One of the voters in the survey noted above (Training Protocols) was willing to provide us with some detailed insights on his son's experience in training. We consider this an important message to share, because it shows the level of dedication required to truly make the commitment - on the part of both the son and the dad.

As we have said often - if you aren't working this hard, someone else is!

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I am submitting this on behalf of my 16 year old son who epitomizes a great work ethic. You be the judge...

I can tell you my son voluntarily works harder at this game than any others in this area his age. He chose to no longer participate in wrestling (he was very good) just so he could devote year-round to baseball. And as a former Varsity Wrestling coach I coached him in wrestling for years!

He spent the Summer '07 (age 15) working out daily with a Division 1 baseball player from out of state who we hosted in our home. This player ate, drank, slept and lived for baseball which he played with a local Summer College select team. He and my son lifted, did endurance training, worked on speed & agility, fielding, throwing, situational plays and hitting "every" day.

My son is fortunate to have a full size batting cage outdoors with pitching machine as well as numerous stationary hitting stations. Indoors we have 5 more hitting stations complete with safety netting setup in our large basement including a personal pitcher type of machine, a Quick TEE, Swing Away, Slo-Toss machine and various Tees.

We also have a unique and fun wiffle ball field in our huge backyard where many skills and thrills take place. One rule always applies..."no coaching"...just play and have fun!

In addition we have a full set of Olympic weights we use and mix in with core muscle training by flipping huge tractor tires (we live in the country). He also tosses car tires from his hitting positions (both sides as a switch hitter). He works extensively on balance training.

Obviously he has supportive and knowledgeable parents both of whom are physical education teachers. His mom is also a certified athletic trainer. As his father, I am well versed in proper baseball mechanics from both the application and teaching standpoints and have been my son's personal private instructor for as many years as I can remember. I have attended numerous high level coaching clinics and have studied excessively to ensure I am providing him (others) with the best teaching I can. I am also an award winning public school teacher and take great pride in being able to teach kids by reaching them.

I have also trained others but none have shown the same determination, desire and positive attitude. I am not and never have been a pushy, yelling coach nor father. My son chooses to make baseball his year round commitment knowing I have other time constraints (2 businesses in addition to full time teaching). He has been coached in baseball by others more than he has ever been coached (league/team) by me.

During school still off-season, my son works out in the weight room with other players 4 times per week (baseball is 2x but he goes to workout with football players as well even though he has never played the game officially). He also does hitting sessions 2 days per week with his HS school team.

These are early morning sessions (before his private school begins 30 minutes away) and over the last 2 seasons he has never missed a single one. Considering these are in Jan/Feb and how cold it is, how tough it has to be for a teenager to wake up at 5am... you get an idea of his commitment to his sport. This is in addition to his home workouts.

He has played on Summer teams as well as some select travel teams* and has played fall ball every season since age 9.  (*We learned to avoid burnout and walked away from the ridiculous travel team schedules 3 years ago.)

I/we agree that qualified coaching has been the the difference in what has made his baseball experiences enjoyable and measurably beneficial. He has not had to focus on quantity time(s) because he is focused on quality skills in doing them properly. He is currently signed up for 8 sessions indoors at a nearby college and then will begin his early morning 8 week hitting sessions at his HS.

As teachers we are also proud of his academics where he is in the top 10 of his class and a National Honor Society member. We have never, not ever, said "he will play pro one day"; we are smart enough to know those odds. That said, "his goal" is to get an "academic scholarship" and play D1 baseball. Beyond that ...wherever his work ethic and his heart take him is fine with all of us.

That "all" includes his older sister who played one year of HS softball (11th grade) just to see how she would do (and she was named All County First Team with a batting average of .441, 3 HRS, 23 RBI's (@4'11") and only 1 error in 22 games in the outfield.) If I/we were real pushy parents she would have played more than 1 year! She liked it but didn't love it. Her brother just happens to love it.

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We'll repeat what we said at the top... - if you aren't working this hard, someone else is!