Posted by: Chris (chris@amiassetmanagement.com) on Tue Apr 28 11:43:11 2009

> My 4-year old is playing baseball for the first time. He started out really well, better than what we expected. He said he loved to bat but hated the glove thing. We discussed that you had to do both to play baseball. He had a wonderful first game and got on everytime. The next 2 practices and next game, he screamed and cried about batting. We did not make him bat at practice and had to take an out at the game. I dont know what changed from one week to the next. All that he says is he doesnt want to get out and he doesnt know how to bat. We know that he knows how but how do we get his confindence back up so he start playing ball before the next game or do we just let him quit. He says he want to quit at the time of batting but later say no he wants to play. What do I do?

I sure hope there are no outs or pitching for that matter at 4 years old. I coached 4-5 year olds last year and am coaching 6-7 years this year. We started coach pitch and outs at the halfway point this season, which I think is just right. That doesn't help you though. Assuming you are playing outs, I would tell him that outs are a regular part of baseball and that it is OK to get out. If you can get him to bat and hopefully he is hitting off a Tee, I have found that a good sprint to 1st base will trump a big hit. At 4 years old, I doubt there are many outs anyway.