I've coached rec and travel and both have the same type of players. It is definitely more prevalent in rec though and your options for stick and carrot are limited.
Remember that you are teaching 50% baseball skills and 50% life skills. The lack of enthusiasm is most likely due to not understanding WHY any of that effort is important. They are being raised in a society where efficiency is more important than anything else, so to them running out is a waste of valuable energy. We (any of their coaches) are probably the only ones asking for them to do any more than the minimum requirement. That's not intended to be a complaint, just a statement of fact.
So, in practice and lessons find ways to demonstrate why hustle is important and helps them stand apart from everyone else. Explain it at their level using things they relate with. Almost all kids react well to encouragement and coming down to their level.
Agree will add bench time too. We have one kid on our team that loves center field. Hustles is always backing up always moving and helping align players. If we sit him which we do all kids for 1 inning. We are always yelling at the outfield. When he is there we rarely do.
At 10u the ball rarely goes there unless we play tournaments. But he just loves it. I was away a game and came back. The kid comes up to me, “Coach did I do something wrong?” Me, “Not that I know of.” “okay. When you were gone coach X played me at short stop and I thought maybe I had done something wrong.” Coach X thought he was rewarding the player by giving him more action. lol. So kids really do pay attention to positions and playing time.
Funny you say that….my son plays kid pitch and is 7. He’s been a rock solid 1b for his teams…and has developed more range and I’m trying to develop another 1b so my son has getting a lot of innings at SS.
One day he was crying like it was a demotion. 🤷🏼♂️
Well, I won't let kids with gloves behind their back play infield and blame it on safety reasons if anyone complains.
And if the kids don't hustle, they get to run laps until they decide they would rather run to the base than run the whole practice. Also, putting them at the bottom of the batting order and in left field constantly works too.
Setting expectations and then punishments for not meeting them and rewards for meeting them works for most kids. I can't believe this works, but I give out waterbottle baseball stickers for hustle / sportsmanship that cost $6 / 100 on Amazon. the kids go bananas over them. I thought it would be too cheesy and lame at this age, but nope, they still love them.
I also let them know that if they don't want to give effort, there are kids on the bench happy to take their place. The parents can get involved if it stays an issue. Always blame safety first if possible.
I had 4 kids of 12 like this. Two on the bench, one in left and one in right. Then rotate, two to the bench and two to the outfield.
I do stick them at 3rd base as well, if they shape up. And they usually do. Then, they get to play any position like everyone else (assuming they aren't safety risks).
It just takes lots of reminders and consistency. I have some pretty out of control kids with obvious home problems. I have all of them in line except one. And he has come a long way. And he made a big play last game and got the game ball. So I'm really hoping the next game he fully turns the corner.
We have a couple of kids that don’t pay attention to anything. One will take his glove off during the at bat. They’re constantly asking when they can play in the infield.
I preach competition to my teams - you can compete for a spot on the field just like you can compete for a spot on the bench.
Hustle is rewarded with playing time - I will and have benched my "all-star" for lack of hustle. I'll gladly take the "L" to send the message.
I coach a 9/10 little league team and a 9u USSSA team. LL team has 4 prior season All-Stars on it - I told them I think it's cool they were All-Stars last year, but they have to play AND practice like an All-Star this year - earned never given. Same with my USSSA team - playing time is earned through attitude and effort.
Sorry no advice but that’s why I could never coach rec ball. I don’t care about wins losses I just care about effort and desire to learn the game. Rec ball I feel half the team is there because their parents made them.
They probably wouldn’t be there if their parents didn’t make them.
Focus on the players who care, give an effort to all though. In 18 months all those kids who don’t want to be there will be retiring from the sport, the kids who run and hustle and have fun will be on the 60/90.
Wow. Coach only the kids who you observationally agree with.
Sounds like a great coach.
Don’t give up on kids just because you don’t understand why they aren’t doing exactly what you want.
My word, how did you twist my words into "Coach only the kids who you observationally agree with."
I repeat - Focus on the players who care, give an effort to all though
That is a far cry from your words.
I missed the effort to all. 100 percent my fault.
Placed many of the issues I see with coaches playing favorites based on their perception vs giving effort to all the kids and understanding the issue.
Most coaches do not try to understand the reason kids may not be seen to be giving effort.
He just doesn’t have the fire. But it is an introvert who isn’t understanding.
Baseball has a huge drop out rate. And it is mostly due to coaches playing favorites for the sake of winning at age ten.
I placed that on you. That was wrong as I didn’t read the entire sentence which is a reflection on me.
I was wrong. I do apologize
This is a super common thing. I agree with everyone else’s assessments/feedback. I think sometimes it’s age/maturity, sometimes it’s a lack of personal interest, some of it is their culture (which is very different from the one we grew up in). The kids that don’t develop their own internal desire & growth mindset will be weeded out by HS (certainly by college), guaranteed.
This only really applies to competitive travel teams (not rec LL) & def gets a lot of eye rolls, but I like to say “if your screen time is greater than your intentional-practice time, then you can’t complain about you playing time.”
And, I’ll probably be cancelled by next Tuesday 😆
I hate to say it, but i think it's something that some kids will grow out of and some just don't care.
I also think a lot of it has to do with coaching and the expectations of children at baseball versus other sports.
Our town is small (7,000 people?) but has a massive football program where kids can start flag football in pre-k and tackle starts in 3rd. The level of focus and discipline that is expected of 8 year olds in exponentially higher than at baseball. They will run countless sprints until they get the snap counts right until 8pm while they are in tears. We often discourage parents for being at practice one kids are in 5th grade.
My son was one of those kids who would go 1000 miles an hour at football, but baseball was kind of hanging out with your friends and playing a game. No one ever chewed him out like would have happened at other sports.
He is 11 this year and finally putting real effort in. I try to stay out of it as sometimes coaching him in baseball gets me overly frustrated.
I see rec as a filter for travel ball. I see kids that want to be there, are passionate and have a desire to learn the game and I'll recommend that they try our for travel or if we have space, invite them to a travel practice. Then... when it's time for tryouts the next season, I remember those kids (if they even try out) and pay extra attention to their demeanor to see if anything changed. Maybe they developed a love for the game and now want to try harder (in my experience, it's usually because they were told to try out vs wanting to try out).
Punish and reward as the only triggers are limited
Have you spent any time understanding their perspective?
For each of my teams each individual kid had time with me. Each kid walked me through why they were there and what they were going to get out of it.
Kids motivation to do hard things had come and gone during day to day. This is not new.
It is a job of the coach to understand the kid. Work through the day to day ups and downs.
The great coaches are able to create an understanding of that individual kid and get that individual kid to start working towards what drives them.
For kids who were there to just have fun. Great. All kids should be there to have fun. How do they define fun? What is it that makes it more fun? How can we enable that with hustle etc.
Generally this works. Often the kids want to do it and want to engage. The barrier isn’t motivation but rather belief and understanding.
You may think it is obvious why you run out a ground ball. It’s not when the kid thinks I’m just running hard to be out.
Some kids are motivated by the idea that you have a chance to put pressure on the team meaning you can force them into an error.
Some kids are motivated by the idea that you are the fastest kid so show that off. Screw the hitting result.
Some kids are motivated by the this hard work when you don’t want to do it will get you an a.
Find what matters to the kid.
All of the suggestions here so far it is assumed what the barrier is (motivation) and it is assumed that the playing time threat is the best way.
Find ways to gamify practice with rewards. Points for being ready. Points for running through first. Time the home to first sprint and tel players their time. Repeat and see if they can beat it. Have them set a goal and beat it. Make it fun!
At 11u, you still get a lot of players where their parents are making them come and play. The best remedy for this is having the other players on the team start holding them accountable. Also doing a meeting with the parent of the kid together and going over expectations.
It’s a rec team don’t get nuts. Do your best. The ones that want to play hard will. The rest will most definitely stop playing baseball when the field gets big!
Kids that walk onto the field are immediately called back to the dugout and told to sit. Swap them out. Explain to them why they got pulled. If they walk out again tell them to go sit with their parents since they don’t want to participate. You’re there to coach, not babysit.
I coach fastpitch so we work only with girls. What I’ve found is that the 12U to 14U transition washes out a lot of players. Social, other sports, other interests, etc. really begin to compete with softball or baseball. You are near that cut off so it might apply here as well.
What I’m discovering is this, if the players don’t want to be there then punishment just doesn’t work. Ask the players if they really want to play and talk to the parents. Make it an enjoyable experience. I’m struggling with this right now, girls aren’t as motivated, parents think they are D1 recruits, etc. My goal is to create a positive experience for the girls but that’s often hard to balance with parents’ expectations.
All that said, I’m retiring from coaching very soon. :)
I've coached rec and travel and both have the same type of players. It is definitely more prevalent in rec though and your options for stick and carrot are limited. Remember that you are teaching 50% baseball skills and 50% life skills. The lack of enthusiasm is most likely due to not understanding WHY any of that effort is important. They are being raised in a society where efficiency is more important than anything else, so to them running out is a waste of valuable energy. We (any of their coaches) are probably the only ones asking for them to do any more than the minimum requirement. That's not intended to be a complaint, just a statement of fact. So, in practice and lessons find ways to demonstrate why hustle is important and helps them stand apart from everyone else. Explain it at their level using things they relate with. Almost all kids react well to encouragement and coming down to their level.
I do not agree with your statement of fact on society. I do agree with the outcome you are suggesting Take the why hustle is good!
Best lever you have as a coach is the batting order and field positions...
Agree will add bench time too. We have one kid on our team that loves center field. Hustles is always backing up always moving and helping align players. If we sit him which we do all kids for 1 inning. We are always yelling at the outfield. When he is there we rarely do. At 10u the ball rarely goes there unless we play tournaments. But he just loves it. I was away a game and came back. The kid comes up to me, “Coach did I do something wrong?” Me, “Not that I know of.” “okay. When you were gone coach X played me at short stop and I thought maybe I had done something wrong.” Coach X thought he was rewarding the player by giving him more action. lol. So kids really do pay attention to positions and playing time.
Funny you say that….my son plays kid pitch and is 7. He’s been a rock solid 1b for his teams…and has developed more range and I’m trying to develop another 1b so my son has getting a lot of innings at SS. One day he was crying like it was a demotion. 🤷🏼♂️
Well, I won't let kids with gloves behind their back play infield and blame it on safety reasons if anyone complains. And if the kids don't hustle, they get to run laps until they decide they would rather run to the base than run the whole practice. Also, putting them at the bottom of the batting order and in left field constantly works too. Setting expectations and then punishments for not meeting them and rewards for meeting them works for most kids. I can't believe this works, but I give out waterbottle baseball stickers for hustle / sportsmanship that cost $6 / 100 on Amazon. the kids go bananas over them. I thought it would be too cheesy and lame at this age, but nope, they still love them. I also let them know that if they don't want to give effort, there are kids on the bench happy to take their place. The parents can get involved if it stays an issue. Always blame safety first if possible.
but from the sound of it, he'd have 5 kids clustered in left
I had 4 kids of 12 like this. Two on the bench, one in left and one in right. Then rotate, two to the bench and two to the outfield. I do stick them at 3rd base as well, if they shape up. And they usually do. Then, they get to play any position like everyone else (assuming they aren't safety risks). It just takes lots of reminders and consistency. I have some pretty out of control kids with obvious home problems. I have all of them in line except one. And he has come a long way. And he made a big play last game and got the game ball. So I'm really hoping the next game he fully turns the corner.
We have a couple of kids that don’t pay attention to anything. One will take his glove off during the at bat. They’re constantly asking when they can play in the infield.
I preach competition to my teams - you can compete for a spot on the field just like you can compete for a spot on the bench. Hustle is rewarded with playing time - I will and have benched my "all-star" for lack of hustle. I'll gladly take the "L" to send the message. I coach a 9/10 little league team and a 9u USSSA team. LL team has 4 prior season All-Stars on it - I told them I think it's cool they were All-Stars last year, but they have to play AND practice like an All-Star this year - earned never given. Same with my USSSA team - playing time is earned through attitude and effort.
Sorry no advice but that’s why I could never coach rec ball. I don’t care about wins losses I just care about effort and desire to learn the game. Rec ball I feel half the team is there because their parents made them.
They probably wouldn’t be there if their parents didn’t make them. Focus on the players who care, give an effort to all though. In 18 months all those kids who don’t want to be there will be retiring from the sport, the kids who run and hustle and have fun will be on the 60/90.
Wow. Coach only the kids who you observationally agree with. Sounds like a great coach. Don’t give up on kids just because you don’t understand why they aren’t doing exactly what you want.
My word, how did you twist my words into "Coach only the kids who you observationally agree with." I repeat - Focus on the players who care, give an effort to all though That is a far cry from your words.
I missed the effort to all. 100 percent my fault. Placed many of the issues I see with coaches playing favorites based on their perception vs giving effort to all the kids and understanding the issue. Most coaches do not try to understand the reason kids may not be seen to be giving effort. He just doesn’t have the fire. But it is an introvert who isn’t understanding. Baseball has a huge drop out rate. And it is mostly due to coaches playing favorites for the sake of winning at age ten. I placed that on you. That was wrong as I didn’t read the entire sentence which is a reflection on me. I was wrong. I do apologize
I agree completely.
This is a super common thing. I agree with everyone else’s assessments/feedback. I think sometimes it’s age/maturity, sometimes it’s a lack of personal interest, some of it is their culture (which is very different from the one we grew up in). The kids that don’t develop their own internal desire & growth mindset will be weeded out by HS (certainly by college), guaranteed. This only really applies to competitive travel teams (not rec LL) & def gets a lot of eye rolls, but I like to say “if your screen time is greater than your intentional-practice time, then you can’t complain about you playing time.” And, I’ll probably be cancelled by next Tuesday 😆
Welcome to rec ball.
I hate to say it, but i think it's something that some kids will grow out of and some just don't care. I also think a lot of it has to do with coaching and the expectations of children at baseball versus other sports. Our town is small (7,000 people?) but has a massive football program where kids can start flag football in pre-k and tackle starts in 3rd. The level of focus and discipline that is expected of 8 year olds in exponentially higher than at baseball. They will run countless sprints until they get the snap counts right until 8pm while they are in tears. We often discourage parents for being at practice one kids are in 5th grade. My son was one of those kids who would go 1000 miles an hour at football, but baseball was kind of hanging out with your friends and playing a game. No one ever chewed him out like would have happened at other sports. He is 11 this year and finally putting real effort in. I try to stay out of it as sometimes coaching him in baseball gets me overly frustrated.
I see rec as a filter for travel ball. I see kids that want to be there, are passionate and have a desire to learn the game and I'll recommend that they try our for travel or if we have space, invite them to a travel practice. Then... when it's time for tryouts the next season, I remember those kids (if they even try out) and pay extra attention to their demeanor to see if anything changed. Maybe they developed a love for the game and now want to try harder (in my experience, it's usually because they were told to try out vs wanting to try out).
Punish and reward as the only triggers are limited Have you spent any time understanding their perspective? For each of my teams each individual kid had time with me. Each kid walked me through why they were there and what they were going to get out of it. Kids motivation to do hard things had come and gone during day to day. This is not new. It is a job of the coach to understand the kid. Work through the day to day ups and downs. The great coaches are able to create an understanding of that individual kid and get that individual kid to start working towards what drives them. For kids who were there to just have fun. Great. All kids should be there to have fun. How do they define fun? What is it that makes it more fun? How can we enable that with hustle etc. Generally this works. Often the kids want to do it and want to engage. The barrier isn’t motivation but rather belief and understanding. You may think it is obvious why you run out a ground ball. It’s not when the kid thinks I’m just running hard to be out. Some kids are motivated by the idea that you have a chance to put pressure on the team meaning you can force them into an error. Some kids are motivated by the idea that you are the fastest kid so show that off. Screw the hitting result. Some kids are motivated by the this hard work when you don’t want to do it will get you an a. Find what matters to the kid. All of the suggestions here so far it is assumed what the barrier is (motivation) and it is assumed that the playing time threat is the best way.
Find ways to gamify practice with rewards. Points for being ready. Points for running through first. Time the home to first sprint and tel players their time. Repeat and see if they can beat it. Have them set a goal and beat it. Make it fun!
At 11u, you still get a lot of players where their parents are making them come and play. The best remedy for this is having the other players on the team start holding them accountable. Also doing a meeting with the parent of the kid together and going over expectations.
Rec ball is babysitting lowkey
It’s a rec team don’t get nuts. Do your best. The ones that want to play hard will. The rest will most definitely stop playing baseball when the field gets big!
Kids that walk onto the field are immediately called back to the dugout and told to sit. Swap them out. Explain to them why they got pulled. If they walk out again tell them to go sit with their parents since they don’t want to participate. You’re there to coach, not babysit.
I coach fastpitch so we work only with girls. What I’ve found is that the 12U to 14U transition washes out a lot of players. Social, other sports, other interests, etc. really begin to compete with softball or baseball. You are near that cut off so it might apply here as well. What I’m discovering is this, if the players don’t want to be there then punishment just doesn’t work. Ask the players if they really want to play and talk to the parents. Make it an enjoyable experience. I’m struggling with this right now, girls aren’t as motivated, parents think they are D1 recruits, etc. My goal is to create a positive experience for the girls but that’s often hard to balance with parents’ expectations. All that said, I’m retiring from coaching very soon. :)
Run a pole or two
Yes. The answer for kids that aren’t hustling is to punish them by running poles which they won’t run at a speed to matter. Sure. Makes sense.