Anyone around the game of baseball for any length of time knows exactly what I am talking about, but before I go on, I need make sure everyone knows:
- I have coached Select Teams
- I have coached at a Private High School
- My teams were outfitted to the hilt
- My teams travelled to national tournaments across the country
So it should be clear I am not bashing select or travel teams. My focus is those teams that sacrifice teaching the game for the sake of picking the best players. I realize this sounds like I am creating a dichotomy paradox, or an opposing inconsistency on how a team should be picked, but I can assure you I am not. In fact I truly do not care how each team is organized.
This game is so simple I believe it is feasible to teach baseball to every player, not just the so-called good ones. I agree some are likely to understand quicker than others, and I am even willing to accept some may choose something other than baseball, but when a player gives this game up without truly understanding how to play the game is criminal to me.
We are all at fault here. We get more excited over the team, the tournaments, the uniforms, and the number of games the team is playing versus how to play the game. We become infatuated with what is “Not Real.”
- Your son does not get better by playing more games; he gets better by playing each game correctly
- Your son does not get better by playing in what some believe is the better leagues; he gets better by practicing the right way to play games
- Quality uniforms are nice, but I have never witnessed a player getting a scholarship or drafted because of their uniform. It happens because they are good.
- Selecting a team based upon the number of tournaments or a specific tournament does not make your son a better player. Knowledge of the game does
- Identifying the Best Coach as the one who plays your son is less important than finding a coach who is going to teach your son How to Play the Game
The recipe is simple BE GOOD; at the same time we need to realize good is a relative term that is why knowledge of every aspect of the game is so important. So instead of deciding which team your son should play for, focus on what it takes to make your son a better player.
- Get your son evaluated – help him understand it is just as important to reduce weaknesses, as it is to over practice things he is good at
- Help your son view failure as nothing more than a mistake resolved by knowledge
- Help your son recognize where he plays is less important than how he plays
- Help your son view statistics as an outcome of quality play
Baseball is a simple game and knowledge will help him understand what it takes to be good, then it is his job,:
- Not the coach
- Not the parents
- Not the team to make him good
He controls the world he wants to play in!!!
Until next blog,
Al McCormick
