The thing that bothers me about travel baseball is the fact that it is considered to be a necessity nowadays instead of a luxury for a kid who loves the game. The teams are usually extremely expensive, and the tournaments take over an entire weekend including Sundays. The pressure for religious kids like mine to choose ball over church is hard to deal with. However, nowadays, there is a feeling of necessity to play. I never played travel baseball or AAU basketball, but I still made my high school teams which were playoff caliber in both sports. Unfortunately, that kind of path is rare nowadays because the attitude has changed.
I'm so sad because I wanted to play baseball as a profession because I love the sport.But apparently I can't because I need to be in travel ball and other things which are expensive.I love the game and I give a lot everytime I'm given the chance but I'll never happen.I knoe internet doesn't care about my life or comment lol I just wrote it for no reason
Patatas y Renos that’s not true at all, yes it is a lot easier to get noticed on travel. You can still get drafted/noticed even if you don’t play travel.
Don't believe the hype that you need to play Travel ball to get noticed. Alot of it simply has to do with former pro players that didnt make it looking for a career and dads wanting to control their sons path. Its a scare tactic to get people to join, every program will say the same thing, you will get exposure and sharpen your skills against the best competetion. Having fun, no pressure, and mutiple sports and being a kid will give a kid more life lessons than the burdens travel baseball will put on a kid and more important the family.
@@rodrigogalindo2499 Go watch some videos on Damon Sheehy-Guisseppi. He has proven that you don't necessarily have to follow the "usual" path to making it in professional sports. He had just about every card in the deck stacked against him, but he had the determination to make it into the NFL. Last night, he returned a punt for 86 yards for a TD in the Browns preseason game. This is a guy who couldn't make his college team and got turned down for tryouts by every team in the league. And still he found a way. If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way too.
max wimmer well honestly as a person who as a friend that has a brother that is. A bat boy and he said the team occasionally goes up to him and said something he was in the single a
My travel ball team was filled with my friends that I had known for years. So it didn’t really matter if we did good or really bad we still all got to hang out
Travel ball helped me and the guys around me because we were small town guys and needed more exposure against high level talent it helped us all improve ourselves.
Yea I started to play travel baseball when I was 13 and I played recreational baseball from age 5 to age 12 but my position was pitching. But I was like you I felt like that I could compete against any team but travel baseball was the best decision that I had ever made because I was able to make my highschool team. See I live in Georgia and when I was playing travel baseball there were teams all over the place here in Georgia. But also I played for coaches that played pro or college and my baseball knowledge is very deep. But I will always be grateful for what travel baseball did for me because it not only got me to play for my highschool team but it got where I was being scouted by the Florida Marlins which now is the Miami Marlins. But keep in mind that travel baseball can be expensive as well because we drove everywhere we went and I mentioned that I live in Georgia. So we drove to places like Florida, Illinois, and a few other places but keep that in mind if you want to play travel baseball
A good club and team will help you move forward. My son got into a really great club that helped get him in front of some good quality juco's and he choose one that I believe was the best fit for him. The juco coach really worked hard to get him moved up to the D1 level. That coach takes pride in the number of guys that move up!! He had quite a number of teams looking at him and With his coaches guidance I believe he made the best choice to pursue his dream. (he wasn't going to listen to mom and dad lol) He's now in his Junior year at SLU, getting som starts and some innings. Chasing the dream!!! Thanks for the videos, I've spent the whole day watching these.
My son has been playing rec baseball for 4 years now. He loves the game and when there's no more rec baseball to play, he wants to play more. Best thing we did was sign up for travel ball. It improved his skill level when going back to rec baseball and his confidence, in-between times he plays rec basketball and flag football. I think its great that travel ball is there for the months that rec BB isn't there. He is a 10 year old with more passion for the game I ever had, a 50 year old Dad. I grew up on skateboards and surfboards. As long as I can afford his passion I will provide for it. Will he be able to make it to the big leagues ? I don't know but travel ball fills the void of no baseball at all.
how is goin now?.. My son is 10 and just "tried out" for a Development travel ball team (Rawlings tigers) .. The coaches were impressive, the indoor training facility seemed like a college campus with Velocity detectors speedometers , etc. Our fees are pricey @ 1000- $1300 for 5 months and that include their uniforms etc, unlimited 24 access to the facility. My question is.. Would you do it again? Did he get burned out or fired up w baseball?
Played Travel ball for my hometown of Brantford Ontario as a teenager. We had a "loop" that consisted of bigger cities within an hour or so of Brantford. The "little league" house league was just not any competition. After a few years of being beat pretty bad on the regular by all the surrounding cities, a bunch of us decided to play "house league" little league and absolutely dominated; it was zero competition. The difference between "house league" and "rep" or "travel" isn't even comparable (even in smaller areas like Brantford) Wish I had taken it much more seriously BUT the experiences I did have were among the best memories of my teenage years. If you feel "house league" is too easy I would recommend travel without a doubt; but I would advise to understand that it is definitely much more serious than the regular little league.
Three levels in GTA when I was playing. House league, Selects and then rep. Selects were the better players that played house league and had to try out for selects. Rep was tryouts and pay a lot more but you were on the field a lot more too. That's where the added costs come in. None of the baseball or fast pitch softball leagues I played for even exist anymore. Pretty sad. Not affordable in the current state of things and ever1 is too busy trying to pay bills to spend the time at the park. End result is less players and less potential talent that never ever even plays. As you said best years of my childhood were at the park. You know it's bad when (in Canada) many of the minor house league hockey leagues in scarborough no longer exist. Never mind the baseball and softball leagues.
I have a feeling it's almost getting to the point where playing for your high school team isn't really needed these days. You can just focus on grades at school and get into year around travel ball.
2023... The issue is there's not as much competition in regular house ball because there are so many various travel baseball leagues that's where the competitive players go.
You should make a video discussing what happens after a manager / coach and a bench coach both get ejected. What happens after that??? Who takes over the team? Has that ever happened to you or your team?
One thing i've always wanted to hear more about are the things that are rarely talked about. Different ways that players might get an edge during a game. Some might call it "cheating" but i would use that term loosely. Things that fans watching a game might not catch or take for granted. For instance runners stealing signs and relaying them to the batter. How prevalent pitchers doctoring balls really is these days. Maybe some creative ways you've seen players try to get an edge that we may have never heard of. I think something like that would be cool. Anyways, love the vids and keep doing what you do.
My coaches call and text college coaches and pro scouts on the daily the all played pro or D1 and we've had 80 guy in 4 years go to college and play baseball and in 4 years we've had 13 guys go pro and our 18u is #21 in the nation so I think we are good 😊
Its not just about the coaching, its about the quality of players your coaching. I see sooo many players that are on a team w a coach that used to play college, mlb, etc., they just look the part but dont play the part
There’s also scout ball, which seems more cost effective for families. Basically local scouts put together players from local high schools & JCs for their team & they play each other on weekends. It’s high caliber competition. They don’t travel coast to coast for crazy expensive 4-7 days tournaments playing 1 game a day. Recently a scout team from SoCal went to PG World Series tournament in AZ & won the whole thing going undefeated with 1/2 the team uncommitted & 1 grad class younger than most teams. They beat teams that have all D1 commits.
Should you do arm bands and arm circles year round to keep your arm strong or should you let your arm rest? And should you hit year round/throw year round to keep your skills where they should be?
My babe ruth program is great. Even though most aren't old enough to be looked at by college coaches. But the coaches are great. All of the head coaches have been coaching in this league for years and even the varsity coach has a team. The coaching is very top notch probably better than some of the awful travel ball programs in Massachusetts
The big question: How do we find a good travel ball program in our area? Any specific leagues or tricks to finding a good one? To keep a long story short, we’ve had a bad experience with daddy ball on a travel team. My son’s HS program is…lacking.
I know I am 13 and I’m a really good pitcher but I can’t play travel and I’m really worried all the time if I can still make high school team if I don’t play travel
random ryno pasta the night before. Carbs are great. I always did it growing up same with hockey games. Then when I was on active duty in the army I ate a ton of pasta the night before pt tests. Before the game it really depends on the time. If youre looking at a 9am game you need to eat a light breakfast. If its lunch time eat a nice vreakfast but eat fruit about 45 minutes before it starts. Mid afternoon games eat a sandwich for lunch. Night games eat a big lunch and grab a protein bar and piece of fruit about an hour before the game.
great topic. i played select ball growing up in Houston in the late 90s. Your right, to me it seems like there are too many teams. Almost "waterdowned" My first year was in 96 at 12U. THERE WAS JUST A FEW LEAGUES IN HOUSTON back then. Now they easily have over 20+ leagues now. I noticed alot of kids got burned out by the time they were in high school due to year around baseball since they were 10 years old.
Matt, would love to hear your thoughts on travel ball at the 7 to 12 year old age group. Have a lot of ultra competitive programs playing close to 100 games per year at the 7, 8, 9 year old level.
A season that long at that age is way to much for me. I am a former travel ball player and I encourage playing at that age as long as it’s a good fit for your kid. Be realistic. If your kid is the best player on the field at all times, aim for a better program. If he’s hitting 200 and is playing right field, try to target a team that he would do better on and have more fun
Do you have any tips/ways on how to get over the Yips? I'm struggling with a case of the yips right now where I can't throw the ball accurately short distance at all. Can you do a video with any tips?
Padres Fan I have sum friends that can't afford travel ball so instead they work really hard in the weight room fine tune their mechanics and save up their money to go to 1 or 2 big showcases every year. It's not about how many times you're seen but the quality of your play when you're seen. So make sure that if you're not playing travel have the strength and skill set to wow coaches at a showcase.
Padres Fan Travel doesn't have to be super expensive, I mean it'll cost more than a regular league but you don't need to play for a $2000 team. I was on a team when I was 12 and it was only $180, not bad at all
Should I Join a travel ball team for $1550 and not play really... or should I go to hitting training once a week with a high school coach? And might not get 1on 1 with the coach for hitting and fielding for travel.
Hey Matt, I'm a JC coach and the most frustrating thing is once we get a guy a scholarship to a D1 looking at a guy, they make excuses like, my parents don't have money, or parents won't let me move out of state etc.. what can we say to get them and the family the confidence to keep going
The e growth of Travel baseball in IL has become more about the parents then kids unfortunately. Cut a $2k check and now convinced your son is the next Matt A or future MLB star as a 10 year old. Depletion of talent in all of these programs has made them very non competitive and a small step above house league programs thru the local park did. Supply and demand economics at its best w travel sports for parents living in their past. Shocks me why you would pay more for kid to play travel sports as a 9 yr old then save for college. Have we not looked at simple statistics and probability of what the future looks like. Thanks for the videos Matt. Big fan here and also share ideas w my kid who plays travel baseball 😀
Its not a necessity... ita dependent on your goals. If your goals are to make it to big time colleges and MLB, then travel ball may help tremendously but its not a requirement. If a D1 scholarship isnt your kids goal then rec ball is perfectly fine, but if your kid wants to reach the top then they need to play a lot with and against the best. If you or your son aren't willing to make sacrifices and do what it takes to get there then maybe you should reevaluate what your goals are.
My goal is to play high level baseball (preferably MLB). When it comes to exposure for college coaches, should I focus more on Travel/Legion ball or High School ball?
So I recommend multiple sports unless he just doesn’t enjoy other sports. And we start travel ball at 10, but it definitely depends on the organization more than the age.
I'm wondering, how do you start a travel club. I always wanted to start one, but haven't yet. How do you get the funding, and do you have to join an association? and if so, how do I know if that association is a good one or not? Also I'm in the softball not baseball, would that make a differance? Thanks in advance
We didn't raise any money we just started it and started collecting tuition. My dad had coached for a long time in youth baseball so we knew which league was a good one. Other than that it was pretty easy, just needed to find good players. Thanks for watching and commenting!
How do you feel about younger players playing up in age and skill level.we have been letting our 7 year old play up with his brother at 9u.He made the spring team but he is not the best player on that team .He is a lefty,he plays 2nd string 1st base(they do rotate him in alot) ,pitches and plays rf. He gets tons of play time but in his own age bracket he would 100% own 1st base. but we feel like he would not see the pitching ,fast pace of play he sees playing up .We play "majors" so we are facing the best teams we can find at 9u in our area .sorry for the long post .Some times its tough as a parent as we dont want to burn them out but still want to push them.
What is the best way to increase your bat speed. Our 8 years tried out for a travel ball league yesterday and they want him. He just wasn't comfortable with them due to he didnt know any players name. What advice could you give him also.
Best way is through the use of his body. Improving his overall mechanics will help bat speed and quickness. Godo luck to him. Tell him to keep having fun and working hard. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@AntonelliBaseball thank you. He had 2 travel ball tryouts and made one team but didnt fell comfortable with the coaches and not sure about the one yesterday but go one more today. He is having and loves the game too.
So I play for a travel ball club in Pennsylvania and I've heard mixed opinions... Is it better for the player or the travel coach to reach out to a college coach, or both?
I'm one of the best players in my little league program, but almost every single select/travel baseball player I meet is a huge dingus and I don't want to play with a group of kids like that or become that. What should I do? I still want to get better, though.
Travel ball is just expensive rec ball. Now, there are some very good Travel teams, but just because you put Elite in your team name does not make your team Elite.
I played travel for a while then came back to my little league because they started a 50/70 team where our league basically made a travel team. We had tryouts and play other teams around the Tampa and pinellas area.
I disagree it is not expensive my coaches for my travel ball team don't do it for money they don't get payed or anything and my coaches have drafted 11 players into the mlb and my coach are going to go watch one of them this week
The main expense comes from tournament fees. Most local tournaments cost around $500 per team for entry fees. Regional or national qualifiers cost more. So if you play 6 local tournaments, that's about $3,000. Then you add uniforms, practice facility rental, etc. It's easy to get up around $5,000 - $6,000 in expenses, even with volunteer coaches. So you then split that cost among 13-14 players, and you can see why the cost to play is at least $400-$500 per player on most travel teams. The ones that are up in the $1,500 - $2,000 range are in it to make money. Unless they can prove that they have a track record of getting kids into D1 colleges or MLB, I would never pay that much.
McScott76 yeah I forgot about the uniforms and equity plenty we just got are new uniforms and equipment and stuff and it was around 600 dollars and we just had a tournament and it was local it was only 40 tho
I too played travel ball, but it wasn't until the age of 15. Travel baseball is great. However, travel baseball at the ages of 8 and 9 is not smart. At that age it's more about the parents and "showing" of their kid. I've seen many of these 8 and 9 year old travel ball teams and maybe 3 of those kids on each team deserve to be playing at that level. Parents, do not start looking to play travel ball until the age of 13/14. Travel ball at 8 or 9...you're wasting your time and money. IMO
Travel ball for the most part is a racket...they make money and grow their business off little kids playing baseball....at it's core I think it's terrible....I'm sure some good has come out of it...but at what cost...
Depends. I've seen great programs that start with really young kids 10u or so. I've seen bad ones. I started at 13U, but that was the youngest age available back then. If it's a great program then I don't have any issues starting young. Thanks for watching!!!
Nah this is all false. We just finished season 2 of Travel Baseball. Some programs are legit but most arent, some are ran by coaches with no kids on the team and some turn into Daddy Ball. A kid needs to learn how to play the game at his own pace, far more kids don't benefit from this type of demanding schedule and pressure than ones that do. If a kid has the talent they can do everything a kid on a travel ball team can. When it comes to recruiting, alot of times the players are the ones that do the recruiting. There are a lot of Jr Colleges that get approached by the players and if you can play they will offer a certain % to come play, its that simple. A player that can play can reach out to every college near by and get a spot on a team more times than not. Save your Money and Personal life and just have your kid learn the game in rec league while playing multiple sports which will sharpen a kids skill vs being all about baseball year round. Some are legit but it takes lots of homework and a lot of times it takes actually doing it to see the results and how things are going and see if its worth it. Far more programs are popping up for the wrong reasons, x players without a career path and need $$ and or dads controlling their sons path and being rewarded no matter how they play or act, thats not helping any player on a team like that. For me I'm not going to pay 4k dollars between 2 or 3 Out of State Tourneys, travel, team fee's ect a year to have my kid get taught by 6 dads with kids on the team that will stay in 1 or 2 positions and get the premium spots in the lineups regardless of results and work, and most importantly attitude. There is far more homework to be done than simply stating you have to play against the best to be the best and you will get exposure only in travel baseball. That is false and what every program will tell you.
we have a program by us that is legit ONLY daddy ball, it sucks, I would be one of the best players on the team but because my dad isn’t a baseball coach I can’t make the team. travel teams should be ashamed
The thing that bothers me about travel baseball is the fact that it is considered to be a necessity nowadays instead of a luxury for a kid who loves the game. The teams are usually extremely expensive, and the tournaments take over an entire weekend including Sundays. The pressure for religious kids like mine to choose ball over church is hard to deal with. However, nowadays, there is a feeling of necessity to play. I never played travel baseball or AAU basketball, but I still made my high school teams which were playoff caliber in both sports. Unfortunately, that kind of path is rare nowadays because the attitude has changed.
Aman Chabra everything has become a business. Travel ball should not be a necessity, but that is currently the best way to get noticed.
I'm so sad because I wanted to play baseball as a profession because I love the sport.But apparently I can't because I need to be in travel ball and other things which are expensive.I love the game and I give a lot everytime I'm given the chance but I'll never happen.I knoe internet doesn't care about my life or comment lol
I just wrote it for no reason
Patatas y Renos that’s not true at all, yes it is a lot easier to get noticed on travel. You can still get drafted/noticed even if you don’t play travel.
Don't believe the hype that you need to play Travel ball to get noticed. Alot of it simply has to do with former pro players that didnt make it looking for a career and dads wanting to control their sons path. Its a scare tactic to get people to join, every program will say the same thing, you will get exposure and sharpen your skills against the best competetion.
Having fun, no pressure, and mutiple sports and being a kid will give a kid more life lessons than the burdens travel baseball will put on a kid and more important the family.
@@rodrigogalindo2499 Go watch some videos on Damon Sheehy-Guisseppi. He has proven that you don't necessarily have to follow the "usual" path to making it in professional sports. He had just about every card in the deck stacked against him, but he had the determination to make it into the NFL. Last night, he returned a punt for 86 yards for a TD in the Browns preseason game. This is a guy who couldn't make his college team and got turned down for tryouts by every team in the league. And still he found a way. If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way too.
how do players in the majors treat the bat boys? or just talk about bat boys in general, your interactions w/ them in the majors/minors?
max wimmer well honestly as a person who as a friend that has a brother that is. A bat boy and he said the team occasionally goes up to him and said something he was in the single a
My travel ball team was filled with my friends that I had known for years. So it didn’t really matter if we did good or really bad we still all got to hang out
Travel ball helped me and the guys around me because we were small town guys and needed more exposure against high level talent it helped us all improve ourselves.
Yea I started to play travel baseball when I was 13 and I played recreational baseball from age 5 to age 12 but my position was pitching. But I was like you I felt like that I could compete against any team but travel baseball was the best decision that I had ever made because I was able to make my highschool team. See I live in Georgia and when I was playing travel baseball there were teams all over the place here in Georgia. But also I played for coaches that played pro or college and my baseball knowledge is very deep. But I will always be grateful for what travel baseball did for me because it not only got me to play for my highschool team but it got where I was being scouted by the Florida Marlins which now is the Miami Marlins. But keep in mind that travel baseball can be expensive as well because we drove everywhere we went and I mentioned that I live in Georgia. So we drove to places like Florida, Illinois, and a few other places but keep that in mind if you want to play travel baseball
A good club and team will help you move forward. My son got into a really great club that helped get him in front of some good quality juco's and he choose one that I believe was the best fit for him. The juco coach really worked hard to get him moved up to the D1 level. That coach takes pride in the number of guys that move up!! He had quite a number of teams looking at him and With his coaches guidance I believe he made the best choice to pursue his dream. (he wasn't going to listen to mom and dad lol) He's now in his Junior year at SLU, getting som starts and some innings. Chasing the dream!!! Thanks for the videos, I've spent the whole day watching these.
Absolutely!!! Good luck to your son! Thanks for watching and commenting!
My son has been playing rec baseball for 4 years now. He loves the game and when there's no more rec baseball to play, he wants to play more. Best thing we did was sign up for travel ball. It improved his skill level when going back to rec baseball and his confidence, in-between times he plays rec basketball and flag football. I think its great that travel ball is there for the months that rec BB isn't there. He is a 10 year old with more passion for the game I ever had, a 50 year old Dad. I grew up on skateboards and surfboards. As long as I can afford his passion I will provide for it. Will he be able to make it to the big leagues ? I don't know but travel ball fills the void of no baseball at all.
how is goin now?.. My son is 10 and just "tried out" for a Development travel ball team (Rawlings tigers) .. The coaches were impressive, the indoor training facility seemed like a college campus with Velocity detectors speedometers , etc. Our fees are pricey @ 1000- $1300 for 5 months and that include their uniforms etc, unlimited 24 access to the facility. My question is.. Would you do it again? Did he get burned out or fired up w baseball?
Thank you for having a consistent upload schedule and replying to our comments
Played Travel ball for my hometown of Brantford Ontario as a teenager. We had a "loop" that consisted of bigger cities within an hour or so of Brantford. The "little league" house league was just not any competition. After a few years of being beat pretty bad on the regular by all the surrounding cities, a bunch of us decided to play "house league" little league and absolutely dominated; it was zero competition. The difference between "house league" and "rep" or "travel" isn't even comparable (even in smaller areas like Brantford)
Wish I had taken it much more seriously BUT the experiences I did have were among the best memories of my teenage years.
If you feel "house league" is too easy I would recommend travel without a doubt; but I would advise to understand that it is definitely much more serious than the regular little league.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!!!!
Three levels in GTA when I was playing. House league, Selects and then rep.
Selects were the better players that played house league and had to try out for selects.
Rep was tryouts and pay a lot more but you were on the field a lot more too. That's where the added costs come in.
None of the baseball or fast pitch softball leagues I played for even exist anymore. Pretty sad. Not affordable in the current state of things and ever1 is too busy trying to pay bills to spend the time at the park.
End result is less players and less potential talent that never ever even plays.
As you said best years of my childhood were at the park.
You know it's bad when (in Canada) many of the minor house league hockey leagues in scarborough no longer exist. Never mind the baseball and softball leagues.
I have a feeling it's almost getting to the point where playing for your high school team isn't really needed these days. You can just focus on grades at school and get into year around travel ball.
2023... The issue is there's not as much competition in regular house ball because there are so many various travel baseball leagues that's where the competitive players go.
You should make a video discussing what happens after a manager / coach and a bench coach both get ejected. What happens after that??? Who takes over the team? Has that ever happened to you or your team?
One thing i've always wanted to hear more about are the things that are rarely talked about. Different ways that players might get an edge during a game. Some might call it "cheating" but i would use that term loosely. Things that fans watching a game might not catch or take for granted. For instance runners stealing signs and relaying them to the batter. How prevalent pitchers doctoring balls really is these days. Maybe some creative ways you've seen players try to get an edge that we may have never heard of. I think something like that would be cool. Anyways, love the vids and keep doing what you do.
My coaches call and text college coaches and pro scouts on the daily the all played pro or D1 and we've had 80 guy in 4 years go to college and play baseball and in 4 years we've had 13 guys go pro and our 18u is #21 in the nation so I think we are good 😊
How much does legion ball help with improving your overall skills as a player?
Its not just about the coaching, its about the quality of players your coaching. I see sooo many players that are on a team w a coach that used to play college, mlb, etc., they just look the part but dont play the part
For sure!!! Thanks for watching our stuff and commenting!
Good information! I have a grandson that does travel 10u travel baseball in Md.
There’s also scout ball, which seems more cost effective for families. Basically local scouts put together players from local high schools & JCs for their team & they play each other on weekends. It’s high caliber competition. They don’t travel coast to coast for crazy expensive 4-7 days tournaments playing 1 game a day. Recently a scout team from SoCal went to PG World Series tournament in AZ & won the whole thing going undefeated with 1/2 the team uncommitted & 1 grad class younger than most teams. They beat teams that have all D1 commits.
Should you do arm bands and arm circles year round to keep your arm strong or should you let your arm rest? And should you hit year round/throw year round to keep your skills where they should be?
My babe ruth program is great. Even though most aren't old enough to be looked at by college coaches. But the coaches are great. All of the head coaches have been coaching in this league for years and even the varsity coach has a team. The coaching is very top notch probably better than some of the awful travel ball programs in Massachusetts
What are your favorite MLB uniforms? What is your favorite uniform that you have worn?
Hopefully you come to California someday
The big question: How do we find a good travel ball program in our area? Any specific leagues or tricks to finding a good one? To keep a long story short, we’ve had a bad experience with daddy ball on a travel team. My son’s HS program is…lacking.
What do you think about travel baseball programs joining community team tournaments just to trophy hunt?
I’ve been enjoying your channel! Thank you for all of the insight, good stuff bud.
Any memorable fan experiences in your MLB days?
I know I am 13 and I’m a really good pitcher but I can’t play travel and I’m really worried all the time if I can still make high school team if I don’t play travel
Hey Matt, I've always wondered what is the best thing to eat before a game or even a day before a game? I've had trouble finding something that works.
random ryno pasta the night before. Carbs are great. I always did it growing up same with hockey games. Then when I was on active duty in the army I ate a ton of pasta the night before pt tests.
Before the game it really depends on the time. If youre looking at a 9am game you need to eat a light breakfast. If its lunch time eat a nice vreakfast but eat fruit about 45 minutes before it starts.
Mid afternoon games eat a sandwich for lunch. Night games eat a big lunch and grab a protein bar and piece of fruit about an hour before the game.
I feed my kid a mix of oatmeal, pancake mix and an egg or two...all mixed together with a little water into pancake batter. Make pancakes with it.
great topic. i played select ball growing up in Houston in the late 90s. Your right, to me it seems like there are too many teams. Almost "waterdowned" My first year was in 96 at 12U. THERE WAS JUST A FEW LEAGUES IN HOUSTON back then. Now they easily have over 20+ leagues now. I noticed alot of kids got burned out by the time they were in high school due to year around baseball since they were 10 years old.
Thanks!!! And I agree! Thanks for watching!!
Matt, would love to hear your thoughts on travel ball at the 7 to 12 year old age group. Have a lot of ultra competitive programs playing close to 100 games per year at the 7, 8, 9 year old level.
A season that long at that age is way to much for me. I am a former travel ball player and I encourage playing at that age as long as it’s a good fit for your kid. Be realistic. If your kid is the best player on the field at all times, aim for a better program. If he’s hitting 200 and is playing right field, try to target a team that he would do better on and have more fun
Love the vids man. Keep going!
Do you have any tips/ways on how to get over the Yips? I'm struggling with a case of the yips right now where I can't throw the ball accurately short distance at all. Can you do a video with any tips?
Hey matt what's your opinion on legion vs club baseball
if i play for highschool do good get scouted make the college team would that be possible w/o travel ball
What do players feel about a day off,what do you guys do when you have a day off ?
I really want to play travel ball but it just costs too much. Is there a cheaper way to get exposure?
Padres Fan Please answer this
Padres Fan I have sum friends that can't afford travel ball so instead they work really hard in the weight room fine tune their mechanics and save up their money to go to 1 or 2 big showcases every year. It's not about how many times you're seen but the quality of your play when you're seen. So make sure that if you're not playing travel have the strength and skill set to wow coaches at a showcase.
If you got a 10 or more of those friends make your own team have a dad coach grab cheap uniforms and play less tournaments
Padres Fan Travel doesn't have to be super expensive, I mean it'll cost more than a regular league but you don't need to play for a $2000 team. I was on a team when I was 12 and it was only $180, not bad at all
come to canada. it costs $70
Should I Join a travel ball team for $1550 and not play really... or should I go to hitting training once a week with a high school coach? And might not get 1on 1 with the coach for hitting and fielding for travel.
Alex and Baseball If you're paying $1550 you gotta be playing. I'd go to the hitting coach if I were you
GreenEggsAndCam ok thank you
It's playing equal and like talent .
Do you encourage hs players to do weightlifting programs?
Yes
What's your favourite bat brand
What age would you start? Seems like anything under 10 or 11 is a bit much
What about grade point average and SAT and ACT test scores when it comes to playing in college ?
Super important! I’ll make a video on it!
That's one of the first questions recruiters ask.
Did you play Legion ball? If so, how was the experience? And how is it set up with eligibility, rules, scheduling, etc.?
I never played Legion I played travel baseball as a kid. Thanks for watching!
You should try to expand your program to different states and get good coaches and all.
I can't commute to MA from MD 😂😂
I played 2 years of travel baseball im now focused on football with baseball as the side sport
Good luck to you!
Thanks. This info was very helpful for me and my son.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Hey Matt, I'm a JC coach and the most frustrating thing is once we get a guy a scholarship to a D1 looking at a guy, they make excuses like, my parents don't have money, or parents won't let me move out of state etc.. what can we say to get them and the family the confidence to keep going
The e growth of Travel baseball in IL has become more about the parents then kids unfortunately. Cut a $2k check and now convinced your son is the next Matt A or future MLB star as a 10 year old. Depletion of talent in all of these programs has made them very non competitive and a small step above house league programs thru the local park did. Supply and demand economics at its best w travel sports for parents living in their past.
Shocks me why you would pay more for kid to play travel sports as a 9 yr old then save for college. Have we not looked at simple statistics and probability of what the future looks like.
Thanks for the videos Matt. Big fan here and also share ideas w my kid who plays travel baseball 😀
Its not a necessity... ita dependent on your goals. If your goals are to make it to big time colleges and MLB, then travel ball may help tremendously but its not a requirement. If a D1 scholarship isnt your kids goal then rec ball is perfectly fine, but if your kid wants to reach the top then they need to play a lot with and against the best. If you or your son aren't willing to make sacrifices and do what it takes to get there then maybe you should reevaluate what your goals are.
what type of weightlifting programs did you do while you were playing?
I’m 14 going on 15 and playing high school ball should I join a summer ball league if so what one
I would say that travel baseball is much more filtered out than it used to be. back then, they’re wasn’t any single a or double a or elite teams.
My goal is to play high level baseball (preferably MLB). When it comes to exposure for college coaches, should I focus more on Travel/Legion ball or High School ball?
N0VAxForgotten high school
What is your opinion on playing Legion vs Showcase only baseball?
What age do you think is optimal for kids to play travel ball and what age should they specialize in 1 sport if at all?
So I recommend multiple sports unless he just doesn’t enjoy other sports. And we start travel ball at 10, but it definitely depends on the organization more than the age.
What’s more important to get a scholarship, or even just getting recruited to play juco, travel or highschool?
A scholarship is nice, but to be able to play college baseball and get an education is the goal! Thanks again for watching!
At What age should u start hitting with wood bats
Nansy Vega ASAP start kids off with lighter wood bats. I promise bat speed will improve over tine👍🏼
Nansy Vega NOW!
In Canada we start when we’re 13-14
11 or 12
12
i would but the teams in my area are 5000$
I’m lost on why the hate travel ball gets. If a child is really into the sport and wants to play more games against better players, what’s the issue?
did you go to the area code baseball games this year?
Why is it that in batting practice the players don't throw up baseball more often?
Thoughts on American legion
Can you still make college baseball without playing high school ball
yes but you have to be good. are you on a travel team? if so then play your best.
Yes. I know a couple guys who did.
I play travel ball and little league. Not much of a difference
I'm wondering, how do you start a travel club. I always wanted to start one, but haven't yet. How do you get the funding, and do you have to join an association? and if so, how do I know if that association is a good one or not? Also I'm in the softball not baseball, would that make a differance? Thanks in advance
We didn't raise any money we just started it and started collecting tuition. My dad had coached for a long time in youth baseball so we knew which league was a good one. Other than that it was pretty easy, just needed to find good players. Thanks for watching and commenting!
When you said Mississippi did you mean Ole Miss or Miss State
What is the cost to play a spring season of 9 or 10u baseball at antonelli baseball,and are all of your coaches not dads?
We start at 11U. Cost is around $2,000 for a full season. We have 1 dad coach in our organization. Thanks for watching!
How do you feel about younger players playing up in age and skill level.we have been letting our 7 year old play up with his brother at 9u.He made the spring team but he is not the best player on that team .He is a lefty,he plays 2nd string 1st base(they do rotate him in alot) ,pitches and plays rf.
He gets tons of play time but in his own age bracket he would 100% own 1st base. but we feel like he would not see the pitching ,fast pace of play he sees playing up .We play "majors" so we are facing the best teams we can find at 9u in our area .sorry for the long post .Some times its tough as a parent as we dont want to burn them out but still want to push them.
What is the best way to increase your bat speed. Our 8 years tried out for a travel ball league yesterday and they want him. He just wasn't comfortable with them due to he didnt know any players name. What advice could you give him also.
Best way is through the use of his body. Improving his overall mechanics will help bat speed and quickness. Godo luck to him. Tell him to keep having fun and working hard. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@AntonelliBaseball thank you. He had 2 travel ball tryouts and made one team but didnt fell comfortable with the coaches and not sure about the one yesterday but go one more today. He is having and loves the game too.
So I play for a travel ball club in Pennsylvania and I've heard mixed opinions... Is it better for the player or the travel coach to reach out to a college coach, or both?
SteqlthSniper what team do u play for
Zachary Hazen all star baseball academy
SteqlthSniper oh NVM I have never heard of that one
Matt, what levels are your travel program? And do you have it in multiple states or just one?
Corn www.antonellibaseball.com/ this is his website that has most if not all of the information needed
I'm one of the best players in my little league program, but almost every single select/travel baseball player I meet is a huge dingus and I don't want to play with a group of kids like that or become that. What should I do? I still want to get better, though.
Same bro
Can someone answer why the catcher keep throwing baseballs away after it's been used once?
Skuffs in the ball.
I live in newyork and I want to know which travel ball program is the best
That is a tough question! There are literally hundreds of them
I know but what are the top ones
Pull up to pacoy
Yes
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Is legion ball good?
Jays
Who's your favorite player?
Travel ball is just expensive rec ball. Now, there are some very good Travel teams, but just because you put Elite in your team name does not make your team Elite.
Yeah these league all star teams can cream some travel ball programs
Do you have camps or lessons if so how much and where
Check out our website www.antonellibaseball.com Thanks for watching and commenting!
I wish I could play travel ball but Washington has barely any teams
I've played against some good teams from there. See if you can find some online. Thanks for watching!!
I played travel for a while then came back to my little league because they started a 50/70 team where our league basically made a travel team. We had tryouts and play other teams around the Tampa and pinellas area.
Once I grow out of the age bracket next season I’m going to a travel program til high school ball.
I love travel i became a better player I play For The Michigan blue w
Nicolas Lange What age group?
Nicolas Lange I play for the west Michigan riptides
I did play for Total Baseball and if you were 12u, we faced you guys
Logan Bieganowski 13 u
Nicolas Lange I play for west Georgia jackets 16u
Where can I buy that hoodie? Thanks
We don't have any extras right now unfortunately! Thanks for watching!!
Can you tell us what a draft stock is?
Completer2020 Draft stock is just a way for scouts to judge how good you are. If scouts come out and you show out then your draft stock goes up.
I disagree it is not expensive my coaches for my travel ball team don't do it for money they don't get payed or anything and my coaches have drafted 11 players into the mlb and my coach are going to go watch one of them this week
The main expense comes from tournament fees. Most local tournaments cost around $500 per team for entry fees. Regional or national qualifiers cost more. So if you play 6 local tournaments, that's about $3,000. Then you add uniforms, practice facility rental, etc. It's easy to get up around $5,000 - $6,000 in expenses, even with volunteer coaches. So you then split that cost among 13-14 players, and you can see why the cost to play is at least $400-$500 per player on most travel teams. The ones that are up in the $1,500 - $2,000 range are in it to make money. Unless they can prove that they have a track record of getting kids into D1 colleges or MLB, I would never pay that much.
McScott76 yeah I forgot about the uniforms and equity plenty we just got are new uniforms and equipment and stuff and it was around 600 dollars and we just had a tournament and it was local it was only 40 tho
I want to play travel ball but it is two much money
Caleb 33 too*
Ryan Downing don't be rude they're young
I really wanna play travel ball
Good luck to you if you do! Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
Antonelli Baseball thank you for replying!!!
If i wouldn't be a starter is it still worth
Well it is important to play for sure! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Is JR year in high school to late to get scouted?
AlienCashew 18 it never to late
No way. Keep working hard, study and get those ACT and/or SAT scores as high as you can. Grades, Grades, Grades.
That happened to my cousin a coach went to watch a player on his team but he ended up talk to my cousin instead
Thanks for watching!!
Advice for Canadian players !!!
Thanks for watching!!
I too played travel ball, but it wasn't until the age of 15. Travel baseball is great. However, travel baseball at the ages of 8 and 9 is not smart. At that age it's more about the parents and "showing" of their kid. I've seen many of these 8 and 9 year old travel ball teams and maybe 3 of those kids on each team deserve to be playing at that level. Parents, do not start looking to play travel ball until the age of 13/14. Travel ball at 8 or 9...you're wasting your time and money. IMO
Travel ball for the most part is a racket...they make money and grow their business off little kids playing baseball....at it's core I think it's terrible....I'm sure some good has come out of it...but at what cost...
Why do players put pintar on their helmets ?
Ty Cavinder to wipe on their hands
Age to start travel baseball?
Around junior high. Don't fall for the 6u elite stuff. Kids need to be kids and need time to play different sports
That being said, I've enjoyed travel ball as a parent and making friends. My son has made some great friends that I'm sure will last a lifetime
Randall Reno interesting. Thanks.
Depends. I've seen great programs that start with really young kids 10u or so. I've seen bad ones. I started at 13U, but that was the youngest age available back then. If it's a great program then I don't have any issues starting young. Thanks for watching!!!
I PLAY FOR A BASEBALL TEAM CALLED CR
Good luck to you! Thanks for watching!!
Nah this is all false. We just finished season 2 of Travel Baseball. Some programs are legit but most arent, some are ran by coaches with no kids on the team and some turn into Daddy Ball. A kid needs to learn how to play the game at his own pace, far more kids don't benefit from this type of demanding schedule and pressure than ones that do.
If a kid has the talent they can do everything a kid on a travel ball team can. When it comes to recruiting, alot of times the players are the ones that do the recruiting. There are a lot of Jr Colleges that get approached by the players and if you can play they will offer a certain % to come play, its that simple. A player that can play can reach out to every college near by and get a spot on a team more times than not.
Save your Money and Personal life and just have your kid learn the game in rec league while playing multiple sports which will sharpen a kids skill vs being all about baseball year round. Some are legit but it takes lots of homework and a lot of times it takes actually doing it to see the results and how things are going and see if its worth it. Far more programs are popping up for the wrong reasons, x players without a career path and need $$ and or dads controlling their sons path and being rewarded no matter how they play or act, thats not helping any player on a team like that.
For me I'm not going to pay 4k dollars between 2 or 3 Out of State Tourneys, travel, team fee's ect a year to have my kid get taught by 6 dads with kids on the team that will stay in 1 or 2 positions and get the premium spots in the lineups regardless of results and work, and most importantly attitude.
There is far more homework to be done than simply stating you have to play against the best to be the best and you will get exposure only in travel baseball. That is false and what every program will tell you.
we have a program by us that is legit ONLY daddy ball, it sucks, I would be one of the best players on the team but because my dad isn’t a baseball coach I can’t make the team. travel teams should be ashamed
The travel ball team was Made from COLBY RASMUS
Haha I played with Colby's brother Corey and then got to play against Colby a lot in pro ball. Thanks for watching!!
I hate travel ball. There are too many kids with arm problems as a result.
Shaved bats on travel ball teams
how it is leaving a team
I'll make a video for you! Thanks for watching!!