Where and When to Invest into Your Child’s Career

Quote Of The Week

“Make your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” - Nelson Mandela

Newsletter Of The Week

None of my children are old enough to play any organized sports; however I do feel like I am in constant preparation to act efficiently if we get to a day when one of them says “Daddy, I want to play baseball (or softball).” You may wonder why I find myself in space where I am preparing while they are only a couple years old. The honest answer is because there are so many ways to be misled as parents today who are wishing to help our children athletically, and I am trying to stay one step ahead. The game is constantly evolving; training is constantly evolving. As parents we have to be able to see the big picture no matter what rat race we are placed in. I know many parents feel confused and doubtful when making these decisions for our children. Should we go to this team? Should we do lessons with this coach? When should we start strength training; is it too soon? Should we play other sports or should we specialize in a single sport?

I am not here to say people/coaches are doing a bad job with development and making a difference in your child’s career, but one thing is for sure, we are putting way too much value in playing games. Before I get started, let me clear things up about my belief. I actually believe playing games is a GREAT way to get better at baseball or any sport for that matter. I believe playing competitive games is ESSENTIAL in the development of a good athlete and baseball player.

Now that that is understood, let me say this: Our value in playing games is way heavier than it is on any other form of development out there. It is easy to see this as we step away and take a look at our current youth tournament ball model. I am going to break down development into 4 different categories to help parents make these decisions today. Understanding that all kids are not the same, it is very important that you make a decision based on what is best for YOUR kid and not copy cat what others may be doing. Some kids need to play more baseball; that is a fact. Others may need to weigh in on other forms of development to catapult their game and careers to the next level.

The Four Categories:

1. Game Experience

2. Athleticism and Elite Movement

3. Skill and Mechanical Development

4. Mental Toughness, Mental Health (understanding identity), and Performance Psychology

   Our play heavy model and the rat race of tournament baseball has left us parents

leaving the latter 3 categories of development to the side. Consider this: Big Leaguers and Minor leaguers (grown men) play baseball competitively for roughly 7 months. What do they do with the other 5? In a professional’s off-season, much time and money is spent preparing for the long 7 month season. The pros are searching high and low for the best strength training programs and trainers. They are also searching for the coaches with the highest level of knowledge on movement, mechanics, and fundamentals. Many of these professionals I was around also spent ample time reading books that helped them deal with mental pressures and how to get mental edges within competition. These off-season decisions usually separated the guys who continued to climb the totem pole and those who fell off.

I challenge all parents to not let the rat race dictate your decisions involving your own child. We parents must assess each of our situations with a custom plan for our specific child. What is it they need? What are they missing that would allow them to dominate? Should we take some time off from games played and spend it doing something else?

“The U“ Updates

The U will be continuing keening in on all forms of development. This week lessons will continue. The structure of our lessons are changing. Our athletes will not leave the lessons without breaking a sweat because we are developing elite movers and throwers which ultimately leads to good swings and good pitching mechanics. Come check us out and see why we are getting great results!