re: The Failure of Travel Ball

We had a Japanese exchange student for a year living with us when I was a freshman in HS. He played baseball over there. He could not believe how little we practiced. He said they would get out of class about 3:45 and go straight to practice. Roughly 2.5-3 hours. Everyday.

which brother is this

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And how much is that setting you back?

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What does that have to do with anything? Do you think the coaches in DR Coach the kids there for free? They do not. They get paid. Very little while the kid is young, but if a kid makes it, most of their signing bonus goes to the coach(es) who taught him the game. Don’t take my word for it. Research it yourself.

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1. Cuts out too many kids 2. Too many games / too few practice reps at a young age 3. Poor coaching, lack of fundamentals instruction and reps at a young age.

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I don’t disagree with you at all on these points. But some more than others.

I know some programs like Canes and Marucci are basically team factories. They use volume to build top tier teams to generate attention through wins, which in turn, gets more parents to fork over more money. It is big business.

And a lot of the above average players play every weekend.

Our program does not turn anyone away. However, if a kid is not ready for the jump to select ball, he makes the practice squad and gets all of the same coaching a paying team member gets. That’s right, our coach will not charge any kid wanting to get better if he is willing to put in the work.

My son plays every other weekend… 2 guaranteed games on Saturday. Sunday, play until you lose. He was one and done this past weekend. 2 weeks ago, they played 3 games on Sunday (so 5 for the weekend).

They have died practice Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Bullpen and catcher practice every Wednesday. Off weekends, he still has long toss/arm care.

Your comment about lack of fundamental instruction at a young age 100% relates to rec ball and not select ball. The problem is most programs stop at fundamentals. They aren’t teaching beyond fundamentals. Multiple arm slots, proper footwork, baseball IQ… plenty more, are ignored because too much emphasis is placed on exit velocity and throwing velocity and curve balls.

Kids physically develop at different ages. Power varies. But baseball IQ, footwork, glove presentation, and arm slots can, and should, be taught at a very early stage. THAT is where the DR type kids have an advantage. Those aren’t necessarily fundamentals, but more advanced concepts of fielding.

Sorry, but ole Joe who played high school ball in 1992 isn’t normally equipped to teach those concepts to his kid and his buddies kids.

What does a video trying to convince people that the WBC is relevant have to do with travel ball? Seriously? Its a bunch of anecdotal tribal shite about countries who go all in on the World Baseball Classic.

Japan is bat shite crazy over the WBC? They treat sumo wrestling as a religious experience too.

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They get paid. Very little while the kid is young, but if a kid makes it, most of their signing bonus goes to the coach(es) who taught him the game. Don’t take my word for it. Research it yourself.

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First off, i don’t disagree with your overall points and my kid is on a low level select team, so I don’t just hate on it.

But what about what you posted that I quoted above? They are getting paid, but it looks nothing like what we have here, where parents have to fork over money starting at a young age to have any hope of their kid getting a good foundation.

What I want is for MLB to be investing money nationwide in providing low cost high level instruction (by training the trainers) to more kids from more backgrounds. I think the sport is going to “die” if something doesn’t change soon.