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Should Your 8 Year Old Play Travel Baseball?
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Should Your 8 Year Old Play Travel Baseball?

Should I Put My 8-Year-Old in Travel Ball?

Overview: In this episode of the Baseball Dad Show podcast, Paul Reddick discusses the pros and cons of putting an 8-year-old in travel ball. He provides advice on how to make the decision and suggests resources available at baseballdadshow.com.

Scorecard:

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Paul recommends using the scorecard available at baseballdadshow.com to determine if your son has the potential to play at the next level.

Facebook Group:

Paul encourages listeners to join the Baseball Dad Show Facebook group, which has over 1200 members and is a great source of advice and experience from other fathers.

Rec Ball vs. Travel Ball:

Paul explains that while he wishes more people would stay in local rec ball, he acknowledges that there are drawbacks. He advises dads to consider whether they will be able to maintain control over the situation if they put their son in travel ball. He compares travel ball to a lion cub, which can grow into something difficult to control.

Paul emphasizes that it is not as crucial for an 8-year-old to play travel ball as some may think. He notes that there is no major leaguer today who attributes their success to playing 8-year-old travel ball.

Setting Healthy Parameters for Your Family

Overview: This section discusses the importance of setting values for your family and how to make decisions about travel ball teams.

Setting Values

  • Establishing values for your family is essential in order to make decisions that are in line with your beliefs.
  • Be aware of people who may try to pressure you into making decisions that are not in line with your values.

Making Decisions

  • When considering a travel ball team, examine how much is in it for the coach.
  • Be aware of the pressures that coaches may feel to win and create a return on investment for parents.
  • Set parameters for your son's involvement in the team and stick to them.
  • Show your son that you can make a decision and stick to it.

Combatting Over-Commitment to Travel Ball

Overview: This section discusses how to combat over-commitment to travel ball and the importance of having your kids involved in other activities.

Making Commitments and Keeping Them

  • When a travel ball coach comes asking for your kid to commit to fall, explain that you have already made a commitment to soccer and that you value keeping commitments.
  • Demonstrating the value of keeping commitments is more important than risking your son being mad at you for a week.

The Benefits of Other Activities

  • High school coach Ray Corn almost insisted that his players do something else during the season to exercise their competing muscles and gain skills and confidence.
  • Other activities such as karate, swimming, basketball, and chess are great for developing skills and confidence.

Managing Passion

  • If your son has a passion for baseball, the worst thing you can do is put too much structure around it.
  • Set parameters around your son's passion to ensure he doesn't burn out on it.
  • Books on great performers agree that DNA and self-directed work are two leading factors in excelling at anything.

Self-Directed Work

Overview: This section discusses the importance of self-directed work in order to fuel a child's passion for baseball. It also provides advice on how to avoid overdoing it and burning out the passion.

Self-Directed Work

  • Self-directed work is important to fuel a child's passion for baseball.
  • Structured baseball programs can stunt development and burn out the passion.

Advice

  • You can't make your kid love the game, but you can make them hate it.
  • Visit baseball dad show.com to join the Facebook group and access other resources.
  • Encouraging comments and feedback are appreciated.

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Video description

In this podcast, We tackled this pressing issue of early travel baseball. How to spot the coaches that are just out to use your kid to win games and how to avoid them. What no major leaguer ever said about travel baseball success, this alone will shift your perspective on how much your son should play. Why Dads have more control, then they are led to believe they have. Why a Dad MUST set parameters for his son’s travel baseball participation if you do this too late you could get sucked into a year-round program that leads to early burnout. If a travel ball coach says __________ to you, you should run away fast and protect your son from this type of coach. What’s a healthy dose of travel baseball that allows your son to develop and protects his love of the game (and arm health) The two things experts swear determines if your son will play at the next level and knowing these changes how you let your son train What a legendary high school coach told me players should do during the off-season (HINT: It’s not baseball related) What to do when your son has the passion for baseball and baseball is all he wants to do. The absolute worst thing you can do with your son’s baseball passion The one thing that will limit your son’s ability to reach his potential You can’t make your kid love the game, but you can make him ______ __. (Every Dad needs to hear this quote) ——————————— Some tips for your son: Does your son have what it takes to play at the next level? Get the scorecard here http://www.BaseballDadsShow.com How hard should your son be throwing? Find out here: http://paulreddickbaseball.com Wanna chat with Paul? Click here: 567Dad.com You can follow the Baseball Dads Show: Website: BaseballDadsShow.com Private Facebook Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/322824391581529/ Paul’s new Book - The 567 Dad: Baseball Edition is available on Amazon by clicking here: https://www.amazon.com/5-6-7-Dad-Baseball-Paul-Reddick/dp/1973781700/ I am Paul Reddick and I use baseball as a tool to help Dads (and Moms) have stronger relationships with their sons. I flunked off the baseball team my Sophomore year of High School, blew just about every chance I ever had as a player and never made the most my his potential. I don’t have a sob story about hurting my arm or getting screwed over by a coach…I had every chance and I blew it. I didn't know that this would be the best thing that ever happened to me because, God dropped me into coaching and I found my true calling. I was blessed with mentor after mentor who taught me the game, guided me when I screwed up and instilled a value system that holds true to this day. 14 years of my life was spent as the Director of The Yogi Berra Museum baseball camp and I was also the resident speaker the Museum. I spoke to tens and thousands of students about teamwork, sportsmanship and anti-bullying. Yogi was an amazing man. He’s exactly who you thought he was…humble, kind and fun to be around. I’ve written a few books… The New Rules Of Baseball Instruction and Co-Authored The Picture Perfect Pitcher with Tom House. I served as an associate scout for Pittsburgh Pirates, a state delegate for USA Baseball

Should Your 8 Year Old Play Travel Baseball? | YouTube Video Summary | Video Highlight