For those who “coach your son” (or those players who are coached by Dear Old Dad), lend me your ears. Here are some quick and easy thoughts to answer common problems that surround coaching your own kid.

1st & Foremost Help him become best player that He wants to be. When it becomes more about You, coach, player’s Dad . . . rethink immediately because you just became ONE OF THEM! You know guy who's son plays shortstop and pitches, he bats 3rd . . . always . . . and probably shouldn’t . . . yes, there are worse things to be than a pushy baseball Dad . . . so good news is . . . it's curable! But seriously . . . think about this . . .

2nd Consider reality of above and understand that you probably would treat discipline and talk to your own boy differently than you will with other 12 kids on your team. So when you need to discipline ANY of your team attempt to do this “evenly” and with same methods. This may take practice as well as having a pre-season discussion with your boy, as he knows Dad and just may attempt to take advantage (I know . . . not my boy!). REVISIT #1 . . . lol. Along with this thought is idea of playing time and position play. On all teams there are weak links and positions you just cannot find a player to fill. It’s a common problem especially at younger level up to around age 13.

Here’s my own experience. I have coached my son through many levels, from Tee Ball on up. One year we didn’t have a catcher, so he played catcher a lot when not pitching. At next level, a player I counted on for a lot of pitching left a hole at short and yet another season, a hole at 2nd. My first reaction each year was same . . . teach my son essentials of these positions . . . as long as he understood that he would be helping team, and me as well. Confiding in him how I was proud of him to make sacrifice didn’t hurt either.

Here are some thoughts on above topic from a buddy of mine. The guy’s name is Steve Springer.

“If baseball is 90% mental, why do we work on it less than 10% of time?” "You cannot control getting a hit, but you can control hitting ball hard!"

Who Is This Guy? Springer isn’t just another “dry jock” (a not-so-flattering term given to many broadcasters who never played game).

No, this guy logged over 7,000 pro AB’s with 11 years in AAA ball alone! He is now a very successful agent for some future Big League Impact Players!

Ok, Lets Get To The Point! Spring also said, and I paraphrase, “The majority of hitters think fastball, curve, slider, change-up on 0-0 counts.”

In My Opinion…This Is Plain Crazy! Maybe some younger athletes can get by on raw ability with this mindset, but sooner than later game eliminates us all. Some of biggest reasons are that they can no longer hit quality pitching in their age group.

NOTE: For more information on this last statement, you may want to read an article I wrote on topic entitled, “The Game Eliminates Us All.”

Personally, I think much of this is avoidable…it just takes having a plan! Spring went on to say that “when you are facing Dwight Gooden in his prime, you saw 95 mph followed by hammer (the curveball), YOU BETTER PICK ONE BECAUSE YOU AREN’T ADJUSTING TO ANYTHING! … Doesn’t this make sense?

Ok, Lets Get To Some Real Solutions! We Must Have A Simplified Plan! Ok, how?

Well for starters, Watch The Pitcher! He's going to show you and tell you what you are going to get…if you will really watch him!

It’s not about what you want! (which at best is about only plan most youth hitters seem to have.)

It’s about what am I going to get! And how do you know if you don’t watch game?

From dugout, when pitcher warms up, whenever and wherever you can! The pitcher is going to tell you what you are going to get. They live on patterns. Pitchers like to be comfortable and hate it when they are not!

Now, your job is what Ted Williams (perhaps greatest hitting coach of all time) says is of greatest importance...FIND A PITCH TO HIT!

And How Do You Find A Pitch To Hit? You Watch The Game!

HERE’S THE PLAN! 1- Consider that pitchers are taught to get ahead. This means strike one is their aim. What is number one pitch that a batter is likely to see 0-0? Yep, a fastball. In much of youth baseball, chances are that if it is a strike, it will pierce fat of plate.