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Here is some advice for those kids who are perfectionist and get frustrated playing the game and the parents and coaches who get frustrated with them.
I received this inquiry recently. What the coaches and parents must understand is that baseball is a game of failure. It is how you deal with the failure not the success that will determine how long you get to play the game. The hard working, competitive player will enjoy a lot of success but even the best youth league player will fail at least 4 of 10 times at the plate. He will walk batters. He will give up hits. He will boot‘em. As he gets older and moves up to the big field, the frequency of failure increases. A stud HS player will fail 6 of ten times at the plate. He may be All State but can he deal with failing 50% more than he used to?
My son played with a stud his first year in pro ball. This player was 6’3 215 lbs, could run like the wind, had a cannon for an arm and could hit it way into the trees but he told my son that to him “baseball was two hours of anger management.” He was released the next year! If my son had his physical tools, he would be a perennial All Star. But he was released not because he couldn’t play but because he couldn’t deal with the failure.
Often stud players never have had to deal with adversity. They had always started. They always batted in the 3 hole. When they finally get to a level at which everyone is a stud they freak because they never had to deal with the prospect of failure. They are out of the game not because they couldn’t play but because they are a HEADCASE!
The mental part of the game is the biggest challenge. It is what separates those that go on from those that get released. This is where coaches and parents must provide guidance. He must work to develop his physical skills but those in charge of his development must help him to develop the ability to deal with the failure and compete to overcome adversity.
Yours in Baseball The Coach ARCHIVES
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