Think before you answer, please.

We are headed into November, pitchers have been pitching since January, (or sooner) and some of us have been actively coaching that long also non-stop.

Things to ponder: (I am referring to high school age players)

1. How much time should position players take off to rest and recover this time of the year?

2. How much time should pitchers take off this time of the year?

3. If you say no to time off, how much should you cut back on throws, etc...

4. Should they have time to "be kids" and enjoy life for part of the year?

5. Does this mean they aren't devoted to the game and/or will miss out on an opportunity to play at the next level?

I want to hear your answers to these questions from a sincere philospohical view to our sport. I have my own feelings, some mixed but I believe each one of these questions on their own could provoke some excellent responses from our TBR gurus. I will reserve the right to comment later.

 

These are some excellent questions, coach. I want to give it some deserved thought vs speaking off the top of my head as usual

But, the premise of my future post will be about the two things that you mentioned:

1. Giving their arms a rest
2. Letting kids get away and be kids

 

Just my opinion

This will be the last weekend for our guys (pitchers) and then the fall season will end. They have been throwing and pitching since Jan.

Here is what I think and what I feel has worked for us. We have an off season and conditioning program that we offer from June to Feb. When we get to Nov we shut down the throwing completely. We focus entirely on lower body strength work. Core work , med balls etc. Tubing exercises and a ton of running. We encourage them to not throw untill Jan. When we get back from Christmas break we start our long toss routine , flat ground work , and mechanic drills. Feb 1 a couple of weeks before we officially start the season we start throwing pens. We continue with the core work and the tubing during the entire process.

What I have found , it is during this period when our guys have made their biggest jump in velocity. The first guy that we had in our program that followed this routine was Matt Harrison. At the end of his soph year he pitched in the 83-85 range. The first game of the season his Jr year he pitched vs Orange HS and was pitched 87-89 and was hitting some 90-91's. We figured we were on to something. He followed the exact routine the next year and came out pitching at 89-91 hitting some 92-94. Im not suggesting that this was the sole reason but there is no doubt it has worked for many of our pitchers and posistion players as well.

When I say you need to rest. What I mean is rest your arm from the throwing motion. Replace that by working on making your core stronger , becoming more flexible , working on your lower body strength and flexibility , and tubing which hits spots that weights can not touch.

As far as getting away from the game and just being a kid I totally agree. Do your cage work. Do your baseball work. And then be a kid. All you need is an hour a day four or five days a week. Study , hang out with your friends , go to the basketball games etc etc.

 

what

what about HS baseball players that also play other fall & winter sports? do they do off-season baseball workouts & if so, when?

 

Her ya go!

1. month
2. six weeks or better!
3. Gotta have time off, period.
4. You bet...and to specifically focus on academia!
5. Not at all...watch, talk, and listen tothem with discerning eyes and ears, and it does NOT take long at all to determine who is sandbagging it and being lazt versus those who are tending to their prioritie on and off the field...and of course resting from hardball