Travel ball effect on LL/Pony/DYB, etc.

Well thats the point.

We hope that the fundamentals are taught in the rec leagues. But all-in-all they are not. Some yes but for the most part the fundamentals are not. Though not always the fundamentals are taught in travel ball. Well they should be if parents are forking over 200-700 or more to a travel team.

Its all a racket. However I would say that its still a game of catch in the back yard.

 

Fundamentals are not stressed, whether it's travel or rec. The coaching level is no different, either. Remember, I speaking in terms of 12 U. The best coaching is done on the way from the ballpark (in the car and in the backyard).

My point is people fostering the idea that travel ball is important for the young guys- It is not. Only good coaching is important

 

From my experience, Travel Ball is the way to go if you want your son to progress at an early age. To be the best, you need to play with and against the best. Too much baby sitting going on in Rec ball. Kids and parents not serious about practice or the games during regular season but everyone shows up for playoffs. Sometimes they dont show up for playoffs. I had a friend last year say they had to forfiet thier bronco playoff game because not enough players to start the game. Kids wanted to swim instead of play BB. I've been there and done that and I dont want any part of that anymore.

If the youth baseball assn.'s would do away with the AA and AAA divisions in USSSA and the D2 divisions in AAu, you would prolly see more players sticking with rec ball. A lot of teams arent good enough to compete at the top level but can always play down. As long as that stays the same, rec ball will continue to decline.

 

travel v rec

I agree with some earlier responses that 12 or 13 is the age to start travel ball if your child desires. My sons played rec until that age. I would be afraid of burn-out if you start too soon. At 13 a player hopefully has learned the fundamentals and wants to sharpen his skills. It is still important to look for a team that stresses fundamentals, respect, discipline, teamwork sportsmanship etc. They are out there, it may take a while to find one, but you can tell when you watch them play. We play travel ball and have a ball. We have made lifelong freinds, many of whom have given up travel ball or play on other teams. It is also fun to play school ball against travel team-mates. If rec would have a 2 teir system, one elite that may play against other nearby leagues and the other more casual/fun league, more serious players may stay. Rec ball was no fun for my boys after age 12 because they love competition. They played in the back yard with mini bats and wiffle golf balls, broke holes in the vynil siding and some windows with baseballs, and argued more calls against each other than Bobby Cox has argued in his career. But they love the competition, I don't know if they would have stayed with baseball if the challenges of travel ball were not available.

 

HAHAHAHAHA. Yeah sorry about the siding

 

Wow, I hope all your kids make it to major leagues, it would be a shame to learn about team & community sports programs at 8 years old. For sure don't need any 10 year olds playing this boring stuff!

 

Changing of the guard?

To say travel ball has bettered the sport and/or the player is very subjective. Travel teams dont develop talent, they steal it. Because travel players lose out on fundamental baseball knowlege taught at the rec level, I have seen too many of them in AAU that dont any clue where to go with the ball when it is hit to them. Too much technical information on skill development is applied in AAU, while knowlege of how to play the game is completly lost. For the very young, travel ball has more or less become glorified daddy ball and/or a second income for some coaches. I have played both rec and AAU since age 7 and at the same time. I feel the rec league is the way to go for young players so they can learn and grow. I have seen too many talented players get taken out of rec and put under the microscope for playing time in travel ball then cant handle that pressure at an early age. So they quit and play soccer. I cant deny that competing against total talent in your later teen years makes you a better player, but I remember one AAU team I played on that didnt win but one game. Five of those players now are playing for the power house Fuquay HS and all are doing very well. Was it because of AAU?

 

A few comments.

More and more Rec programs are having divisons for travel teams. In Greensboro and Winston they have 2 different divisions in the older age groups. The travel teams play each other. Not saying it's good or bad but it does help keep the Rec leagues stay alive. And the true REC kids play against other REC teams and get more reps, play positions they might not otherwise and have fun.

Another thing we did early on to keep the travel kids in REC ball was have most of our REC games Mon.-Thurs. and leave the weekends free. We would even schedule around the travel schedule a little. It kept more kids in the REC league. We even developed our own travel teams.

One thing we noticed in our REC league is not only did we lose a lot of good players to travel ball but almost as important, WE LOST A LOT OF GOOD COACHES. So when everyone says they get taught the fundamentals in REC, that's not always true. When you lose your best coaches it hurts.

Braves does raise a good point. I think travel starts too young. Braves thinks it should start at 13. I could live with 11. But Braves has good points.

 

There are multiple problems with ANY organized baseball, rec ball and travel ball, but to say that you get better fundamentals in rec ball than travel ball or vice versa is being trivial at best. There are good and bad coaches at all levels from rec ball all the way to the college levels and saying someone is a good or bad coach is HIGHLY OPINIONATED.

To me and my family travel ball has been a blessing. We have enjoyed it, made many friends, played at the highest levels and spent tons of money. I know many of these kids throughout the state that are now fr, sophs and jrs. playing on some very talented High School teams. Its good to hear their names again and watch their success. I remember them from teams like GBC, Angels, Predators, Racers, Phantoms, Wildcats, BasesLoaded. Whether you like travel ball or rec ball does not matter. In the end it is watching the kids have fun and progress to a level that meets the goals that they are committed to!

For you young coaches out there with the stud 9, 10 year olds, a little advice. Have fun with little Johnny, enjoy watching him play and laugh. Don't stress out over it, teach him the game and have fun. Things change over time especially when they get to High School.

Good Luck this week to all the High School Teams. Play hard, stay safe and soak in the moments. Go Blue Devils!

 

Putt- to me, that makes sense and it may be the only way for some youth organizations to survive.

If someone chooses to play travel ball at the younger ages, hey, it's their money and I won't argue that. But for those that are going through the entire baseball process for the 1st time, I don't want them to believe that if their kid does not play travel ball he will be left behind. That is such a silly comment and one I find careless.

The game changes completely when they move up to the 13+ level. Those hard hit ground ball singles are turned into routine groundouts. A runner wanting to beat out an infield grounder feels he is running a mile to reach 1st base (some even slow up at 60" looking for the bag ). For many, it's the 1st time they are faced with "leading off", secondary leads, pick off moves and the catcher having to throw the ball to the CF to get the ball to reach 2nd base. It's the biggest transition a baseball player will ever go through. That is the time that separates the "baseball players" from the "social players". It's also the time that players start catching up to the "physically mature" peer.

The kids that play at the younger level are baseball babies. They need to be nurtured learning about the game. They have no idea what commitment it will take to improve, but they certainly will learn to despise the game if it's no longer fun. The expectations need to be much different at that level. I hate to lose one player to another sport simply because of a bad experience with an overzealous, win at all cost coach or parent because of an inordinate amount of pressure placed on them. Those kids will have plenty of time to "get serious" about baseball, but at that age....let them have fun learning the game.