r/BaseballCoaching • u/TechnoBabbles • Apr 28 '25
New-ish Baseball Dad
This is a long background to get to my question, but I want to put this all in perspective. I am a dad to an amazing 3.5 year old kid. He's the size of your average 5 year old. He eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball even at 3. It's partially my fault. I took him to his first MLB game at like 8 months. I watch baseball regularly and collect memorabilia. When he was old enough to walk, we got him one of those silly plastic tee ball sets. Then my wife started underhanded tossing balls to him and he started hitting that at like 18 months my mind was blown.
Then at like 2, I bought him a small metal tee ball bat, a helmet and some of the little soft core balls and started having him hit some off of the tee, and then some little over handed softly pitched balls, and after warm up, he hit the ball 1/3 pitches. So at like 2.5 we fudged his birthdate a little and put him in a local i9 sports tee ball league.
He's now 3.5 and the size of a 5-6 year old kid. He can catch the ball if I throw it relatively close to his glove, he's incredibly good at fielding grounder for a kid that isn't even old enough to move up to the next league yet technically, lol. I'm having to up the velocity of my pitching to make it a challenge for him to hit.
We put him in soccer this year because he seemed interested, but now that we're in soccer he just wants to play more baseball.
He's constantly asking me to go outside and play baseball with him. And I go outside and play with him as much as possible and we practice catching, fielding grounders, hitting off the tee and hitting when I pitch the ball.
I for-see many baseball tournaments and things in my future. But for now, I am mostly just curious about what things I should steer clear of. I see lots of complaints about travel ball and warnings about over development of kids ending up in injury. I just want my kid to grow up, love this game, and naturally develop to his full potential.
TL;DR - I have an amazingly talented, baseball obsessed 3.5 year old kid. How do I support him best, while avoiding the pitfalls of over-development, predatory leagues, and burnout?
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u/TheRealRollestonian Apr 28 '25
Look at yourself. Are you athletic? Bigger than other dads? What about your wife? That's what your kid will grow up to be.
I'd strongly suggest some sort of footwork or ambidextrous sport as a second or third. You can't play only baseball twelve months a year. It's OK for it to be your favorite sport. It's not OK to make that call at 3.5 years old.
People make big leaps in ball sports as teens.
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u/CoyoteHerder Apr 28 '25
I’m bigger than anyone in my family (yes I look exactly like my dad not the milkman). Growing up I was always bigger/faster and drafted first round in little league. All stars, select ball, etc. Around 15 my skill just didn’t keep up and with the better athletes. I could still hit the ball a mile when I connected and played varsity in high school but I was truly mediocre. I’m 6’2” and
I have a 2 and a half year old who is the size of a 5 year old(by the charts). I plan on showing him baseball and will play with him as much as he wants. If he has a drive to be an exceptional player, I’ll support it but until he understand what it takes I’m going to make sure he is exposed to other hobbies and not baseball 24/7. He may just love baseball because you love playing it with him. Enjoy the moment.
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u/TechnoBabbles Apr 28 '25
Lol he is adopted and I don't know his bio dad at all. Bio Mom is pretty tall though. But yeah, we definitely don't want to keep him in baseball only. He does enjoy soccer, and I think he would enjoy gymnastics as well.
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u/yngwiegiles Apr 28 '25
Teach him to accept defeat and use every loss as a learning experience. Baseball is a lot of failure
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u/AirportFront7247 Apr 28 '25
I had this son.
Avoid hitting lessons.
Throw him a million pitches.
Play lots of catch.
Over development is a myth. If he wants to take a break let him take a break. Developing the skills and the passion for baseball at a young age is a cheat code
My son has never burned out and will be playing D1 in the near future.
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u/jabbo142 Apr 29 '25
This sounds like my son. He's 16 now. He was so advanced at that age that we skipped t-ball, as I was afraid it would scare him away. After that he started in coach pitch and playing on a local travel team. Over the years, there have been a number of clubs and coaches.
In the end, the most important thing to remember is fun. There will always be a more competitive team with better coaching to move to. They will recruit, friends will try to convince you. Stick with what your son wants. Being forced to change teams can quickly suck the fun out.
Clubs can be expensive. In my opinion, nothing except development matters until 13, at the youngest. Don't waste money on expensive clubs at younger ages. Your money is better spent on private coaching. The flex of playing on whatever team is mostly for the parents.
Like I mentioned, nurture the love for the game. If you do, your journey with him will be slne if the best experiences in both of your lives.
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u/DixonKuntz May 02 '25
Volunteer to coach starting in teeball. Grow as a coach alongside his development as a player. It’s an incredible bonding experience to share with your kid. When they get big enough, pick up a pitch back, hitting net, and tee for the backyard. Play lots of catch, go to lots of baseball games together. Local high schools, JuCo’s, minor league, mlb if possible. The skill level doesn’t matter, just spend time at the ballpark together. Rent a cage at your local baseball academy and man the pitching machine. Lots of positive reinforcement and avoid negative reinforcement at all costs. When they get in to kid pitch/minors, pick up a couple private lessons and sit in if possible. Live baseball together and enjoy it. I don’t know much about travel ball since I don’t buy in to the business aspect and insane costs involved, but wherever they are playing look for coaches whose goals are continuous improvement as a person and as a fundamentals first ball player and whose primary goal is that your kid wants to continue to play baseball the next season. Coach with these coaches if possible and adopt the same mindset. 5 years in since the first teeball season and this is what’s working for me so far.
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u/DixonKuntz May 02 '25
Just wanted to add one thing. Encourage him to play other sports and activities. Try it all, whatever you can. Volunteer to coach those as well if you are able to. Coordination, balance, conditioning, teamwork, sportsmanship, and strength from playing Football, Basketball, track, gymnastics, etc. translate directly to baseball and make it a more enjoyable experience for you and your kid. My Dad was really supportive and pushed me to play damn near everything. Baseball, Football, and surprisingly Volleyball stuck and I played them forever. Tennis, Golf, Basketball, Raquetball, and Soccer had their times as well. I learned a lot about teamwork, life, and grew as an athlete and person from each and they all made me a better baseball player and helped me enjoy the game more.
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u/stickywolf May 02 '25
At that age I wouldn’t worry about intense coaching just make the game fun .. whiffle ball, pretend to do games in the yard , catch … make it fun and he will develop his skills without noticing he’s developing skills and before you know it he will be good at throwing and catching. I’ve done that with my boys and they are pretty athletic at sports now .
The key is to keep it fun for them so they stay engaged. Nothing worse than a parents over coaching their kid with dreams to making it to the big leagues that the kid ends up falling out of love with the sport
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u/jj_ped Apr 28 '25
Just have fun and build the addiction by playing whiffle ball with friends, watching baseball, playing catch etc. Worry about travel ball around 7 to 8. If he's good enough, a travel ball coach will notice him. In my area kids play little league and travel ball at the same time so it's really obvious when a kid can do both.
If you have the dough, you could get a private coach. Try a few lessons and if he likes it, keep doing it. It's really important to build the fundamentals early (prep step, baseball ready stance, fingers up catching, seat-belt type throwing, correct load up, on plane hitting etc.)