Travel ball thoughts (for kids)

I didn't know what to expect when we started at age 7. Now my son is 10 and I thought I'd share a few things for those that have kids or might be wondering.

1. We've been lucky- about 10 tourneys in the spring and a couple in the " fall"
2. So many tourneys in MS..you can can do this without too much travel
3. My kid has gotten so much better doing this- I can't imagine where he would be playing just league and all stars
4. There is a lot of good players in MS..it will only get better

I questioned this at first, but I advise parents and kids to at least try it if their child loves baseball.

I also advise just a few games in the fall..just light work.

Most of our experience has been good..only a few times where there were crazy coaches or parents.

How much does this cost? How much do we think it costs to make a Alex Lange or Brady Sunger?

Obviously all the money in the world won't make an untalented kid into Lange, but how much to participate in the equivalent development program?

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Originally Posted by dawg21

I didn't know what to expect when we started at age 7. Now my son is 10 and I thought I'd share a few things for those that have kids or might be wondering.

1. We've been lucky- about 10 tourneys in the spring and a couple in the " fall"
2. So many tourneys in MS..you can can do this without too much travel
3. My kid has gotten so much better doing this- I can't imagine where he would be playing just league and all stars
4. There is a lot of good players in MS..it will only get better

I questioned this at first, but I advise parents and kids to at least try it if their child loves baseball.

I also advise just a few games in the fall..just light work.

Most of our experience has been good..only a few times where there were crazy coaches or parents.

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Amen- same for girls softball.

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

How much does this cost? How much do we think it costs to make a Alex Lange or Brady Sunger?

Obviously all the money in the world won't make an untalented kid into Lange, but how much to participate in the equivalent development program?

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Depending on how much you stay in hotels..but like I said..so many tourneys in MS many times you don't have to "travel" and stay overnight. I'd say overall cost for unis, tourney fees, and food- $1500 to $2000 per year for a family of 4. Some teams travel more and tourney cost do go up with age but the cost is the hotels and food.

The reps and competitive game experience is where the improvement comes from.

A few thoughts on the development of young baseball players:

- Play with other good players that push your child.

- Play in the yard ALOT. Play whiffle ball, hit rocks with broom sticks, hit bottle caps, hit sunflower seeds, etc. The hit tool is not being developed currently in America because travel ball is only offering kids around 15-20 ABs a weekend while Latins playing in the streets are getting hundreds of ABs and ground balls in that time span. Baseball is 99% standing around or sitting in the dugout, and this does not offer a quality developmental path. Playing games is good, but, if you want to be bad ass in this sport, you must gain a feel and improvisation skill that only thousands of reps and pure instincts can provide.

- LEARN TO THROW! Most high school baseball players in America can't throw and it limits thier opportunities to play different positions, which limits their chances of finding a position that they can adequately play and offensively profile at. Not everyone can hit for enough power to profile at 1B or LF, but by learning to throw with a clean, compact, fluid arm action, you open up a world of possibilities for your bat to find a place on the field.

- Learn to dance and play other sports. MLB players have rhythm and excellent, light feet and body contro. Clunky white boys better hit for power or there is no place for them. Other sports teach these abilities.

- Don't worry about building muscle. Build flexibility and remove rigid, stiff, long actions from your game. Be quick, not strong. Have arm speed, not strength.

- learn to impact the baseball and generate bat speed. This piecey, pre-stride, opposite field, line drive stuff that infiltrated lessons across this country are a joke because they take the natural athleticism and rhythm away from a hitter. Most everyday ML players hit for some sort of power. Learn to do it.

Any questions?

Leave MS and you'll see even better ball, but it will cost you. And don't get into local daddy ball travel teams.

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Originally Posted by dawg21

I didn't know what to expect when we started at age 7. Now my son is 10 and I thought I'd share a few things for those that have kids or might be wondering.

1. We've been lucky- about 10 tourneys in the spring and a couple in the " fall"
2. So many tourneys in MS..you can can do this without too much travel
3. My kid has gotten so much better doing this- I can't imagine where he would be playing just league and all stars
4. There is a lot of good players in MS..it will only get better

I questioned this at first, but I advise parents and kids to at least try it if their child loves baseball.

I also advise just a few games in the fall..just light work.

Most of our experience has been good..only a few times where there were crazy coaches or parents.

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It's that way with most things. Dance for example.


If there is a concern, it's the development of the human body at an early age. Certain things can harm kids creating damage that can not be undone. Certain pitches by youth will harm them due to not being fully developed.

I might add that the brain is not fully developed until about 26 and pot will cause permanent damage in younger developed brains.

Feet of a dancer... Same thing. no kid under the age of 13 should ever be on pointe'. It will harm them.


Need more examples?

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

A few thoughts on the development of young baseball players:

- Play with other good players that push your child.

- Play in the yard ALOT. Play whiffle ball, hit rocks with broom sticks, hit bottle caps, hit sunflower seeds, etc. The hit tool is not being developed currently in America because travel ball is only offering kids around 15-20 ABs a weekend while Latins playing in the streets are getting hundreds of ABs and ground balls in that time span. Baseball is 99% standing around or sitting in the dugout, and this does not offer a quality developmental path. Playing games is good, but, if you want to be bad ass in this sport, you must gain a feel and improvisation skill that only thousands of reps and pure instincts can provide.

- LEARN TO THROW! Most high school baseball players in America can't throw and it limits thier opportunities to play different positions, which limits their chances of finding a position that they can adequately play and offensively profile at. Not everyone can hit for enough power to profile at 1B or LF, but by learning to throw with a clean, compact, fluid arm action, you open up a world of possibilities for your bat to find a place on the field.

- Learn to dance and play other sports. MLB players have rhythm and excellent, light feet and body contro. Clunky white boys better hit for power or there is no place for them. Other sports teach these abilities.

- Don't worry about building muscle. Build flexibility and remove rigid, stiff, long actions from your game. Be quick, not strong. Have arm speed, not strength.

- learn to impact the baseball and generate bat speed. This piecey, pre-stride, opposite field, line drive stuff that infiltrated lessons across this country are a joke because they take the natural athleticism and rhythm away from a hitter. Most everyday ML players hit for some sort of power. Learn to do it.

Any questions?

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I had to jump in this ...

-Play small. By that, I mean play with very small sticks. and use very small balls. Think the little round bouncing balls out of gum ball machines and a wooden dowel.

- Dance... It's not just about the feet. It's core and it's flexibility. It's also strength in flexibility. Meaning it reduces the odds of injury. I have actually seen what dance can do for players. A major advantage. If the instructor understands the goal, they can move them quicker in the right direction. Ballet.... seriously. Give me a running back, and I can take him to the right person and he improve drastically. Give me a lineman on either side, and I can take him to the right person and they will improve drastically even being able to defend another sec when getting beat backwards.

Travel ball is definitely a catch 22. It's almost necessary at this point if you want your kid to develop fully. But at the same time it can be the worst thing for a kid. GOT to make sure the kid loves it...and continues to.

Also have to keep tabs on pitching. There is zero doubt that travel ball is a major reason for all the teenage tommy johns

Be very wary of the team, program, and who the coach is. A coach that acts like every game is the World Series and doesn't focus on development is not a good thing.

I wish travel ball wasn't as necessary as it is. I hate being around it. 90% of the teams are "selected" cuz somebody's little johnny got left off another team so mom and dad made their own team.

But if you can find a good program with a good coach it can also be crucial in the development of a really talented kid. .

In reality, and this kind of goes along with the playing in the yard tip, travel ball isn't necessarily the answer. If you must travel to allow your kid to play year around, then sure. But really the repetition and year around practice is where the development comes from, not so much the game experience. As stated, not all that many reps actually take place in a game.

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Originally Posted by Anonymous

In reality, and this kind of goes along with the playing in the yard tip, travel ball isn't necessarily the answer. If you must travel to allow your kid to play year around, then sure. But really the repetition and year around practice is where the development comes from, not so much the game experience. As stated, not all that many reps actually take place in a game.

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Very true...but instinct and "feel" for the game do take place only in live game situations. There have been a lot of kids that lack those two intangibles that can't max out because of it. But you're right about reps in regards to physical tool development...just don't over do it.

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Originally Posted by shoeless joe

Very true...but instinct and "feel" for the game do take place only in live game situations. There have been a lot of kids that lack those two intangibles that can't max out because of it. But you're right about reps in regards to physical tool development...just don't over do it.

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Live games also get the kids used to the pressure situations of game action. When you are fielding ground balls, it isn't as big of a deal to miss one but in a game the pressure is amped up. That is why teams that are experienced at the big games do better in future big games. It reduces the nervousness if you have had the experience before. You can look at the women's title game this year. We had just come off a big win and we came out flat in the title game. USCe has consistently been in higher level games compared to us. They played a lot less nervous than we did.

My son played select travel ball one summer only.....worst summer of our life!
Too much travel, way too much money and ended up being too much ball for him which made him lose the love for the game and felt like a job.
Its not for everyone....some kids love it and then some parents love it more than their kids do.......

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Originally Posted by GoDawgz

My son played select travel ball one summer only.....worst summer of our life!
Too much travel, way too much money and ended up being too much ball for him which made him lose the love for the game and felt like a job.
Its not for everyone....some kids love it and then some parents love it more than their kids do.......

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+1 There were weekends that we were playing at 1 in the morning due to rain or something. Too many teams are put together by dads who were really good, but their kids aren't that good. If your kid is average at baseball, they are probably not going to enjoy the competition level.

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Originally Posted by IMissJack

+1 There were weekends that we were playing at 1 in the morning due to rain or something. Too many teams are put together by dads who were really good, but their kids aren't that good. If your kid is average at baseball, they are probably not going to enjoy the competition level.

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yep, we played in a couple tourneys like that. Breezed through a couple and got it handed to us in a couple. Those 8am games were the worst! What really was the end to our time in it was when they started pushing games to Sunday's. Couldn't allow my son to think in was ok to miss church to play baseball.

I have coached travel ball for the last 20 years. My youngest son is 15 and started at catcher as a freshman this past year. We played all over the southeast looking for the best tournaments against best competition. He can hit anyone's fastball and I have no doubt it's from facing the best competition in the south. It's my first year not to coach as I have turned him over to a showcase team. When you go play against the best competition in the south you can't help but develop. Heck we faced a kid in a national championship game when we were 9 that was throwing 68 mph. Best way to develop play with the best against the best! Imho

You have to let the kids play other sports. I have seen too many kids who played travel ball year round quit baseball by the 9th or 10th grade. They hate baseball and don't want to play any other sports. Dr Andrews and other major sport figures say the worst thing you can do is to make your kids play one sport only year round. And oh yeah soccer is a close second.

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Originally Posted by parabrave

You have to let the kids play other sports. I have seen too many kids who played travel ball year round quit baseball by the 9th or 10th grade. They hate baseball and don't want to play any other sports. Dr Andrews and other major sport figures say the worst thing you can do is to make your kids play one sport only year round. And oh yeah soccer is a close second.

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Kids that only play baseball end up rigid & stiff

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Originally Posted by Commercecomet24

I have coached travel ball for the last 20 years. My youngest son is 15 and started at catcher as a freshman this past year. We played all over the southeast looking for the best tournaments against best competition. He can hit anyone's fastball and I have no doubt it's from facing the best competition in the south. It's my first year not to coach as I have turned him over to a showcase team. When you go play against the best competition in the south you can't help but develop. Heck we faced a kid in a national championship game when we were 9 that was throwing 68 mph. Best way to develop play with the best against the best! Imho

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Don't disagree...but it's not for everybody and in a majority of instances it's not necessary. Which is where my issue with it begins. The folks that make money off of these organizations and tourneys want folks to think it is necessary. It is big business...there are folks that work 3-4 months a year doing tourneys and never work til the next year. These coach's that get paid by these organizations are also feeding the kids and parents lines about HAVING to pay and play with them to get seen. They are pulling focus and kids away from high school programs without having the investment in the kids and their overall development.

This doesn't describe all travel ball or showcase organizations but in my 15+ years of involvement in many different avenues, it's pretty accurate of most.

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Originally Posted by GoDawgz

What really was the end to our time in it was when they started pushing games to Sunday's. Couldn't allow my son to think in was ok to miss church to play baseball.

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And that is how you really develop a kid. Good for you.

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Originally Posted by shoeless joe

Don't disagree...but it's not for everybody and in a majority of instances it's not necessary. Which is where my issue with it begins. The folks that make money off of these organizations and tourneys want folks to think it is necessary. It is big business...there are folks that work 3-4 months a year doing tourneys and never work til the next year. These coach's that get paid by these organizations are also feeding the kids and parents lines about HAVING to pay and play with them to get seen. They are pulling focus and kids away from high school programs without having the investment in the kids and their overall development.

This doesn't describe all travel ball or showcase organizations but in my 15+ years of involvement in many different avenues, it's pretty accurate of most.

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Like with everything else there is good and bad. You have to do your due dilligence to find the right organization. And you just cannot find the level of competition needed to develop at the rec league level anymore. I hate the big money part as well I have been blessed to work with coaches and organizations that were about the kids and development. I have been lucky I guess. I've never taken a penny to coach and I have coached an elite team the last 8 years thats had a lot of success.

I agree with you that there's to many out there just making money and who ruin it for the kids and parents. No doubt about that.

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Originally Posted by dawg21

I didn't know what to expect when we started at age 7. Now my son is 10 and I thought I'd share a few things for those that have kids or might be wondering.

1. We've been lucky- about 10 tourneys in the spring and a couple in the " fall"
2. So many tourneys in MS..you can can do this without too much travel
3. My kid has gotten so much better doing this- I can't imagine where he would be playing just league and all stars
4. There is a lot of good players in MS..it will only get better

I questioned this at first, but I advise parents and kids to at least try it if their child loves baseball.

I also advise just a few games in the fall..just light work.

Most of our experience has been good..only a few times where there were crazy coaches or parents.

---

Agree with most of this. It is necessary at this time for kids to play travel ball primarily for the level of competition they will see. I played travel ball growing up(was a LHP primarily) ended up playing college and had a short stint in pro ball due to my lack of fastball command and a bum elbow. I pitched a whole lot growing up through high school and can say without a doubt it lead to arm problems down the road. My biggest worry for travel ballers up through high school lies with pitchers. A kid is never going to tell you his arm is tired or hurting when a game is on the line.

Too much use at an early age will most certainly lead to arm issues. Have a kid I work with some on the side that had growth plate issues due to throwing too much before fully maturing. Each kid is different but if you have a kid that is a pitcher and he hasn't gone through puberty or grown yet please limit his use. At that age bodies are developing so much and so many things can go wrong. It doesn't matter how perfect their mechanics are until they have matured their arm does not need to be put through 50-60-70 innings a summer and fall even if they are throwing primarily fastballs.

Next best advice I can give is play multiple sports to build complementary muscles and overall athleticism. Also, it seems every parent is more worried about pitching lessons and actual pitching forgetting that IMO the most productive thing a pitcher can do is long toss/stretch religiously. For some pitchers, once in high school it is better IMO to take a short break after the spring season and ease back into it with a throwing program. Most injuries occur due to fatigue in certain muscle groups primarily the scaps and upper back muscles. Once those muscles tire your body subconsciously sends the stress to the small ligaments in the shoulder and elbow. MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS ARM IS IN SHAPE. Take some lessons off and take your kid out to long toss. Stretching is a vastly underrated tool in high school and early baseball. Kids will stretch for ten minutes and pick up a baseball. Stretching prevents so many injuries in every sport. In pro ball we would stretch for 30-40 minutes and then go into band work before ever touching a baseball.

Sorry for the rant. I help with pitchers at a local high school and see so many kids from 7th-12th grade that don't take stretching or getting their bodies in shape seriously and parents that just worry about how hard their kid throws and throwing bullpens. IMO this is asking for an injury. Other than that let them play as much as they want too.

Let me add we don't play fall ball. After July we focus on conditioning and only hit. He also plays basketball. I definetly agree you can't play Year round and you have to play other sports.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

A few thoughts on the development of young baseball players:

- Play with other good players that push your child.

- Play in the yard ALOT. Play whiffle ball, hit rocks with broom sticks, hit bottle caps, hit sunflower seeds, etc. The hit tool is not being developed currently in America because travel ball is only offering kids around 15-20 ABs a weekend while Latins playing in the streets are getting hundreds of ABs and ground balls in that time span. Baseball is 99% standing around or sitting in the dugout, and this does not offer a quality developmental path. Playing games is good, but, if you want to be bad ass in this sport, you must gain a feel and improvisation skill that only thousands of reps and pure instincts can provide.

- LEARN TO THROW! Most high school baseball players in America can't throw and it limits thier opportunities to play different positions, which limits their chances of finding a position that they can adequately play and offensively profile at. Not everyone can hit for enough power to profile at 1B or LF, but by learning to throw with a clean, compact, fluid arm action, you open up a world of possibilities for your bat to find a place on the field.

- Learn to dance and play other sports. MLB players have rhythm and excellent, light feet and body contro. Clunky white boys better hit for power or there is no place for them. Other sports teach these abilities.

- Don't worry about building muscle. Build flexibility and remove rigid, stiff, long actions from your game. Be quick, not strong. Have arm speed, not strength.

- learn to impact the baseball and generate bat speed. This piecey, pre-stride, opposite field, line drive stuff that infiltrated lessons across this country are a joke because they take the natural athleticism and rhythm away from a hitter. Most everyday ML players hit for some sort of power. Learn to do it.

Any questions?

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This might be actually the hardest part to accomplish in today's world. When was the last time you saw kids playing an improvised baseball type game? When I was a kid, there were only 4-5 of us in the neighborhood, but our parents MADE us be outside all the time. We played different versions of baseball constantly -2 on 2 with a tennis ball and ghost runners, pepper, cup ball, pickle, shag, all the time. Kids don't play like that anymore.

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

This might be actually the hardest part to accomplish in today's world. When was the last time you saw kids playing an improvised baseball type game? When I was a kid, there were only 4-5 of us in the neighborhood, but our parents MADE us be outside all the time. We played different versions of baseball constantly -2 on 2 with a tennis ball and ghost runners, pepper, cup ball, pickle, shag, all the time. Kids don't play like that anymore.

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Man those were great times weren't they?!! Lot of great memories growing up like that. I've been lucky my sons loved the game so much they actually do a lot of those things outside we did growing up!

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Originally Posted by somebodyshotmypaw

And that is how you really develop a kid. Good for you.

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:) thanks

I agree with most of that. My kid loves it, and loves playing other sports too. I make him put the baseball down in the fall and winter.

On teenage tommy johns- I seen a 9 year old for another team pitch 154 pitches in one weekend.

Our coaches limit ours kids to 50-60 per weekend. Most not even that.

The one thing I will say- the better the competition the better the team gets. And that cannot be replaced in the front yard.

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

This might be actually the hardest part to accomplish in today's world. When was the last time you saw kids playing an improvised baseball type game? When I was a kid, there were only 4-5 of us in the neighborhood, but our parents MADE us be outside all the time. We played different versions of baseball constantly -2 on 2 with a tennis ball and ghost runners, pepper, cup ball, pickle, shag, all the time. Kids don't play like that anymore.

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Agree & it's the main reason baseball is becoming more & more Latin.

Look at it like surfing:

No one really teaches someone to surf & most of the best surfers in the world never took lessons.

Reason being, is that every wave is distinctly different & requires feel, manipulation, & instincts to ride. Hitting is the same way. You can't teach someone to hit because every pitch, pitcher, etc is different & requires instincts, manipulation, & feel to hit.

Because baseball isn't played in the yard anymore, kids in America are not getting the opportunity to experiment, fail, see hundreds of pitches in one day, etc...

This leads to groove, piecey swings with poor recognition & timing

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Originally Posted by dawg21

I agree with most of that. My kid loves it, and loves playing other sports too. I make him put the baseball down in the fall and winter.

On teenage tommy johns- I seen a 9 year old for another team pitch 154 pitches in one weekend.

Our coaches limit ours kids to 50-60 per weekend. Most not even that.

The one thing I will say- the better the competition the better the team gets. And that cannot be replaced in the front yard.

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They both are important. Yes, playing against good competition helps, but getting tons of reps against good competition helps even more.

Travel ball is fine, but it's not enough. Kids simply don't get enough reps at weekend tournament to gain the feel & instincts necessary to reach their ceilings as players.

Gwinnett, Cobb, and Forsyth Counies in GA may be the travel ball capital of the world. Nothing is close IMO. Cobb took Cooperstown this year. A local park team from a Gwinnett won the GA Triple Crown state championship. It's ridiculously good baseball at a young age.

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Originally Posted by Commercecomet24

Let me add we don't play fall ball. After July we focus on conditioning and only hit. He also plays basketball. I definetly agree you can't play Year round and you have to play other sports.

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I agree with this but we still play fall. It's the "2nd sport" with only 3 or 4 Sunday-only tournaments and then done for the winter.

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Originally Posted by Commercecomet24

Man those were great times weren't they?!! Lot of great memories growing up like that. I've been lucky my sons loved the game so much they actually do a lot of those things outside we did growing up!

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You'll appreciate this -
My granddaddy played minor league ball a couple of summers and was a helluva athlete - which he traded in for hunting Nazi's. Anyway, when I was a kid he used to work on my hitting with me by giving me a broom handle and throwing crab apples to me to hit. If you can hit a thrown crab apple you can hit about anything. We were hitting one day, and a few carpenter bees were flying around. Granddaddy squared up into his stance and commenced to hitting carpenter bees with the broom handle. He had a Rod Carew type stance, and would just flick his wrists and smack the hell out of the bee. He did not miss. If that wasn't enough, after 7-8, he turned around and did it left handed! I was blown away.

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Originally Posted by Political Hack

Gwinnett, Cobb, and Forsyth Counies in GA may be the travel ball capital of the world. Nothing is close IMO. Cobb took Cooperstown this year. A local park team from a Gwinnett won the GA Triple Crown state championship. It's ridiculously good baseball at a young age.

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Georgia is outpacing Southern California right now in producing HS talent, which has not happened in the history of the sport.

Georgia is a unique because historically the state hasn't produced as many Major League players as you would think, but, in talking with some knowledgeable people, the Atlanta Braves 14 straight division titles had a profound effect on the baseball culture in the state & created a situation where many of the best athletes in the state started playing baseball. That along with the East Cobb program starting at the same time, has propelled Georgia baseball talent into the forefront of the country.

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Originally Posted by Political Hack

I agree with this but we still play fall. It's the "2nd sport" with only 3 or 4 Sunday-only tournaments and then done for the winter.

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Nothing wrong with that as long as they're getting the 3 to 4 months of not throwing a ball. I have played many of those Georgia teams over the years, East Cobb, Home Plate Chili Dogs, 6-4-3 academy etc. lot of good baseball

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

You'll appreciate this -
My granddaddy played minor league ball a couple of summers and was a helluva athlete - which he traded in for hunting Nazi's. Anyway, when I was a kid he used to work on my hitting with me by giving me a broom handle and throwing crab apples to me to hit. If you can hit a thrown crab apple you can hit about anything. We were hitting one day, and a few carpenter bees were flying around. Granddaddy squared up into his stance and commenced to hitting carpenter bees with the broom handle. He had a Rod Carew type stance, and would just flick his wrists and smack the hell out of the bee. He did not miss. If that wasn't enough, after 7-8, he turned around and did it left handed! I was blown away.

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That's awesome! Country boy baseball! The best!

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

Georgia is outpacing Southern California right now in producing HS talent, which has not happened in the history of the sport.

Georgia is a unique because historically the state hasn't produced as many Major League players as you would think, but, in talking with some knowledgeable people, the Atlanta Braves 14 straight division titles had a profound effect on the baseball culture in the state & created a situation where many of the best athletes in the state started playing baseball. That along with the East Cobb program starting at the same time, has propelled Georgia baseball talent into the forefront of the country.

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It started a little before that run - the East Marietta Little League winning the LLWS in '83 really started it. The core of that group started East Cobb and went on to win a ridiculous amount of youth titles by the time they aged out around '88-'89. That group was 2-3 years older then me and I played against a lot of their younger brothers. What set Cobb County ahead were the number of parks in county with leagues - and they all had facilities with batting cages and pitching machines. It was an instant travel league. You had 15 or so youth leagues in Cobb around that time. You could play a season's worth of games playing at your home park March-May, then pick an all-star team or 2 from each park and spend the summer playing all round the county until state tournaments began. When you aged up to HS, each park would put together a team or 2 from the closest high schools and play all over the county. Between high school and summer league in 90/91 I faced 15 pitchers that either got drafted or played college ball. The Braves run ramped it up considerably, but the roots were there.