re: Youth travel ball has to be the dumbest waste of time and money.

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See, this is where travel ball has been a net negative I think.

You almost have to do it to keep the kid from falling behind, unless the kid is an exceptional athlete.

So this means you have thousands of families dedicating their weekends and money to something that’s only necessary because so many other people are doing the same thing.

And in the end, if high school baseball is played at a higher level overall, what difference does that really make?

I realize some people enjoy it and it isn’t going away, but it really is insane to work all week and then be dragged around to baseball tournaments on the weekend. We do it too, but it’s insane.

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its not a net negative though. The skill level at the HS level is at an all time high. Some of that is because of improved coaching and training but much of it is because the kids entering the program are at a much high level to start.

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I realize some people enjoy it and it isn’t going away, but it really is insane to work all week and then be dragged around to baseball tournaments on the weekend. We do it too, but it’s insane.

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why? is it so insane to be good parent and enjoy watching your kid excel at things? I love going to tournaments and watching my kids make memories.

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The skill level at the HS level is at an all time high.

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Can you explain why that’s a good thing?

It seems to me that it doesn’t mean anything one way or another.

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why? is it so insane to be good parent and enjoy watching your kid excel at things? I love going to tournaments and watching my kids make memories.

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It depends on your family situation. I believe that it puts unnecessary strain on many families, but obviously that’s up to them to decide.

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This is undeniably correct and it's hindered the overall development of young athletes.

Listen to a ton of smart people in this space about how being a multiple sport athlete at least through high school helped professionals develop a diverse skill set. Playing basketball helping a qb learning to move laterally is just one quick example.

Now the model is a 14 year old getting Tommy John because he's been pitching 35 weekends a year for 5 years. It's sad for the kids and sport in general.

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kids shouldnt specialize until 15 or 16, that i can agree with, but also kids shouldnt be forced to play sports they dont like just to be "multi sports". everyone says you have to be multi sport and cite the nfl as the example. what they fail to mention is close to 70% of the mutlisport athletes in the nfl did football and track and used track as their form of speed training.

athleteism can 100% be built through training and doesnt require playing mutiple sports. Kids should be allowed and encouraged to play mutiple sports but not forced.

and if a kid is pitching 35 weekends a year or anything remotely close...well thats on the parent for being a dumbass. with the ARMCARE.com protocol you can have professional quality arm care diagnostic and training for less than 1000 that will last you through your playing days. and FTR tommy johns mainly happens from lack of training not from overuse, same with ucl. its imbalances causing issues on deceleration and also lack of bodyweight/power forcing kids to use more arm speed to throw hard.

between the armcare.com and Dr Heenan with 90mph formula(atp) offering remote training for $50 there is no excuse for kids not having professional grade training and injury prevention/.

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Tagging on to my previous post here:

My Daughter played in Sulphur with girls she goes to school with. We had a nice little rec team that won near all of their games.

With no spring season in soccer we moved over to LC thinking the competition would be better (larger population). I ended up coaching the team because no one else would. The parents of the other girls spent all practices and games staring at their phones. Totally disengaged.

So here we are looking to get better and I'm stuck coaching kids of parents who don't care in a city I don't even live in. My kid is the only one who can put the ball in the goal.

That folks is the definition of waste of time.

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this is me and why my middle kid left rec and went travel and why my youngest will after this year. I still coach rec, but the level of play sucks. its a total waste of time.

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This simply isn’t true

The stud players would still make the high school team even if they never player a day of travel ball in their life. They are studs because of their athleticism and ability. They happen to play travel ball. The travel ball isn’t making them great. That’s what parents need to understand. There were major league and college level players before travel ball ever existed…..

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and you are full of shite. go find me one player on any of those teams that didnt play travel. You and mingo same im worng...but cant find anyone to point to on those teams or any of the high level HS teams. Not frickign 1.

and again is everyone just going to ignore that there are not 13&14 year old rec leagues anymore? there are less than 10 across the whole state.

and yea there were major league and college level guys before travel ball....so the frick what?

and in travel they get much better coaching, play against better competition etc

and this is what so many of you do not understand. baseball is not football...it is a high skill level sport vs athleticism. Do we have to develop the athleticism....absoltely as your skill level can only get so much higher than your ahtletic floor. but It takes a ton of time to develop those skills to be really good at bastball.

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Can you explain why that’s a good thing?

It seems to me that it doesn’t mean anything one way or another.

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are you asking if its a good thing that high school baseball is being played at a much higher level than say 20 years ago? i mean i guess it depends on who you ask? is it good for the players and teams??? yep. good for the average fan?? yep.

how would the game being played at a much higher level not be a good thing?

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It depends on your family situation. I believe that it puts unnecessary strain on many families, but obviously that’s up to them to decide.

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well then those families should evaluate if they want to do it or not. but in general most OT parents and most parents in South Louisiana seem to be selfish assholes who only want to go to the camp on the weekend.

and thats ok, not everyone can be high achievers in life.

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That is because the studs choose to play travel, travel isn’t what made them…..

Stud level baseball players have existed since baseball began. Are you saying there weren’t good baseball players before travel ball?

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no im saying that the studs are better than ever and the other players have raised the floor also because skill development is much better and so is strength and conditioning. if you dont agree well then you are ignorant to the level of baseball being played at the good hs programs in the state.


im sure some will com on here and talk abotu the Dominican republic sending so many players and the caribbean in general and will fail to mention that those kids are plucked to academies usually around age 10 where they live and breath baseball.

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no im saying that the studs are better than ever

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Based on what?

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I think its more for the parents than the kids

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THIS.

My sister and her husband pushed my nephew into travel ball. My nephew was pretty good and actually got a few offers to play at some small schools after HS...But, he was so burnt out from play he didn't want to play anymore and turned them down.

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Ex. D1 player. 7 drafted from college team. 1 from high school team. None played travel ball.

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you assert that none of the LSU players played travel baseball.