. If your players reach these higher levels like high school baseball, college baseball or even professional baseball they will be in a competitive category of only 10% of the population.

Take a pro scout. He knows that right-handed pitchers and hitters basically grow on trees. A dime –a dozen. Nine out ten players.

But wait. You want to watch scouts scurry around for their radar guns and stop watches when a lefty player comes to home plate or the pitchers mound. Every one of the college and professional scouts are looking for southpaw players. Why? Because to have a good balanced competitive championship ball club you need them.

Switch-hitting is good too. That really puts a youth baseball player in a super exclusive valuable minority. Switch-hitters are few and far between. Batting Tips

Switch Hitters Stick to It No Flip-Flops

Often you will see youth players flip over from the right side and try to switch hit. They take a few swings in the batting cage and hit a couple balls pretty good. Their coaches and instructors give them self confidence to try it.

They do it a few times. Then, in the bottom of the 7th with the game on the line they go back to righty swinging. This will never work. As a coaching tip you cannot allow players to flip-flop at yours or their convenience.

You have to stick with it or don’t even go there. It is all or nothing. You are wasting at-bats if you flip-flop.

You either go full time lefty, authentic pure switch hitter, or just stay righty. There is no in between. No changing from at-bat to at-bat.

Bottom line: Lefty is the first choice. Switch-hitter is second choice. Righty batting is 3rd choice. Pick one plan and stick with it.

Throwers are Throwers...You Are What You Are

It is pretty easy to start a toddler or t-ball age player to bat exclusively lefty. It is a little harder to start them to throw lefty at an early age but not impossible.

Throwing is not as big a deal as batting. Although throwing righty and batting lefty is probably a very valuable winning combination for baseball hitting. You can play all nine positions and bring the much needed rare southpaw bat to the ball club. If you throw lefty you will only be kept in the outfield, first base and pitchers mound.

Supply & Demand

An elite baseball team coach asked me to talk to his team recently about how to get noticed and recruited to college. They wanted to know what they have to do to get recruited?

The first words out of my mouth were kiddingly “Bat left or throw left.” I was trying to make light of it. But the more I thought of it the more I knew it to be true.

I had fifteen eager teenage competitive players in front of me and if three or four were southpaws they would the leading candidates to go on and play.

At least they would get a longer look and get the radar guns and stop watches out. My Dad started baseball hitting with my little brother and me batting from the left side from the first time we could hold a wood bat. It sure helped prolong my career and I’m ever so thankful he had the foresight to do that.

Thanks Dad! for the great early start to baseball hitting left-handed.

- See more at:
http://www.coachandplaybaseball.com/Baseball-hitting-instruction-2.html#sthash.qlENxMtV.dpuf

Minors Q&A: Bryant’s Brown discusses journey to Single-A Boise

By David Laurila

Motivated by a called-third strike, Kevin Brown worked his way to pro ball.

A native of Northboro, Mass., and a graduate of Algonquin Regional High School, he was drafted out of Bryant University this year by the Chicago Cubs in the 22nd round.

Brown, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on the day the Red Sox won the World Series, spent his first professional season in the Arizona Rookie League and with Single-A Boise.

New England Baseball Journal: Did you get drafted after your junior year?
Kevin Brown: “No. I talked to a few teams, but after a good start didn’t finish all that strong. I still thought I had a chance to get drafted, it just didn’t happen. I was a little hurt by that, but it ended up for the better. I went to play on the Cape that summer (for Orleans) and learned a ton. I realized, ‘Wow, it’s a good thing I didn’t get drafted.’ I wasn’t ready for pro ball. Plus, I could go back for my senior year and get my degree.”

NEBJ: How did you perform on the Cape?
Brown: “I actually got in kind of weird funk, but you don’t become a good player unless you struggle. And I struggled pretty badly. I learned from that and it made me a better baseball player. I went into my senior year with a whole new outlook on things. In the past, my attitude was, ‘I really want to get drafted.’ Now it was more, ‘I’m going to give it everything I have, and if it doesn’t happen, it just isn’t in the cards.’

“I learned to trust the process and not freak out about results. My coaches at Bryant did a great job with me on that, especially Coach (Mike) Gedman. He was my hitting coach, and while he was awesome with mechanical stuff, it was the mental side of the game where he really helped me. I’m sure he learned a ton from his dad (former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman). When I started to worry less about results, the results started to happen.”

NEBJ: What were your draft expectations this summer?
Brown: “After scout day last fall, I started to get letters. I got ones from the Mariners, Reds, Cubs, Rays, Yankees — a fair amount of teams. I didn’t hear anything from the Red Sox. I didn’t know who would pick me up, but I expected to get drafted. We had a really good group of guys, so I knew scouts were going to be at our games. It was really just up to me to perform and for us to win ballgames. That’s what we ended up doing. I got my degree ,and we went to a regional and beat Arkansas. It was a perfect year for me to go out on.”

NEBJ: What did you study at Bryant?
Brown: “I was a politics and law major, with a double minor in sociology and business administration. I took my education seriously. My whole life, I wasn’t allowed to play baseball unless I got the grades. That was instilled in me when I was young. And if you don’t have good grades, you can’t really play Division 1 baseball. I tell that to every kid I do lessons with.”

NEBJ: Why did you choose Bryant?
Brown: “I didn’t really have a lot of options. The coach at Bryant liked me, so I had an opportunity to play Division 1 baseball there. It was also close to home, so my parents could get to my games. A few Northeast Conference schools recruited me a little late in the game, but by then I was already committed to Bryant.”

NEBJ: What were your most notable games at Algonquin?
Brown: “My freshman year, I was on the varsity, and we won the state championship game. I was a defensive replacement the whole year. In the seventh inning of that game, there were runners on first and second and I was in left field. We were up by a run. A kid hit a line drive down the left-field line and I ended up making a great catch. The next day, the newspapers had stuff like, ‘What can Brown do for you?’ and ‘Glove at first sight’ It kind of gave me a taste of, ‘Wow, baseball can be pretty good to you.’

“My sophomore year, we were back in the state championship, and I was starting at shortstop. We had some really good ballplayers in that group. Dan White went on pitch at UMass-Lowell. Rob Nicholas pitched at Franklin Pierce. Dave Teggert ended up being the kicker at UConn. John McKenna went to UMass. We lost in the championship game. It was a 3-2 ballgame — I can laugh about this now — and we had a runner on third base. I was up against Kevin Scanlan from Lincoln-Sudbury, and he threw three pitches right down the middle. I took all three to end the game.

“A week later, I went to Cressey Performance to work out, and there were all the Lincoln-Sudbury kids. That made for some real motivation. I became driven to become stronger and a better baseball player. Seeing those guys celebrate a state championship, and then working out with them, really pushed me.

“I ended up playing with two Lincoln-Sudbury kids at Bryant. They’re going to have excellent careers there. Carl Anderson is already on his way. He had a great year last year. Dan Celluci was a freshman and will probably start at shortstop this coming year.

NEBJ: What was it like to work with Bill Buckner, the hitting coach in Boise?
Brown: “It was awesome. He knows the ins and outs of the game. It’s a shame that play is associated with him, because he had an amazing big-league career. He’s a great guy, and kind of a quirky guy. The first day I was there, he started pumping out pushups behind the L screen before he threw BP. It was like, ‘OK, here we go.’ And he was bringing it pretty good. He was a little southpaw, just throwing fire. I got to sit on the bench and shoot the breeze with him. He liked that I had played for Rich Gedman’s son, although it probably made him feel old.”

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2013 issue of New England Baseball Journal.

Twitter: @DavidLaurilaQA
Email: feedback@baseballjournal.com

Essential Drills For Speed And Efficiency

If you want to improve as a runner, you’ve got to do more than just run. You’ve got to make time to do the extra stuff, too. Taking 20 minutes to do a handful of drills, such as those demonstrated here by Colorado-based 2012 Australian Olympic marathoner Benita Willis, can dramatically improve your running form and economy (or the ability to run fast efficiently) and increase your stride cadence and racing speed.

Each of the drills highlights one or more aspects of good running form and accentuates them through repetitive motion, which trains the body to become comfortable with that movement so it can be inserted into your typical running mechanics. These drills can serve as a dynamic warmup routine after a 10-minute easy jog before your regularly scheduled run or workout, or they can be completed after a run to reinstate the notion of running with good form while fatigued.

Try to do these drills three to four times per week on an ongoing basis, focusing on the precise movements outlined below. There are numerous other drills you can incorporate into your routine, including acceleration strides, but the most important factor is doing them consistently.

Essential Drills For Speed And Efficiency
Butt Kicks
High Knees
Bounding
Grapevines
Slow Skipping
Lateral Bounding
Hamstring Extensions
Straight-Leg Shuffle
Running Backwards

Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/training/essential-drills-for-speed-and-efficiency_58730#Jww6H9TVxvsROLAk.99

Baseball can create special bond between fathers and sons

It's not easy being a sports dad these days as the challenges seem far different than when I was playing ball decades ago.

Dads are usually the ones who first played catch with their sons, showing them the right way to put on a glove and to hold the bat. They showed them how to take leadoffs and hit the cutoff man and to make sure they backed up the plays.

But getting their sons from those happy but frustrating tee-ball games to stepping onto the field at Busch Stadium for an elite high school event -- such as the PNC High School Baseball Showcase, which was Thursday at Busch Stadium -- could not have been easy.

It was the culmination of many years of work, hope, dreams and travel that had brought them to this point. The all-star game served as a fitting reward for the entire family.

But those families have a lot more on their baseball minds than they did in previous decades. Dads of today now have to decide when to make the step from Khoury League and Little League to select ball and travel teams.

It's not an easy decision since it involves politics, finding coaches, paying for uniforms, paying for leagues and a lot of tournament travel.

There's tough decisions at every turn.

Which select team? Which coach? Do you keep players from the same town together, or do you put together an all-star team of players from several communities?

The financial investment in playing sports these days cannot be overlooked. There's lots of money for equipment and league fees, but dads of today are sometimes asked to dig a little deeper.

Many pay for private hitting and pitching lessons and send their sons to summer camps or rent batting cage or mound time.

Some elite level summer travel teams for high school players charge as much as $3,000 to participate, and that doesn't include the cost of traveling to tournaments around the country.

There's gas and meals and hotels and a lot more.

What does it all guarantee?

Nothing.

While a lucky few do reach the major leagues like Jake Odorizzi, the former Highland High School star pitcher who more than held his own against the Cardinals last week, there's a lot more that don't.

For some ballplayers, the final game of their senior year or their American Legion summer season might be their last one. For others, it's college baseball or maybe the Mon-Clair League or Clinton County League.

Even being drafted, like Collinsville senior pitcher Tanner Houck was recently by Toronto, just gets you one more rung up the ladder toward the big goal.

That's the rough thing about being a baseball dad. You know at some point, the whole process is going to end.

And when the games are over, you might remember a few scores, a few big hits or strikeouts. There were probably some championships involved.

But more likely than not, the favorite memories shared between father and son will involve something that never even happened on a baseball field.

Maybe it was something funny that happened at a hotel or restaurant or the time a uniform or glove or spikes were forgotten. Maybe it was being in the stands together for a Cardinals' World Series game or participating in a regional or sectional championship.

Maybe it was a quick hug shared after a big moment or a tough loss.

Baseball has always created a unique bond between dads and sons. Maybe it's the passing down of that special baseball knowledge from generation to generation, or just the time spent together at games and tournaments and practices.

It doesn't come without its share of arguments and disappointments and tough times, but the memories created will always be there.

And all it takes to tap into those memories again is a game of catch in the backyard. That doesn't cost a thing.

Norm Sanders is a sportswriter at the News-Democrat. He can be reached at 239-2454, nsanders@bnd.com or follow him on Twitter: @NormSanders.

Source: http://www.bnd.com/2014/06/15/3256746/basebal-creates-a-special-bond.html#storylink=cpy

Too much practice and specialization can hurt instead of help child athletes

Recently, a preteen tennis player came into Neeru Jayanthi’s clinic for follow-up on an overuse injury to his wrist. Jayanthi, a sports medicine physician at Loyola University Medical Center in suburban Chicago, learned that the child’s coach had instructed him to take off his splint before a tryout, for fear that it would hinder his performance. “He’s only 11!” Jayanthi says.

The tennis player’s story may be an extreme example, but Jayanthi says it’s emblematic of a growing emphasis on performance and specialization that has invaded many youth sports. Efforts to corral children into highly focused sports programs often arise from good intentions, Jayanthi says, yet research suggests that kids who specialize in a single sport when they’re young risk injury and burnout but don’t improve their odds of attaining an elite sports career. In most cases, giving kids more time for unstructured play and a chance to sample a wide array of athletic pursuits provides a better recipe for success, he says.

The push to start children on focused training programs stems in part from the idea that practice distinguishes elites from the rest, a notion Malcolm Gladwell popularized with his “10,000-hour rule” in his book “Outliers.” Citing research by Florida State University psychologist K. Anders Ericsson showing that a group of elite violinists accumulated an average of 10,000 hours of practice before reaching the top, Gladwell asserts that 10,000 hours is the “magic number for true expertise.”

Yet Gladwell’s rule contradicts the evidence regarding sports. Studies have found a wide range in the amount of practice that athletes require to reach the top, says David Epstein, author of “The Sports Gene,” a book that examines sports performance. He points to Swedish athlete Stefan Holm as an example. Holm devoted most of his life to training for the high jump, only to lose the 2007 World Championships to a competitor who had taken up the event 18 months earlier.

Hours spent training are just one aspect of an athlete’s development; motivation and other psychological factors are also important, says Karin Moesch, a sports psychologist at the University of Copenhagen. Kids who have completed many hours of concentrated training by age 12 or 13 may start to lose interest, Moesch says. “They think, ‘I’ve already done enough of that,’ so they stop.” Studies show that as specialization increases, satisfaction often drops, and that puts kids at risk of burnout, she says.

Injury is another concern. Jayanthi’s research team studied young athletes who had come to a clinic either for sports-related injuries or sports physicals. Among the 124 tennis players in the study, those who were injured spent more than five times as much time playing tennis as they did in unstructured recreation. Uninjured players spent slightly more than twice as much time in organized sports as in free play. In another study, Jayanthi’s group evaluated about 1,200 athletes between the ages of 7 and 18, and found that injuries occurred more commonly among those who did specialized training.

“It’s not just the hours spent, it’s what you’re doing during that time,” Jayanthi says, and unstructured play appears less risky than organized practice. “Kids have self-restraint. When they’re playing for fun, they stop when they start to feel a strain, but if they’re at practice they may continue because they don’t want to let the coach down,” Jayanthi says.

Early specialization cuts short a period when young athletes would otherwise sample a wide variety of sports and robs them of the opportunity to stumble upon their best fit, Epstein says. “Though narrowly focused child prodigies fascinate us and garner media attention, it turns out that later specializers are more the norm than the exception,” he writes in the paperback edition of his book. Research shows that when children are given an opportunity to engage in many different sports, they’re more likely to find one they like and then stick with it, Moesch says. “They are more intrinsically motivated in sports in general and in their specific sport.”

Early specialization does not seem to increase an athlete’s chance of turning pro. Moesch and her colleagues compared 148 elite and 95 near-elite Danish athletes from sports such as cycling and track and field and found that the near-elites had amassed more training hours in their favored sport up to age 15. By age 18, the total hours accumulated by both groups had evened out, suggesting that athletes who start specializing in their late teens can still catch up to their peers who got an earlier start. The study also found that elite athletes in cycling, running and swimming tended to specialize at a later age and to participate in their first national and international competitions at an older age compared with near-elites.

Often, kids who excel at an early age are just early developers, Epstein says. For instance, a Swedish study of youth tennis players found that many who experienced early success reported that they had grown larger and stronger before their peers had. When they reached puberty, their physical advantage diminished, and they lost faith in their abilities. Many quit the sport all together. By contrast, players who reached elite status (competing at top national or international levels) in tennis had taken part in multiple sports when they were young and played tennis in settings that did not emphasize performance.

“We need to change the culture,” Jayanthi says. If we want kids to reach their potential and retain a life-long enjoyment of sports, he says, we need to create an environment that de-emphasizes winning and puts a premium on play.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/too-much-practice-and-specialization-can-hurt-instead-of-help-child-athletes/2014/06/16/7e6ba03c-f0cc-11e3-9ebc-2ee6f81ed217_story.html

Craig Breslow’s Path From the Ivy League to the Big Leagues

Often called “The Smartest Man in Baseball,” Boston Red Sox reliever Craig Breslow is an ace of many trades. The lefty boasts a 2.91 career ERA in the majors, holds a degree from Yale (where he studied biochemistry and biophysics), and runs his own foundation, called Strike 3, which is dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by childhood cancers. But big league success wasn’t always a sure bet for the 33-year-old Breslow, a late-round draft pick who had to battle his way onto more than one roster. STACK sat down with the Ivy League grad and recent World Series winner to talk about how to balance sports and schoolwork, find the path that’s right for you, and persist through challenges to reach your goals.

STACK: You had a 4.55 GPA at Trumbull High School in Connecticut. Was school difficult for you or did those grades just come naturally?

Craig Breslow: Through high school, academics came pretty easily for me. Things just kind of intuitively made sense. I didn't spend a ton of time studying outside of preparing for tests.

STACK: Your mother was a math teacher and your dad was involved in physical education. What did they teach you about being a successful student-athlete?

CB: School had a serious place in our household, but my parents also gave me the ability to determine my own schedule. It wasn’t so much that I needed to do my homework before I could go outside and play. They understood I was going to get both done, and that it was a lot easier to play baseball when it’s light out than after dinner when it’s dark.

STACK: How did you divvy up your time outside of school?

CB: My free time was largely spent playing sports. I grew up with one of my best friends two doors over and another friend less than a mile away and so almost every day after school we’d be playing something.

STACK: You were a pretty good soccer player, too. What made you decide that baseball was the sport you wanted to pursue?

CB: Well, my dad was actually a soccer coach and we were historically a soccer family, but being left-handed gave me a competitive advantage in baseball. It was my junior year in high school when things started to take off for me, and I showed that I could compete with the best competition when it came to baseball.

STACK: Why did you choose to attend Yale?

CB: I always thought that Yale, which was 30 minutes down the street [from where I grew up], was the place where a bunch of nerds went to school. Later it dawned on me that that wasn’t true, or that I was one of those nerds. I always [thought that I] wanted to get out of my own backyard, but New Haven is so distinct and it offered a good college experience for me.

STACK: How did you balance athletics and academics at Yale?

CB: Carefully. I think I was a better student in season than out of season. Innately, you kind of find a way to get all of your tasks done in the amount of time you have. If you are given longer periods of time, you just tend to work less.

STACK: At what point during your college career did you realize that the majors might be a real possibility?

CB: At no point. I was just hopeful to get drafted. I figured I would maybe get a chance to play professional baseball as a really late round draft pick, probably toil in the minor leagues for a couple of years and then go on to medical school.

STACK: And you did bounce around between six teams in the majors and various others in the minor leagues. Was there ever a time when you thought you should throw in the towel?

CB: Fortunately, I’ve always been hired one more time than I’ve been fired, but the closest I came was back in 2004, when I was released out of A-ball and I had no taste of major league baseball. Seeking advice, I spoke to a former Yale teammate of mine, Matt McCarthy, who moved on to Harvard Medical School after one year in the minors. I asked him how he knew it was time for him to move on. He told me that I should quit baseball and go on to med school if I was OK with never turning on the TV to watch a baseball game and questioning whether that could be me standing on the mound. I realized that I wasn’t ready to make that decision, so I went ahead and played independent ball. With some luck, I ended up finding myself in the big leagues.

STACK: Does that winding road make your 2013 World Series victory even sweeter?

CB: Everyone who puts on a baseball uniform at any point in their life thinks about winning the World Series. For me, [that championship] was the realization of an accomplishment that I’d set out for my entire life.

This article originally appeared on STACK.com: Craig Breslow’s Path From the Ivy League to the Big Leagues

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/news/craig-breslow-path-ivy-league-160046753.html