Hello Again, Thanks for this forum, Our Son played in 86 ball games last year, He practiced maybe once or twice every 2 weeks. We want to curb the amount of games this year. Will we be hurting his development by reducing the game load??
Our Son has the chance to PRACTICE ONLY with a Area Select Team twice a week. He will play 1 to 2 games per week with his regular team.. What advice is best for our Son?? Heavy Game load or less games and MORE Practice??

Thanks again. Mank

Depends honestly. If the practices are good and helpful, then practice. If he thinks the practices are a waste of time, then don't. I have always preferred practice of games but only if its a good, helpful practice. Practice makes perfect.

How old is your son?

I can only share from personal experience....imo, practice trumps gameplay. We are very limited in the number of games we play here (I'm working and raising the kids overseas)....but my kid has practiced and practiced and practiced year round for many years and, despite the limited number of games, has found a place to play in college. He does great in the games we do get, though! Games are for putting the practice to work and provide the needed situational and teamwork attributes of a good ballplayer. But that's all relatively meaningless without having first mastered the skills needed to compete at a higher level.

I hope that's worth at least a couple of cents!

KRAK

And yet there is always the real game experience. How many kids do you know who hit really well in practice or at a lesson but then choke in a real game?

Same thing with fielding. "Game day jitters" and all. Game situations are just so different than at a practice. Although you do need the skills, you also need the experience of playing in actual games.

I'll ask the question, too...how old is your son? His age could affect my answer and opinion.

His age, his position, where he is in development, and the level of competition are all important.

I see in your other posts he's just about to turn 13, and has been invited to play up. If he's having fun and learning --- the sitch isn't broke, no reason to fix it.

If he's feeling that baseball is getting to be any kind of burden, then you might want to make adjustments. If the competition on the team he's playing games for isn't challenging him, you might want to make adjustments.

Consider how much PT he'll get on the select team.

Consider the quality of the coaching where he'll get practice.

What's his position --- is he getting regular action in games, or would the defensive reps in practice be better for him?

Live game-situation hitting can't be replaced. How's his swing and results; does he need more reps there, has he got things to correct -- all considerations as to whether games or practice are more important.

Think about all this (and lots more I haven't thought of just now) to decide how you'll talk to him. Then first find out what he wants to help guide the discussion. He's still very young and has time.

Best of luck to him!

Somethings to consider....playing games is great and nothing can replicate the in-game experience.

However, if all you do is play games, certain aspects of a player's game suffers. For instance, the first thing to go is defense (and yes, I realize that baseball is more and more a pitching and hitting game). If all you do is play games, when do you practice fielding? hitting a cutoff man? turning a double play? bunt coverages? The answer is you don't.

Another aspect that gets lost if all you do is play games is throwing. I'm not talking about pitchers ... they always seem to get their throwing in. I'm speaking about position players. Typically, if all you are doing is playing games and not practicing, pre-game warmups will often be the only throwing a player gets unless he is a truly diligent player and shows up early to get his work in. And, if they are throwing only before games ...make sure outfielders are throwing outfield distances. Too often, I see outfielders throwing 90'-100' (maybe) in warmups and never really throw outfield distances (200'+). Just an opinion.

Playing games is what it's all about. But, practicing and working on specific skills is critical. It can be great playing lots and lots of games, but often it leaves no time for the player to really develop and truly learn the game.

You see more and more teams (and players) who go from tournament to tournament, showcase to showcase, and you wonder when they ever get time to work on their game.

You need to find the proper proportion based on age and skill level.

If you have a younger son - preteen up to 14 then you probably need more practices than games. He needs to learn the skills and become comfortable using them in a controlled environment and then have games to put them all together.

If you have a son that is 15 - 18 then you probably want a few more games than practices. Hopefully by this point your son has been prepared and be able to do more games. Now the practices are used to keep fresh on the basics.

If you have a son that is 19 - older then you need mostly games. At this point the team your son is playing will have light workouts before the game to stay sharp.

Hope that makes sense.

Both are very important.

One thing to keep in mind. Games might be the most important practice of all!

I believe pitchers need a mix and that takes a somewhat regular schedule. Pitchers develop their control and their pitches in the bullpen and then learn how to take it with them to the field. Many times a pitcher who is in a relief role can have great difficulty working around not knowing when they are going to pitch. During summer ball and winter ball if they can get on a regular schedule so that they can work on arm strength, control, secondary pitches, etc. as well as getting a chance to take that into game situations it is a good thing. If they never know when they are or aren't going to pitch then they tend to regress rather than advance because they can't get in the bullpen work they need as a game is certainly not the place to be developing new pitches or to work on mechanics. On the other hand you can make all the improvements you want in the pen and it doesn't mean a thing until you can do it in a game.

The key is using the practice to develop something that can be taken into the games.

I would try to do consistent workouts on your own as practice and then play in games with the highest competition you can find...as an infielder i think in the summer in high school i can get in a lot more reps and improve my skills a lot better if i just workout with maybe one or 2 really good friends who also want to put in the extra time...sometimes full team practices get a little tedious and you end up not taking as many ground balls or swings as if you were on your own.

as for hitters consistent bp is a must to keep your swing looking good...but i believe you gotta face pitching...and good pitching at that to become an all around good hitter and identify what in the swing needs work.

bottom line right now you are working on skills and tools...take as many reps and train as much as possible without hurting yourself or burning yourself out.

Thanks for the responses, Yes, our son is 13 YO. He is a LHP/1st baseman, plays a little outfield, but not as much as he should.. caught behind the plate the entire game for his league team the other night.

Son is seeing a Professional EX Big League pitching Coach and a hitting instructor once a week. Also we mix in a personal trainer on Sunday afternoon to work on foot speed, balance and core strength.

Keep the advice coming Please!! N

i agree age has a bearing on the answer. practice has in my mind been the most important. you may only get a few chances at grounders/fly balls in a game.