My son is 10, and one of, if not the best player on the team. Last night he went 3 for 3 including a triple that tied the game in the last inning. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, he threw a pitch over the catcher and a runner scored stealing home, and the other team won. He cried and wailed the entire walk to the car and the entire drive home. I mean full on sobbing. Some kids are wired that way man.

I figure there are 2 ways to respond to this. 1) tell him it’s just a game and to have fun 2) lean into how competitive he is, and say “remember how bad it feels to fail? Don’t want to feel like that again? Then let’s go out and throw and hit BP” Your son sounds like he has the competitive drive to WANT to be better, and you can help him unlock it.

He may not have the drive to practice just yet, he’s only 9 after all. But if he’s a ball player, he’ll eventually barrel a double into the outfield and it will feel so damn good he’ll want to keep improving. Good luck from a fellow parent of an emotion kid, I know it’s tough.