I played minor league baseball for 4 years, and I have been giving private lessons for the last seven years. I have recently accepted an offer to be a volunteer assistant at Central Michigan University. I have worked with a world series champion, Little League players, and everyone in between. I cover topics from hitting and fielding instruction down to how parents should use the resources that are available to their kids, and what is going on in the MLB as well. I'll save you money, sanity, and your valuable time, while giving you information that is priceless.
I say it all the time but I beg and plead with parents and parent coaches to make the game fun, let kids of a young age play all positions, and do not just get a kid his one at bat per game because it is the rules. I ask kids to play for the love of the game, but they can only do that if the coach and parents allow that love to grow. So I am going to assume the coaches and parents are doing this and I am going to turn my attention to the player now.
I ask you to simply “follow the love”. If you do this you will be playing the game because it is fun, and when the game is fun you will put more into it. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. You must remember it takes hard work to play at a high level but if you are following the love you will never feel like you are working. You will be getting better and having fun at the same time.
Coaches and Parents please allow the love to grow and players do it because you simply enjoy the smell of the grass, the sound of the glove, and having your friends around. One day it may turn into more than that but you must have that foundation before anything further can come of it.
Go out, work hard, enjoy the game.
