Baseball Tryouts: How to Prepare and Know What Insiders Know

So, it’s that time of year again.

Baseball season is coming up, which means that your local teams are going to start to get their tryouts underway.

How To Prepare For Baseball Tryouts [Top Tips!]

And, while many of us who think about going for the tryouts would love nothing more than to be the first person to sign our name down for them, for many of us, too many things seem to get in the way.

Namely, we tend to get in the way of ourselves

It can be incredibly frustrating to want to go to a baseball tryout for your local team, but find that you just don’t feel prepared enough to go for it.

It is performance anxiety that many of us feel, no matter what level we’re playing at, be it as kids, at college, for minor leagues, or even in the pro leagues for that matter.

Even today, many pros often struggle with that fear that can define a young baseball player’s start.

However, with the right tools, the right advice, and a good mindset, you can help quell some of those fears, and ace that tryout that you’ve been putting off for a while.

Here are our top tips that people should take into account when trying out for a baseball team.

Look The Part

When it comes to rocking up for tryouts, one of the first things you should keep in mind is that not everything that goes into getting through them is done purely with skill.

For one thing, you’ve got to make that you’re showing your potential coach that not only are your skills up to scratch but so is your mindset going into it.

One of the best ways you can do that, without even touching a baseball or a pitcher’s glove in the first place, is by looking at the part.

This isn’t to say ‘dress up as your favorite Pro league player’.

No, this is about looking like you’re taking the tryouts seriously.

By coming to a baseball tryout wearing appropriate baseball pants, rather than casual jeans or baggy shorts, you’re conveying to the coach that you are taking these tryouts seriously, and will be more likely to take note of you, especially if you’re bringing the right clothing and equipment out with you, like your batting glove.

What those appropriate clothes are will vary depending on whether you’re doing the inside or outside.

If regulation baseball pants are out of your price range when it comes to these tryouts, a suitable substitute may also work, like a good pair of sweatpants that will let you move around appropriately.

Have The Right Mindset

Following on from the last point, you want to keep up that idea of looking like you have potential, not necessarily just by being good at baseball, but by also having the right mindset when it comes to being a baseball player.

This is especially the case for a tryout, where demonstrating that you don’t just have the physical capability to play isn’t all you need to be thinking about.

Demonstrating that you have the emotional maturity to be a part of a team is also vital.

If you go into a tryout expecting that you’re just going to be handed a place on the team, you’re simply setting yourself up for your expectations not being met.

Sometimes, the coach will simply have a different method of picking players than you plan for. And meeting that unexpected failure shouldn’t be something that you have to keep in check.

Plus, having that stress that you need to be showing your best can easily cause any walls that you have built up to crack, and potentially distract you from being able to do just that for your coach.

This is to say, do your best, make sure that you’re well-rested the day before the trouts start, stay calm, and hope that the coach is taking notes of how you are reacting to a given situation: Hopefully, with clarity, a calm mind, and with quick reactions!

The Right Warm-Ups

The Right Warm-Ups

Of course, the right mindset is great advice to give for tryouts.

But if your body’s not limbered up properly, then you’re simply going to find yourself spiraling once again.

So, when thinking about how best to prepare for a tryout, having a warm-up is vital to being in peak physical shape for your tryout.

While many tryouts will incorporate warm-ups at the beginning of them, every coach has a different strategy for picking players, so keep a good warm-up in reserve if you’re unsure.

Play Your Way

This kind of plays into the last point that we made about mindset or looking the part.

You may be tempted, our pro league role model has perfected over their careers, such as a perfect pitch or center fielder.

However, the chances of this catching your coach’s eye probably aren’t all that great.

After all, they will have likely seen that same technique in other players.

A coach isn’t interested in seeing how well you can imitate someone else. They want to see what YOU bring to the table.

So, lay the game as you normally would at the best of your abilities.

After all, part of a coach’s job is to help foster the right talent that they see in you. If you’re picked, you’ll find your style eventually!

The Right Attitude

Baseball is, at its core, a team game.

That means that, much like in any other part of your life, you won’t just be judged by your ability, but also by how you work with others.

This can be a pretty broad skill to have and can include anything from accepting feedback or criticisms that your coach has for you, to encouraging and working well with your teammates.

Even if they are potential rivals for your role, being able to work with others is critical, especially in a sport like baseball.

Final Thoughts

So, as you can see, while kill is an important thing to have in baseball, tryouts are so much more than that.

Hopefully, our advice will finally get you onto that team!

Matt Crouch
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