As a sports fan, I can't possibly emphasize enough how fun it is to have a boy who plays sports. The travel basketball season will conclude this weekend with a final tournament. One rec game this week, one next. The boy's improvement this year has been utterly astounding.
He's also developing a classic one hand set shot with the ball starting over his head, versus what he's been doing with shooting from the chest. Kids are only so strong and the shot from the chest is obviously a workaround for upper body strength. However, he's getting big and strong enough to start learning the proper one hand set shot. If he works on it this Summer, he should have it down by next year.
He really is starting to understand that improvement requires work. He shoots basketball constantly these days. Once or twice a day, he's shooting on his hoop. I've explained that to be good, he'll need to work on his game year-round and he appears to understand this.
Baseball is progressing very well. He's hitting well and is showing solid defense. He's also really enjoying playing for the new coach. His mood has improved, too. He looks forward to practice. He's been working hard. I think my wish is coming true: that this new team and new coach will be just what it takes for him to rediscover his love of baseball.
It's great to watch. The baseball season starts soon, too! Basically three more weeks to opening day. I'm really excited.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
"I'm Really Getting Into Baseball..."
I was worried that this might be my son's last year of travel baseball, at least for a season or two, and maybe for good. He just didn't seem to enjoy last season. This season, he's been unmotivated for the indoor workouts. I was hoping that the new team and new coach would renew his love of baseball.
He used to just love it. From the time he could stand, he would throw a wiffle ball against the front door for hours on end. I would never cease to amaze me that at ages as young as 4, he was doing this for hours every night. When the weather was good, he would take a bat out into the yard, pretend to bat and run imaginary bases. He just loved it. It was his idea of fun.
To think that his experience last year soured him on baseball was almost too much for me to bear. I did finally make a peace with it. Baseball is supposed to be fun and if it isn't, then he should stop. I fully expected that after this season, he would decide to just have fun playing rec league ball for the next few years and probably not even try out for his High School team.
No biggie. There are plenty of other High School sports and he shows talent in both football and basketball. He could also play lacrosse or run track if he wanted to find a Spring sport. So, all in all, just not a big deal.
However, the other night he said he was really getting into baseball, now that basketball season is over. The new coach and new team are good for him. He's making more friends and the new coach is sensational.
I thought the old coach was great, and he was, but this new coach used to play Div I ball. The differences in the technique he's showing these kids is remarkable. My son will really develop this year. That's what I thought was missing last year: I didn't see a lot of growth for him in 10U ball. It was really just a total repeat of 9U ball.
This year, I think he'll develop by leaps and bounds. Tonight is the team's first outdoor practice. As much as I hate pleasant weather, the one time when I don't is when there's baseball going on.
He used to just love it. From the time he could stand, he would throw a wiffle ball against the front door for hours on end. I would never cease to amaze me that at ages as young as 4, he was doing this for hours every night. When the weather was good, he would take a bat out into the yard, pretend to bat and run imaginary bases. He just loved it. It was his idea of fun.
To think that his experience last year soured him on baseball was almost too much for me to bear. I did finally make a peace with it. Baseball is supposed to be fun and if it isn't, then he should stop. I fully expected that after this season, he would decide to just have fun playing rec league ball for the next few years and probably not even try out for his High School team.
No biggie. There are plenty of other High School sports and he shows talent in both football and basketball. He could also play lacrosse or run track if he wanted to find a Spring sport. So, all in all, just not a big deal.
However, the other night he said he was really getting into baseball, now that basketball season is over. The new coach and new team are good for him. He's making more friends and the new coach is sensational.
I thought the old coach was great, and he was, but this new coach used to play Div I ball. The differences in the technique he's showing these kids is remarkable. My son will really develop this year. That's what I thought was missing last year: I didn't see a lot of growth for him in 10U ball. It was really just a total repeat of 9U ball.
This year, I think he'll develop by leaps and bounds. Tonight is the team's first outdoor practice. As much as I hate pleasant weather, the one time when I don't is when there's baseball going on.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Highland Rolls 53-18
I don't think I've ever seen the boys quite so fired up. We played Central Elementary in the rec league and our kids were pretty much on fire. The boy went gonzo and near as I can figure, scored 14 or so.
Those are a lot of points, both for the team and him individually, for kids this age.
He'll miss a bunch of games this weekend. There's a tournament and another rec league game, but a friend of his invited him to go on a 3 day weekend vacation with him and his dad. This is one of those situations where cultivating a kid to try out for his High School basketball team needs to take a backseat to letting a kid be a kid and just hang out with his buddy.
I know the dad and the kid he's going off with and they're great folks. My son is very close to the kid at school. One thing that sometimes makes sports hard on my son is that the kids he hangs out with at school are not the same kids he plays travel sports with. They're really a great bunch of kids.
So, it was a great weekend. The Highland rec team rang up a couple of big wins. Just two more games in the rec season to go. Then, one last weekend with a rec game and a tournament.
Now, it's time for baseball. The new coach has been great. Ran his first practice last night. Logan was really fired up. There's a kid on his team who is only slightly slower than a bullet, and Logan was pretty much matching him stride for stride last night on all the running drills. I was really proud of him.
This coach played Div I ball, and it really shows. Logan had great coaching these past two years, but this coach is really taking them to a higher level. Showing them techniques that Logan has never been exposed to before. I am so glad Logan is playing on this team this year.
Time will tell if he reacquires his love of baseball. That's up to him. If not, no biggie. He can do something else next year. Maybe try lacrosse or run track. It doesn't matter to me.
Those are a lot of points, both for the team and him individually, for kids this age.
He'll miss a bunch of games this weekend. There's a tournament and another rec league game, but a friend of his invited him to go on a 3 day weekend vacation with him and his dad. This is one of those situations where cultivating a kid to try out for his High School basketball team needs to take a backseat to letting a kid be a kid and just hang out with his buddy.
I know the dad and the kid he's going off with and they're great folks. My son is very close to the kid at school. One thing that sometimes makes sports hard on my son is that the kids he hangs out with at school are not the same kids he plays travel sports with. They're really a great bunch of kids.
So, it was a great weekend. The Highland rec team rang up a couple of big wins. Just two more games in the rec season to go. Then, one last weekend with a rec game and a tournament.
Now, it's time for baseball. The new coach has been great. Ran his first practice last night. Logan was really fired up. There's a kid on his team who is only slightly slower than a bullet, and Logan was pretty much matching him stride for stride last night on all the running drills. I was really proud of him.
This coach played Div I ball, and it really shows. Logan had great coaching these past two years, but this coach is really taking them to a higher level. Showing them techniques that Logan has never been exposed to before. I am so glad Logan is playing on this team this year.
Time will tell if he reacquires his love of baseball. That's up to him. If not, no biggie. He can do something else next year. Maybe try lacrosse or run track. It doesn't matter to me.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Highland Rolls, 43-16
Not the crispest game the boys have ever played, but it went well. The team they were playing had a reputation for being pretty rough. When they played the other Highland team, a few of the parents were so upset about the physicality of the game that they risked getting thrown out. One kid chipped a tooth.
We didn't really see any of that today. It was, overall, a clean game. Our boys came out tentative and sluggish. Nobody scored for the first 5 minutes. Then, our boys went off to a 16-0 lead. It looked like it could have been an embarassing shutout. In the end, they scored a few, and our boys won big.
The boy has really improved. He's learning that when you get an offensive board that you square up and put it right back up if you can. Today, he had a great bucket that way. He scored at least 8 and would have had at least that many more if he'd made some pretty simple, wide-open shots. We only had six players. Our non-travel player didn't show up.
Basketball is a game he's always had to learn. It doesn't come naturally the way baseball and football have. I do think he can be good at it, with work, though. He sure seems determined to put in that work. Years ago, I told him that basketball was one of the few sports where you can conduct meaningful practice by yourself. This is the first year where he's spent any considerable time shooting after school. It has really shown in his improvement.
Sunday, we have a brief parent's meeting with the coach of the baseball team. He played Div I baseball and seems to have a great personality. I'm really looking forward to the boy playing for him.
So far, my son's interest in baseball is waning to the point where I think maybe playing rec next year might be just the thing for him. Because he's always played travel baseball, it isn't special to him. He doesn't see it as extra work in order to do something extra special. He just sees it as a lot of work.
If he played rec, he would absolutely be the best player in the league and maybe he'd enjoy that. It wouldn't help his baseball development, but in the end, this is all supposed to be about having fun. If he doesn't play High School baseball, it isn't the end of the world. He can run track, play lacrosse or find a Spring and Summer basketball team
It's all supposed to be about having fun.
Of course, I hope that the new coach and new team turns this around for him. I hope he really enjoys this season and wants to play again next season with renewed enthusiasm.
We didn't really see any of that today. It was, overall, a clean game. Our boys came out tentative and sluggish. Nobody scored for the first 5 minutes. Then, our boys went off to a 16-0 lead. It looked like it could have been an embarassing shutout. In the end, they scored a few, and our boys won big.
The boy has really improved. He's learning that when you get an offensive board that you square up and put it right back up if you can. Today, he had a great bucket that way. He scored at least 8 and would have had at least that many more if he'd made some pretty simple, wide-open shots. We only had six players. Our non-travel player didn't show up.
Basketball is a game he's always had to learn. It doesn't come naturally the way baseball and football have. I do think he can be good at it, with work, though. He sure seems determined to put in that work. Years ago, I told him that basketball was one of the few sports where you can conduct meaningful practice by yourself. This is the first year where he's spent any considerable time shooting after school. It has really shown in his improvement.
Sunday, we have a brief parent's meeting with the coach of the baseball team. He played Div I baseball and seems to have a great personality. I'm really looking forward to the boy playing for him.
So far, my son's interest in baseball is waning to the point where I think maybe playing rec next year might be just the thing for him. Because he's always played travel baseball, it isn't special to him. He doesn't see it as extra work in order to do something extra special. He just sees it as a lot of work.
If he played rec, he would absolutely be the best player in the league and maybe he'd enjoy that. It wouldn't help his baseball development, but in the end, this is all supposed to be about having fun. If he doesn't play High School baseball, it isn't the end of the world. He can run track, play lacrosse or find a Spring and Summer basketball team
It's all supposed to be about having fun.
Of course, I hope that the new coach and new team turns this around for him. I hope he really enjoys this season and wants to play again next season with renewed enthusiasm.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Multi-Sports, Weekend Tournament
Logan's team entered a tournament this last weekend and went bananas. We got in at the last minute. The tournament director called our coach and asked if he could get his team there. One thing leads to another and we got put in for a team that had withdrawn after the brackets were already set up. Thing is, it was a little easier bracket than what we are used to.
The boys played 4 games. Won them all: 42-12, 30-10, 33-6, 34-17.
They have been an utterly reborn team ever since 6 of them lost that rec game. Prior to that, our boys played pretty tentatively for about the first 8 minutes of each game. It always cost us. Sometimes we won in spite of it.
Granted, the teams we've played have been weaker, but our boys have been coming out from the tip-off lately. It's good to see. Logan also had his best game of the year: 8 points and 8 rebounds.
It's hard to get Logan motivated for baseball when the basketball season is still going on. I've heard a few other parents talk about this. Mentally, our kids have trouble shifting gears from one sport to another when the season is going on. I'm not sure whether to chalk this up to being only into basketball or simply not being into baseball, period.
I guess we'll see once the season starts. On the other hand, Logan looks exceptionally sharp in preseason workouts. I just met his coach and the guy seems awesome! Pitched Div I ball before his shoulder blew out. Is very into the Sylvania and Northview baseball scene. I think a little change of scenery is exactly what Logan needs.
With any luck, this year, he'll see how fun baseball can be. If that doesn't happen, oh well. Football season is just around the corner. After all this time, if he's just not into baseball, I'm okay with him playing rec just for fun or doing a different sport, entirely.
I have told him that he's good at basketball, but much, much better at baseball. At this point, he loves basketball far more, though. So, we spoke the other night and I pointed out that one of the reasons he's better at baseball is that he's put so much more work into it. If he works that hard at basketball, there's no reason why that can't be his best sport.
We'll see how it goes. I think the suburban kids are at a disadvantage because there aren't constantly games going on all Summer long. I told him that if he really wants to improve, though, he needs to spend this Summer riding his bike around the neighborhood to very kid he knows who plays cage and getting them to play with him as often as possible.
I'll do what I can for him. At this point, though, it's getting to where I can't do it for him anymore. I bought a pitching machine and threw tennis and baseballs with him in the driveway while waiting for the bus for years to give him an early advantage in baseball.
From here on out, the kids who do great will be the ones who spend hours hitting a ball off a tee in the basement. It will be the kids who take a bucket of baseballs out into the yard and pitch them at a hanging tire. It'll be the kids who spend hours a day practicing their jump shot. Even at 10, I can help a little, but if he really wants to succeed, it'll have to come from him.
The boys played 4 games. Won them all: 42-12, 30-10, 33-6, 34-17.
They have been an utterly reborn team ever since 6 of them lost that rec game. Prior to that, our boys played pretty tentatively for about the first 8 minutes of each game. It always cost us. Sometimes we won in spite of it.
Granted, the teams we've played have been weaker, but our boys have been coming out from the tip-off lately. It's good to see. Logan also had his best game of the year: 8 points and 8 rebounds.
It's hard to get Logan motivated for baseball when the basketball season is still going on. I've heard a few other parents talk about this. Mentally, our kids have trouble shifting gears from one sport to another when the season is going on. I'm not sure whether to chalk this up to being only into basketball or simply not being into baseball, period.
I guess we'll see once the season starts. On the other hand, Logan looks exceptionally sharp in preseason workouts. I just met his coach and the guy seems awesome! Pitched Div I ball before his shoulder blew out. Is very into the Sylvania and Northview baseball scene. I think a little change of scenery is exactly what Logan needs.
With any luck, this year, he'll see how fun baseball can be. If that doesn't happen, oh well. Football season is just around the corner. After all this time, if he's just not into baseball, I'm okay with him playing rec just for fun or doing a different sport, entirely.
I have told him that he's good at basketball, but much, much better at baseball. At this point, he loves basketball far more, though. So, we spoke the other night and I pointed out that one of the reasons he's better at baseball is that he's put so much more work into it. If he works that hard at basketball, there's no reason why that can't be his best sport.
We'll see how it goes. I think the suburban kids are at a disadvantage because there aren't constantly games going on all Summer long. I told him that if he really wants to improve, though, he needs to spend this Summer riding his bike around the neighborhood to very kid he knows who plays cage and getting them to play with him as often as possible.
I'll do what I can for him. At this point, though, it's getting to where I can't do it for him anymore. I bought a pitching machine and threw tennis and baseballs with him in the driveway while waiting for the bus for years to give him an early advantage in baseball.
From here on out, the kids who do great will be the ones who spend hours hitting a ball off a tee in the basement. It will be the kids who take a bucket of baseballs out into the yard and pitch them at a hanging tire. It'll be the kids who spend hours a day practicing their jump shot. Even at 10, I can help a little, but if he really wants to succeed, it'll have to come from him.
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