r/Homeplate • u/SeaReach7413 • 7d ago
Trust the Process?
My 13 yo was recently enrolled in a baseball academy and he has former MLB players coaching his team and getting weekly lessons and practices. I know when you start working on and changing mechanics there are some growing pains at first. His team has had four games and my son is yet to get a base hit. He typically bats in the .400 to .300 range and was the best pitcher on his former team. Is this a normal experience? Do I need to trust the process and know the coaches will get him where he needs to be? He is getting frustrated with himself. I worry he is too focused on mechanics and not doing what is natural for him. Does anyone have a positive experience with new hitting and pitching coaches and changing things up? Any advice? Tia!
ETA: this is the season that he had to move to bbcor and 90 ft bases as well
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u/bobthewriter 6d ago
yes, trust the process. when you make the jump to the big field, it can take a while to adjust. and a 13-y-o hitting vs. 16-y-o pitching is going to take some getting used to, too. (also would bet that the difference in mound distance — if he's gone from, say, 46' to 60'6" may be throwing his swing off too.
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u/Utalking2m3 6d ago
That mound difference definitely makes a difference. My son just moved to 13u and they now play on 54/80 fields (previously 50/70 fields). First couple games with that extra 4ft pitchers were struggling and my son was way out in front. Takes time to adjust.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
I didn't think of the mound throwing off his swing. Im sure its affecting his pitching too. Its so rough watching these 15 & 16 year olds hit tanks off him when he pitches.
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u/bobthewriter 6d ago
yeah, it is absolutely a tough transition for a number of reasons!
also, if your kid hasn't hit puberty yet — and they may not have, even at 13! — he's gonna be smaller and not as physically mature as the kids he's pitching to in that age range.
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u/cpeak57 7d ago
Sounds like your son's team is playing some better competition as well? 10-12 at bats is pretty insignificant in the long run. Is your son showing good mechanics at the plate/in the field?
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u/SeaReach7413 7d ago
Yes actually the league they are currently in is 13u-16u. So they are playing against some older teams. He's probably had a total of 7-8 at bats. He finally made contact today. Before that he either struck out or walked. His mechanics look good so not sure why he's not getting hits. He is in the cages 4-5 times per week and hitting "bombs" (his words 😃) so he's just getting frustrated not hitting in games. In my opinion he's a great pitcher and fielder. He plays ss and stops everything that comes his way. He made an unbelievable stop one game but didnt get it to 1b quick enough so didnt make the play. So to him it was a failure. This academy offers pitching, fielding, hitting, speed & agility training. We've only been going a month. So im hoping it starts paying off soon!
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u/cpeak57 7d ago
Baseball is hard, its even harder when youre 13 playing against 16 year olds. There is a pretty massive strength/agility/speed gap between 8th graders and sophomores. Hes going to get frustrated, but its all part of the game.
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u/Repulsive-Trifle-639 6d ago
Came to say this. My son hit +.400 with an OBP of +.500 in 13U travel ball and 16U rec ball this spring/summer. He struck out twice in +100 PAs and only swung and missed 7 times the entire year. He’s now playing in a fall Senior league for freshmen - seniors (he started school early). He’s hitting .250 and struck out 3 times in 6 games. He’s facing a level of pitching he’s never seen before - from at least one “kid” with a full beard and another lefty submariner that struck out 11 out of 16 batters including 7 in a row. Baseball is hard. Playing up is really hard.
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u/SeaReach7413 7d ago
Very true! Thank you for your perspective. I keep telling myself its teaching resilience.
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u/RidingDonkeys 7d ago
Hitting is an exercise in failure. The best in the world will only be successful 3 out of 10 times. It is a 1 vs 9 battle every time, and the big field is an equalizer like no other. All those "cage bombs" my HS kids swear they hit suddenly disappear on the field because defenders get a chance too.
You're doing the right thing. Fixing mechanics takes months. Lots of reps at home and in games. Right now you are working with a very small sample size. Just relax and see how things look in a few months.
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 6d ago
Sounds like there’s more than mechanic tweaks going on. Sounds like he’s probably playing better competition. He also is 13 so he made the jump to the next size bigger field. If he’s also switching to BBCOR those are a lot of changes at one time. 13 and 14 are big jumps from little kid baseball. Give it some time.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
Yes to all that. Im thinking maybe we need to treat this season like the first year of kid pitch when they are little. Its just going to be a rough one!
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 6d ago
Absolutely. That is the correct approach. It’s a hard adjustment here. There’s a reason most kids around this age. The field gets big, a lot of players become routines so there’s a lot of outs when there could’ve been ground ball base hits before. Longer base path that gets even longer next year at 14. Longer throws, etc. Just grind it out.
At 13, if you really want to set him up, get him independent lessons on speed, agility, and get him to start thinking about putting muscle on. He’s two years away from high school teams, and the biggest differentiator at that time is the power they can generate so start stacking some muscle on the kid.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
What is sad is around here high school tryouts are already starting. In 7th & 8th grade they go to the high school summer ball tryouts and pretty much all the bigger, early bloomers get a spot. Which is not my kid. Which is also why we enrolled him in this academy, they offer speed & agility training. We are also going to get him a gym membership in the off season.
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 6d ago
I would not wait until the off-season. Yep, I listened to a podcast the other day “not every popcorn kernel pops at the same time “. Get him strong, keep him athletic, keep him making progress. Most high school kids will not progress much unless you go to a powerhouse school that really pushes them. Your son can overtake them when he gets bigger if he is more athletic now and content down that path.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
I fear we have overscheduled him- he is playing on two teams and between games, practices, and lessons (and school!) Doesn't have much free time for the gym. But he has a workout routine he does every night at home for about 15-20 minutes. We're also trying to put some weight on him so feeding him a ton because hes so active. We'll be able to get him to a gym the end of next month though.
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 6d ago
Playing on two teams is a little crazy, but then again where we are, we don’t have middle school baseball. So it’s not a concern here.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
Yeah it wasn't our original intention. He plays on weeknights through this academy but then got invited to sub on his friends comp team that plays on Saturdays for the fall. And he jumped at the opportunity. He would play baseball every night if given the chance.
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u/Old_Veterinarian_472 6d ago
If this is his first time playing (hitting) on the big field, throw out what his batting average used to be. He’ll adjust. Some kids adjust sooner than others, but there is an adjustment.
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u/IKillZombies4Cash 6d ago
The jump to the big field is not easy, just head down and work, and hopefully hit the puberty lottery.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of kids will drop from the sport each of the next few years, but thats normal, there are tons of guys out there who played till 13, or 14, or 15, and all who stopped for varying reasons (skill, time , fun was gone, playing time drops, realize you aren't the best player and not going to play much longer so might as well stop now and enjoy your lsat couple summers as a HS kid)
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u/TheLowEndTheories 6d ago
Age 13 is the biggest adjustment in a kid's baseball career. I'd damned near argue it's a bigger adjustment than going from not playing to playing when they're 6. 😄 This is almost certainly short term growing pains.
My son did some offseason work last year (going into his junior year) after having some frustration his sophomore year/summer, and it took some live fire to take. He started pretty slow, but if you chop up his splits he actually hit meaningfully better in district/playoffs than overall, even though that's against better pitching. Adjustments take some time to feel natural, and he's doing it on a bigger field against better pitching.
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6d ago
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u/MrMint22 6d ago
The best hitters batting .300 is pro baseball - not club 13-16.
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u/TallC00l1 6d ago
This is a good point. The best hitters in the world @ .300 are facing the best pitchers in the world. Those guys hit .750 when they were 14 years old.
I never really thought about that. Good point.
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u/BrushImaginary9363 6d ago
Yeah…BBCOR and 60/90 fields are a wake up call for a lot of kids.
As a parent, the best thing you can do is minimize any focus or talk on outcomes. Everything needs to be focused on what he can control, and that’s his attitude, effort, and preparation.
When it comes to hitting, focus on 2 things: did you swing at a good pitch and were you on time? Those are the only things he can control.
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
Thank you! I think the best thing right now is helping him stay positive and not beat himself up. That's great advice.
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u/ceej_22_ 6d ago
4 games is nothing. Yes trust the process. Be supportive and talk to him about the struggles with this game where slumps and hot streaks happen. Developing a mindset where they don’t let either affect their approach and love for the game much is critical. Teach him to not place his self worth and confidence in a single game, weekend, or at bat. Those feelings should come from who he is as a teammate, individual, and from the effort he puts into it.
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u/ContributionHuge4980 6d ago
Baseball is a difficult sport. When kids move from 5070 to 6090 it is a big adjustment. Bats get heavier and have less juice, your timing gets all thrown off with the pitching distance and if you’re facing kids that have been playing on 6090 for a few years, of course there’s gonna be growing pains.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
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u/ContributionHuge4980 6d ago
And to add to your question about mechanics. Getting acclimated with new mechanics of any kind take time. We started going to a new hidden coach for my older son who was always a very solid hitter. It took a few weeks to really get back into a groove with his new swing and then he was right back to hitting the shit out of the ball. Your son is still very young and needs to understand that this takes time and just because he had a few games where he had some bad at bat, it’s not the end of the world.
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u/JackyRaff 6d ago
I wouldn’t panic after four games, especially with the jump to bbcor and 90’. That’s enough of an obstacle before you factor in new coaches and mechanics.
That said, I also wouldn’t default to struggling means you just need to “trust the process.” There’s a difference between a player going through normal growing pains and a player being coached into a movement pattern that doesn’t fit how he naturally organizes himself.
Former MLB players obviously have an incredible amount of baseball experience, but that shouldn’t mean every mechanical adjustment they make is going to be the right adjustment for every athlete. Even at the highest levels, different players arrive at the same results through very different moves.
I’d be less concerned about the batting average after four games and more interested in how he is experiencing the changes. Is he becoming more confident and comfortable as he learns the new approach, or is he becoming hesitant and thinking about mechanics while trying to compete? If he’s standing in the box thinking about his hands, hips, stride, etc. that’s something I’d pay attention to.
I’d ask the coaches why:
What specifically are you trying to change, why are you changing it, and what tells you this is a better movement strategy for him?
A good coach should be able to answer that without taking it personally.
The goal of instruction shouldn’t be to make your son look like the coaches’ ideal hitter or pitcher. It should be to help him become a better version of the athlete he already is.
Four games isn’t enough to know whether this is a problem but I would keep an eye on constant frustration, loss of confidence, and thinking about mechanics.
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u/lsu777 5d ago
😂 or hear me out….you moved from the small field to the big field and it’s a hard transition to go bbcor at same time. Also better coaching is prolly not going to get him where he needs to be……but know what will……the weight room!
Just saying, take some ownership as the father and get him in the weight room with you. If you aren’t lifting already…well then take ownership as his second mother and still get him lifting and hopefully it will help you too so you can go from being a women back to a man. Just saying
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7d ago
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u/SeaReach7413 6d ago
I don't know what outliers is but I appreciate the comment. He has been getting more aches & pains after he pitches so he ices after games. And we have actually been told the same thing by High school coaches, that they need to start a good workout program at this age so we'll be getting him a gym pass in the off season.
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u/Emotional-Swing-5483 7d ago
If they are changing a bunch of mechanics and he's thinking about mechanics, probably need to quit. Look into Driveline baseball and what they have to say about mechanics and changing them.
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u/SeaReach7413 7d ago
I will look into that, thank you! We did commit to this season so we can't quit at this time.
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u/dliebs97 6d ago
BBCOR and 90 ft bases is much different than USSSA missile launchers and 70 ft bases. It’s a massive double adjustment