I think this was done once before, but I'm too lazy to go see so :P

My oldest is really into sports (mainly baseball).  Last night, he asks me if he can go see a pitching coach that one of his friends is seeing.  So, I look into it.......it's $100/session and they recommend at least 10 sessions :o  It's not that we can't afford it, but these kids are 10.  Is that going too far or am I just being unreasonable?  Now, let me say that my son started pitching this year and is pretty good at it.  He has amazing accuracy, but not much speed.  For those of you who have pitched before, which do you think is more important?  Will the speed come with time and practice or should I take him for the "free evaluation" to see what they think?  I'm sure he could be Greg Maddux & they'd say he needed lessons so I'm prepared for that, but I'm just wondering if it's worth the time and effort :-\\

Your one hell of  mom, for willing to spend 100/session on your kid.  Does your son really love baseball and want to be really good at it?  Or is he just wanting to do what his friends are doing?  Tough decision here.  You know my dad spent a lot of money on me growing up to go to wrestling camps and clinics and one on one sessions.  I just want to let you know that if you're spending the money on your kid for the soul purpose of seeing him be a high school all star baseball player someday, you're waisting your money.  If you're spending it on him because you love him and want to see him do something he enjoys, then it's worth every penny.

The destination is sure nice to get to, but the journey along the way is the real treat.

Part II:

Another thing that bothers me is that many parents ask too much of the coaches.....especially at the younger levels.  For example, my son's coach had parents complaining that he was leaving the pitchers in too long (they can pitch a maximum of 3 innings) so he started taking some of them out after 1 inning....then it was "Well, Johnny got to pitch 2 innings and my Billy only got to pitch 1" so he started just pitching everyone 1 inning....then it was that he wasn't leaving them in long enough (especially when they were doing well).  Now, he's finally said (basically) "Look, from now on, if the kid is pitching well and feeling good, I'm leaving him in.....if not, he's out."  (Let me also explain that the pitchers have walked in an average of 7 runs per game and there are only 2 pitchers that have never walked in a run)  He's also had to explain how he does the batting order because people were complaining about that.  So, here's my thought:  if you can do a better "job", then YOU do it.  I KNOW my son's not a power hitter so I don't expect him to bat clean-up (nor does he) and I don't complain (or even question) the coach's decision to put him anywhere in the batting order.  I did wonder about how he was playing the pitchers but again, figured HE'S the coach.  So, when people were coming up to me asking why he took my son out when he was doing well, I just said "I'm sure there's a reason" and they would go off on how the coach doesn't know what he's doing, yada, yada, yada....to which I replied "Well, he's the coach and I'm sure there's a reason".  Am I in the minority or have others seen this type of behavior from parents as well?
Absolutely the right way to handle it ;)

It's very admirable to help your kids pursue what they enjoy, Kim. Fortunatly, I never had to spend that much at any one time :-\\

I'm no expert, this is just something I heard the commentators say during a game, but what they said was that kids shouldn't start pitching too young since they can wear out their arms. Most of the top pitchers in the major leagues didn't start doing it till they were in their late teens. Pitching is very hard on a person's arm, which is why players should wait till their bodies are mature enough before pursuing it too seriously. It's actually recommended that players not try throwing a curve ball till they're 16 years old.

But that's just something I heard the commentators say, so you might not want to take it too seriously.

I think $100 a session is ridiculous.  I think the best way for him to improve would be with practice.

I think $100 a session is ridiculous.  I think the best way for him to improve would be with practice.


Hey, this is actually a great idea. 


crazymom,  I know from personal standpoint, observational standpoint and a coaching standpoint that kids that have there parents work with them and strongly believe in them often turn out to do really really well.

Neither you or your husband my know jack squat about baseball.  But squatting down to take some pitches and throwing a ball across a plate, would help a lot more than you could ever imagine.