Isak working on that balance / coordination

BACKYARD BASEBALL DRILLS - Awesome!

Some good tips and ideas!

"Backyard Baseball Drills" was produced by Marty Schupak. This is a creative DVD that shows parents how to teach their kids baseball fundamentals in their own backyard. Coach Schupak intertwines some great drills for younger kids as well as some advanced drills for older kids. Using props found around one’s house makes for some unbelievable and innovative baseball drills and games. This DVD is a must for true baseball or softball parents who love to practice with their kids.

LOSING

Losing can be particularly difficult to handle. Some players take it harder than others questioning their athletic talent or ability to play under pressure.

Nonetheless, adversity will cross paths with every ball player during their career in baseball or softball.

How you handle adversity, your level of mental toughness, will determine if and how quickly you rebound from tough times.

Mental toughness helps you rise above the adversity you face instead of allowing a loss to define you.

There is an insightful expression by author Robert Schuller, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” The question is then how mentally tough are you?

Few athletes will experience the magnitude of the heart-wrenching loss as did the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

With two minutes remaining in the game and down 28-24, Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson engineered a 79-yard drive to put his team on New England’s 1-yard line and in position to win with 26 seconds left in the game.

The Seahawks appeared on the brink of the second consecutive Super Bowl victory when Wilson threw an interception that ended Seattle’s hope for victory.

After the game, many Seahawk players described the loss as “devastating," "hurtful" and disappointing… and it was! Losses can be tough and the only way to bounce back is to be tougher, mentally tougher!

Russell Wilson is well-known for his mental toughness. Despite throwing the critical interception, Wilson was positive in his post-game interview.

WILSON: “I can use this [loss] for life, or I can use it for another game. It's tough to process in the sense of I hate losing... [But] our goal is to get back next year. Our goal is to prepare the right way. Our goal is to keep your mind right, stay strong mentally and just keep fighting."

An important aspect of mental toughness is to learn from setbacks and use the experience to be a better player in the future.

WILSON: “I want to know everything I can. I want to understand everything... You continue to grow, you continue to learn from the lessons.”

By learning from tough times and committing to improvement for the future, you become mentally stronger.

WILSON: “Every time I’m in that situation again. I believe I’m going to have success again.”

In fact, Wilson refuses to allow the past define him writing on the team’s chalkboard after the loss: Let’s keep the focus on the future, not what’s behind.

Try these tips to become mentally tougher after a loss:            

1. Take time to process the loss – You can feel bad after a loss but process it and move on.

2. Look for the lesson – You should review the loss and determine what you need to do to improve for future competitions.

3. Don't take it personally – you should never allow a loss to define you or how you feel about yourself. Start getting ready for the next game.

4. Take action – You need to commit to action. What will you do to perform better in the future?

Source: http://www.peaksports.com/baseball-and-softball-psychology/?awt_l=7mBVc&awt_m=3cpe0.WA24Uhm6r

Parenting with Pete: Youth athletes and their parents can have successful season

Play ball! The snow has melted (not yet here in Massachusetts) and the grass will soon be green. With youth baseball, softball and soccer seasons about to start, all participants can ensure a successful, fun-filled experience.

As a former baseball and softball coach and the father of two children who played high school softball, baseball, and soccer and college softball, here are suggestions for youth athletes, coaches and parents:

The ideal athlete:

• Attends every practice and game ready to play with the appropriate equipment and uniform.
• Expresses willingness to learn new skills and play different positions.
• Cheers for all teammates.
• Practices and plays with focus, determination and joy.
• Listens to instructions.
• Maintain a positive attitude even when losing.
• Respects opposing teams and players.

The ideal coach:

• Emphasizes skill development and teamwork.
• Distributes practice and playing time fairly.
• Encourages players to try different positions.
• Communicates openly with players and parents.
• Rewards effort and participation.
• Maintains safe playing conditions.
• Pays attention to player injuries.
• Respects the game and plays by the rules.

The ideal parent:

• Follows the rules of the league and coaches.
• Communicates with the coach in an appropriate manner.
• Cheers for all players on the team.
• Cheers when an opposing player makes a good play.
• Understands that winning is not the most important outcome.
• Supports their athlete even when she or he makes a mistake.

In my experience as a coach, kids especially do not like it when:

• Their parents secretly coach them from the sidelines.
• Their parents cheer loudly and only for them.
• Their parents curse or otherwise tease or taunt other teams and players.
• Their coaches play favorites.
• Their coaches and parents think that winning is the only acceptable outcome and losing is failing.

Kids especially like it when they:

• Develop new skills.
• Have fun.
• Feel like a part of the team.
• Develop self-confidence.

Source: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/03/parenting_with_pete_youth_athletes_and_their_paren.html

Ladder Drills Can Make You Smarter

Agility training can boost cognitive performance, a new study finds

You may want to stop running in a straight line and start zig-zagging instead. A new study from the Air Force Research Laboratory shows that agility training can improve your cognitive performance.

Military personnel were divided into two groups for six weeks of training. The first group participated in the military's standard physical training (jogging with calisthenics like jumping jacks and burpees), while the second group underwent agility training (ladder drills and shuttle runs). After six weeks, the first group increased their endurance. On the other hand, the group performing agility training improved their VO2 max, athletic footwork, memory, and concentration.

“Agility training incorporates components of learning, focus, balance, and coordination,” says study coauthor Erica M. Johnson, Ph.D. This type of training can stimulate richer connections among multiple brain regions by demanding them to work together, she says.

Along with cognitive function, there are other benefits to agility training. “Adding variety to your exercise routine can help you avoid burnout and plateaus,” she says. “Agility training may be another way to help you meet your exercise goals while keeping your mind and body active.”

If it’s tough to break away from your running routine or normal workouts, sprinkle in some footwork drills on days when you’re strength training. Watch the All-Pro Agility Challenge below so you can get your body—and your mind—going.

Source: http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/nfl-darren-sproles-all-pro-challenges

Red Sox stepping up effort to attract kids to the game

The Red Sox look at a lot of stats in their quest for success. What’s a player’s strikeout-to-walk ratio? How often does he ground into a double play? Steal a base? Get hit by a pitch?

But increasingly the team is also driven by numbers that measure what happens off the field.

Statistics showing that kids are playing less baseball than they once did, and that those who don’t go to games as children are less likely to go to as adults, have prompted the Red Sox to ramp up their marketing efforts to kids — and parents.

The team is eliminating the $30 fee for membership in Kid Nation, the Sox’ official club for fans 14 and under, and will give the first 25,000 children who sign up, starting March 16, a free ticket to a game. The team is also making available more $9 SRO tickets for older students.

Sox senior adviser Charles Steinberg says the team’s outreach is an acknowledgment that baseball is at risk of losing ground with the next generation of fans.

“I think we all recognize that we can’t live by the long-held premise that a child will automatically fall in love with baseball,” said Steinberg. “We have to recognize that we are one of many options.”

In an added attempt to make Fenway family friendlier, Sox executives have also started wooing mom bloggers from around New England. They’re plying them with opportunities — the bloggers have taken a field-side yoga class and tried on the Sox’ World Series rings — and seeking their advice.

‘Throughout baseball there is an increasing problem with a demographic imbalance.’

Andrew Zimbalist, sports economist and Smith College professor
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“As a thought leader & conduit to New England families & children,” read one blogger’s invitation, emblazoned with pink socks, “we’d like to meet you & hear your thoughts on how we can enhance the ballpark experience.” (John Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, also owns the Boston Globe.)

The ballpark experience, it turns out, is crucial.

The team’s research, from 2013, found that people who go to games as kids are 2.9 times more likely to become “core” fans later on, or at least take their own children to an annual game or two.

Another study found that a child who is taken to see a baseball game before he or she turns 5 attends 58 percent more games per year as an adult than a child who does not go to a stadium until he or she turns 14, according to surveys of Chicago White Sox fans done between 2012 and 2014, by Rich Luker, who conducts the ESPN Sports Poll.

The Sox’ newly expanded “Calling All Kids” promotion comes at an unsettling time for the sport. A recent list of the Top 30 most-admired athletes doesn’t include an active Major League Baseball player. The game is facing competition not just from other sports, but from PlayStation, Xbox, and apps. And the television audience for the World Series skews about a 12 years older than the Super Bowl crowd, according to Brad Adgate, director of research for Horizon Media, a New York-based research firm.

Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College professor, sees the Sox’ efforts as a smart way to build a fan base for the future.

“Throughout baseball there is an increasing problem with a demographic imbalance,” he said. “It is still a very cool sport for people who are over 45, but over the last 20 or 30 years it’s lost ground to basketball and football.

“I don’t think the Red Sox are concerned with selling out Fenway today,” he said, “but a team needs fans to sustain it when it’s not exciting, and no team wins year after year after year.”

Even those who are interested in seeing a live game can feel shut out. In 2014, with an average price of $52.32, the Red Sox had the highest average ticket price in the major leagues — higher even than the Yankees, according to the Team Marketing Report, a Chicago-based sports-marketing publishing company. (The 2015 ticket-price comparisons from the report are not yet out). The Sox announced in September that the average ticket price for 2015 would not change, but that prices for more popular games would rise and others would fall.

The new free-ticket program for kids may help families afford games, but costs remain steep. Sydney Fuller-Jones, a Mattapan widow with 13-year-old twins and an administrative assistant’s salary, says the high prices have locked her out of the ballpark.

“It’s expensive all the way around,” she said. “It’s not just the tickets, but the parking, and the kids want to eat. By the time you get a hot dog, peanuts, and a cold drink, it’s unreachable. I’ve researched it, and I’ve had other people tell me the same. My son is on a football team and we wanted to take the boys to a Red Sox game, but I’m like, it’s not going to happen.”

Price is just one hurdle. As part of efforts to stoke fan interest, MLB has adopted rule changes to speed up the pace of play in a sport that has come to test kids’ (and adults’) attention spans.

But the Sox are going a step further to keep kids amused. They’re planning to offer face painting and magic shows and Simon Says during every home game. The “Kids Clubhouse” — located in a new Kid Nation Concourse — will be open from innings three through seven, an escape hatch not just for kids, but also for parents when the hot dogs and ice cream stop working. The team has commissioned an approximately $15,000 eight-foot tall Wally bobblehead to preside over the concourse

Several games in April are slated to start at bedtime-friendly 6 p.m. instead of 7:05, and the team hopes to use part of Gate B, near the corner of Van Ness and Ipswich streets, to create a new, kid-themed “Gate K,” pending approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and other agencies.

The Sox are not the only team in baseball eager for new young fans. A spokesman for MLB, Patrick Courtney, would not compare the team’s outreach to youth to what other clubs are doing. “But,” he said, “the Sox are obviously focusing their efforts in a very strong way.”

The objects of all this attention are kids like the Edge-Wallace brothers, Tafari, 10, and Mekhi, 15, of Boston, athletic boys who are blase about the National Pastime.

“If the Sox were in the World Series I might watch,” said Mekhi. “But the game is too slow. It’s too simple.”

As for Tafari, given the choice between watching real baseball players and playing a baseball video game, he went with the video game. “Watching is boring,” he said.

Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/03/11/you-build-will-they-come-with-youth-interest-baseball-waning-red-sox-are-giving-kids-free-tickets/tc8EgGqaJIus3OTAV5hrKL/story.html

3 tips for parents to encourage mental toughness

When my work first started to focus on helping young athletes reach their potential in sports and life, I was told by a business coach that I had to “brand” myself. He said that my brand should be about the benefit those who work with me would receive. I thought long and hard about this before landing on “Mental Toughness Trainer” and only went with it after defining what mental toughness means as I teach it.

Mental toughness is being focused, confident, determined and resilient, especially under pressure.
Sometimes, parents have reacted negatively to the term “mental toughness” – until I give them that definition, which really is about life skills that we need to grow up healthy. This is why we want our kids to play sports, right? Because sports is the vehicle that helps our children learn these skills.
Here are my top three ways parents can help their young athletes with mental toughness.

1. Prevent and dispel fears at every opportunity
Quite honestly, this is the bulk of my work as none of those qualities can grow in the soil of fear-based thinking. The No. 1 thing parents can do is to speak and show unconditional approval and love of their athletes regardless of performance. Disappointing the parent is what many children fear the most, and parents convey this in subtle ways they may not even be aware of.

When a young football player makes a mistake on the field, looks over at Mom or Dad and sees the disappointed facial expression, that creates fear. When Dad tells the young athlete on the way home from the game what he should have done differently, more fear is instilled.
Solution? Just keep smiling, cheering and telling your son how proud you are of him for going out there and how fun it is for you to watch. Period. Easy.

By the way, except for the rare individual, this goes for exceptionally talented kids, too. Coaching your own kid is like walking a field of land mines.


2. Remind your child of his strengths as often as possible
Humans have a fantastic ability to look at themselves and find what is wrong or lacking. It’s actually a survival mechanism. We need to balance that out by conditioning our minds to be aware of our strengths. This breeds confidence and allows for focus and determination.
Speaking of focus, does your kid play video games? How about commenting regularly about how well he focuses for such long periods of time?

Think that might be useful to remind him right before game time?


3. Ask, don’t tell
As a parent, there is a strong temptation to offer advice when you can clearly see what they are missing or doing wrong. When we do that without first asking them if they even want the advice, we are depriving them of a golden opportunity to learn resilience and the ability to figure things out for themselves, which is the whole point of parenting.

Now, having said that, I have run into plenty of kids who will turn inward on their problems, let them fester and create more problems for themselves. You have my permission to continue to ask if they want help, especially when you notice little signs of their discontentment.

But do this very carefully. Remember, it’s your kid’s job to pull away from you as they get older and establish independence, so there is a huge block to receiving advice from you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from parents that I teach the same things to their children as they have been teaching but the child only seems to get it from me.

That’s simply because I’m not the parent.

If you want to get through, deliver your advice – about anything –with zero judgment. Children know that they have this from me, and that’s why they listen and it sinks in.

Be specific and consistent. More than what you say, children pick up on what you do. Model what you want them to emulate and give them the space to learn it.

Source: http://usafootball.com/blogs/fundamentals-and-performance/post/9956/3-tips-for-parents-to-encourage-mental-toughness?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NL

Ladder Agility Drills

Ladder agility drills are an excellent way to improve foot speed, agility, coordination and overall quickness.

They are an integral part of many SAQ programs and compliment many different sports and events.

Speed ladder drills are about quality and form rather than producing overload. The drills are not meant to leave you fatigued or breathless in the way that shuttle runs might, for example.

It is better to perform these drills at the start of a session after the warm up. Your muscles should be fresh to ensure good quality of movement. And because they will not leave you exhausted you can perform resistance or endurance training afterwards.

Important Tip: Print this page out and have it with you when you practise these ladder agility drills. It's a good idea to have half a dozen dummy runs on each exercise before you begin to perform them at speed.

Here are some general guidelines for all the ladder agility drills below:

Push off from the balls of your feet (not the toes)

Pump your hands from shoulder height to hips (men) and from chest height to hips (women)

Keep your elbows at 90 degrees at all times

Keep your arms, shoulders and hands relaxed

Try to keep your head still as much as possible

Ladder Agility Drills

Hop Scotch Drill
This is one of the simplest ladder agility drills, even for those who are too old to remember playing hop scotch (or just won't admit to it!).

Start with your feet hip width apart at the bottom of the ladder

Jump up with both feet and land on the left foot only in the first square

Immediately push off with your left foot and land with both feet in the second square

Immediately push off with both feet and land on your right foot only

Push off from your right foot and land on both feet.

Repeat this pattern for the full length of the ladder




In-Out Drill
Another basic drill to master but no less effective.

Start with your feet hip width apart at the bottom of the ladder

Step into the first square with your left foot first, immediately followed by your right foot

With your left foot step outside to the left the second square, then immediately step outside the second square with your right foot

Step back into the third square with your left foot first, followed by your right foot.

Repeat this pattern in fluid motion for the length of the ladder





Lateral Feet Drill
The ladder agility drills from now on require more practise and greater coordination. Be sure to give yourself several dummy runs before attempting at speed.

Start with both feet outside of the first square and to the left

Step into the first square with your left foot first, immediately followed by your right foot... in a 1-2 motion

Step to the right, outside the first square again with your left foot fist, followed by your right

Now step diagonally left into the second square, with the left foot leading always keeping the same 1-2 motion

Now step out to the left-hand side of the second square and repeat for the full length of the ladder

If you perform several sets of this drill start at different sides of the ladder so your lead foot changes each time



Tango Drill
Named after the dance, when you perform this drill correctly you'll see why. Or should it be the Foxtrot?

Start with both feet outside of the first square and to the left

Cross your left leg over your right and into the centre of the first square. Your right leg should immediately follow to the right of the first square, followed by your left leg

It's a 1-2-3 motion like you're dancing

From here your right foot comes across your left and into the centre of the second square as the pattern is repeated in the opposite direction

Repeat for the full length of the ladder



Five Count Drill
This is the most difficult to master of these ladder agility drills and requires patience even for the most dexterous. When you can perform this exercise smoothly, with speed you're ahead of most of the competition!

Start with your feet hip width apart at the bottom of the ladder

Step out to the right of the first square With your right foot immediately followed by placing your left foot into the first square

Bring your right foot along side your left in the first square then step into the second square with your left foot immediately followed by the right

Count these first five steps in a 1-2-3-4-5 manor

Reverse the sequence by stepping out to the right of the third square with your left foot

Repeat for the full length of the ladder



As with all the individual exercises that appear on this, or any other website, they are only as effective as the larger program that incorporates them. Developing speed and agility for your sport is a worth pursuit...

Source: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/ladder-agility-drills.html

At what age should youth know how to catch with a glove? Is there an age that is best to start teaching this?

At what age should youth know how to catch with a glove? Is there an age that is best to start teaching this?

I've been trying to work with my five year old son on acquiring this skill, but he's having a difficult time with it. I have a bucket of about 100 tennis balls that I throw him a couple times a week, and while there have been subtle improvements, he's still pretty scared of the ball.

Thanks for your help!

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One thing that helped me with my younger son was this deal i made with him (with tennis balls or soft tee balls): If i hit him, he got to hit me. It really seemd to make him feel better if i hit him in the chest, i would take one in the chest. The tears would turn to laughter pretty quickly. I think after a while he started intentionally letting the ball hit him so that he could hit me back :)
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I used tennis balls at 5 and 6 yo all the time. I highly recommend them at this age.

Practice catching using a windshield wiper motion. Keep the elbow down and move the glove hand left or right.

Of course, tennis balls pop out of the glove, so don't worry if it pops out.

By the time my kids were 6, I could throw as hard as I could (I can't throw very hard) to them (this is the speed of a batted ball after all). Plus, I would stand them in front of the bushes (so they could retrieve easily) and throw to the left or right so they could work on their windshield wiper. I also threw popups with tennis balls (they dont hurt the noggin), and made them keep their glove at their shoulder - if they stopped moving their feet, we started over - if they raised their glove arm, we started over. This practice paid off years later in Jr's (ahem "open") HS tryouts - coach hit monster popups and Jr was the only one that easily glided over and caught everything.

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Early success makes it fun. Let them catch it like a bucket (glove pocket facing up) at first. You basically throw it into the glove. Then work up to the windshield wiper action, first on glove side, more advanced opposite glove side.

I find most 5 yo's that have trouble catching have a new glove that isn't broken in. It's hard to catch with a glove that is stiff and they can't close.

Lastly, some say have the kid lay down on their back and then hold the glove up (glove side). The glove will be on the ground, or near it. Drop the ball into their glove. Practice like that, they can't shy away from the glove (cause the ground is there). Just don't hit him in the face or he'll be more scared of the ball! 

Just some ideas, good luck!

PS I always found it most successful to just throw the ball into the glove at first, until they get some confidence and have fun, then advance slowly. Most 5 yo's I know don't catch well so your son is probably normal enough :)
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Don't get to worried if the kid can't catch at 5. Sometimes it takes a little longer for the light to come on and when it does they can go from not catching anything to catching everything near them. Just be patient and play catch as much as you can.
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When my kids were three or four and we started, I stumbled upon something that worked wonders. It's a set of large circular paddles covered in velcro that attach to the hand with a strap (just a loop really). The velcro holds a tennis ball tight. They just use one on their glove hand. It teaches them to catch knowing that every thrown ball will stick to the velcro as long as it's in the right spot. I later even used this with six and seven year olds to teach catching fly balls. When I've found them, they're basically sold as beach toys. Once they move from that to a glove, they have all the basic motions and are much more confident.

Link to Amazon: Velcros Paddle Ball $15.99
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The next step would be to just get one of these:

Link to Amazon: Toysmith Easy Catch Ball and Glove $9.97
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I cannot even remember what age we started at, but I remember the first thing we played catch with. It was a plastic Easter egg. I'd throw it and have my son reach out and grab it. He couldn't wait for it to get to him. It had to be in a reaching out motion or sometimes diving (more accurately falling down back then) on the bed or sofa. Gosh, we'd do that for hours and hours and hours a week. He just loved it.

Moved on to the soft baseballs. I think he was about 4 or 5 then. We'd play in the backyard. Even now when we play catch we joke around about "playing to 25." We had a goal of making 25 consecutive good throws and catches between us. Hate to say it, but a time or two dad was the one who broke the streak.

Can honestly say that I never remember him being afraid of the ball. I've done some pretty non-PC things. We laugh now and say it worked out alright, but in retrospect I'll admit that it was probably not the best parenting. What's worse though is I'm seeing getting a taste of my own medicine rapidly approaching as his strength and physical maturity increase and my better days are behind me.
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If your house bound this time of year...rolled up socks...(clean or dirty)....
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Source:

http://www.baseball-fever.com/archive/index.php/t-102326.html

LaHair comes home to show he's not done: Local Worcester boy

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- From 144 Granite Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Bryan LaHair played baseball and basketball for Holy Name Central Catholic High School, it’s about a 43-mile ride east on the Mass. Turnpike to Fenway Park, less than an hour if you hit the traffic right.

Or, if you’re LaHair, you can opt for the long way, a trip of 12 years and roughly 20,000 miles. That only covers the stops he made in Seattle, Chicago, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan and Akron, Ohio, and doesn’t account for all the many other destinations along the way, which include Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and minor league outposts scattered across the map.

Truth is, LaHair hasn’t arrived quite yet. He is in camp with the Red Sox as a non-roster invitee, with little chance of breaking camp with the major league team. But at age 32, the first baseman-outfielder who slugged his way through the minors and had a brief shining moment with the Chicago Cubs is here with his hometown team, looking for one more chance to draw his sticks from a big league bat rack.

“Obviously, being my hometown, for me it’s a great opportunity,’’ LaHair said. “I kind of feel energized again, you know what I mean? It’s something you dream of as a kid, being from that area. You'd like to seize that moment if you can.’’

Instead of David Ortiz, that was LaHair, originally a 39th-round draft choice of the Seattle Mariners, who served as Red Sox DH Thursday night in Hammond Stadium, where the Sox opened their Grapefruit League schedule against the Minnesota Twins. LaHair grounded out to second in the second inning, walked in the third, struck out in the fifth and popped to third in the seventh.

The most home runs Ortiz ever hit in one minor league season is 31, which he did across three levels in 1997. LaHair hit 38 while playing for Triple-A Iowa in 2011, a season that won him MVP honors in the Pacific Coast League and catapulted him back to the big leagues the following season, when he earned improbable election to the National League All-Star team.

But even before LaHair made it to Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium for a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth inning against Fernando Rodney -- he grounded to short -- Cubs GM Theo Epstein already had engineered a trade that suggested LaHair’s stay in Chicago would be a short one, acquiring former Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo from the San Diego Padres.

Making matters worse, LaHair’s top hand, the left one, the one required to generate so much torque in his swing, began to ache. The thousands of swings he had taken over the years were taking their toll. He had fractured the trapezoid, one of the eight small carpal bones in the wrist.

“Just an accumulation of a lot of pounding over the years, a lot of swings,’’ he said. “Basically the bone begins to separate and fluid seeps in. The trapezoid [fracture] is more common with boxers, from so many punches.’’

LaHair was unable to generate the power he had shown in the first half of the 2012 season, when he hit 14 home runs and batted .282. Shifted to the outfield to make room for Rizzo, he hit just .202 with 2 home runs in the second half, and after the season was designated for assignment.

He wasn’t out of a job for long, as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks signed him to a two-year, $4.7 million deal. With former Red Sox strongman Wily Mo Pena also on board, the Hawks thought they had the makings of a powerful right-left combination, and LaHair reveled in his experience in Japan.

“I enjoyed it, but more important, my wife, Nichole enjoyed it,’’ he said. “It’s a calm, very respectful country, a very happy place to be. I felt very safe for my family there. The food was excellent, the people nice. My little girl, Ava Rose, went to an international preschool. They would walk there every morning. And we were about a mile from the beach.’’

But for the second straight season, LaHair hit a wall midway through the year, again because his wrist weakened. The Hawks released him after the 2013 season, which is when he elected to have surgery on the hand and signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. But he wasn’t able to pick up a bat before mid-February and the strength in his hand was never there. He spent most of the season in Double-A Akron, hitting just 5 home runs in 417 plate appearances.

“It took the whole year to get where it needed to be,’’ LaHair said of the wrist. "I put in a lot of work this offseason to get strong.’’

LaHair, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, has a younger slugger, Travis Shaw, projected ahead of him at first base in Triple-A Pawtucket, though there may be at-bats available as a DH. At this stage, he’s not concerned about that.

“I’m just here to show I’m healthy and strong again and that I’m capable,’’ he said, “Whatever happens, whatever decisions are made, that’s out of my hands. I’m just here to work hard and show I’m ready to go.’’

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/41965/lahair-comes-home-to-show-hes-not-done

5 Benefits of Playing Tag / Baseball

Tag is a game that many of us played growing up. When my kids were younger we enjoyed playing tag or other chasing games. When my kids were toddlers they loved it when I chased them through the house trying to “get” them. They also enjoyed chasing me through the house. As they got a little older the chase games got a little more advanced. We had to move them outside since the games started to involve a few more people and we needed more space. During our games of tag my kids would get creative and create “safe” zones or bases where they could not be tagged. We played many variations of freeze tag. We had a lot of fun playing tag. Not only was it fun for all of us but it was a great workout. 15-20 minutes of playing tag can wear you out. I addition to being fun and a great way to get some physical activity there are many additional benefits to playing tag. These are just a few of the many benefits of chasing and fleeing or tag games.

1. Minimal Equipment
Tag requires very little if any equipment. You just need a large enough space to accommodate the size of the group. You can add hula hoops or balls to create other versions of tag.

2. Play with a small or large group
Tag can be played with 2 or 3 people or it can be played with a larger group. When there are larger groups you can have more than one person be the tagger (it).

3. Improves speed and agility
Tag is a fun way to work on improving speed and agility. When children first start playing tag they move slowly but as they get more comfortable they begin to move faster. Fleeing from someone or chasing someone is a great way to work on speed while having fun. When you are playing tag you do not have time to analyze how fast you are going. You are trying to avoid being tagged or trying to tag someone.

4. Works on starting, stopping, and changing direction
Starting, stopping, and changing direction are important skills for many different sports. Tag is a great way to develop these skills. Incorporating tag games into practices is a fun way for kids to work on these skills that are important for almost every sport.

5. Engages the brain 
Tag engages our brain in critical thinking even though we may not realize it. When we are being chased we must analyze the space and find a path to avoid getting tagged. The tagger must decide who to chase, how long to chase a person, or when to chase someone else. All of these decisions are based on many factors that are being processed while the person is moving and possibly becoming fatigued. In more advanced tag games like freeze tag the group fleeing must also figure out how to help their teammates become unfrozen while also avoid being tagged.

Besides being fun tag has many other physical, mental, and social benefits. Get out there with your kids and play some tag.

Source: http://www.familytimefitness.com/wordpress/?p=246

Team Next - Under Armour NO RECORD IS SAFE

Under Armour Team Next

THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NEXT.
Thousands entered. Six have been chosen.

UA NEXT is all about the kids committed to being faster, stronger & better than anyone that came before them. You might not know their names. But you will.

Versatility name of Arlington's unbeaten game: Athlete’s Jack of all trades

Friday Night, the Arlington High’s boys’ basketball team clinched the Middlesex League title with a 50-47 grind it out win at Reading, the program’s first league championship banner in history.

In Arlington, it’s not what they’ve done, but their contrarian approach to prepare for an elusive Middlesex crown.

It starts with guard Miles Robinson, whose soccer talents belong on an MLS draft board.

Robinson is the 35th ranked high school soccer prospect in the United States, according to Top Drawer Soccer, and in 2013 was one of just 32 teenagers invited to try out for the American U-18 national squad.

Yet, more unique is that Robinson has been the best basketball player in the competitive Middlesex League for two consecutive seasons, but doesn’t touch a basketball until the Monday following Thanksgiving.

“That’s true. I play a little in the summer, but I pretty much show up on that Monday for tryouts and just go,” said Robinson.

As a hoop player, the 6-foot-1 Robinson is the reigning Co-MVP of the Middlesex League, and leads the undefeated (17-0) Spy Ponders in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals.

“Miles is the best. He’s a matchup nightmare. You can’t put a bigger guy on him. He’s too quick and blows by guys. You can’t have a small on him, because he’ll just elevate and play over you,” Bowler said.

Unlike other ESPN Boston All-State candidates, Miles Robinson is hardly a gym rat. He’s never played a second of AAU basketball, traversing the academy soccer circuit as a member of the FC Bolts club team instead.

Robinson isn’t the only Spy Ponder to transition from one sport to the next without hiccup. All but two members of the Arlington High basketball team are multi-sport athletes, rotating field, hardwood and diamond.

Eight of Arlington’s eleven seniors captain a sports’ team, and all but one member of their 12-man rotation participate in multiple sports.

Although Arlington Head Coach John Bowler, who took over the program in 2009, finds the 94 feet and four walls of a high school gymnasium indefatigable, he embraces the versatility of the emerging dual-sport athletes in his program.

“You don’t have to concentrate on one sport to come into basketball season and play at a high level,” Bowler said. “Everyone thinks that playing basketball for an hour a day will prepare them for the season, but we have guys playing soccer, football, volleyball, and running cross country to get ready.”

In the offseason, Bowler and assistant coach Jack Woods branded a defensive approach that borrows one transferable skill from each player’s respective fall sport, “blitzing” ball screens.

“They’ve been in similar situations in other sports. Blitzing (trapping) a ball screen is like attacking a quarterback or attacking a ball in soccer or volleyball. It keeps our guys moving and in constant attack mode,” Bowler said of his defensive strategy.

The Spy Ponders boast an average margin of victory slightly above 20 points, trap the ball handler on both sides of the half-court timeline, while only allowing an astonishing 50.4 points per game. According to Arlington assistant Jack Woods, the Spy Ponders typically cause between 20 and 25 turnovers a game.

Despite being only 6-foot-2 for the center position, senior Frank Roche has drawn double digit charge fouls, while anchoring Arlington defensively. Fittingly, reading the eyes of the guy with the ball is what he did as a free safety for Arlington’s football team this past fall. Presumably, Roche will assume a similar role at his fall gridiron destination Tufts University.

“We make teams take tough shots. We make teams take quick shots. We make them take shots on spots on the court that they don’t want to take them,” added Bowler.

But the DNA of Arlington’s undefeated season is the manifestation of something much simpler.

In games, the Spy Ponders are a group that cherishes playing together, while at practice, they divide, albeit for two hours each afternoon, to steal each other’s minutes.

“Our top ten guys go at it each day in practice. I mean a couple of our bench guys would be starters on other teams in the league. It’s great to have this competition in practice especially this late in the year,” Bowler said.

While guard Josh Lee (61 three-pointers made in 17 games) is talented enough to play collegiately, 6-foot-4 power forward Matt Moroney is the lone Ponder scribbled on a Division 3 college basketball recruiters’ white board. He’s currently considering Bridgewater State.

Ironically, Bowler, a 1993 graduate of Arlington, was cut by Bridgewater State in the fall of 1993, only to resurface at MASCAC rival Worcester State, start for four seasons, score over 1,000 points and be inducted into the Lancer Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

“(Bridgewater State’s Head Coach Joe Farroba) Joe’s actually a really good guy. He just made one recruiting mistake. Only one, he’s a very good coach and we’ve joked about his mistake” quipped Bowler.

For all 11 seniors but one, the 2015 season will likely be the last time any Spy Ponder plays organized basketball.

But, for a group of kids who have played together since fifth grade, a perfect 17-0 record demonstrates their understanding that soon the group will disband permanently.

Arlington’s senior class is comprised of throwbacks, the athlete’s Jack of all trades, grateful for any opportunity to compete. Yet for Robinson, while exclusively playing soccer at Syracuse University next fall, he will finally be master of one.

During Wednesday's National Signing Day for NCAA student-athletes, Robinson penned his National Letter of Intent with the Orange after giving a verbal commitment in December of 2013.

At Syracuse, Robinson will join his older sister Rebecca, a junior sprinter on the women’s track and field team.

“I was already thinking Syracuse. But, that kind of sealed the deal,” Robinson said.

When asked how long Arlington will remain undefeated in their pursuit of the Division 2 State Title, Robinson commented:

“Everyone on the team knows how to finish the deal. They know how to win because they’ve been on all types of situations in all types of sports fields.”

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/high-school/post/_/id/35757/versatility-name-of-arlingtons-unbeaten-game