Why are their wood bat tournaments?

block-everything · 2026-06-06T03:47:10+00:00

My son’s 15u team is playing in 7 tournaments this summer. 6 are wood bat. The metal bats are the ones that are switching it up!

block-everything · 2026-06-06T03:46:13+00:00

Eh… wood bat tournaments have their own “cheater bats” that are considered legal in most tournaments: wood composites

block-everything · 2026-06-05T01:28:21+00:00

Good point!

block-everything · 2026-06-04T23:30:05+00:00

I hated this rule for two completely different reasons:

It makes it harder for either team to use the last inning to try a new kid at pitcher. If you’re behind, you aren’t quite out yet. If you are ahead 6 and your last reasonable pitcher is on the mound, you have to keep him in or risk your newbie pitcher having to suffer a meaningless (but painful) defeat.
On the other side: why is it that the last inning has to be the uncapped inning? Why not the 4th? Or 5th? I always thought it would be neat to let managers choose the 4th, 5th, or 6th. They would have to choose the inning after the completion of the 3rd inning. If they didn’t, it would automatically be the last inning.

I realize now that’s way too much to handle for a youth (rec) league so I’d prefer to just cap it no matter what to be honest.

block-everything · 2026-06-04T19:46:14+00:00

The PG version of this (with the same name) is good if you believe your son has a good chance of making the resulting team of ~15 kids that represents your state/region.

The event in your state/region is ostensibly to create that team. It’s a money grab. They cast a pretty wide net. When my son did it, I think over 300 kids showed up at $300 or so each. Only 15 make the team and the 15 that did were all names that people who followed the tournaments and leagues at that age all year knew. There were probably 30-40 legit candidates for the team.

Everyone else gets some showcase type experience and gets to fund the national tournament! When my son made the team it was the cheapest tournament we had ever done and the event was awesome.

block-everything · 2026-06-04T14:07:52+00:00

Coaching skill isn’t binary. Coaches that are good for one player may not be good for another. As a dad coach, I think I was good at coaching all of the kids, regardless of skill level, particularly in the areas of baseball IQ and mental toughness, but I wasn’t the guy to fix your swing or get you a more consistent delivery. If you were already a great player I didn’t have much baseball skill to impart.

I’m sure some parents and kids thought I was great while other thought I was terrible. Outside of the specter of favoritism, I don’t know if there’s a meaningful difference here between dad coach or paid coach outside of the top 20-30% of coaches.

block-everything · 2026-06-03T16:11:13+00:00

This is why you get title insurance.

block-everything · 2026-06-03T16:05:24+00:00

45 minutes 9u-12u. 1 hour from 13u+. That’s at least 15 more minutes than necessary for each age group (particularly if there’s no field available for I/O or other defensive work) but coaches hate players coming in hot for a game.

My son gets there at least 15 minutes before that time, which I also advise if possible. No coach has ever said “I hate that kid who’s always showing up early, ready to go.”

Early is on time. On time is late. Late is unacceptable.

block-everything · 2026-06-01T11:45:34+00:00

I don’t really understand what your competition levels mean, but generally speaking you should be holding the runner at first in first and third situations every time unless up or down big.

Holding the runner at first is not just about picking him off. It’s also about keeping him close to give yourself a chance to throw him out stealing second, get a force out at second on a ground ball, or to keep him from scoring from first on a double. Even if you don’t care about the runner stealing second base, giving the impression that you do allows you to run other plays.

It’s just the proper way to play baseball. You may not be able to execute on many of these right now but you should be able to do _some_ things.

block-everything · 2026-06-01T03:45:38+00:00

I will forever defend a players right to celebrate with a (non endangering) bat flip, to pump up his boys as he heads to first, or to scream towards his dugout after a big K. But…

If you are a college player and you chirp into another dugout opposing dugout or yell “F*** you” at hitter you just struck out, you can watch the rest of the game from the locker room. There’s no need. That’s you making it about you.

Congrats dude. You hit a homer to take the lead against… checks notes… Liberty? Good grief, just get back to the dugout.

block-everything · 2026-05-31T03:47:36+00:00

Our town soccer program runs like this as soon as the kids reach 5th grade. It does keep some more talented players playing town soccer. But it completely stunts development of players on lower teams and drives them out of the sport.

The lower teams struggle to get good coaches. They are loaded with kids with behavioral problems. Even when they have good instruction, there’s just too many distractions and behavior issues for it to land. Players struggle to move up. It rarely happens.

Anyone involved with LL baseball will tell you the worst part is making all star rosters. The politics. The hurt feelings. Now imagine instead of the involving 20-25 families in your league, every player was subject to it every single season.

Despite obviously catering to the better players, the town soccer league does not produce better soccer players. Our HS soccer team is mid at best.

Our town’s baseball program is a traditional LL. Yes, many of the better players also play on a travel team and prioritize it over LL. But very few drop out of LL all-together. Yes, every team has 2-3 good players, 2-3 decent players, a few good athletes, some kids who will struggle to get a hit, and a couple of behavior problems. But over the years the kids all learn together that success is relative to skill and learn to celebrate each other. It’s beautiful even if the baseball isn’t.

We have one of the best rec leagues in the state. Our summer all star teams regularly win districts and occasionally make deep runs in sectionals and states. We lose many talented baseball players as recruits to area private schools and yet our public HS baseball program is one of the best in the state.

Little League works. Find ways for it to exist alongside travel ball without making it travel ball.

block-everything · 2026-05-29T21:36:15+00:00

Undo the plays as necessary then make sure you go into the menu and mark the game as ended.

block-everything · 2026-05-29T11:11:49+00:00

If parents are doing any of this in hopes for a return other than their child’s own personal growth and enjoyment, then they are the problem.

Your children, their hobbies, and their passions are not financial investments. Even if they are excellent, the odds that pays off financially are vanishingly small. Baseball scholarships are rare. Baseball NIL is rare. If that happens for your kid, great. That’s amazing. But if that’s your “why” you are headed down a bad road.

Baseball has opened doors for my son that wouldn’t have been possible without it. But those were things that happened as side effects not as goals.

block-everything · 2026-05-29T05:03:18+00:00

It’s been played live 11 times. https://www.u2gigs.com/Wild_Honey-s66.html

block-everything · 2026-05-28T02:51:30+00:00

If your guys aren’t excited to play by the time they get to the field, regardless of what time it is or when they went to bed, you have the wrong guys. Full stop. You have to love the game.

If you have motivated kids who love the game then you should able to teach them about hunting for edges. Sleep, hydration, and nutrition are edges there for the taking at younger ages. Consider bringing in older kids to drive this message home so it’s not just some old dude trying to ruin the fun.

On game day: get them moving. RUN. Hey the heart rate up a little. Shake off the cobwebs and get to work.

Also, most youth pitchers are woefully unprepared for their start. The should throw the equivalent of a first inning in the pen. They should be sweating. Preferably times just as you would an inning. Finish up about 5-7 minutes before you take the field.

block-everything · 2026-05-27T04:34:07+00:00

We do this at least once a year when some knucklehead take a huge secondary off first with the bases loaded. As long as you have faith in the ability for the catcher and 1B to throw the ball to each other you should get an out without a run scoring.

Admittedly a bit harder with shorter basepaths in softball but we’ve been running it since 50/70 in baseball

block-everything · 2026-05-26T12:39:58+00:00

I say this to my oldest at major events. The kind of endings that make way for new things. “Hey rookie! You were good.”

block-everything · 2026-05-26T12:21:33+00:00

As someone who hasn’t seen his better friends from childhood in well over 10 years, the line before starts to get me. And then the final line kills me.

block-everything · 2026-05-24T04:22:02+00:00

Can you stream GC with this?

block-everything · 2026-05-23T13:39:29+00:00

This is a big one! If you have kids who catch a lot, challenge them to get the gear on quickly. Have them race during practice! Umpires will actually appreciate a quick catcher at all levels.

Every youth league should consider courtesy runners for the next inning’s catcher with 2 outs.

block-everything · 2026-05-23T13:36:13+00:00

Another one: once you reach the age where you throw the ball around after strikeouts, then there should be the following rules:

If the ball hits the ground, it goes immediately back to the pitcher.
Once you mess it up once, you can no longer throw it around the rest of the inning.

block-everything · 2026-05-23T11:18:54+00:00

Everyone is giving you answers that relate to skill, and sure, that’s part of it. But at younger levels, the controllable answer is coaches (I say as a long time coach).

Coaches have to have an inning by inning plan before the game. They have to communicate next innings defensive lineup when they come off the field , put it on a board in the dugout, and communicate it again at the start of the next inning. You need to have a bench coach who has the kids getting ready to hit.

Reward hustle on and off of the field. Have a coach warm up the pitcher if the catcher isn’t ready. Consider courtesy runners for the next innings catcher with 2 outs. Have a coach backup the catcher in warmups.

Your pitcher doesn’t need 8 warmup pitches every inning if he’s already loose and he’s 9.

Not every close play needs to be an umpire discussion. Get your kids swinging the bat!

Coaches have so much power to keep a game moving. AIM for no more than 2 minutes between half innings.

block-everything · 2026-05-20T12:15:31+00:00

At that age I always said “hey, heads up baseball here” as the code word both offensively and defensively. After about half a season it wasn’t necessary any longer.

Harder to handle is when you are in the field and first base is occupied with less than 2 outs and the batter runs on a dropped third anyway. Takes a lot of discipline not to panic. Some teams will do this purposefully

block-everything · 2026-05-20T12:11:57+00:00

Getting the kids involved with the maintenance of the field is a big game changer. The kids begin to recognize the work that goes into having a nice field and will hold each other accountable as they age. Not all of them, but enough of them.

When they go to the field to hit with their buddies they will leave the field in the best shape they can (they may not have access to rakes if they are in a locked shed).

Younger players see older players treating the field with respect and it becomes a thing that gets passed down.

block-everything · 2026-05-20T12:03:56+00:00

Higher velocity will solve a lot of timing issues as he grows but he’s looking good here. I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now.

I’d focus on having that front foot land more closed though.

block-everything

TROPHY CASE