I feel bad for me 4 years ago * turned into updates on my son's baseball

[Flasch186]

Aiden had an incredibly long day:

Weight lifting at 6:45
School 8:00-3:15
School practice 3:30-6:15
Dodgers travel ball practice 6:30-8:30

I missed his dodgers practice

When he got home instead of being tired he was amped up because his team played against the varsity head coaches 13u travel team and Aiden was on fire. Singles, a double off of the fence, a diving catch in CF, solid at first

He couldn’t wait to tell me so that was cool

But

I told him I didn’t want this kind of day often while the wife chirped about him having to go if he knows he’s missing the weekend dodgers practice. I don’t really care. If he misses he misses and I’ll make sure I put enough pressure when necessary so that he doesn’t have days like this but maybe one more time this spring.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden is the dumbest smart kid around

They had their second scrimmage today and all game long, 6 innings, every at bat started with a 1-1 count to accelerate the abs.

Jv gets to bat in the 6-7th

Aiden gets his ONE ab against a varsity pitcher who’s going to dial it down.

Aiden takes a great hack at the first pitch for a swinging strike. Then he takes the next strike and stands there awaiting his next pitch and they inform him that that’s it… You struck out and he looks a bit flummoxed before walking back to the dug out (at least without pouting)

I mean wtf

Get your head out of your ass dude

He does shit like this ask of the time like he’s just head in the clouds. Drives me crazy especially when he’s already screwed up lately.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden finally might see some light at the end of the tunnel but only after giving more flesh.

This past winter Aiden earned himself a Wednesday work day (which is basically to pick up trash after school) for forgetting his dress shirt on dress up day. The problem was that when he was confronted about it he tried to make light of it in the hopes of skating by… he didn’t and they took it as disrespect although he says that wasn’t his intention but instead to lighten the mood so he’d get in less trouble.

Then the school schedule never worked out and the day he was scheduled it he missed school for the double flu. When he got back he reminded the Dean that he missed the Wednesday work day. By being honest the Dean told us that he was waiving it.

Fast forward to the dick drawing episode and the Dean reinstated the Wednesday work day. Feels arbitrary but Aiden bright it on himself and I have no leverage to argue and neither does he.

Where it gets worse is that this Wednesday is a scrimmage and he will have to miss it for the Wednesday work day. He’s going to let his coach know tomorrow but it’s pretty evident he’s still in the dog house. This won’t help but hopefully he can do what I told him to which is to approach the coach after history class and talk to him about the past event that earned the work day, the present and the future with contrition respect and promise. In other words to use the moment to clear the air with the coach and lay the words out there that he’ll follow and pray that it is well received.

He seems to not be broken inside by this except for two days where I thought he literally may lose his passion for the school and coaches and baseball in some sort of depressed glaze but he seems to have gotten it back.


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[Flasch186]

He tells me he spoke to his coaches and they’re all on board with getting this over with and moving on. Seems like it cleared the air some according to him. Hopefully this can be the end of the stupidity chapter if his life for a while.


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[Flasch186]

Deleted

[Flasch186]

Scout city at Aiden’s school today watching this pitcher




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[Flasch186]

Living a little dream of mine doing sports pbp and announcing




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[Flasch186]

Aiden did good on the mound tonight in HS JV as an 8th grader




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[Flasch186]

Aiden got on the bump again for hs jv and did well

2ip 0h 0er 2bb 1k

It’s a shower left have pitch right now that illicits weak contract but it’s not sustainable so we’ll be starting pitching lessons in the summer to get right there

Inconsistent at the plate still. When he’s on, like his first ab, he can hit. First pitch fastball and he laced a base hit

Third ab he was in his heels and struck out without a chance

He knees what he needs to do though and says it to be in the way to the car without me even bringing it up


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[thesloppy]

I always check when there's an update in this thread and have enjoyed reading about Aiden's progress over the years FWIW.

[flere-imsaho]

Same - keep it up, Flasch!

[Flasch186]

Thanks guys

It’s been fun

Hopefully the train goes through high school

Then who knows but having baseball be a part of his high school experience is teaching him a ton about life as well as the enjoyment of the game.


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[Flasch186]

Weird couple of weeks for Aiden and I hope it’s just the throes of old into something new.

Friday night for JV he was defeated before he even batted against a 10th grade submariner. Aiden was a mess and completely defeated. The old Aiden.

So I texted him some harsh stuff:

“You think I dad you and don’t tell you the truth?

Fine

You were miles off of the plate again
They saw it, so they set up outside and pitched you there. Were they all strikes? No but you had set yourself up in a way that you had zero chance to get a hit and 100% chance of losing all of your confidence.

So again, not physical stuff

Mental

YOU NEED TO WANT TO FIGHT AGAINST YOUR FEARS AND SCORES SO YOU HAVE A REMOTE CHANCE OF
SUCCESS

or

Don’t

If you enjoy feeling like this, keep doing the same thing

No changes absolutely equals same results”


And

“The longer you refuse to get on the plate and swing hard the longer you’re going to suffer without actually giving yourself a chance.

No one can make you do it except yourself. Or just do that

Get on the plate and swing hard

You won’t have to reach anymore
Therefore you’ll have a faster tighter swing

Literally that

Get on the plate

When you do, factually, you hit well

When you don’t you don’t

And then you get to sit in the feelings both good or bad

You seem to like a category of feeling that is odd to me”

He answered with “I try.”

And I responded with:

“I’m sorry

You are lying to yourself when say you try when you just have to put your toes on the line (or just an inch or two off) by literally looking down before every pitch?

You get fearful and stand too far away and therefore while you minimize your chances of getting hit you minimize your chances of getting a hit.

Just look down and get closer closer closer

Give yourself a chance

You’re upset saying you suck when you literally aren’t doing the mental set up


No need to respond to me. I don’t want to go back and forth. You can watch your ABs if you want.

It’s up to you to fight for your goals and happiness.

That night I ended with:

“My piece of advice for tomorrow:

Get your f’n toes on the line

The hinge can’t fix anything when you’re 10” off of the line which means your 16” from the edge of the plate and 33” from the outside of the plate

AND open the front gate

So just get the funk on the line and give yourself a chance no matter how scared you are

Or don’t and continue to slump and have regret and beat yourself up cuz that feels good”



I don’t know what the variables are any more but then this weekend he was on fire. Batted .600 culminating in him hitting a 76mph fastball back through a pitchers face (not literally) for a hit instead being scared he did exactly what I said he needed to do for himself. Maybe it’ll stick maybe it won’t. I dunno but if he would just fight for himself maybe there’d be a chance to reach his potential but if not then he won’t obviously.

He pitched well as well. No earned runs.

This travel ball team is not a good team though and I’m thankful that school ball has replaced the drama of travel ball. The school team is where he needs to grind and earn it and he’ll get that education if he never plays baseball being high school. The travel ball circuit isn’t for us beyond this local stuff and to be fair Aiden’s not good enough for that mercenary type of elite national baseball anyways.




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[Flasch186]

So he played in a game Monday and was a mental wreck. Just old 11u Aiden so at home his mother gave it to him in person.

Then last night he played, started on the mound and was awesome. His bat was cold but he attacked, made contact, moved runners and looked like an athlete again.

His pitching was great.

Pitched 5 innings with a 68% strike ratio, gave up only 3er as well so that helps removed some of the tarnish he loves to showcase from Monday.

I just don’t get it

I don’t understand how to get him to commit to an aggressive attack mentality for two hours at a time.

Smh

Is probably his age and the fact that he’s an 8th grader playing a decently high level of HS JV baseball against kids 2-3 years older than him but my point to him is,

“Look, you’re going to usually get out anyways. Wouldn’t you rather get out and have no regrets then get out and be upset and regretful because you were a pussy?”


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[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

I don’t understand how to get him to commit to an aggressive attack mentality for two hours at a time.

Feed him raw meat? I got nothing.

[Flasch186]

Aiden’s back to the games at the plate and is very late. His hitting coach watched his abs last night she told me after the game that, “his timing is incredibly off but it’s an easy fix.” The problem is he’s so busy and Aiden’s so busy that we can’t get lessons for a while so it’s up to Aiden to try to get back on time.

Luckily Aiden’s pitching great so that helps.

He went 6ip yesterday and only 2 earned runs. The defense has helped but he throws it so slow (which is not sustainable long run) he gets a ton of weak contact. As long as his defense is true it’s pretty incredible. Over 18 innings this season he has a 1.2 whip and 2.0 era. His ip avg is 13.2.

The incredible thing (not in a good way) with Aiden right now is he’s now playing in fear overall. What I mean is that Aiden tops out at 67…. Last night 62. (10% less) also at the plate he’s only looking like he’s giving 85-90%. Same with pitching.

He’s been training for so long to hit especially and certainly has some training pitching but he just won’t put it all together and let it go, giving it his all without regret.

Very frustrating to watch and so unnecessary.

Sometimes you’d think it was a kid taking a game off but I know better. He’s just trying to be perfect which is making him slower and thoughtful.

Oh well

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Sometimes you'd think it was a kid taking a game off but I know better. He's just trying to be perfect which is making him slower and thoughtful.

Oh well

I'm going to ask a question that, honestly, I'm not entirely sure how to phrase. Please just know that what I'm trying to ask isn't meant as any sort of ... insult, or anything of the sort. I'm just trying to sort out your description & what it has rattling around in my head.

He's been coached, and coached well best I can tell from the tales of his journey ... but what are his instincts like? His baseball, or even simply athletic, instincts I mean?

I read that "trying to be perfect ... making him slower and thoughtful" and my first reaction was "okay, so he's trying to be too 'fine'" And then I thought about that some more.

Where does the element of "trying to fit in all the pieces he's learned" meet with "doing anything that comes naturally"? What's left in his swing, or his delivery, that's just ... natural? That flows without needing to think?

Could he just be hitting a (temporary) limit on how much can be done that requires thought as opposed to coming naturally?

Again, apologies if I didn't phrase this well. It's not criticism in any manner way shape or form, I'm just trying to work through to a notion about what might be serving as a roadblock at the moment.

[Flasch186]

So to answer this I’ll first couch this with, I’m his dad so….

He’s the most or second most athletic kid in his class

However

He’s likely one of the most cerebral though and that’s a big part of the problem imo

So

At this school, he just has imposter syndrome I think and thus is trying to be perfect/live up to the expectations he thinks they have of him instead of just being loose and aggressive

He’s just leveled up year after year or every other year and every time it’s the same bs

Last time it was adjusted by a physical change wherein he shaved his head…

Tonight he came home and shaved his head so we’ll see what tomorrow brings


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[Flasch186]

Got pretty bad tonight

Same thing

Too far from the plate so a weak grounder to ss

He said things like I can’t, I’m trying, etc but he’s really in the dumps now and unfortunately the literal fix is to get closer to the plate:

Slow swing because it’s reaching and long
Long swing because he’s too far away
Weak swing because he’s too far away

But he just won’t put his damn toes on the line and adjust from there

Ah well

Truly I think of this season, other than figuring it some pitching, as a complete waste and a narrative I would never want to put in front of coaches that have him for 5 years.

Not sure that I can do anything to help him without him actually fighting for it versus just expressing negative energy and I cant’s.

Part of me even thinks it’s to get attention (negative attention) as fucked yup as that is


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[Flasch186]

School tweeted this last night but he’s so melancholy at the moment that sharing it with him will likely illicit a negative response




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[Flasch186]

He texted an apology for getting upset and seems to be back to normal

This roller coaster sucks


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[Flasch186]

Another solid outing for Aiden on the mound


Buys him time to get the hitting right after the seasons over and into the summer/fall. Just sucks that it’s a wasted season at the plate (again). In the above game he didn’t hit as that DHd for him. He’s happy cuz he pitched well.

If he starts to complain about not hitting I’m going to side eye jim and mention that he spent almost the entire season fighting to get close enough to the plate to have a fighting chance. What’s a coach supposed to do with him or anyone else who’s doing what he did?


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[Flasch186]

This tweet I found from 3/19




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[Flasch186]

This one from last night




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[Flasch186]

If you’re interested in good baseball, the varsity team of Aiden’s school odd playing the number one team in the nation at ten today up in Cary nc

https://web.gc.com/teams/RjSWPNxYcJu...c-c62026dd96e4


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[INDalltheway]

I just picked up this thread on the last page, so I'm sorry if it has been answered. Just curious if Aiden plays any other sports?

[Flasch186]

He plays pickup basketball now that he’s outgrown the middle school basketball team and isn’t good enough to play the hs ball at his school.

He unfortunately gets so frustrated when he’s not good at something that I just don’t see him enjoying playing other sports competitively when he’s behind the curve at his age on them.

For example

We went to top golf and he was bad at hitting the ball and was miserable. Instead of just having fun he was frustrated almost the whole night until the kids all started playing tag in the play area they have at the one we visited.

Being gifted he also has perfectionism issues and we actually are constantly pounding into him that we don’t want perfection. It seems like saying it to him has the opposite effect. I literally tell him I want him to fail and it just doesn’t seem to lessen the way he beats up on himself.

He had a first time hitting lesson with another coach at the school today and when we got there the coach led with:

Your swing in the cage and approach in the cage is totally different in games and at the plate. He said we’re going to get you right so youre consistent.

Then I went and sat in the car.

When it was over the coach wrapped it up with me away from Aiden and confirmed:

Its his head
He doesn’t trust himself in his timing
Therefore he’s lunging/early and then retreats back to slow things down in the swing versus
Trusting his hands and letting the ball get to his hitting zones
He’s super confused at the plate trying to figure it out
He can fix it with confidence and lessons with him
He’ll get his approach right
He’ll get his self talk right
And he’ll get his swing back and right

Aiden recapped some things to me in the car when I asked him if he liked the coach

He said something about a hitting triangle: front leg, back hip, hands
Patience
Said he liked him

We’ll use him and the assistant varsity coach since ones better with the mental and ones more connected with the varsity program

👍

Season ends next week and then we get to tone it down and go into off season mode until it’s summer stuff.

Had lunch with a friend of the hc of the program, the guy who has ended up being my color guy in the booth who’s done the pa and music for years. He said he was golfing with the head guy and Aiden’s name came up and the guys high on him, especially his pitching was talked about.

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[Flasch186]

Want to watch some amazing baseball?

The 2A regional playoff involving my son’s school’s varsity team was unbelievable!

https://www.youtube.com/live/QF3MHpB...L6VHr8BQBHXkpc


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[Flasch186]

Vent time

So Aiden’s team is playing up into 15u and a wood bat summer. The coach is also a coach for a small high school nearby so a bunch of his 15u kids guest played this weekend with the team.

If you’re thinking I’m now to bitch about playing time, you haven’t been here since the beginning

He didn’t play a lot in regards to batting but he got to play defense I’d say 50% of the time but here’s my bent about Aiden.

When he started to realize that he wasn’t a “guarantee” to start and play a bunch over these older kids he started to show up. What I mean, is at that point he started being ready to pinch run. He was helmeted and ready to jump in. He was chomping at the bit for more pt.

He was fine after the games but he mentioned not playing a bunch and I said, “ you’re an interesting kid. When you’re on the bench, in the dugout, batting lower in the lineup, you are gung ho to gain that spot… but, when the spots yours, and other kids want to take it from you, you don’t go as hard. That’s odd to me but all good man.”

He said, “yeah you’re right, I need to shore them that I want it more when I’m in there.”

And that was it but it’s just the weirdest thing.

Anyways, his fielding is up, hitting is similar but they’re working on his getting his stride toe down instead of his heel with an opening of the hip. Now that he’s on the plate they can work on that so that’s good. He hasn’t pitched a lot which is fine by me while he rests and we target a little triceps tendinitis.

Tens unit work and roll on anti inflammatory

Once that gets to a zero pain wise I’ll start him with the schools pitching coach.


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[Flasch186]

Wrapping up the spring season and Aiden decided the week school got out to play pickleball for about 4 days straight. (Any advice beyond RICE for recovery?)

He now has pickleball elbow (the itis I mentioned in the previous post) and will be shelved for a month for the *itis to go away smh

At least it happened during the summer


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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

He now has pickleball elbow (the itis I mentioned in the previous post) and will be shelved for a month for the *itis to go away smh

{facepalm}

[flere-imsaho]

Teenagers (especially boys) do idiotic things, take 203,308,302. Sorry to hear it, Flasch.

[Flasch186]

I’m sure the stretching beforehand was extensive and thorough


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[flere-imsaho]

Haha....

[Flasch186]

btw check out this 1:30 video of the 3 walkoffs to win the state championship

https://www.youtube.com/live/QF3MHpB...wo22zMEFa7McxQ

[Flasch186]

Aiden’s been invited by the varsity head coach of the program to pitch for the 2027’s (travel team kind of) in Fort Myers Sunday (5 hours down 5 hours back) but he’s rusty. We’ve basically been no throw for a month.

He had a pitching lesson yesterday with the varsity pitching coach and the consensus was his fastball (70’s) and change up (bouncing just behind the plate) were good but slider (a new pitch for him) is not a strike yet.

He was only about 50% strikes but take the slider out and it was higher. He’s too rotational again versus downhill which sucks because he has started fixing that but a month off and somehow they forget the shit they’ve been coached. However I think I figured out the cue to fix it (same as him having a chance hitting although he doesn’t want to implement it -the hinge, the waist. If he hinges in the load and launch at the plate (not dramatically) then it’s really really hard to open up because you’re over the plate (more). Same with this, finish the pitch more hinged towards home and it’s really hard to rotate towards third. He won’t listen to me but I’ll try.)

They said just pound the zone and try to control the base runners.

It’s a really good opportunity and experience. They’re playing at Jet Blue stadium where the Red Sox spring training is (I think).


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[JonInMiddleGA]

Did the elbow respond to rest properly? (I'm assuming it did based on this, but figured it was worth inquiring)

[Flasch186]

Not fully no, after his lesson Wednesday he said he felt some pain

However he’s also not fully resting it (basketball and summer play) and seems to be impossible

I’m going to take a new tactic since I can’t get him to fully rest

I got a tennis elbow twist bar and we’re going to work with a Thera gun, the te bar, and strengthening your muscles in the forearm and wrist. Ice & tens along with Advil etc

Less load and way less practice/play but if I can’t get him to stop playing pick up basketball with the friends (mini and regular) the idea of full rest is not real.


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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Less load and way less practice/play but if I can’t get him to stop playing pick up basketball with the friends (mini and regular) the idea of full rest is not real.

It's hell being young.

I have only the vaguest recollection of it myself lol

[Flasch186]

So Friday he went to the beach and last night he informed me that he has a seashell in the bottom of his foot. I look and yes indeed he does. I went and got everything from cvs and couldn’t get it out so made a doctors appointment for Monday afternoon for them to excise it.

He pitched this morning saying it didn’t hurt that bad

He pitched

Not well:

Walk

Then sharp grounder to the first baseman who steps in first and throws the runner out at second….

Just kidding

Sharp grounder that hits off the first baseman’s glove for an error and now runners on the corners

Next pitch is a liner to where the ss would’ve been but with the runner going in the pitch he’d moved over to cover and the ball got through

Then a walk and a hbp and the hooked him (maybe slightly too early but no arguing as he was not filling it up. I only say slightly because the relievers were almost just as erratic.)

The best part though is everyone was supportive and for me it was that he didn’t get down, he was good in the dugout, and his arm didn’t hurt at all so there’s some good take aways

Certainly would’ve loved for him to crush it but that’s not the game


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[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Then a walk and a hbp and the hooked him (maybe slightly too early but no arguing as he was not filling it up. I only say slightly because the relievers were almost just as erratic.)

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'

Is it possible he lost confidence in the defense behind him?

I always played on really good teams and then my Sr year we sucked. I went from having really good control to picking up a lot of walks. It feels like you either have to strike the guy out or they're getting on base through error or hit anyway.

[Flasch186]

Naw

He’s just rusty and got thrown in a good opportunity after not pitching for over a month

Couldn’t say no to the opportunity but not an optimal set up


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[Flasch186]

So I inquired about some thing today:

After a pt session I asked if he held back in giving it all on a pitch because he’d gotten hurt throwing it as hard as he could and he said, “maybe.”

That was interesting

I don’t know if it’s real or if he’s just being agreeable but that’s an interesting take on psychology


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[Flasch186]

Entering freshman year and we’ve decided (I decided really) to pull Aiden off of the travel ball team. They weren’t going to be very good but that’s not really why. As you might know he goes to a school 30 minutes from home and he’s become tight with some friends locally that go to the local public school so he’s not around them as much as normal. By playing the “fall ball” travel season he would have even less time to spend with his friends and I’m afraid he’d really regret it for ‘reps. School ball will be enough.

They’ve already begun morning lifts and they hit basically every day after school. Practices for the schools fall ball team will begin soon and that’s 5 days per week PLUS 4 honors classes. Just don’t need that headache anymore.

On a weirder note the school is now pretty light on the roster after graduating 10 seniors last season. So light in fact that they may not even have a JV squad. The school also was dropped to 1A. They’ll still play all the big dogs 6A 7A etc but it’s just weird and Aiden will not get much playing time if any at all and that stinks but at the same time I don’t need to see him step in against an 18 year old man while ab freshman on varsity.

He’s working on the pitching weekly with the schools pitching coach… adding a splitter since Aiden didn’t love the change up. Imo they’ll go back to the change up in a while since that truly is the easier pitch to throw imo.


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[Flasch186]

The high school pitching coach is working with Aiden weekly and he’s loving Aiden’s splitter

Said its perfect for this field and it is just great

Next week he’s going to throw a bullpen with Hunter as catcher because he doesn’t think Madden is ready to catch Aiden’s splitter

That’s a heck of a compliment because Madden’s excellent (hunters ridiculous though)

Aiden’s also been hitting after school with a coach and is doing some changes, longer more deliberate stride to get connected to the ground and ripping the hips a little faster while leaving the hands back a ms longer to create more tension between the top half and bottom


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[Flasch186]

Of the gang of kids in Aiden’s class there’s only two left: Aiden and Cooper. One kid transferred in as a 9th grader and he’s a good player but man it seems so thin in underclassmen.

They have a lot of upperclassmen though, some that transferred in. Aiden was informed that in the scrimmage Wednesday which will be a blended scrimmage, V & JV, Aiden won’t be hitting. He didn’t hit well in jv games last year so he hasn’t earned a gimme.

He told me in the car that he’ll just need to take advantage of opportunities when they’re presented. It’s a shame that he says that now when I’ve been telling him for years that he was letting opportunities slip through his fingers due to lack of intensity, concentration, and preparation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don’t know if that means that he’ll pitch or field or be a bench teammate but it’s the bed he’s made and he’ll live with.

One bit of controversy: he signed up for two clubs: model UN (which is neat since we’re now dual citizens of Austria) and Interact club. Well all of a sudden the school allowed the sports to be a club as well so all of the baseball players are automatically in that club and use H period to go to practice early 3/4 days. That means he’d have to drop the other clubs but we don’t want him to out at least keep one. He’s afraid of the ramifications of being the only kid to miss a portion of practice. In the end we’re leaving it up to him to manage it but it suck’s that he has to manage that sort of choice in the 9th grade.


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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

One bit of controversy: he signed up for two clubs: model UN (which is neat since we’re now dual citizens of Austria) and Interact club. Well all of a sudden the school allowed the sports to be a club as well so all of the baseball players are automatically in that club and use H period to go to practice early 3/4 days. That means he’d have to drop the other clubs but we don’t want him to out at least keep one.

Okay, I think that's probably the first "what the actual fuck" reaction I've had to anything you've ever mentioned about the school.

I know the private school environment fairly well, that's 180 degrees from the approach any I'm familiar with would take. (Though, granted, that might change if what you described isn't explicitly forbidden by the rules governing HS sports in Georgia)

[Flasch186]

Aiden wrapped up the Fall Ball season, pitching a few innings for the Varsity/JV team mix, and it looked really good. His Pitching coach, who is the pitching coach for the school, says that if Aiden gets his command down, which is growing weekly, AND if he can increase his Velo into the 80 mark come Spring, he'll likely pitch some on Varsity in low leverage but mostly JV. He has a nasty Splitter that the coach says is unhittable if it starts in the zone.

We switched hitting coaches to another guy at the school who, in my opinion, is much more cerebral than our last excellent hitting coach. This coach seems to speak to Aiden through the lesson, which Aiden desperately needs. He needs to know why, and he can then do it. He struggles to remember do if there was no why behind it.

He has been hitting but he's getting far fewer opportunities since blowing so much trust over the years. He's got to earn back a lot of it before they start giving him opportunities at the plate again. So much so that in a few years, if he doesn't show them that he wants to hit at the plate like he verbalizes he does, he may be pushed into being a PO... which is so boring IMO. Such a blown opportunity as he smashes everywhere except in games where the nerves get him (I presume). He hit great in a tourney last weekend and willplay in one this weekend but that doesn't count for anything at the school as it is not in front of them.

Hopefully, he'll commit to "the hinge, the stride, and the aggressiveness" because he sees the ball incredibly well and can smash if he puts those things together, but when the nerves get to him, he loses the hinge, he loses the bigger stride, and he swings defensively.