If this were your son (Jr. Baseball)

['69 & Vine]

I'm kind of struggling with my son's development in baseball. He just turned 10 and plays in the junior baseball organization for a city in western Hamilton county. He's been on the same team since Tee Ball, and where he has friends from the team and from his scholl on the team. Last year two new coaches (just player's dads) took over and it's all about their kids. One kid pitches every game and gets shelled but is left in all game.

I can honestly say my son at this point can't hit his way out of a paper bag, lol. BUT they have done nothing to instruct the kids on the proper way to hit.

I can also honestly say my son has easily the best arm/ glove on the team but they just stick him in out in LF and let him play 1B the last inning.

What makes it tough is that I don't have custody so we just have "weekends" together to work on his game. I'm going to start taking him to the cages this winter.

What are the other options in improving his hitting?

What kind of development/ competetiveness should be seen at 10 years old, etc.

I hate to move him to a different team, but I don't want another season of this. I have a hard time bringing this up to the coaches without knowing how it should be done at this level.

Thanks for any advice.

[Yachtzee]

You should talk to some of his friend's parents (unless they're the coach). Maybe they share your concerns. My son was on a soccer team with his friends where the coach yelled at the kids constantly. I spoke with his friends parents' and the next season we requested our kids be put on another team. The league's leadership, fearing they would lose half a team of kids, put our kids on a team with a more stable coaching situation, with a coach who was a teacher rather than a yeller.

[Jefferson24]

Have him attend some clinics offered through area colleges, they are usually open to all ages.

It might be worth discussing your concerns with the league board of directors. I was a board member for 6 years on my local little league board. Is your league "little league" affiliated? I have seen many youth leagues that are lacking in many areas, some are too competitive for the younger aged kids while others are the type that just promote the coaches kids and leave the team concept far behind. Little league is not perfect but it does tend to try and find some balance between competition and equal opportunity for all participants. Of coarse much of that still depends on the coaches and how the league management enforces it's objectives.

Another issue worth exploring is the leagues' pitching rules. Most leagues have an innings per week limit or an actual pitch count per game limit like little league has adopted. Either rule should make it very difficult for just one or two kids to pitch most of the games. So many pitches or innings required a certain amount of rest days. When I coached I often used 5 or 6 kids a week, we played 3 times a week.

[Jefferson24]

Regarding development / competitiveness at age 10:

I was able to see the more talented kids start to separate themselves from the rest about age 9 or 10. There were always a few late bloomers but for the most part by the time kids were 11 or so I could tell you which ones would play high school ball and which wouldn't.

['69 & Vine]

Hey, thanks for the replies. He does want to play HS ball so I'll be looking to improve his hitting. He's got good coordination, I think it's more mental than anything.

I'll be looking into the organization as well for a values/mission statement.

[Red Leader]

As a parent, you want to put your child in the most successful situation they can be in. If that means moving him to another team, away from kids he's played with since he started, then that's what it means. It does him no good to return to this team if he's not going to get a fair shot to play other positions, or not be taught how to improve. Look for signs from him that he wants to improve, though. Most of the kids his age will ask you to help them learn, if they really want to. You said that he wanted to play high school baseball, so I'm assuming he's told you, and also feels himself, that he needs to improve to make that goal a reality. Talk to him. Ask him what he thinks he needs to improve. Ask him about his current team and his role. Ask him if he thinks he can achieve his goals by staying on that team. Communication is a key factor here with a kid this age. Don't guess what he wants, let him tell you and then you do your best to help him achieve his goal.