Working with the boy's team at hitting stations has me thinking that someday, when I'm old and the boy is a man and out of the house, that I may want to coach youth baseball. By this, I mean either at the tee-ball or maybe the first year of coach-pitch level.
We have some kids on the team who never played travel ball before, and it's obvious. Most people don't realize that there actually is a wrong way to throw a baseball. Also, the baseball swing is one that I just can't imagine that many people will stumble upon merely by accident.
We'll have to wait and see. Some good coaching at an early age would yield big dividends with these kids. I think we can straighten some of them out, but I also think the kids probably have a ding against them in terms of achieving their potential. The kids who had good instruction early are already instinctive on a good swing and throw.
The new coach should start sometime next week and I'm really excited about that. As much as I would like not to coach any of the boy's sports, I end up helping out a lot more than I might have wanted. Not a biggie. I don't think it should be only other people's responsibility to pitch in. If I can help, I feel as though I should help. My son, at this age at least, doesn't seem to mind my involvement.
In fact, I think he's puzzled when, for instance, he goes to do his reps pitching and I'll tell him to pitch to a different coach and not me. I just think it's important for him to get used to working with a lot of different people. He's obviously comfortable working with me, but he needs to break out of that comfort zone and get used to working with whomever is wearing a glove at the other end of the throw.
The other thing is, I need to let the coaches coach. My son will do everything he can to please everybody around him. He doesn't need my voice in the mix at game-time. I still believe that people do way too much chatter at the kids in youth sports. They already have one coach. They don't need 2 or 3 or 4 trying to give them instruction at game time. That's enough to overwhelm anybody, let alone a little kid.
Soon, he'll be playing High School ball and I won't be there to guide his every move or comment on every rep in practice. I would imagine that will be a relief to him. At the moment, he seems to really like it when I coach. So, it's not all bad.
I fear this may be his last year in travel. The schedule is gruelling. I told him I'm fine with him playing rec baseball next year. His fundamentals are so good that he almost certainly will be a standout on his middle school team. More fun, more glory, less work. What's not to like? I think he'll pay a price when he gets to High School tryouts, but oh well. I figure sometime in middle school, if he gets the fire in the belly for baseball, it won't matter what he did for a couple of years when he was in 6th or 7th grade. He can catch up. No fire in the belly? Who knows. Might make his High School team, might not. If he doesn't, he'll live. He can play lacrosse or run track. It's just not worth losing sleep over.
On the other hand, I'm hoping this new coach will really infuse a spirit of fun into this whole thing for him. He toiled away in obscurity on his last team. Got almost no infield or pitching reps. Batted in the bottom half of the order. He responded by leading the team in OBP, batting with the team's leaders all year long and playing gold-glove caliber center field. I had issues with it, but it was what it was. I felt like he was treated like a scrub. I thought he deserved a better chance to develop than what he got. Never communicated it to him, but I think he got what was going on.
Kids realize what's going on. When Logan would hit a slump, he would bat 11th or 12th. Another kid on the team would hit a slump and he'd work it out batting 4th. Logan outhit that kid all season long, but at the end, Logan tailed off and that kid surged. Ended up edging out Logan by a few points in BA. If ever there was a case where kids rise or fall according to your expectations, that was it. The message was clear: that other kid was a good player who was important to the team. Logan was a kid who could lead the team in hitting for a few weeks on end, but he was never to be allowed to bat in the top half of the order.
With this new team, he should have a more integral role in the team. If the coach is a good one, maybe he'll really start enjoying playing. I don't think he had that much fun playing last year. When push comes to shove, fun is what its supposed to be all about. Also, the talent is a lot more differentiated on this team. Logan should really stand out.
I hope this leads to him batting more appropriately in the batting order and getting some reps in the infield. Despite the layoff, his arm is amazingly strong and accurate this Spring. He's ready to play shortstop again. Maybe he'll feel more involved. Maybe he'll feel more valued. Maybe it'll make the whole thing more fun.
I hope this year is a lot more fun for him.
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