How to keep pitching fresh, so you don't burn out too early

Think your son might be burning out on baseball pitching? It happens. In youth baseball, it happens a lot. When I get phone calls from parents who've got a son that's headed down this road, I encourage them to get involved right away.

Diversify the activities your kids are involved in. Allow them to participate in other sports, band, church groups, swimming, boy scouts, archery, reading, computers, whatever. Give your kids an opportunity to try a little bit of everything so they can figure out what they love to do on their own. Give them an opportunity to be kids, too. Professional baseball will still be there, but childhood passes quickly.

On the baseball field, don't "specialize" too early. Young ball players should be playing every position. They should pitch, play outfield, play shortstop and first base. Youth ball players shouldn’t focus on just one position because most players at the age of 8 or 9 don’t know if the position they're focusing on will be the one they'll end up playing at 17 or 18 years old.

And the experience gained by playing a lot of different positions at 10, 11, 12, or 13 years old can really be invaluable later in a baseball career.

Keep it fun for your kids. Diversify their activities. Play lots of positions. That's how to avoid burning out. And that's how some of the great pitchers in the big leagues, such as Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, above, got to where they are today.