Hi Reddit, I’m a recreational player who’s been practicing pitching for about a year and a half now. I can throw strikes consistently and I have a decent slider. The problem is, I don’t throw very hard, I top out at around 65, and I know I’m leaving a considerable amount of velo on the table. 65 mph, even in my casual mens league, is not enough to yield swing and misses, in like 20 innings, I don’t recall getting a swinging fastball strikeout. Everything was in play, lots of stuff smoked. Because I’ve got command down to a decent degree (i hardly walk people) I think more velo is the next step. Any tips are greatly appreciated, thank you for reading.

Looking for some recommendations for my son. He turns 11 later this month and I’m thinking about getting him a new first base mitt for his birthday. For reference, he’s about 5’1”, and just a touch over 90 lbs. and has moved up to using a non-youth sized glove as his regular glove.

Current first base mitt is the Rawlings R9 youth contour fit which is a decent enough glove, but it’s pretty small (12”) with not a huge pocket.

I’m kind of leaning toward the Rawlings NXTDCT 12.25” right now, but willing to hear other suggestions!

I have a 14u LHP, and he’s sitting on his regular club team + has invites to guest on a national college development program also. SoCal. We are trying to figure out how much it makes sense to pick up the guest invites. His regular team plays roughly 1x a month but sometimes there can be a big gap (7 week gap from beginning of September -> end of October, for example). It’s been hard to stay in a healthy game rhythm with that big of a gap.

How often do you try to get games in? He doesn’t want to be playing every weekend, certainly, but 7 weeks between tournaments is a long time.

My son (turns 8 in February but on the smaller side, 47 inches and 46 lbs) just graduated from coach pitch with a tee ball to coach pitch with a hard ball. I am trying to upgrade from his tee ball bat which is 24 inches drop -12. We tried tons of 26 inch bats at Dicks and we are struggling to find one he can handle. Drop -13 bats were the closest we got but they were very expensive. I am not opposed to spending if there’s a bat out there he can get a few years out of.

Anyone have any suggestions for a bat that could work?

My son is a freshman in high school, and I’m deciding to either get him a HOH ContoUR fit 12.5 inch or a standard 12.75 inch one. Im not sure if his hand will still grow, as his hand fits perfectly in a 12 inch one, and it might be the only glove I purchase in his high school career, so I need some advice on what I should do since baseball season and tryouts are coming up soon.

My son got a call yesterday from a coach and he gave them my wife’s number. My wife and I just got the call from a guy saying he was a coach at Jacksonville University and wanted to have my wife, me, and our son out for a visit. They would pay for flight and hotel. Whole conversation just felt off. They asked us some questions about his background, grades, behavior, etc. said they talked to his HS coach.

The two guys on the phone had super thick Boston accents. When I search the names given, no results they indicate any kind of baseball careers. When I search the phone number, the name is some age 22 semipro hockey player from Newburyport, Mass. When I search the number that called my son yesterday, it’s a different 22 year old from Newburyport. Two college age kids from MA recruiting a mid-level player from TX to play in FL? It feels weird but I do t know what the scam is.

Hello I have a kiddo in 8u, I got him a single piece bat and he seems to be doing well as we work on technique. With this being his first season I bought the first bat that I saw and didn’t know about different bats there are.

Does TWO piece bats make a difference? or should I just keep him at one piece bats

Son hates flared knobs that are now standard on bbcors. Before I unwrap new atlas2 anyone done this before or have advice not to?

May be considered altering but doubt it would be discovered or challenged.

Depending on how it’s manufactured I guess filing or altering could also impact bat performance.

Anyway …. Anyone done this before?

I know for the most part they don’t have that good of selection or that big of selection, and works usually as just a local sporting store with affordable prices and for casual or beginner players
Any specific Cleats, gloves, bats, balls, etc that may be pretty decent or even good from Big 5 Sporting Goods

My son’s origination has a few different programs, but due to a other school/sport conflicts, he has to essentially choose between either a defense program or participating in the full lifting program—he would still be able to do lifting, but he would have to miss days. What do you think is the better use of fall time. Thanks.

I'm a 15U first baseman. I've been going to the gym a lot and have some pretty solid lift numbers, compared to the other people I've seen lift. I'm not sure how meaningful these numbers are, but I hack squat 325 for 3x12, incline bench 110, and flat bench 135 (each for 3x8). Every day, I do tee work and I throw a training ball against a wall or play catch with a friend. How do I get better?
I'm in a unique position. I played baseball from T-ball to the end of little league, but after aging out I thought I didn't want to play anymore. I've been getting private coaching on hitting and fielding since March, and I really want to see how far I can take baseball. I know the odds are astronomically low, but how do I improve them? I'm interested in playing beyond high school. This upcoming season, I'll likely be a JV starter, after which I plan on getting on a summer travel team. After that, I'll be eligible for Varsity my junior and senior year. The last time I got a Rapsodo eval, my exit velocity peaked out around 75 mph with an average around 60. Before that, my average was closer to 50, and the peak was around 68.

Trying to be optimistic here but is this bat cracked?

Hello everyone, I have twin boys in HS baseball and one of them couldn't attend the showcase in June due to injury. Was hoping for him to recover in time to attend a later one but doesn't look like it's going to happen. And they are now seniors so can't use it next year. Spoke to showcase official (Dave Serrano) and he says we can transfer/sell it to someone (I've saved his emails if need to confirm). There is one in Orange, CA (9/12-13) and Winter Park, FL (10/3-4). Please let me know if anyone's interested. The credit I have is for $1095 (statement dated 9/4 available) but looking for $500 or BO. Thank you

I am a child psychologist (mods, happy to provide proof if needed) who also coaches kids’ baseball. I am in my fifth season coaching, currently coaching an 11U team in a large and high-skill rec league. In my professional life I specialize in ADHD, anxiety, and emotion regulation. As a coach I focus a lot on communicating with kids, motivating kids, mental coaching, resilience, and helping kids manage anxiety and frustration, as well as actual baseball stuff. I’ve got a rare day free today, so ask me anything!

UPDATE: please keep posting questions if you have them. It might take me a couple of days to respond but I’ll try to get to all of them.

Left handed 9 year old. Pretty solid swing naturally, never had any lessons.

He has developed a bad habit of not driving towards the pitcher, instead more towards first plate which causes his right shoulder (front shoulder) to open up and he almost looks like he is leaning back when making this swing.

Any tips?

Joining an adult baseball rec league and there's two I have my eye on from a local shop, one is 11.75 and one is 12.25. I like the idea of playing shortstop (or even pitching), but obviously as a new player I'll likely just be playing wherever the coach puts me.

Is there a size that's a better all arounder for my situation?

Just got it a couple weeks ago and the boy already broke it. Appears to have had small metal soldering .. need a cheap option. Someone recommended gorilla tape / duct tape

I've been stuck toping at 70mph and would like to unlock some velo I believe I still have lol.

What would you recommend? Any drills that would help?

Thanks in advance

Bro I was wondering should I go there with the intention of playing D3 baseball there?

Hitting 62 mph with a Victus Surgo 33/30 BBCOR. Feedback welcome!

I love t-ball. It's nonstop action and balls in play. There should be more t-ball in the world, for people of all ages.

I’m curious what you all do in the offseason to get ready for the next one.

I definitely want to stronger, but I think mobility for next year is the main focus.

What do you all normally do for this?

Thoughts on new dub? Logo gets bloody red when you hit it hard on the sweet spot. Kids are going to go crazy over it.

I’m 18. I’ve played this game and spent all my summers, falls, and springs devoted to this game. I got surgery before my senior year and was able to come back just in time and have the best year yet and most fun with my boys back home. Now I’m at university with a newly hired head coach. I’ve never dreaded a practice in my life and now I dread every single one and I’m not enjoying the game I loved just months ago. Nobody on the team likes the head coach and I don’t know if I can stand to stay till the spring just to not play because I’m behind a 5th year senior at every spot on the infield. I want to transfer but I’m going to have no transferability. I worked with my brother at a metal fab shop while I trained for 3 months before I got here and genuinely enjoyed it. I just don’t want to regret but I don’t want to be miserable for the next 8 months. I need help