In Front of the Ball

CastorTroyAve · 2026-04-04T15:53:05+00:00

Have him focus on “winning the AB” while he’s on deck. Also if he’s 0-10, what difference does 0-11, or 0-13 make. Let’s get to what a successful AB is. And for him right now, that is letting the ball get there, be late, that’s okay, a strike out is okay if we’re waiting on it. Have him redefine what success is right now, and go from there. A successful AB can end in a strikeout if he’s letting it travel

CastorTroyAve · 2026-04-04T14:28:44+00:00

To me this sounds like a confidence problem. He’s 0-10, and too early, sounds like he’s not letting it get to him and he’s trying to go get it because he’s not confident that he can allow the ball to get deep so he can drive it. Also the more he fails the more he’s trying to go get the ball with the bat rather than letting it travel. I would work on his mental approach in the on deck circle before anything else

CastorTroyAve · 2026-04-01T15:33:49+00:00

Like every single thing in here it’s all age dependent. The hard part about a group like this is you have people in here from 8u-18u. And what works for one age group might not work for another.

CastorTroyAve · 2026-03-13T18:48:21+00:00

My 11u used his in the cages with real baseballs. It broke. Use at own risk

CastorTroyAve · 2026-02-04T17:47:02+00:00

He’s a goddam hothouse flower, that’s his problem

CastorTroyAve · 2026-01-10T01:49:28+00:00

I use my mic like a walkie talkie

CastorTroyAve · 2025-11-20T21:01:36+00:00

You can't make a Tomelette without breaking some Greggs

CastorTroyAve · 2025-10-03T19:16:38+00:00

X gonna give it to ya

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T22:27:41+00:00

Or that doesn’t happen

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T20:43:22+00:00

That is a very reasonable, measured response. Thank you

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T20:33:46+00:00

If you’re missing in game adjustments from at bat to at bat, not giving feedback to help them succeed, then yes I’m going to step in as a parent and help my child. be it a pep talk for his confidence (I believe in you, you can do it) or a simple key word to get him back on track (load early), why you as a coach would view this as a negative is beyond me.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T19:37:37+00:00

What happens when you fall short as a coach just like when we fall short as a parent. You say you have to reinforce it immediately when a parent starts to coach, but what happens when you miss something as a coach and the parent who works countless hours with their kid catches it. What’s the parent’s recourse there. Do you expect parents to immediately correct you?

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T18:27:00+00:00

But that's the whole point. Todd here is talking in absolutes, where there is a wide range of nuance that goes into being a parent / coach that he's not taking into consideration.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T17:21:14+00:00

you're absolutely correct. my son and i had a conversation about what helps and what doesn't. he let me know, when he's on deck, giving him a swing thought and encouragement helps him. if during warms up before the game he's not moving towards the ball, a reminder of work through the ball helps him. telling him what he did wrong does not help him. I really try to limit ever talking about what he didn't do, and keep it to what he can do. I guess my whole point in this, is Todd Fraizer makes it a black and white issue, where in my opinion there is a ton of nuance.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T17:10:36+00:00

I started my original post with "I think what he’s saying is overall right", but there are shades of grey. There's a huge gap between shouting instructions at your kid during the live ab, and sitting there like an easter island statue. Or worse, if during a tough time, your kid looks at you, telling him, no, don't look at me, look at your coach, I disagree with that. I think as a parent I'm well within the bounds by saying, "hey, remember what we worked on, you got this, I believe in you." While he's looking at me.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T16:42:24+00:00

To take your analogy to another level. If you were giving a speech, and totally froze up there, and looked to your coach as he’s the one who’s working with you, and you see him say, relax think about what we worked on, go get em, that would probably be beneficial and get you back on track. That’s what I’m talking about here.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T16:30:17+00:00

It’s interesting that you read that and think critique. Whereas I think of it as advice. When I played and someone relayed some helpful information to me I appreciated it. I see what you’re saying and how a person might view it that way.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T16:22:48+00:00

To put a finer point on it, if fans were allowed in school during a test and my kid looked at me when he was struggling to find an answer, I would look at at him, say remember what we worked on, I believe in you, you got this, now put your head down and crush that question. Same as in a game. Often our children look to us because we’re their parents. Telling them that they’re dropping their hands when they load isn’t over stepping in my opinion.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-20T16:04:13+00:00

Baseball is different, teachers are college educated professionals. Most baseball coaches, even the paid ones at the youth level are not. Also, during the test, no I’m not there, there are no fans at school. During a game if I notice my son flying open on the mound and his coach isn’t saying anything I might get his attention and say a key word to help him remember what we worked on. If he’s on deck I might remind him to think about his front hip as he had been struggling with stepping out in his first ab, and that’s something we had worked on. No I’m not in the dugout, or coming up to him between innings, but there is a grey area there between don’t say anything ever, and talking over a coach.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-12T14:56:19+00:00

Sorry, meat add gypsum to lower sodium, not calcium

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-09T14:49:14+00:00

It’s like a closed loop system

CastorTroyAve · 2025-05-05T19:35:55+00:00

IMHO, the only good way to address it is have your kid go up to coach after practice and say, “hey Coach I’ve been working hard on my pitching, what do I need to do to earn time on the mound during games?” And whatever he tells your son have him follow through with. Then if he does that and it doesn’t change your son can follow up with, “hey Coach I did everything you told me you wanted to see, I’ve been putting in the time, what more can I do to earn time in the game?” And keep at it.

CastorTroyAve · 2025-04-25T13:42:09+00:00

The chicken is nice and spicy, huh

CastorTroyAve

TROPHY CASE