r/Homeplate

Can someone explain the difference between Majors, AAA, AA, and A? I was unaware that there are so many levels of travel before this year.

edit: located in Ohio and I’ve been playing travel since 10u

Hi there,

My son has made all stars for 11U and when he gets out of school we want to start working out together for the summer. I have never put together a workout plan for a youth baseball player. My only real exercise experience is gym bro stuff which seems kinda inappropriate. Do you all have any ideas on what type of things we could do together that would help his baseball and overall athleticism. Bonus points for helping him with speed. Unfortunately he got my speed genes which are terrible. Thank you in advance!

This thread is not for judgement or criticism. I’m just looking to see what other people are doing/expectations are in your area…not whether it’s right or wrong

We are in CT. Our specific town is just 2 minors games and 1 minors practice a week. The minors game can be any day of the weekday with one game on Saturday. Practice is one weekday (random)

Our in town travel program (in spring season) plays 1 game per weekend (on Sundays). Due to the randomness of minor games and days, it’s near impossible to have practices for travel while in the spring season. So baseball is 4 days a week

We’ve been speaking with other towns who appear to have in town travel set days during the week and they are 2 minors game, 1 minors practice, 2 travel practices, 2 travel games per week with travel games being Sunday doubleheaders (so 5 days a week of baseball)

Hi friends! I'm a first time coach and I did not grow up playing baseball so there's a lot of learning on the fly for me.

I volunteered to be HC for my son's 9U rec team. Machine pitch.

We've had 2 games so far. I'm not worried about wins or losses. My goal is to make sure: 1) kids have fun, and 2) kids get better at baseball, being a teammate, learning to make progress, etc.

One thing I've noticed in our first 2 games is a lack of situational awareness when we are in the field. A couple of examples:

1. We are on D. Bases loaded. Ball is hit to 3B who fields it nicely. Instead of going for the easy out at 3B he throws home to try and prevent the run.

2. We are on D. Runner on 1st. Ball hit to infielder. They kind of freeze not knowing whether to try and throw to 2nd or throw to 1st.

I'm not surprised there is some of this given how young and inexperienced most of the kids are.

It's my job to help them get better.

Any suggestions on age and skill level appropriate drills to help them get better with decision making?

Am I the only one who puts this stuff on the same level with 6 year old beauty pageants? I’m sure it isn’t always the case (all absolutes are wrong, including this one) but I get the sense that most kids like this have parents who are trying to work through issues in their own lives through their kid. Get a therapist and let your kids play baseball. Saw a parent at a kids (8U) practice set up an iPad and a radar gun.

My sons LL team is starting their postseason tournament. I never really paid attention to the bracket but today I looked at it. It's a 9 team double elim and apparently pretty standard. Every sample bracket I can find is the same. I think it's kind of dumb. Losers of the first round can lose again and still be in the tournament but if you win the first round you have to be perfect? Not only that but you can lose two times in a row and still keep playing? Doesn't seem right.

Edit - Looked more closely at a standard double elim bracket and ours is definitely messed up. See picture in comments.

My son plays center field and is great at catching anything that comes near him but he’s having a hard time seeing the ball on sunny days. I’ve bought him some cheap baseball sunglasses from Amazon but I’m thinking I need to get him better quality ones. Any recommendations? Any price is fine as long as they work well for outfielders.

I know when I buy sunglasses for myself, I can see better with certain ones.

So this season (last as a coach) has taught me a lot. We have the individual talent to be undefeated, but have not been able to win a single game...only led for 6 innings total, and the boys are frustrated. We are trying to teach them to drop the last play and learn from it, but things arent working out. Last weekend was the culmination of years of excuses from players and umpires that effectively nuked my dugout.

Before I go into specifics, understand I hold the team responsible for not helping themselves and giving up. HP ump said he wanted to get home early during ground rules.

I had three plays in the first two innings where umpires called opposite mirror plays against us the weekend prior. I didn't get mad, sent encouraged the boys to "get it next time"...then I got warned for my dugout chirping on balls and strikes. Umpire threatened to end the day (on the 1st game of a DH). I told him I would handle it, but i was on 3B and didnt hear anything. Talked to the boys, and coaches, one coach was very frustrated and removed himself, but said he didn'tsay anything. I even talked to the coach of the other team, and asked if heard anything...he said it may have been his scorekeeper on our behalf. Then last play of the game, 1B runner steals, throw down comes, close play, results in a collision between SS (as the ball was arriving) and base runner...both dugout call time and jog out to check players on the ground...HP ump ejects and suspends the runner. Opposing coach told him that was unnecessary. Ultimately, it was the last play, and he agreed to not suspend.

Next game, even worse...literally all against us. Every call in the field had an umpire conference.

Every coach I've coached against this year is complaining about this...not balls and strikes, but procedural issues with officiating.

Most talented players seem not care anymore, and a couple feel like their satisfied with their other team's performance (school, rec, tourneys). But most boys, only have our team and they're getting slaughtered, frustrated, and distracted.

Probably just going to delete this, because I sound like I'm just complaining.

What is more similar? SS to 3B. Or CF to LF.

In terms of playstyles, which is more similar? Is LF the outfield equivalent of 3B? Is it easier to move a SS to 3B or is it easier to move a CF to LF in terms of adjustability?

Greetings!

I played baseball growing up, from tee ball through high school, but I was always mediocre. Never started in games or anything like that and I mostly sucked at hitting more than fielding.

I have since spent 8 years in the military in a special operations job and have sort of transformed my personality, worth ethic, and fitness. I believe if I could transport back to high school with my current mindset I would succeed more.

I am on my way out of the military and just got accepted to a great university to continue my education.

How realistic would it be to train for a year specifically for baseball, and try to walk on my 2nd year at the school? I understand I am competing with people who will have been playing for 12 years without a break, so I know I’d likely never compete at a level to play in a game, but I’d be happy to even be on the practice team.

I love the sport and a team activity where everyone shares the desire for competition, fitness, and excellence.

Let me know your thoughts , even if it’s just you saying that this is completely unrealistic and dumb.

Note: I’d be willing to hire a coach too if it’s within realm of realism.

Thanks!

Im trying to teach my daughter on timing. Everytime she is in game she is just waiting for a pitch to almost the ball is at the plate to get ready to swing. Any methods on working on this? She strikes out sometimes by just standing there because she hasn’t even started her swing yet.

As you know at this age the accuracy of throws is still a bit questionable. Catchers generally still struggle getting to the bases accurately and pickoffs by the pitcher are still a work in progress.

So here is my question. Our team on defense still likes to hold the runner at second when there is a guy on third. Aggressive teams will have the guy on 2nd get halfway to third knowing the defensive limitations above.

My issue, when the batter is right handed, is that our team will regularly allow the SS try and push/hold the runner at 2nd.

I’ve seen several ground balls hit into that hole that likely would have been fielded by SS if he was closer to his normal position.

Is my thinking wrong that it would be a better strategy if we are going to keep the runner at 2nd closer to the bag we should be using the 2nd baseman?

I coach a Little League AAA team. My kids are between the ages of 8 and 12. Their dugout behaviors are awful… lots of hat flipping, water squirting, fighting over gum/seeds (I’ve since banned food), squashing each other on the bench, dirt kicking, tattling…

And they’re so loud and distracting. I’ve tried everything I can think of… pausing the game to make them run, bribes for best behavior…

It’s 3-4 kids that just rile everyone up.

Hi, my son loves baseball and he’s in a coach’s pitch baseball team. He’s really good at making contact with the ball but he doesn’t produce the same velocity and distance as many of his peers does. He also plays golf with me so I think he swings his bat like a golf club. I’m not well versed in baseball swing mechanics and fundamentals to really help him. How do I help my son gain velocity and “pop” off the bat at his age? Through my online research, private lesson doesn’t seem to fit his age but if you disagree, please let me know.

I know it will probably come with age/strength but any good tips/drills to help 6-7 yo start swinging with more than just arms.

I played for a small d3 school back when you could only listen to games on the radio. Hurt my elbow and had to stop pitching. Ended up doing other things like softball, spartan races, golf.

I am interested in returning to pitching next year but want to build up to throw without hurting my arm. I know places like Tread and Driveline are for the younger, competitive athlete. I was looking at Hacking the Kinetic Chain for Pitching and was wondering if that would be a good tool to not only train but also learn more about pitching in general. A lot has changed since I last played competitively so it’s all interesting to me. But for 500 bucks I’m wondering if it’s going to be overkill.

My son has a DeMarini Zen that he did some batting practice with yesterday, and they put a radar on it. He said he was getting 5mph lower exit velocity on it than he was when using someone else’s bat (forgot the brand - whatever the latest-hottest is). Now he thinks his bat is “dead.”

He’s had it for about a year and a half, so it’s seen 100+ games and lots of BP. But in practice just a few days earlier, he seemed to be hitting well and it sounded great.

So is there a way to know when a composite bat is dead? How long does a composite bat usually last? Obviously my son doesn’t want to use his bat anymore so it’s kinda a moot point, I guess.

This is our first time with that many on the roster so I'm a bit nervous about playing time. It doesn't matter if 50 scouts are at the game if you're on the bench the whole time.