So You Want Your Kid to be a Good Baseball Player

 You want your child to be a good baseball player.

Some parents support their child's passions. Others want their child to succeed in all aspects of life. Others might wish their child was more successful in baseball than they were. You are not the only one who wants your child to reach his or her full potential, regardless of where you come from.

I have seen hundreds of children from ages 2 to 10 introduced to baseball. It is important to get your child started in baseball.

I won't be discussing mechanics, or how to get formal lessons. When your child is just getting started, I will discuss the best ways to help them in the long term. Some of my advice will come from common sense or conventional wisdom. Some of it may surprise you. The majority of it will be backed up by data or scientific studies.

Do not praise results but effort

It is easy for people to get excited by the results. It's easy to get excited about the results of hitting the ball over the wall or diving for the catch.

Don't.

Don't tell your child that they are talented and that the results don't matter.

The thing you should praise is effort. You might praise your child's effort if they just caught a great dive after practicing for months. Bravo!

It doesn't matter if you are a coach or parent, but it is important to remind your children that effort is more important then results. Examples:

After every hit, he rushes to first base. He's out by just a foot. He deserves praise for his efforts and the benefits that he will get from them over time.

She moves fast, dives hard and misses very few balls. She deserves high praise for her effort.

He makes a difficult stop at the shortstop and then throws over first baseman's heads. He made a tremendous effort to get there.

According to scientific research, praising effort rather than results has many long-term advantages. It encourages children to be resilient, work hard, and take on challenges. All while maintaining a positive mindset. Many stories can be found about highly talented baseball players who are unable to keep up with their peers, despite being more skilled. The root cause of many cases can be traced back at how the child was treated as a child.

Baseball is a game about repetition. There is talent in baseball, just like any other field. But as a child becomes a teenager or adult, the importance of having the ability to overcome hardship and practice again and again becomes even more important than talent. I have found that most players work less by the age 11 than they did when they were younger. While the coach can teach hustle, it takes a lot of effort. The main reason I believe is years of being praised less for effort than for results.

Instilling the belief that your child can achieve anything if they work hard enough is far better than instilling the belief that they are talented. Believe in yourself and your ability to achieve anything by hard work. This will translate into other areas of your life. Praise effort.

Practise with Your Kid

It's important to practice together. Even more important is practicing at home to ensure you get enough repetition and keep it fun. You can do it with Mom, Dad, or an older sibling. You can also practice by yourself or with a neighbor/friend. It is not as enjoyable for children who are just starting out.

A very talented, athletic kid is in his 5th year of playing baseball. He performs much better than the average player. He doesn't practice at his home with any parent. Conversely, I have witnessed a few children with normal talent begin baseball at an early age. They catch up quickly to their peers. These early starters were home-based with their brother or parent. It paid off.

Try Left-handed Hitting

Your genes determine whether your left-handedness, right-handedness, or ambidextrous. If you are right-handed you will throw right. If you are left-handed you will throw right. Throwing with both hands is not common. It can be very difficult for a right-handed child to learn how to throw with both his left and right arms.

Hitting is a whole different story. The so-called right-handed hit means that your left leg and shoulder, eye, hip, and eye all face the pitcher. The hand that holds the bat in one-handed grip is what is considered "right". This would make sense if you bat one-handed. A forearm stroke (think tennis), is stronger than a backhand. But hitters use two hands. According to my knowledge, right-handers who bat right-handed are primarily a social convention. That's the way everyone does it.

In fact, it is the wrong way. It has so many advantages, that I could easily write an article on it. Update: A few years later I wrote Handedness in Youth Baseball. Here are the top lefty benefits:

It is much easier to see the release points from a pitcher who is not in your batting order. Over 85% are right-handed pitchers. This makes lefty batting an advantage. This factor is important at all levels. It is the main reason why there are so many lefty hitters playing in major leagues.

A lefty who hits a ball is closer to first base if he faces the right direction. You will be able to get safely to the first base with more grounders. This is especially important for younger age groups, where the distance between bases ranges from 50 to 70 feet. This advantage is not as important for high schoolers and those who are beyond the secondary level, where there are 90 foot base paths.

Lefties have it much easier than righties to bunt for a hit (drag bunting). It's nearly impossible for right-handed batters.

There is some evidence that there may be right-eye dominance, which is not the same thing as left-hand dominance. Roughly 2/3rd of the population is right eye dominant, and 88% are right hand dominant. While research on this topic isn't conclusive, it is possible to argue that eye dominance may be more important than hand dominance in hitting well.

Any age player can learn how to be a switch-hitter with enough practice. It usually takes two to three years to master swinging from the other side, whether you are a teenager or an older player. You don't need to spend extra time if you start learning from the opposite side. When most 5- and 4-year-olds learn to hit, it's difficult to determine if they're lefty orrighty. Both are equally horrible.

Ask your child to do the same. Explain to your kid that the best hitters hit from the left side. If they plan to continue playing baseball, this is the best option. Encourage them to play lefty.

Do not be surprised if your right-handed throwing child insists on switching back from right-handed batting a few years later due to social pressure, parental misinformation, or the influence of other kids. These are some interesting statistics that you might be able to share with your coach if you start a discussion about it. Baseball Boy 7 Skill Stop Machine - A Critical