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? Let it go and let him have fun. No such thing as an 8 year old baseball player. There are 8 year olds who play baseball.
Pushing will cause rebellion. Lessons will be a waste of money.
Right now it should be about having FUN and learning the disciplines of LIFE.....not of baseball or soccer or tiddly winks.
If he develops a devotion to the game on his own then he will ask for the lessons and appreciate the support (not pushing) of the parent. But it has to be his decision.
And have a plan B for your retirement in case he doesn't make the big leagues. Seriously get him go and have fun. At age 11 is when they can be coached better and fully understand what you are telling him.
If it isn't fun he will bet bored quick. Hello!
I'm a parent too and I think you should let your kid to be a kid and have fun! Our only concern is that our kids develop healthy and into normal happy people.
Ask your child what he or she likes what he/she thinks. No pushing no pressure! Only warm friendly conversation. love, that is what they need and support!!!
Pushy parents are sick people and make from their kids sick people who make more sick people and so on...
Think about it, it's your child.....
Concerned mother I think you're jeopardizing your relationship with him by being pushy. It could turn out that he thanks you for it down the road, but lighten up and let him have fun. my kid is good in b-ball and i find the more i push the more he wants to quit the sport so its up to u. If he is only practicing at coach-mandated practices and isn't showing much interest in playing outside of practices and games, Then I'd just be glad he was playing at all. It sounds as though he enjoys it but is not passionate about it. If you try to make a person passionate about something they are not, they will revolt and drop the idea altogether.
When my oldest son was 4 he showed an interest in piano. He took lessons from the time he was 4 until he was 10.
He enjoyed it, but practicing was like pulling teeth and while he enjoyed lessons and concerts, he was never passionate about it. At 10 we stopped lessons. Last year, at 16, he sought out a piano teacher on his own and took up lessons again. Now, a year later, he is passionate about his music. He practices every day and is mesmerized by the math found in music (I wouldn't know lol). He has expanded his interest into teaching himself acoustic guitar, sings in the youth choir, and plays handbells.
I believe it is important to introduce our children to many things in life - many possibilities. Our kids might latch onto one immediately, but more often than not, they will simply enjoy it for its time and move on with their lives.
But those experiences are planted seeds and sometimes those seeds take root and quietly grow as our children mature. Suddenly, 10 years down the road, your child is revisting a hobby or activity you thought he would never be passionate about.
Give your son time. 8 is very young to be passionate about any one thing. Let him enjoy himself and the game of baseball. And when he is ready to quit, let him - but have him take up something new in its place (keep those experiences happening ;). Who knows? 5 years from now he just may surprise you by suddenly joining his middle school baseball team and be a star pitcher without any tutoring in stance or style :) Pushy parents are control freaks who have no respect for the unique individuality of their child. Your child must feel how much you are rejecting him as a person, since I feel it as a stranger. He is no Mickey Mantle, or he would go that route without even having a dad, he'd be that driven. If you love him you will tell him to pick 5 things that interest him....whatever they may be, and you will make sure he goes to at least 3 of them with your love. Tell him baseball is out if he chooses that just to please you. Excellence will come from him, not you. If you push, he may just walk away from the game. A player of any age has to love the game - not like - but love the game to be around it all the time. Teaching good habits and techniques is great. I am all for that. But do not push a kid into practicing when he doesn't want to. Again, it could run him/her off. On the other side, all players must learn that practice is necessary to get better. But first, they have to want to get better. Try to make it fun and not so much practice. You have to make it fun and exciting and not something they do not want to do. At 8 years old, they have so much more they would like to do. Let them enjoy other things, other sports. If baseball is their thing, it will happen.
Good habits start with wanting to get better and play better. Teach and do not preach. Although what seems like bad technique works at one age does not translate to success at a higher age when players are bigger, stronger, and the game becomes faster. On the other hand, there are professionals who have very awkward stances and methods but they have success. The downside of this is how many did not make it because of their awkward stances and methods. Start by tweaking the techniques and gradually build into good fundamentals. An overall change can cause poor success at first which may discourage the young athlete. The reason you're getting so many "just let him enjoy it" answers is because he IS only 8 years old. Now isn't the time for you to be pushy or to even be thinking about what a good ballplayer he might be and how far he'll go in life playing baseball. Right now, for him, it's all about having fun and enjoying the game. Let him be a kid. I'm a firm believer that sports helps build character for children regardless of their athletic ability. It only helps add to the experience when a child is gifted athletically which sounds to be the case here.
He is, however, only eight years old. If he's reluctant to practice outside of official team functions or has no interest in private lessons, then it's probably best to back off.
Sports, regardless of age or ability, should always be fun. If practice away from the team or private/group lessons sounded fun to him, he'd be all over it. If you push him, you'd certainly cross the line between fun and 'doing it because dad said so'. If that bothers you, you really should ask yourself who all this is for: You or him?
At eight years old the focus should be on sportsmanship, attitude, respect for coaches and teammates, learning, and most importantly fun. There will be plenty of time for fixing mechanical flaws and private lessons. Make sure he understands the benefits that come along with practice and lessons (becoming a better player), and if/when that appeals to him and sounds like fun he'll let you know. Ensure him the opportunity will be there for him when he's ready, ask him about it from time to time, but if it ever stops being fun (aside from the inevitable failures and disappointments that come along with sports) he won't want to do it at all.
(For what it's worth, I played ball successfully in high school, college, and in a semi-pro league for three years. I've also coached/managed from tee-ball all the way up to American Legion-level baseball.) It is a fact: before there was little league there were guys who grew up to be major league players. Lay off the little guy and let him have his fun. If those other fathers want their sons to live dad's fantasy, that's their look out. Be a real dad and help and encourage and don't be a little league monster. If he wants to develop he will. Just what if he'd rather go into physics?
Just help when he decides to do something. There is a fine line to this. If his pitching motion is very likely going to lead to an injury, then being pushy would probably be very good. But otherwise, there is a fine line between teaching proper technique and overemphasizing it.
I saw a kid of around 10 years old at the batting cages this summer. He had a textbook stance and swing. But he couldn't hit the ball. The kid would have been better served by being told to just try to hit the ball, and not worry about his stance or form.
It is unlikely that an 8 year old would pick up lasting bad habits. His entire motion and stance will be in constant flux as he grows and gets stronger. No one grows perfectly in proportion to themselves.
His arms may grow longer before his legs, he may gain more leg strength and not as much upper body strentgh. All of this will change his mechanics anyways.
It is not worth being too concerned about these things until he is older and has to decide whether to continue in the game. If he decides to play high school ball, there are daily practices, and more demanding coaches. Not to mention, he will probably have to improve any poor mechanics to be able to compete at that level.
Then he can choose whether he wants to put in the extra work and still play, or find another sport or hobby. 8 years young, and you want to him to start growing up, right?
Wrong. Allow him to "feel his way" through entry level sports participation. It's great he can pitch well, most of the time, but if you take him out to a field and MAKE him learn control by having him throw over and over again--you're just asking for him to walk away from the game. That's a problem with coaches of young players who show talent; they begin to "drill" them to death so that they run away from the game.
You can improve young children's aim or hand-eye coordination by doing all kinds of things; Darts, bean bag toss games, water balloon games, egg toss, etc. It doesn't have to be "all things baseball" to help your child become a better baseball player. In fact, the more things you do to not focus on just one thing for a child, the better it will be for the child. Children get bored easily; if you can teach them without them knowing that your teaching them, then just maybe they can grow up having fun playing the game you love instead of "having to play because Dad makes me".
Other boys grow and mature at different levels; one size does not fit all. As a coach of many years, I can't tell you how the smallest became the tallest or how the clumsiest became the most athletic in just one year. Relax, Pop. Allow your son time to be happy and to be a child. As he grows and matures, he will make the choice to work harder or increase his strength. Just be there for him to turn to when he's doing well, doing poorly, or wants to ask you a question. Don't squeeze the joy out of being a little boy from your son. I have seen too many parents make the game a chore instead of a gift for young players. The screaming at them, the disappointment, the shame they show because "Jimmy" played poorly. At 8 years old, do you really think Jimmy planned to drop a popup, boot a ball, and/or strike out with the bases loaded just to make you look bad? I think not!!!
Enjoy your son; play with him; teach him how to skip a stone across water, fly a kite, make a snow angel, and, oh, yeah--- if he asks, how to throw a strike!! Of course, you want him to have fun. If you push too hard, he'll resist and not want to play at all!
Instead of getting outside tutoring, work with him yourself on the side. Make it interesting and personal, so he thinks it's time with Dad and not a "lesson". Don't be demanding, be "hey, let me show you something interesting!" Kids are naturally curious and adventurous. The more wonder you put into his eyes, the more he'll want to go into the backyard with you and play toss and pick up the bat. Eventually, that will translate onto the field at real practice, where he'll develop the structure side.
It seems like he likes his coach well enough to pay attention to him and concentrate when it counts, so that saves you from having to introduce discipline. That means you have the best of both worlds! You can be the fun coach at home and the other coach can be the hard-nose guy.
Play your cards right, and you'll be able to retire in about 15 years on his huge signing bonus! LOL I coach youth girls fastpitch softball. When they are young they just don't seem to have that fire. I, as a coach don't push them. We have fun, and I try to allow them to fall in love with the game. But what I do to motivate them is, take them as a team to the Women's College World Series and the World Cup here in Oklahoma City. They see what hard work can get them. After that and a little maturation, they have all the desire in the world. They are asking for extra practice. You've gotta get them motivated internally. It can't come from you.
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