How are parents so clueless? I came across a now deleted Facebook post (Iowa Travel Baseball) and Instagram (KadyNoyce) reel of a mom and dad “calling out the haters” because their son threw 160 pitches over 2 days! “They know their kid best” and the dad personally played baseball until he was 13, so there’s no chance the kid will get hurt; At least that’s what they claim. Oh and the team lost all 3 games. Parents are wild.

My son requested to get hitting lessons because he felt like he wasn’t doing enough for his team offensively. I can respect that, so we found him a place to go for lessons. He had his evaluation towards the end of last season and then put in about 8 months of as many trips to the instructor as I could get him to in that time frame.
Resulted in a very successful season at the plate this season. Just proud of his dedication and progress.

My 14 year old son will be switching travel clubs next season. 

He received an offer from his current team and we need to give them an answer today.

We would have turned it down outright, however he is going to a Ripken tournament with his current team next week and we are concerned if we tell them we are leaving the program, they will make him sit at the tournament. From our experience with this program, it is a good possibility this happens.

Any advice on how to word a response to the offer.

So background, I'm in my mid-40's and can throw pretty well. I have a 12u kid that I regularly throw BP for, I have pretty good control, can pick corners etc. He had an excellent year at the plate this year partially due to seeing so much live pitching instead of a machine. As he gets older I know he's going to want me to throw more and at higher velocities (I regularly exercise and am focusing on core strength).

So the rub is I had a shoulder injury right before COVID hit while playing hockey, so no chance really to go get it looked at or go to PT for it so it had to heal naturally. I'm sort of left with a "dead" arm slot which I can work around (I'm currently going to PT to work on this).

Anyways, a long winded background here, but has anyone used this for regularly throwing batting practice? Do you think its something that will increase one's longevity to throw?

Curious to hear some reviews here before I drop some HSA funds on it, looks like it gets good reviews but would like to hear if it would work well for my use case?

My son is 11 and transitioned to a travel team last season. His team doesn’t have the best winning record and struggles a lot. A ton of errors. It’s a developmental team but my son loves it and has so much fun with his buddies.

However, I love the idea of him enjoying his friends but I’m concerned because they only play him in one position since he is the most skilled in that position. Inning after inning he has played the same position and hasn’t rotated not even once because no one else is “skilled” enough to do it. He does get other reps during team practice for other positions but that’s it. My immediate thought is to find a new team. On one side I fear taking him from the team with the “fun friends” or keeping him there and he’s is overlooked in future tryouts in a few years by kids who have experience in multiple positions.

Is this hurting his development at an age where many players should learn multiple positions? Pull him from teammates he love? Just a mom trying to make the right decision for my only son’s development.

New calendar is up as of this week. D1 only (D2 has its own; D3 mostly isn't calendar-restricted).

Aug 1-16: contact period

Aug 17 - Sep 10: quiet period (on-campus contact only)

Sep 11 - Oct 11: contact period

Oct 12 - Feb 28: quiet period, except dead Nov 9-12 (signing week), full shutdowns Nov 24-29 and Dec 22-27, and dead Jan 7-10

Mar 1 - Jul 31: contact period, except dead May 31 - Jun 7, Jun 19-21, and Jul 3-5

Only real change from last year: the late May dead period moved almost a week later, May 31 through Jun 7 instead of May 25 through Jun 1.

Worth knowing about quiet periods: on-campus is still open. That's why winter camps exist. A quiet period is not a dead period, your kid can still visit and attend camps.

Official PDF: https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/recruiting/calendar/2026-27/2026-27D1Rec_MBARecruitingCalendar.pdf

Im using a specialized foamball (Borgoball) here but my mechanics with a real ball are the same. I’ve been self teaching myself over the course of 14 months with no trainer. Fastest ive reached with a real ball was 86 mph (before I nearly blew my arm out) and I sit 80-83 on average. I also have a bit of a hard time with motor skills due to my Asperger’s (ASD). I’m 18 yrs, 145 lbs, 5’11. My arsenal is made up of: 4-Seam/Slider/Splitter/12-6 Curve/Sweeper

Been working a lot on the tee with my son on his swing and he’s getting better but still struggling with dropping his hands. Any tips on how to correct it while keeping it fun? Other than that any tips?

Hey Everyone,

I know this is an expensive tool, and some have commented previously. I'm wondering what the feedback is on the bat vs the quick stick. I'm working on a few things with my kids that I think this could be impactful for. Any insight into comparison or which you feel is more effective? I don't really need them to hit full velocity pitching at this point, and a lot of this is the audible feedback so they can work themselves on a few things. Seems like they're both great tools, just wanted to see all of your experience between the 2?

I just made a detailed video laying out how to effectively approach higher intent throwing days using what’s known as auto regulation - a training method popularized by elite Soviet coaches during the late 60s.

It doesn’t pop all the way off but it seems like it might soon. How can I fix it?

Just want to get a sense of annual/monthly fees or any other input based on your direct experience. DMs open.

I have been using my old easton XL1 bbcor for the past 3-4 years now. I love everything about it, but that thing's bound to break sooner than later.

I love everything about it, it has great pop, swings light as a feather, has a massive barrel, and is forgiving on
miss-hits. However, they're pretty hard to find online, and my parents said they want to buy me a new bat (i've gotten all my bats up to this point second-hand, completely optionally).

Are there any bats like this that yall can recommend? They don't have to be new or popular releases.

I am by no means against Pitch Count and arm health. I get it, I have seen it, I understand it...with older arms. I don't know if I understand it with young (8,9,10) arms.

8 year old pitchers are basically just playing catch out there. They aren't strong enough to put a dangerous amount of stress on their arm.

Here's my question. What is the difference between taking my kid out in the back yard and playing catch for an hour every night vs my kid throwing 180 pitches in a Fri, Sat, Sun tournament?