Until a boy gets to be 13 or 14 years old, it’s usually pretty difficult to decide, in a final sense, the position he’s best suited to play. At eight, he may look like a good 1st base prospect. At 12, because of physical changes alone, he may look more like an outfielder. It’s a definite mistake to say early in a player’s life that he’s going to be a pitcher and nothing else. Even in the Major Leagues there are many examples of players being changed from one position to another.

In a group of eight-year-olds, only one or two boys are likely to have any stand-out ability. The others will per- form at about the same level. As this group gets older, there will be some slight changes in every boy.

How, then, does the manager know which boy is best suited for 1st base, 2nd or 3rd? What should he look for as the boys go through their paces?

The first thing any manager should do is evaluate his material. He knows his boys have to run, hit and throw. He knows they have to field. All right then, who are the fastest runners? The best fielders on ground balls? On fly balls? Which boys have the best throwing arms?

If the first practice session is in the gymnasium, the manager can pick out the fastest runners immediately. If outdoors, he can quickly find out who can run and who can throw. To find the best runners, simply line the boys up in groups and race them! To find the best throwers, mark a throwing line at one end of the field and put markers at 50-foot depth intervals at the other. Mark down on a rating sheet which boys throw the farthest, (also, which boys run the fastest). At the start of this test, by the way, the manager would do well to emphasize the need to throw the ball on a straight horizontal line and not with a high arc. To drive home the point, he might say something like this:

“There’s two ways of throwing the ball 100 feet. If you throw it straight up 50 feet, it will come down 50 feet and that adds up to 100. But runners don’t run up, or down, but along the ground. If you want to catch a runner, throw the ball on a line and throw it hard.” Baseball Training - Read More.