We're now about half-way through the Little League season here in Palos Verdes and it's tempting to start looking at the stat sheet to see what kind of season your son is having.

While analyzing stats can absolutely be a valuable tool (and GameChanger makes this so easy to do now), when players are younger, batting average and ERA are often not the optimal way to judge success and failure in baseball.

Here's what I mean:

When the best hitters in the world only get a hit 1 out of 3 times (and for most MLB players it's much closer to 1 out of 4 times), ALL baseball players are setting themselves up for constant disappointment and frustration if they use "results oriented" metrics to determine how well they're performing.

Let's start with a couple definitions.

"Process" is the amount of work that goes into the action and the quality of that work.

"Results" is the outcome of that process.

In baseball especially, we only have control over the process because there are so many outside variables that can affect the outcome.

For example, we take a great swing and rip the ball in the gap but the CF makes a diving catching.

Our "process" - taking a great swing - was perfect, but our "results" - we got out - was not desirable.

Another example: we throw the right pitch, in the right situation, in the right location, but the hitter makes a great adjustment and hits it hard anyway.

Our "process" - executing our pitch - was perfect, but our "results" - the batter hit the ball hard - was not desirable.

Unlike in many other sports, we have far less control over the results in baseball.

This isn't to say that process isn't important in all sports because it is, but there is no defender standing in the fairway to stop Jordan Speith's drives from rolling towards their intended target. And when Stephen Curry takes a perfect shot from behind the arc, nobody is allowed to swat it away as it approaches the basket.

To this end, baseball players must be far more concerned with the process than the results, because so many things can happen that are completely out of their control.

When a player steps into my cage for a hitting lesson, the first thing I ask him is not how many hits he got in the last game (results), but the quality of his at-bats (process).

Same goes for pitchers; hits and runs given up and Wins and Losses are largely out of their control - but how many strikes they threw is almost 100% on them.

Nobody likes to fail, but unfortunately, baseball players "fail" all the time, if we focus only on the result.

One of my favorite things to teach my students is that every time their process is sound they have to give themselves a "mental high five" - regardless of the result - in order to stay positive and motivated.

As parents, it's imperative that we focus on and celebrate the process, because if we're only using the results as our metric of success and failure, most "game recaps" during the car ride home will be disappointing.

The second part of "process" is how much effort a player puts into improving his game; effort is another thing we have control over.

I give every single one of my lesson students "baseball homework" to do on their own - drills they can do at home in between lessons that will reinforce skills and concepts we worked on in the cage.

When I see a player again the following week, ask them how their game went, and they say "not so well," my next question is usually, "Ok, well how much did you practice on your own during the week." At that point I usually see a sheepish smile and hear something like, "a little bit." Then I say, "Really?" And then they say, "No, I didn't practice at all on my own."

I don't do this to make them field bad about themselves, but to illustrate an important point: How can anyone reasonably expect to improve their "results" without increasing their effort?

Take practice swings at home (process)...hit the ball hard in games (results).

Practice your pitching mechanics in the mirror (process)...throw more strikes (results).

The input/output relationship between process and results is a powerful one.

By becoming a "process-oriented" baseball player, your son will not only improve at a faster rate due to increased effort, but will also be better equipped emotionally to handle the frequent disappointments in baseball.

Good luck using this new approach!