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re: What you travel ball coaches and parents think about sliding mitts?
Posted on 7/18/24 at 11:26 am to jmorr34
Posted on 7/18/24 at 11:26 am to jmorr34
quote:
That is pretty accurate and somewhat unfortunate because it wasn't always like that.
Why did it change? Why did it go from localized, nearly free rec ball being fine for decades to “oh no you better dedicate all your free time and most of your disposable income to bawl or else your kid won’t even make the high school team?”
Smells like desperation vicarious living through children to me. And the amount of people who’ve bought into this insanity is mind-boggling.
4
Posted on 7/18/24 at 11:53 am to Pax Regis
quote:
Why did it change? Why did it go from localized, nearly free rec ball being fine for decades to “oh no you better dedicate all your free time and most of your disposable income to bawl or else your kid won’t even make the high school team?”
Can't tell you when it changed. Just know the current state as it is today. My son played rec ball for 3 years and then told us he wanted to be more competitive. We let him decide if he wanted to play tournaments versus rec. As far as free time and disposable income, still have lots of both. It's honestly not that expensive. As one poster mentioned, 99% of the games are local (1hr drive max). We aren't "traveling" very far.
This post was edited on 7/18/24 at 11:58 am
Posted on 7/18/24 at 11:59 am to Pax Regis
quote:
Why did it change? Why did it go from localized, nearly free rec ball being fine for decades to “oh no you better dedicate all your free time and most of your disposable income to bawl or else your kid won’t even make the high school team?”
because the kids got better and better and better because some kids love to play ball all the time so they started leaving all the other kids behind. So to keep up and give themselves a chance...more and more joined in.
and rec is not free. its either paid for in taxes or cost 150 or so.
as far as this
quote:
all your free time and most of your disposable income
1) dont be poor where a couple thousand is all your disposable income. it aint that much money
2) free time? like i said, 95% of "travel" teams play within an hour of home. SO 2 games on saturday and a couple on sunday 10 weekends a year is all your free time?
quote:
mells like desperation vicarious living through children to me
you have no clue wtf you are talking about.
quote:
And the amount of people who’ve bought into this insanity is mind-boggling.
well then go ahead....put your kid in rec and leave them there...you will see. but dont fricking whine about it after though.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:01 pm to Yewkindewit
We didn't have any of this stuff - these days it takes a timeout and five minutes to practically disrobe after every base hit, but whatever - my real point being that while we got scuffed around while playing, I don't recall anyone getting Ray Chapman'ed or anything during our games.
It's sports. They're always fun, sometimes they hurt.
It's sports. They're always fun, sometimes they hurt.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:13 pm to Pax Regis
quote:
Smells like desperation vicarious living through children to me.
i want to address this separately.
why do yall say this? Do you think that me and others woke up one morning and were like....hey i want my kid to play travel baseball, even if he hates it, i dont care, i want him to play and train all the time so he can be what i wasnt?
I have 3 sons. oldest likes football and throwing in track, also does basketball. he doesnt play travel sports but is really really good at throwing in track for an 8th grader
middle loves baseball, likes football
youngest loves baseball and basketball
we have a rule in the house, all A's every quarter or you dont play. Must attend church every week, no matter the tournament schedule...sometimes that means saturday afternoon or sunday afternoon or going between games etc but must attend to be able to play.
so not like we saying screw education and screw church
I have to force my middle kid to play other sports than baseball. He wakes up every morning with his own alarm to go throw med balls and hit before school in the garage. he hits on his own 4 times a week at least before bed, usually every night.
little one actually started getting up before school at 6 because he wanted to which made the middle kid do it too and also throw med balls.
I hate it because im trying to cook breakfast and get lunches ready and they are bugging me to hurry so they can go hit or for me to come look at some kind of mechanical thing with the swing
do you think i woke up and said....yea i want my kids to be obsessed with this sport so I get less sleep, less free time etc?
Its no secret I love lifting weights but I have less time to do that now because guess what...all three bug me to train them. So a lot of my free time is teaching them how to lift or helping them with the sports they love
i spend a ton of money on the 3 kids between lessons, travel etc. That is money i would love to go spend goign on crazy nice vacations with my wife. But i also get joy out of seeing them pursue things they are passionate about and I happen to be blessed enough to be able to afford to pay for these things, go on 3 or 4 vacations a year.
its just so fricking stupid when yall say things like...."oh sounds like you are living vicariously through your kids and you are in a cult"
like i woke up one morning and decided...hey i know what...i want to make my life harder and spend tons of money on shite that doesnt matter!!!
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:23 pm to LA Lightning
quote:
LA Lightning
That you Gator?
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:27 pm to lsu777
Think I bought my last pair of cleats for my son yesterday…crazy. They grow up fast, can’t imagine not having spent the ‘sports’ time with him. Great memories.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:35 pm to Gaston
quote:
They grow up fast, can’t imagine not having spent the ‘sports’ time with him. Great memories.
exactly
like it can be huge pain in the arse, especially when im tired or have other things i would like to do but in the end...i know i will miss it big time and it goes by fast. I dont always love when they grab me to go long toss or do other things but once im out there doin it...its a blast and i know i will miss it big time.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 12:46 pm to lsu777
quote:
it can be huge pain in the arse
9.5 hour drive to Gatlinburg tomorrow. One last camp though…so it’s bittersweet.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 1:35 pm to SelaTiger
So with 12 years of coaching and playing for many years I am a fan of sliding mitts. I’ve seen way to many mangled fingers and the extra inch from the mitt may be the difference between safe and out. Sports equipment changes. Not to long ago football used leather helmets with no face mask.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:13 pm to SelaTiger
I'm generation X. My parents would have given me an actual oven mitt if they thought it was relevant.
I would have been too embarrassed to wear it
I would have been too embarrassed to wear it
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:20 pm to geauxbrown
quote:
As a coach, they’re a pain in the arse. A kid gets to first, I’m trying to signal him and he’s staring at his hands trying to get that oven mitt on
This
Nothing better than watching a 9 year old get picked off cause he was spending more time putting on his mitt than watching the pitcher. We banned them after it happened several times in the fall.
Even better is the 7 year old that sticks it in his back pocket while in the field and it’s touching his shoulder blades
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:23 pm to jmorr34
quote:
There what is? That is pretty accurate and somewhat unfortunate because it wasn't always like that. Someone playing 10 games a year in rec ball won't make a decent HS baseball team due to the level of competition.
It’s true and a big part of the reason baseball is a rich kid sport now. You can put off the travel ball until middle school, though. Just play Little League / Dixie fall and spring. If your kid is the best one out there, play him up an age or two. Use the money you save on travel ball for specialized hitting/pitching coaches. He will come out ahead and hopefully still like baseball by high school.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:41 pm to SelaTiger
Tell him to use one of those "We're #1" foam fingers instead of the sliding mitt. The foam finger is much less expensive.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:46 pm to Pax Regis
quote:
Why did it change? Why did it go from localized, nearly free rec ball being fine for decades to “oh no you better dedicate all your free time and most of your disposable income to bawl or else your kid won’t even make the high school team?”
I personally think it changed when well off parents realized they could hack the system for their less athletic kids. Unlike other sports, baseball isn’t one where raw athleticism tends to win out, even at the high school level. Hitting a baseball is mechanically complex. IMO, paying for specialized coaching is much more likely to yield dividends in baseball than in most other sports. All the coaching in the world won’t make little Jaxssyn run much faster or jump much higher, but correct mechanics will greatly increase his probability of hitting the ball. The irony is that you still have to pay for the individual coaching if your kid plays travel ball, so IMO most parents would be much better off just paying for the hitting coach and playing their kid up a level in rec until middle school. We have several dads in our Little League who pitched in high school and college. If you put them on the mound at 50 ft, that ball is coming. The kids get more and better reps this way. It costs less money and time, even if I am the one who has to set up the off season practices.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:47 pm to The Don
quote:
I’ve seen way to many mangled fingers
Posted on 7/18/24 at 2:53 pm to LSUfan4444
Metal spikes shouldn't be allowed until high school and I'll argue even then, it should only be for varsity.
Yes, you can still get extra gear Braxxxton but instead of sliding mitts you get an extra pair of cleats. You'll have to make room in your bag between your elbow guard, ankle guard, multiple pit viper cases and BP jersey(s).
Yes, you can still get extra gear Braxxxton but instead of sliding mitts you get an extra pair of cleats. You'll have to make room in your bag between your elbow guard, ankle guard, multiple pit viper cases and BP jersey(s).
Posted on 7/18/24 at 3:05 pm to pelicanpride
Most places don’t have middle school ball, at least in south LA. Also you are not getting close to the competition and most good travel ball kids are taking all those lessons, getting at least 500 balls on their own every week prolly 40-45 weeks a year and are lifting at early ages.
And yea you certainly can make people sprint and jump much higher with proper training but your overall message is correct
And yea you certainly can make people sprint and jump much higher with proper training but your overall message is correct
Posted on 7/18/24 at 3:26 pm to lsu777
quote:
Most places don’t have middle school ball, at least in south LA. Also you are not getting close to the competition and most good travel ball kids are taking all those lessons, getting at least 500 balls on their own every week prolly 40-45 weeks a year and are lifting at early ages.
They don’t have middle school ball where I live in Texas either. I am saying that you would probably need to put them in select at that point. My oldest plays select, so I am well aware of how the system works. Most of it is a money grab, and parents would have more time and money if they paid for specialized coaching and gave their kids more individualized reps themselves before middle school. If you actually think about the number of ABs your kid gets over the course of a weekend in select, it isn’t that much. What do you think is a tournament average? Maybe 6? Most teams play every other week in the spring, so you are looking at 3 game ABs a week. I can also tell you that the pitching gap between AA Perfect Game tournaments and Little League isn’t that great before around 12u. In fact my 12u son saw better pitching in Little League when I played him against 14u kids. I have different age sons who play both select and LL (often at the same time). Before middle school, you can absolutely get more and better reps with LL players if you are willing to get the best kids together and schedule regular offseason practices.
Posted on 7/18/24 at 3:37 pm to pelicanpride
quote:
They don’t have middle school ball where I live in Texas either. I am saying that you would probably need to put them in select at that point. My oldest plays select, so I am well aware of how the system works. Most of it is a money grab, and parents would have more time and money if they paid for specialized coaching and gave their kids more individualized reps themselves before middle school
Problem is, by that time, you are so far behind, not catching up
The select kids are doing all those lessons plus working on their own so you are not catching up
quote:
. I can also tell you that the pitching gap between AA Perfect Game tournaments and Little League isn’t that great before around 12u. In fact my 12u son saw better pitching in Little League when I played him against 14u kids. I have different age sons who play both select and LL (often at the same time).
Well if you are playing AA at 12, you aren’t making a good HS team anyways for the most part. I’m talking difference between little league and high aaa or majors
Problem too is in south LA really not but maybe 5-8 leagues in the whole state for 13/14 year olds. Very few areas have any type of rec ball after 12
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