02/10/2021
Heres an excerpt from a Driveline Baseball article, written by Michael O'Connell, talking about the complexities of youth baseball. Link to the full article below.
"The Difficult Decisions of Youth Development
Admitting and realizing that the skills required to succeed in baseball are unique from other sports doesn’t mean that players should only play baseball. It just means that as players age, if they want to play baseball at a high level, they may need more targeted planning if they already aren’t one of the better players in their leagues. It’s also important to keep in mind that the success of youth baseball players matters little in the long run. Yes, they will have more fun if they are winning but winning shouldn’t be the sole focus. Giving athletes practices that are fun and engaging, where they can also track their progress, can be a good way to keep them playing baseball for a longer period of time.
It is true that the best athletes are going to be able to play baseball and other sports and succeed, that isn’t necessarily true for everyone else who isn’t the elite of the elite. Those athletes also need to be kept in mind.
So how can a youth baseball player, who wants to keep playing at a high level, get enough practice to be good enough to play at the next level while not being overused, while also realizing that every level becomes more difficult may require more specific practice?
It turns out that this is a much more difficult question than the simple suggestion of playing multiple sports."
Every year, there are many discussions on what makes a player good enough to be a top pick in the ...read more