The Worst Position on The Field For Player Development

There are some interesting dynamics that come into play concerning where kids get placed on a baseball field on youth teams.

First, you have the coaches kid. For some reason the number one position youth coaches put their kid is second base. They don't realize it but second base is the worst position on the field for their kid to develop proper throwing mechanics and arm strength.

Next, parents ego's come into play and many don't want their kid to play in the outfield, since it is normal to put the weaker kids there. By weaker I am speaking of the less mature kid and the kid who usually doesn't have an average to above average level of skill development. It seems that by putting a kid in the outfield the youth coach has insulted the entire family and berated their kid.

Finally, and this reason does make some sense. There just isn't as much action in the outfield in youth baseball and it can and does get boring out there. And, when a ball does finally come their way it isn't unusual for the kid in the outfield to be day dreaming and not make the play. In my opinion when this happens it shouldn't be a big deal because we are talking about kids here. You shouldn't get on your kid when he is playing right field and after a hour out there he finally gets a ball his way and he isn't ready for it. He will know he messed up. He will learn from it. He doesn't need you yelling at him about it. By the time he's 11 or 12 he will make the play.

All of that said to lead into why second-base is the last place on the field you want your kid to play.

The answer is simple and I have experience trying to over come this problem. At second base the player makes a short throw. The throw to 1st base doesn't require a strong arm or even average mechanics at the youth baseball level. Since its such a short throw the player doesn't have to point the front shoulder at his target, step, turn, and throw. He doesn't have to put much behind this throw either. So as time goes by he doesn't develop any arm strength. But, worse the kid playing 2nd can successfully get the job done with poor mechanics. In his mind he his doing everything just fine.

So by playing 2nd base all the time this player develops poor throwing mechanics and a lack of arm strength and doesn't even realize it. I've worked with several kids trying to develop arm strength that have been stuck at 2nd base growing up. And, its tough. They haven't trained themselves to make a long strong throw. The type throw that you make from every other position regularly with the exception of 1st base.

Tips on how to develop proper mechanics and arm strength:

1. Throwing a football is very helpful. You can't throw a football without pointing your front shoulder at the target, stepping, and turning. Always warm up close with easy tosses and gradually move further apart until you are at the players maximum throwing range. Throw 5 or 6 at maximum distance. Don't over do this. Less is More. To much can cause an arm injury. And, you only need to do this a couple of times a week. Also, have fun with this, you are playing catch with your kid.

2. If you are out in the backyard pitching and hitting grounders, the very last thing you should do is throw 4 or 5 long tosses to finish up the day. These throws don't need to be maximum effort throws. Just nice long throws to ingrain arm speed in the muscle memory.

3. Pitching really helps too. Don't over do this. After warming up, just 15 or 20 fastballs a couple of times a week in the backyard during the off-season is good. During the season it will depend on how often they pitch. You don't have to be the teams pitcher to work on pitching in the backyard and develop some good mechanics and arm strength.

Playing 2nd some is ok. But, don't let your player get key-holed into this position. If it happens a lot work on arm strength at home in the back yard.

Next blog: The Draft. The 5 tools scouts look for.

When Do You Start Teaching Your Kid How to Play?

A question that I get quite often is "how young was your son when you started teaching him how to play baseball'?"

First, that is really the wrong the question. The question should be when did you teach your son how to love the game of baseball. Love the game? What exactly does that mean? How do you do that? Doesn't a kid just naturally love the game or not?

Before really getting started on the answers to these questions you should take a minute and think of all the kids who became doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, teachers, coaches that had parents that were also the same thing. This isn't always the case, however, it does happen frequently. The reason seems to be that if a kids parents have the ability, both mental and physical, along with a passion for a field, that enthusiasm and interest can and does get passed on to the child.

If you love football and watch it on Sunday afternoon your kid is probably going to sit there with you and learn to enjoy football. Or, if you take him to the local high school basketball games and also shoot hoops with him in the drive-way he will likely be a basketball fan.

So the question of teaching "The Love of the Game" is just a natural thing that happens between the parent and most kids. If you do it right.

When my son was just a baby (9 months old) I would sit him in my lap and with a big fat red wiffle ball bat and my wife would pitch us balls and I would hit them and I laugh and carry on "that ones long gone" and the like. It is interesting that when he did pick up a bat he swung it left-handed, and that is also the way we  hit those early wiffle balls. Even though I didn't realize it at the time, I was programming him to bat left handed.

When was old enough to start throwing a ball I just gently showed him to point his left shoulder in the direction he was throwing the ball and then just step, turn, and throw. Pretty simple right? I see high school players who don't close up right and turn and throw like they should.

Same goes for hitting. Point the lead shoulder at the pitcher and step at him, then turn and swing.

These are the first steps. They are critical to developing correct mechanics.

But, what if little Johnny doesn't do it right? No big deal. Just remind him once in a while when you are playing with him to point his shoulder at you, step, and throw. Same for hitting. But, its not a big deal if he doesn't do it right. But, when he does do it right you should get excited and say things like, that looked like Nolan Ryan or Ken Griffey or whoever. Don't even acknowledge when they don't do it right. You don't want your kid thinking about making mistakes, you want him thinking about what he/she just did right.

These first steps are critical. They start the learning and teaching process. They have to be positive. They can take a long time to develop. There's no hurry, just keep reminding him/her.

Warning: If you handle these early years wrong and get on your kid all the time, you can forget your kid ever wanting to play baseball or whatever. Keep it fun. Play with them. The more time you spend with your kid having fun the better they will become. 


Next Blog: The one position on the baseball field you don't want your kid to play growing up.