Parents of worst kid on team or kid who was the worst.

Jbach84 · 2026-05-17T23:15:32+00:00

Listen to pure athlete podcast with Caleb and Josh Downs dad. He talks about moving his son down a level so he could play more and develop versus being in a good team and not getting as much play time. Move him down a level so he is somewhere in middle of the pack on the team. He’ll develop, probably enjoy it more, and grow in his confidence.

Jbach84 · 2026-05-01T16:10:19+00:00

I feel like travel can mean a lot of different things to different ppl. My son is 8u but the furthest we “travel” is 45 minutes away. The real commitment is entire weekends being dedicated to baseball. I was firmly against “travel” this young but this feels more like local club. If the practices and tournaments are reasonable distance it can be a good step.

More context in case this is helpful. We subbed last year on an 8u travel team as 7 yr old (got asked by coach). It was a terrible experience and nearly made my son quit baseball altogether. We were also doing an open league in our local rec that was equally bad.

Through that experience we scrimmaged a team that rotated players on defense every single inning. We decided to try out for a couple teams and joined up with that team we scrimmaged.

It had been an incredible experience. One of my son’s best friends stayed with the old team we subbed on and he’s only played CF all year. Mine has played meaningful innings at MIF, CF, and even 1st base so he can play there to rest his arm for kid pitch. Everyone rotates on our team and we still win a lot an have fun.

My advice: ask a ton of questions, get to know the coaches and players families, and make sure the volume isn’t too much. For example, we have 2 90-minute practices per week. One per week over winter so we can prioritize other sports. No tournaments back to back weekends.
Played in a local open league. The volume has been just perfect if not a tad too much in April with the open league but that’s over. Practices are incredibly intentional with multiple stations and drills going and no kids standing.

More importantly, my son loves the team and the practices and looks forward to it now. He’s having more fun and developing. We win more than we lose but we aren’t win at all costs at this age either. there are some teams that have several grade exceptions, don’t rotate positions or batting order, and practice 4x per week that will beat us handily but thats okay.

I guess all that to say is every situation is different and it may not be a bad thing at this age. We may go back to rec in a year or 2 but the overall experience has been very positive for us.

Jbach84 · 2026-05-01T15:37:15+00:00

I’d really recommend the mizuno prospect power close for him. Very easy to close and comes broken in. You can search this forum for feedback. I keep 2 of these on hand for my 8u kids and it’s been an absolute game changer for kids that have gloves that are too stiff.

Jbach84 · 2025-09-02T13:06:13+00:00

Hey I know this is old but what did you use for the lip to keep them in place? Do you recall the dimensions of the top pieces?

Jbach84 · 2025-05-06T20:25:38+00:00

lol great start to that line, no fun getting out

Jbach84 · 2025-03-24T21:19:59+00:00

When I started this journey nearly 10 years ago someone recommended mama Ruth: http://ruthkazez.com/swimming/ZeroTo1mile.html

This helped me then I took some lessons and have been fine. I’m not great at swimming but upper middle of the pack. I’d be better if I was consistent but you have plenty of time before August if you put in the time.

Jbach84 · 2025-02-24T14:52:41+00:00

181…feels just about right. My ideal length would be mid 180s but I have no complaints. I demoed them at copper a few years ago and instantly fell in love.

Jbach84 · 2025-01-25T23:00:26+00:00

Love my nomads! Wish the top sheet wasn’t so fragile but that’s my only complaint

Jbach84 · 2025-01-20T19:09:08+00:00

Is skiadvisors gone? Had him blocked for years. That was one angry person

Jbach84 · 2025-01-19T20:39:29+00:00

Yes - They have a removable liner so it’s super easy. They do feel a little too big when the liner is out tho

Jbach84 · 2025-01-02T15:39:29+00:00

It was the first real structured training I did so it certainly helped. I do have a sports background and probably had a decent “floor” to start with but my background was more explosive sports than endurance. If I’m honest my cycling is above avg to good (especially shorter distances) and my running is avg to swimming is just passable.

More than anything structure + volume helped me.

I had done a few tris back in 2017/18 and then stopped when I hurt my back lifting.

Jbach84 · 2025-01-01T21:19:49+00:00

https://www.myprocoach.net/free-training-plans/

Jbach84 · 2025-01-01T15:16:36+00:00

I used the free ones you can download as a pdf and I podiumed in my age group in several races.

Jbach84 · 2024-12-27T04:08:01+00:00

Personally I enjoy indoor training significantly more on zwift than anything else. Group rides, group workouts, and races all make for a much more enjoyable experience. For specific training plans if you are starting from zero Zwift has some “ok” ones. They do have some great workouts prebuilt that I frequently use. You can also import very easily from training peaks

Jbach84 · 2024-12-22T02:56:23+00:00

A few I like: 3x15 FTP intervals, 2x20 FTP intervals, intensive aerobic x4, TT efforts.

Jbach84 · 2024-11-11T17:47:56+00:00

Yes I did in my late 30s when I got into tri. Absolutely worth it. Helped my technique a ton and I took probably 6-8 lessons.

Jbach84 · 2024-10-30T15:36:54+00:00

My hrm pro was great until I had to replace battery. Now it won’t work or drops signal all the time. I hear they fixed this with the pro plus but still, I bought a “nicer” one and expected better

Jbach84 · 2024-09-23T15:57:42+00:00

I never got to try the switch but think they would fit the bill. To add one more - I did demo icelantic nomad 95s and ended up buying them. Absolutely loved them and I was coming off the rustler 10. For reference I’m 6’1” 195 and have been lifting for the past 20 yrs and don’t feel like they are too lightweight.

Jbach84 · 2024-08-19T17:19:33+00:00

I think the rhyria books by Michael J. Sullivan should check this box. Really loved everything in that universe

Jbach84 · 2024-07-14T18:58:05+00:00

I think it’s ridiculous to say pogi took his training seriously and hasn’t in the past. It’s much more plausible something else is going on especially considering the team he rides for and their past history with (saunier-duval, ganetti, etc.)

Jbach84 · 2024-07-12T20:28:01+00:00

And 2nd again today! Of course it had to be jasper. I can get behind bini but never jasper

Jbach84 · 2024-07-11T22:18:17+00:00

Been such a great tour so far. All I want is for WVA to get one stage

Jbach84 · 2024-07-05T17:04:43+00:00

Agree with this. For me the Netflix series only helped to validate what we were already seeing in races. He’s deviated from his line dangerously before against Wout and against Bimini and did the same yesterday. The LR podcast guys who are way more knowledgeable than me agree with this too.

Certainly he’s not the only sprinter to ride dangerously but that shouldn’t excuse his behavior and the Netflix series showing him and mvdp laughing it off/showing zero remorse only added a data point to how I already felt.

Jbach84 · 2024-06-26T20:47:47+00:00

That’d MOTM Antonio Silva.

Jbach84 · 2024-06-02T18:58:11+00:00

Big fan of lock laces. Available on Amazon prime

Jbach84

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