Pro Baseball Tryout - How to Get Noticed

Professional baseball teams have open tryouts all the time. Your only cost to attend is getting there, and bringing your own equipment. Hoping for a sim chance to live out their boyhood dream, many a young man attends these parades of baseball skills, or lack thereof. So how can one player stand out among so many hopefuls?

If you can throw a fastball 90 mph, then you will draw attention. Or hit a baseball 500 feet and someone will be talking to you. Even just run the 60 yard dash in 6.2 seconds and your name will be written down. However, less than one percent of participation's possess such super human skills. But keep reading, there is another way.

Yes, no matter how hard most players would work out, they still won't be able to throw 90 mph, or hit a baseball 500 feet or run a 6.2 60 yard dash. But there is something many of them could do with lots of hard work that would open eyes.

My son attended his first pro / college tryout when he was 15 years old. It was run by the Kansas City Royals scouts. My son was putting up some pretty good numbers in the first few skills. He is fast, but not 6.2 speed. His arm is strong, but he doesn't throw 90 mph. But he had worked hard all summer and his times were reflecting that.

His next event was hitting. The Royals provided a batting practice pitcher and each player got 10 swings. After my son took 10 swings from the right side, he told the pitcher he was a switch hitter. The batting practice pitcher said "Then switch over".

I was watching the crowd of professional scouts and college coaches. When the pitcher said switch over, a hush went over the crowd. Then all the scouts and coaches looked and starting taking notes.

Those photos are my son getting a hit both sides of the plate last spring in a high school game. At the time of this writing he is a senior in high school. Switch hitting has paid off for him. He has accepted a baseball scholarship to one of the top ranked junior colleges. And he is on the verge of breaking many of his high school hitting records.

At the age of 12 his little league baseball coach started working with him to switch hit. They worked together all spring and summer that year. Then he changed teams and took a year off from switch hitting. But starting at the age of 14 he began switch hitting all the time.

There were a couple of tough years, but he never gave up. And he has always taken batting practice from both sides of the plate. He has put in many hours of practice.

Everyone can learn to switch hit. For some it will be easier than others. And it is more valuable for players with speed. But if you want to get some attention from scouts, take swings from both sides of the plate. Just be sure and put in the practice to make those swings payoff.

To continue to follow stories about my son please visit Helpful Baseball Drills.