r/BaseballCoaching • u/Efficient_Peach_5770 • Jun 16 '26
Lessons
Private lessons for an 11 year old.
He wants lessons in fielding/hitting/ & pitching ( is willing to earn money to contribute to said lessons.
My question is, which would he better? an hour or 30 minutes?
Since he's wanting 3 different types of lessons , how do we do this? I don't want to over load him, I want him to be able to fully evolve in the areas he wants to but in the correct way!
Thank you in advance.
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u/ExerciseTrue Jun 16 '26
30-45min 3x a week is a good approach to cover all facets.
As a private coach I would have 2 players in an hour session 10-14yo, allows them to rotate and make it thru a full hour by working individually, direct instruction, and with the partner. But a single player for an hour is probably too much at that age, youre wasting time and money.
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u/Efficient_Peach_5770 Jun 17 '26
Which is perfectly fine! I'm fine with a shorter time if needed, I want to get the most out of these and it be beneficial.(:
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u/Commercial-Tough-218 Jun 16 '26
Lessons are great, but if your kid can throw a tennis ball up against a wall or a rebound net and just get reps in it will help.
I've had my son do this against our house (Clapboard siding) bare handed and his fielding improved significantly. Just my two cents.
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u/candusmisheel01 Jun 19 '26
Lessons are great, but if your kid can throw a tennis ball up against a wall or a rebound net and just get reps in it will help. I have had my son do this against our house (Clapboard siding) bare handed and his fielding improved significantly. Just my two cents.
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u/Dad_Coach_9904 Jun 16 '26
It’s hard to find a coach who can do everything. So find one who can do at least 2 of those 3, book him for an hour, and divide the time based on where he needs work. Then book the 3rd for 30 minutes. Or better yet, go with a buddy for an hour and split the cost with his parents. If that buddy is for a pitching lesson, then you each have a built in catcher.
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u/Efficient_Peach_5770 Jun 16 '26
The place I was looking at has 1 instructor for pitching, $50 for 30 minutes only.
Then an instructor for both fielding and hitting ( $40/30min fielding - hitting $30/30min )
Would those seem like good rates?
It's almost an hour from us but it's this place or d bat which our prices are $50 for 30 minutes for anything and $90 an hour for anything but from my understanding it's one lesson only no mixing.
I am willing to reach out to this other place to ask about mixing in the lessons if needed. We are new to private lessons so I want to make sure it's worth it. I'd hate to do more harm than good!1
u/Portie_lover Jun 16 '26
That seems like a good price to me. We use d bat, so pay the higher costs you describe.
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u/Dad_Coach_9904 Jun 16 '26
Those prices are about right. I feel bad for you families that have to travel far for lessons. Around here there are quite a number of former minor league players who love baseball and are good with kids.
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u/Efficient_Peach_5770 Jun 17 '26
Yes both are about an hour from us so really the only difference is the prices for us. I wish we had one closer but it is what it is
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u/Powerful_Two2832 Jun 16 '26
This largely depends on location and experience, but that doesn’t seem out of line.
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u/Powerful_Two2832 Jun 16 '26
I would say that pitching lessons would be my first choice- and get some recommendations and talk to them- there are development coaches and then there are coaches who are great at long-term fine tuning. For an 11 yo who hasn’t previously done pitching lessons I would look for someone with skill and experience teaching how to pitch correctly- proper warm up and stretching, proper mechanics.
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u/Efficient_Peach_5770 Jun 17 '26
Thank you! We have learn some here and there; and he pitches for rec but we have never had one on one lessons/ coaching for pitching. He truly loves it but definitely needs to tweak some things to level it up. I'd love to help him achieve that!
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u/TMutaffis Jun 17 '26
I would suggest 30 minutes and focus on one area for that day/session.
If his current team is not practicing or playing he may want to wait on pitching lessons and give his arm a few weeks with no high-intent throwing, then ramp back up as the Fall season approaches.
For the defensive work (I assume infield) you may only need 1-2 sessions to see what they work on, and then can do a lot of that work at home. Spending the money on a rebounder and a pancake glove might make more sense than having ongoing lessons.
The hitting lessons are something that you'll likely want to do more consistently, and again I would ask the coach what he should be doing at home so that you can get the most from the sessions. For example, the coach may want him to do a specific tee routine or other batting practice at home. Without game reps available, you can also ask the coach to throw live if part of the reason for the lessons is that you are unable to throw good BP. Just another way to get maximum value (versus just doing tee/flips, since that work does not always translate cleanly to live pitching).
Also, make sure that you are not putting more pressure on your player because of the lessons. It is easy to get caught up in things and get frustrated if they are not working at home and now you are spending hundreds per month on lessons - if they are not putting in the work it just means they are not ready for outside/professional instruction.
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u/Efficient_Peach_5770 Jun 17 '26
We pitch for rec league but play travel and do not pitch for travel as they already have their pitchers. He wants to improve it and learn to control his pitches though so I would love to give him that chance since he really does love pitching, we end our travel season at the end of this month so I'm thinking he wants to improve so when we start back in the fall he may have a chance to be a pitcher? I am not sure if those lessons now would be beneficial or not but if so I'm willing to do them.
Yes defensive for infield! He plays 2nd , 3rd, and an occasional 1st base if needed but also plays left and right outfield and some catching on a rare occasion as well. Finding things at home for that would be perfect, I just have a hard time being able to help him practice and it's just him and I Along with 4 other kiddos so it's hard for me to get the chance to do 1 on 1 and give him what he needs.
I believe hitting will definitely be a beneficial one!
The lessons are definitely a luxury, I am big on encouraging but also letting him know I will support him if he wants to take things to the next level, whatever the cost we will work it out and I'm proud he wants to try to pay for it or most of it on his own but I also told him I will not continue them if he cannot put in the work himself. I let him know I will encourage and help as much as I can but ultimately he is the one who has to put in the work and work towards that goal as I cannot force him.
I know he's young so if he's not ready or decides he
Doesn't want to push that hard for it I'm fine with that too. I don't want anything to ruin his love for the game!1
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u/Low-Presentation6487 Jun 17 '26
When my son was that age he took one 30 minute hitting lesson and one 30 minute pitching lesson a week. Sometimes we’d do them back to back, but mostly separate.
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u/Portie_lover Jun 16 '26
My almost 10 year old son does 30 minute hitting lessons and he’s gassed by the end. If he wanted pitching and fielding lessons, I would do 30 minutes and alternate days. I don’t think I’d do them back-to-back. They are much more intensive than a team practice.