Specializing Positions?

Well, as in most of life, Baseball has no clear cut answers!

Making a 10 year specialize in one position is akin to telling him he can only be a fireman or carpenter or whatever when he grows up (or pre-arranging a wife/spouse for him)! You can't do that to kids ( up to high school age)

Saying that.... you also have to let kids use their abilities and try to place them where they will have the most advantages to excel. Certain kids can pitch and others can't! SS have to have strong arm. Infielders should be right handed! There are realities to positioning!

But at youth ages (up to 14) teach every player all the skills and the kids with the aptitudes for the various positions will make themselves known! The kids who really want to play a position will work hard and earn it! The ones who don't work hard may cry or whine but they will not get the prefrred positons because they didn't earn them!

All my players partipate in all drills (except pitching where I work one on one) and they are taught infield skills and outfield skills. But I usually will only play two at most three different kids at each position. I have 4-5 middle infielders the ones with the strongest arms play SS the others 2B. Most of my lefties play 1b or OF. I rotate my OF but I have some kids which that is their primary positon, but they play infiled also. Now I try not to switch SS and 2b but I do switch SS with 3B. I have two primary catchers with two other backups but most of the kids don't want to be Catchers.

In playoffs and Tournament time this changes to you put kids where they will best help the team! This might mean you backup SS plays 3B and maybe your best 2B plays CF because he is the fastes kid on your team of whatever reason.

But do me one favor Teach all the kids all the drills and then let them earn their playing position..... it becomes pretty obvious who put in the extra work!