Greenville, Tennessee Marlins is starting a new 7U kid pitch team that will play Northeast Tennessee tournaments. Looking for 7U or even 8U, since most of our tournaments will be 8U this year. Contact me at jconnell@boonetrailbaptist.org if interested.

Really? Do kids need to start pitching at 7?!?

8U/7U should be in basic basball training not tournaments

What do you suggest we do with 8U? Coach pitch is not good mechanics for hitting. The level of rec ball at that age is terrible. There are only about 2 kids per team that can catch and hit. We put together some of the better kids within a 2 hour area and are working 2 days a week on fundamentals. Would love to hear you guys, expert, opinion.

8u around here is machine pitch.

Jeff,

I've coached in a 1200 kid program since my son was 7 years old. Our 7/8 yo "coach pitch" division last spring had 280 players. Of these, about 50 were allowed to play in a "high" league of four teams (based on tryouts). The remainder played in a "low" league of about 20 teams. Eight years ago when my son was that age, I had the choice to coach a "high" team (filled with stronger kids and parents who thought their kid was a future MLB player) or a "low" team where the kids were mostly just average. I chose the "low" level because I didn't want to push my son too hard when he was so young; I wanted him to have fun while he learned the game. That said, I wanted the opportunity to teach the weaker kids how to play the game.

Today, when I look around at the players of that class who still play, very few are those seven and eight year old superstars. Most of the kids on my current select team played in the "low" league back then. They grew bigger and stronger in middle school and left many of the others behind.

If I were you, I'd focus on my son having fun and learning the game. Show your love of the game by teaching those kids who you admit cannot catch or hit. Keep it local. You might find that those kids with no skills today turn out to be the best high school players. They are only waiting for you to show them the way.

Leaving aside concerns about physical development and arm injuries (for which I'm not an expert but age 7 would worry me):

Kid pitch at ages 7 and 8 is mostly walks, hit batters and strikeouts. BORING. Boring for the parents, boring for the players, boring for the coaches. A great way to kill all interest in the game among our nation's youth if you ask me.

Give me coach pitch or machine pitch at that age level any day. More fielding opportunities (though many are booted, the kids improve rapidly when the ball is actually put in play), and the hitters mostly gain confidence. They can develop good swing mechanics when they get older. You really want to turn your 7-year-old over to BlueDog?

Tee ball: You learn which hand gets the glove and which one you throw with. The ball sits still when you are trying to hit it. If you do hit the ball, go to the white sack, then turn left.

Coach pitch: Only a slight step up, a bit more defense, ball is hit further more frequently, the ball is a bit harder to hit because now it's moving. But the pitcher is trying to let you hit it, not trying to get you out, so it's still pretty easy and fun for kids who are at an age where their attention spans are short.

Kid pitch: The pitcher is trying to get you out. But he also may hit you, even if it is only an accident. It's hard enough for 9's to overcome the fear that can cause. If you start at age 7, IMHO you can ruin a player for baseball at a very young age.

In my experience very few 9's could really pitch consistently. I did see a few travel teams spring up at that age to round those kids up and take 'em on the road, and whatever other things folks want to cringe over, they had a load of fun playing baseball, and I'm all for that.

But starting kids pitching at age 7 to me is WAY too early.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Connell:
What do you suggest we do with 8U? Coach pitch is not good mechanics for hitting. The level of rec ball at that age is terrible. There are only about 2 kids per team that can catch and hit. We put together some of the better kids within a 2 hour area and are working 2 days a week on fundamentals. Would love to hear you guys, expert, opinion.

So...some kids are travelling 2 hours twice per week to work out at age? You have 7U kids pitching?

I think 9U is about as early as I would start them, IMO.

Send them outside to climb a tree, catch a frog or chase the neighbor's cat. Why is there an obsession to take kids and make them grow up. Take that two hours and play kick the can it will be much more productive.

But I'm just an old fool.

I was wondering if people would editorialize on this thread. I didn't want to be the first. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by 7U kid pitch tournament ball. All that matters at this age is having fun, learning some basics and building a passion for the game. When I was commissioner of the 7/8 league I told parents not to get all torqued up about the games. I said we were more likely to create baseball fans than high school baseball players and we need an environment to learn to love the game. Some parents were upset by my perspective. From when my son was seven in 7/8's, he's the only seven year old out of about 120 kids still playing baseball as of freshman year in high school. The only thing to be accomplished with 7U kid pitch is burning out arms by 12U.

I agree that the earliest kid pitch age should be 9. Even at 9 very few kids can get the ball over the plate for the batters to hit. I think machine pitch might be the best. The pitches are more consistent than coach pitch and have less of an arc.
The kids don't have to be afraid that the pitch will be wild and hit them. This allows them to be comfortable in the batters box and get more bats on the ball which means having more fun.
Starting travel ball at the ripe old age of 9 is probably the correct age.
A 7yo is more interested in the snacks after the game than who they are playing. I bet very few that age can even catch a ball let alone throw a pitch that is even close to hittable.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Connell:
What do you suggest we do with 8U? Coach pitch is not good mechanics for hitting. The level of rec ball at that age is terrible. There are only about 2 kids per team that can catch and hit. We put together some of the better kids within a 2 hour area and are working 2 days a week on fundamentals. Would love to hear you guys, expert, opinion.

Jeff,
In nearly 40 years of baseball 25 years or so of coaching I find this to be the most damaging thing to the game. I keep asking this on sites like this - show me one expert who says TB before big field is good for the kids. All the clinicians I have at our clinics agree it is not. 2-hours for a 7-y/o to play ball? Let him smack a ball around in the back yard with dad. developing a shared love for the game with dad/mom is the lesson he should be leaning right now. Stay away from TB until the big field.
Jake

I understand and appreciate all your CONCERNS. But we are not talking about the average kid. My 7 year old played 8U machine pitch last year and batted 1.000. He never got out. Stole 87 bases and got thrown out 1 time. All of this as a 6 year old. He can stand at 46 feet and throw 8/10 pitches for a strike. He has been throwing and catching a baseball since he was 2. He is a switch hitter.
I also understand he is not the average player. He has 17 and 15 year old brothers. One lefty, one righty, thus the switch hitting. His 15 year old brother, throws the ball at 86 MPH as a freshman, lefty.
Most of the players on our team fit this description. They are players that would become frustrated in machine pitch, much less the coaches that can not get the ball over the plate.
He practices on his own about 2 hours a day throwing with someone, mostly the high school team his brothers play on.
Our league for machine pitch had 6 teams and it was terrible. I understand this is not for everyone. But it is for some. We have an 8 year old that is huge and can bring it. We are putting together a team of players and families that want something more.
My middle son is on one of these teams that started when they were 9. They will all make their varsity teams as freshmen and are all still playing. It does work to put the best together and let them develop each other.

For the ones who say I should teach it. I DO. We do camps each year twice a year and teach the basics to the lower level kids. But I will not put my child through playing with others who will not even get behind a ball or are scared of it. He loves this game and wants to play at the highest level. Not from me, but from him.
I have never had to make any of my sons play baseball, football, or basketball. They love it and that is what they want to do.

quote:

Originally posted by JakeP:

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Connell:
What do you suggest we do with 8U? Coach pitch is not good mechanics for hitting. The level of rec ball at that age is terrible. There are only about 2 kids per team that can catch and hit. We put together some of the better kids within a 2 hour area and are working 2 days a week on fundamentals. Would love to hear you guys, expert, opinion.

Jeff,
In nearly 40 years of baseball 25 years or so of coaching I find this to be the most damaging thing to the game. I keep asking this on sites like this - show me one expert who says TB before big field is good for the kids. All the clinicians I have at our clinics agree it is not. 2-hours for a 7-y/o to play ball? Let him smack a ball around in the back yard with dad. developing a shared love for the game with dad/mom is the lesson he should be leaning right now. Stay away from TB until the big field.
Jake

Define expert. I can find you a lot of dads who have seen their sons succeed because of travel ball. It is not for everyone, but it is for some. I get tickled at the LLWS. Those players could not think about competing at the Travel Ball level. It has been proven because the ones who have won from the US do not compete at the Major level.

I think that we are all quick to judge what is right and what is wrong for other people's children. We all want to quote the "professionals" because their opinion for some reason seems to hold a little more weight. You can take practically every post from threads like this one and copy it in to the next thread about TB, pitching, etc.
I'm not placing my opinion on this thread, but I can understand the way that Jeff feels about rec ball and the talent/ability that its players possess. My son too was head and shoulders above what our local rec league put out there and he became somewhat uninterested due to there being no challenge for him at that age. Things have since leveled out and he plays TB at the highest level possible.
Jeff, just remember that these are very young boys and their bodies are yet to be molded. Don't be the one to put their future baseball opportunities in jeopardy. I'm sure you'll make the right decisions.

I understand the body deal as good as anyone. My middle son started playing on 10U travel teams at age 8. He pitched and played right with the others. Most could not believe he was only 8. We watched his pitch count as we will with all of these boys. My older two have played travel ball since 8U and have never had arm or shoulder problems. We are not talking dads coaching that know nothing. We have coaches that have taken teams to the elite 24 and many world series coaching.

This thread was started to find another player like what we already have. It was not started as a debate of travel ball versus rec ball.

I have been down this road before and made the choice that was right for my children. We have tried the rec ball stuff and it does not work for mine, not for yours or your neighbors.

You can argue all you want. My son wants to play any kind of ball he can. Not play in trees or kick cans. When birthdays and Christmas comes, he wants gloves, balls, helmets, etc.

We know this is not for everyone, that is why we prefaced it with needing players and parents who want travel ball.

quote:

My 7 year old played 8U machine pitch last year and batted 1.000. He never got out. Stole 87 bases and got thrown out 1 time. All of this as a 6 year old.

You've just described half the site's poster's kids at age seven.

quote:

We have an 8 year old that is huge and can bring it.

Throws from the rubber to the plate on a line. Once again just like half the site's poster's kids at age seven.

quote:

I can find you a lot of dads who have seen their sons succeed because of travel ball.

Success on the kiddie size fields doesn't mean diddly (to borrow from Jim Mora).

quote:

I get tickled at the LLWS. Those players could not think about competing at the Travel Ball level.

Just another travel dad full of himself over his kid. LL has boundaries. Go figure the teams aren't as good as travel teams! My son's 12U travel team (played around the LL schedule) would have trashed his LL all-star team that was section runnerup to a team that went to Williamsport. But the kids still had a great time during all-stars.