So building off my son’s horrible first scrimmage, he was even worse in our first outdoor practice. He had one at bat off the pitching machine and whiffed on three straight pitches, making him the only kid on his team who struck out. Counting the two at bats from last weekend’s scrimmage, he hasn’t made contact once, all swings and misses. Also, it was super cold at the scrimmage, and I could shrug off his strikeouts on account of the weather, but yesterday it was a balmy 60.
His fielding was bad, too. He muffed two easy pop ups. He’s just not being decisive. One was a shallow pop up, and he moved in, and he moved in some more, and he moved in again, and he dove for the ball and missed it.
What’s making matters worse is that we’re on a new club team and the coaches don’t really know him. So he’s got no good will or past good play to fall back on. And the other kids are legitimately good. The infielders are polished and have great footwork, and they get rid of the ball quickly and smoothly. Even when my guy made a play, he didn’t do it with the ease of those kids.
I wanted to stay positive like I sort of pledged to do in my last post, but in the car ride home I told him he needed to be more aggressive and decisive. And I said I didn’t understand what was going on at the plate. This is an improvement from my prior self who sometimes lashed out at him when he messed up, but it wasn’t ideal. After I said my peace, we drove home in silence for about thirty minutes.
There’s a real possibility that my son is just never going to be a top player and it’s something that both he and I are going to just have to deal with. It’s also possible that it’s March and he’s had one scrimmage and one outdoor practice, and I’m supremely overreacting. The other kids also seems to be towards the end of puberty and my son has just gotten peach fuzz on his upper lip.
We’ve also just left a club that wasn’t very good and being around these better players will hopefully be a good thing for my kid and raise his play.
In other bad news, my younger son said he liked his first lacrosse practice!
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH YOUR KID’S BAD PLAY? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.
For information about the emotional side of baseball, see:
- I Spent 30K on Youth Baseball Last Year; Here’s How
- Anger Management and Youth Baseball: How to Calm Down
- How to Manage Your Kid’s Baseball Tantrums and Meltdowns
- 4 Ways to Respond to a Coach Playing Favorites
- How to Stop Being a Crazy Baseball Dad
- How to Be a Good Baseball Dad in the Backyard
- Is It Now Fashionable to Hate On Baseball Dads?
- Are Local Little Leagues Bad for Baseball?
For information on hitting, see:
- How to Get Out of a Hitting Slump
- 4 Best Baseball Batting Aids (No. 3 is Free)
- 4 Hitting Drills You Need to Do Before Every Game
- 4 Old School Baseball Drills You Need to Be Using
- 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Baseball Bat
For information on pitching, see:
- What You Need to Know About Little League Elbow
- 4 Ways To Increase Your Kid’s Pitching Velocity
- Is the Circle Change Dangerous for Youth Pitchers?
- Why I Don’t Let My Son Pitch in Little League
- How to Make Sure Your Kid Isn’t Overpitched in Basebal
For ways to get faster, see: