Players of Today vs
Players of Yesterday
“Are players today better than players from your day”? I get this question quite often. And to me, the answer is simple. I feel the best players of today are better than the best players of my day. And for the sake of this topic, I am speaking of my high school Spring seasons of ’94 – ’97. But, on average, players from ‘my day’ are MUCH better than the average players of today.
Players of today have a significant advantage in that there is MUCH more specialized training available. Pitching coaches, hitting coaches, fielding coaches, speed coaches, strength coaches; they are everywhere. Yes, they do come at a cost, but they are out there. Thirty years ago, those specialized coaches did not exist. And if they did exist, many did not find the value in them. Training came from parents; and I can count on one hand the number of dads who were coaching that played past high school. More on this in a bit.
These specialized coaches, paired with improved training tools are a big reason why the best players of today are better than the best players of yesterday. There is a faster ‘track’ to throwing harder, running faster and hitting with a greater exit velocity. I see/hear more high school pitchers touching 90 today than 30 years ago. In general, these specialized coaches have helped give players the information they need to be more advanced in their skills than players of the same age 30 years ago.
If there is greater availability to specialized coaches, and more training tools; then why do I feel players of yesterday are, on average, better than players of today? Well, there a few reasons.
First, there are more teams at the youth level today than there were 30 years ago. With less teams, there was a greater concentration of talent across fewer teams. Games were more competitive and you were likely going up against a good team at each game. Today, there are MANY more teams which waters-down talent. It’s hard seeing games last just a few innings because games are so lopsided and time limits are reached. These games don’t help anyone, except tournament organizers fill schedules. Players don’t get better in these situations. These games are a literal waste of time.
Second, I believe that the quality of rec baseball has declined significantly due to the introduction of travel baseball. The majority of kids do not play travel baseball. Yes, there are travel teams all over the place; but rec kids still outnumber travel kids. It seems that most rec programs have a travel component to them. Players are asked to play both travel and for the rec program. However, when conflicts arise, travel wins out. Have a rec game on a Thursday and a travel game on a Saturday? It’s VERY likely the players won’t pitch in that rec game on Thursday so they can be available on Saturday. Restricting a players involvement in a rec game so they’re available for the travel game significantly reduces the quality of the rec game. I also see travel players participate in the minimum number of rec games required to participate on the travel team. We are essentially catering to the minority and negatively affecting the majority. By creating a poor playing environment for the majority, we find that development is slowed and the quality of play suffers.
Third, players from my day simply practiced more. In today’s environment, most players only practice when its on their schedule. If it’s not on the family schedule, chances are players aren’t working. When I was younger, we would have daily games in my backyard. I distinctly remember my father asking me one day, “who the hell are all these kids and where did they come from?” The more we played the better we got. And the more kids that played the better the competition.
Fourth is the quality of coaching. When I was younger, I feel the Rec coaches were better. Yes, they were still parents; but I believe they knew the game better. They may not have known about “Connection” or “Hip/Shoulder Separation” but they knew the game. I don’t feel the parents of today know the game as well as the previous generation. I hear some things today and I am left scratching my head. I don’t think adults today watch as much baseball as they did 30 years ago. You don’t need to have played past high school to know the game. You can get your “baseball education” simply by tuning in to a game instead of binging Netflix.
The last point I want to raise will definitely be the most controversial. In today’s environment, Coaches simply do not challenge players enough. We are too soft. I am not speaking about yelling at kids or making them run around the field holding the bat over their head (yes, my father did make our team do that on occasion). I am talking about challenging kids to do more. 30 years ago, coaches wanted to win. They wanted players to be the best they could be. Today, we just want kids to have fun and be ‘safe’. I always tell people, you have fun when you get better. And that is true. And in order to get better, you have to work; and work hard. The players who love the game are willing to put in the work. And those kids are the ones that have a chance to become the best players. But these kids are in the minority. Those that may not love the game are the ones that aren’t being challenged. They’re simply going through the motions, not getting better. And they’re the majority of the players. This ‘majority’ was the minority 30 years ago. Coaches cannot be afraid to challenge players. I think there is a genuine fear of putting kids through drills where failure is almost guaranteed. They are afraid to tell kids to stop screwing around or to hustle more. Do it the right way and kids will respond appropriately. And in fact, they will appreciate the attention and the ‘tough love’. If we get back to pushing kids to be the best version of themselves on the field, we give kids a legitimate chance to get better. Until we are willing to do so, the below average players will always outnumber the average to better players.
It’s great seeing players throw 90 in High School. But watching games today is tough as the quality of play leaves a lot to be desired. We need to be training players more on HOW to play the game; not just to be great at throwing hard or hitting the ball hard. Baseball is an artform and I feel that 30 years ago the game was much more beautiful to watch.