General Comments on Position Specialization

In theory it sounds good if every youngster could play every position. But I am of the opinion, that when put to the test in game situations, it is not good for the team, for them as individuals, for the coaches, or for the parents. Most children up through the ages of about 12, unless they have a unusual desire for the game, have a limited attention span when it comes to trying things that are "different" to them.

I suggest that they should primarily focus on the fundamentals of fielding, throwing, and hitting and minimize the "situational stuff." How many times during the season should the coach and his staff have to "remind" a new 2nd baseman that when ANY ball is hit to the left side 93rd base side) that he should automatically move to cover his base [or similar "situational" decisions]. I personally feel that the emphasis at that age (say 12 and under) should be in developing the necessary skills to move to the ball, get into an acceptable fielding position, field it cleanly, and throw it accurately.

I feel that everyone should develop good outfield skills. Even if they are not regularly used as an outfielder during the scheduled (formal) games, if they make a tournament or all star team SOME of them are going to get the opportunity to play the outfield. Other than that - and the fact that you have to provide a rotation of pitchers, I suggest that, beside the outfield - learning to play TWO other positions is more than enough.

I have always felt that it is important for the youngsters to feel "comfortable" where they are playing. And I suggest that very much rotation disrupts that "comfort zone" - and, especially in pressure situations, are more concerned about what play to make and what to cover and backup than they are on concentrating on the fundamentals of fielding and throwing.

I understand that this philosophy depends a lot on the objectives of the league. If it is an all-play, low competitive, instructional league, then by all means be more "experimental." If, however, you are playing select ball, or even formal LL, I would suggest limiting the positions the youngster has to learn.

We start each year and devote the entire first week of practice by letting every youngster go out and play where they want (except the pitcher postion - we work on that separately). We might have four short stops, six first baseman, one second baseman, three catchers, and no third baseman or outfielders. That is fine. After taking 30 minutes + of infield every day - even the youngsters know who should be playing there. And during the course of the season, if someone can demonstrate that they can play better at a given position, we practice them there - until we (coaches), the player, and the player's parents understand that we have made the correct choice. But after we "fix" positions, we try to minimize the changes needed.

Let's face it. We who are (much) older already know that kids don't play (on their own) nearly as much as we used to. Nintendo has replaced the pickup game with the electrical-taped ball and single wooden (usually cracked) bat. We used to play a game called "workup" - where everyone rotated to a new position after each out. That is fine for the pickup game between friends, and may also be used on rare occasion in practice to break the monotony. But to expect a 10-12 year old to become "game-condition competent" at more than a couple of positions is asking too much.

Just my opinion and 2 cents worth.

Cheers,

-b-