Are private baseball lessons worth it?
I sell lessons for a living, so take this with that in mind: private lessons are worth it for some kids and a waste of money for others, and the difference has nothing to do with talent.
Lessons pay off when the kid is playing games, when the kid wants to get better and not just the parent, and when he'll pick up a bat or a ball between sessions. When that's the case, a private hour moves a player faster than anything else you can buy, because it's the only setting where a coach watches your kid and nobody else for a full hour, week after week. Only a private hour does that. A coach running twelve kids is managing the group.
Save your money until those things are true. A kid needs games to use what he learns. Baseball instincts come from games, and I tell families to their face to go play before buying more training. A kid who's only there because dad signed him up will go through the motions for $80 an hour. A kid who swings between lessons builds on the last one instead of relearning it.
A lot of parents start paying for lessons because of scholarships, even when it goes unsaid. Only a small share of high school players go on to play college ball, and full rides are rare in a sport where even the big programs split partial scholarships. If anyone tells you lessons plus the right travel team equals a scholarship, they're selling something. Lessons are worth it because your kid gets better and enjoys the game more, this season. That has to be enough, because it's the only thing anyone can promise.
If the money is tight, there's a middle step. Our B.A.S.E. class is $30 for a group session of strength, speed, and agility work, and that athletic base is half of what we'd work on in a private hour anyway. The class twice a week with a lesson once a month is a mix that works, and it costs less than weekly privates.
And if you are on the fence, start with a single lesson. Watch it. You'll know in an hour whether it's worth it for your kid, which beats taking my word for it.
