re: Who actually likes “travel ball”

You are absolutely right and if your kid wants to work you should. The game hasn't changed in the last 30 years since I was coming up through the legion ranks in Baton Rouge.

The kids that work and get 'some' quality instruction on technique will get better. They have to love it or they won't work at it. I give my kids every bit they can handle but once they say enough is enough...

For those kids that want 'more'. The amount of quality information out there is staggering compared to when I was growing up. I watched Will Clark's swing and tried to emulate it...that's about the extent of information out there in the 80's/90's.

Where travel has absolutely gone wrong, is taking the average/below average players and forcing them into tournament ball just to find games to play, with many of the Rec leagues stopping teams at 12u.