This week, I ran into a few situations that reinforced things that I learned when I was young. Like some of the good commencement speeches you may have heard over the last few weeks, I have a few thoughts to share. This can help you have a summer with more fun and success for both your and your ballplayer(s).

1. If you want something, work hard.
Anything that you get too easily you just won’t appreciate. Why do such a high percentage of lottery winners go broke within five years? As far as baseball, over the years I’ve seen many big, strong players who were 10 or 12 years old succeeded against kids who weren’t as mature physically or as gifted. But those other kids worked hard every year, every month. The young talent unfortunately frequently doesn’t. When the other kids mature and catch up and this kid no longer dominates, he usually quits and moves on to other activities. Changing direction in life is fine, but doing so because you must is not a plan for happiness and success in life.

2. If you ignore good advice, you get what you deserve.
I know a very talented college ballplayer. As a high school senior, he dominated at the plate, being one of the most consistent offensive threats in his part of the state. He went off to college, and due to an arm injury he got no playing time. But he wanted to hit. They told him they would give him a chance next fall. Despite the fact that his injury would not impede his hitting, they didn’t let him swing all spring. Without the BP and game experience all spring, he’s been struggling at the plate in the summer. The advice he got from in the spring from two respected coaches was this: there are a billions excuses not to do something, but if you want to improve, find a way to practice. If you don’t, then you will do poorly. It should not be a surprise.

3. The world does not revolve around you.
It’s just plain wrong for a ballplayer or one of his parents to tell to the coach when his son can pitch or attend a game, because the ballplayer is playing on two teams. I know it’s fun to try to be on two teams. However, that rarely works out well for all involved, even if both coaches are on board before the summer season starts. The kids on your local team know what you can do, and would like you to contribute fully there, not just on your “important” team. Just so you know, it really matters not what teams your son plays on until he’s about 16. Even then, an average player on an elite team will likely be overshadowed, and a very strong player will be noticed no matter what team he plays on.

4. Everyone has an agenda.
Whenever someone tell me that their league or team is “political”, I reply that they all are. Because every coach or league official that has to make decisions on several options will use a bunch of criteria to pick. Usually the coach will try to be fair, because he wants to make the best choice to help his team win. But sometimes he will choose a kid because his wife is friends with the kid’s mom, or he golfs with the kid’s dad. That’s not fair, but that’s life. When you and the bosses son are possibilities for a promotion, guess who going to be picked 99% of the time?

Your choice, and the ballplayer’s choice, is to stay and work hard or to leave (and leaving like a gentlemen is a perfectly acceptable choice). We all have many options in life, and not all possibilities are real options. But wherever you go, work as hard as you can. When you look back at your behavior in ten years, will you be proud to talk about it?

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Ballplayers and parents, putting time and effort into anything you do in life is a great recipe for success, fun, and happiness. To have more of those in baseball, use the video Tips From The Coach – Home Training. He’s a small sample of what you’ll get with that video, and how to get it yourself for just $15…

I spoke to two experienced high school coaches from different parts of the country a couple of weeks ago. Neither had a big bat, a home run threat in their lineup. Both coaches had hard working players who hustled and practiced what the coach told them to do, which was smart pitching, clean defense, effective bunting, running, and base stealing. And both of these teams won state championships this year.

In any competition, you’ve got to use what you’ve got. You may not have any big boys that can knock the ball into the trees. And it takes a long time to develop that, and it may not be possible to make everyone into a consistent deep ball threat. But in the span of one preseason, you can develop your team into a very effective winning machine. Small ball can bring consistent results.

The game elements of small ball include solid pitching and defense. On offense, you need to take walks, sacrifice bunt, execute hit-and-runs, hit sacrifice flies, steal bases, and take advantage of every opportunity that the opponent gives you. Bunting for instance, is a talent but it certainly is teachable and learnable. Waiting to show your intentions, deciding where to place the ball, running as fast as possible to put pressure on the defense to make a play. Base stealing is more than raw speed. It’s reading the pitcher

Small ball works best when you use it over the entire game. Forcing the action, making the defense make plays, hustling, stealing bases may yield you a run every couple of innings. Rarely will you get a huge outburst, a big rally playing small ball. But you can drive your opponents crazy if you do it well. They will not enjoy playing you in the future, which can work to your advantage then.

Small ball doesn’t work well if you get behind more than a couple of runs. It’s hard to stay on the plan if you know you’re not likely to make up runs in bunches.