Catcher Arm Rest Period

My son played HS football, so he shut down throwing from Sept till early December.  He used December and January to get ready for spring HS baseball (weight lifting and throwing program).  After HS season ended in May he played travel ball June and July.  During the summer (June through August) he also did weight training and long-toss.  He kept hitting during football and in the winter so he could maintain feel for his swing as his body changed.

Many position players don't shut down, including catchers.  My son loved football and wanted to play so that's the way it worked out for him.  Honestly, it was great for him to take a break from baseball (mentally and physically) and I'd recommend it to any HS athlete.

Regarding a 30 day break in throwing, I'm not sure that's enough to accomplish whatever goals you have.  In my layman's opinion, if you are going to take a break, take a break (60 days or more).

I think even for catchers like 6-8 weeks shutdown is a good idea.

However make sure you have enough time to ramp up again, you at last want to have time for 2-3 weeks of low to medium intensity throwing (I. E throwing slow) before you start throwing harder.

If you can't do that it is better to shorten the break, as nothing is worse than to immediately start max Velo throwing after a shutdown, it is no coincidence that the rate of UCL injuries in MLB is higher at the start of the season.

Basically you want to shut down, then a couple days just lobbing the ball and then slowly increase throwing velo and you need enough time for that.

@Smitty28 posted:

Honestly, it was great for him to take a break from baseball (mentally and physically) and I'd recommend it to any HS athlete.

I used to be on the same boat as you, but to me, there are just too many injuries in HS football (at least at our local school).

It depends what you do with your time off. Practice your receiving, blocking, game "calling". Do you catch 2 handed or one handed? Do you shift your feet when playing catch? What are your goals, motivations.

Read about the great catchers = Bench, Yogi. Is there a "common tread"?

Watch the eyes of Maldonado [Astros] when he catches. They are constantly moving to the runner on 1st to the hitter.

Study U - tube. Learn the game!!!

Bob

@Viking0 posted:

I used to be on the same boat as you, but to me, there are just too many injuries in HS football (at least at our local school).

Yes, there are a lot of people who share this concern.  Every family needs to make their own decision on this.

@Smitty28 posted:

Honestly, it was great for him to take a break from baseball (mentally and physically) and I'd recommend it to any HS athlete.

Don't disagree there at all. Son seriously considered football, but ultimately decided that he would only be playing it to get stronger/faster, not because he enjoyed it. He swam instead, but stopped after 9th grade b/c it overlapped with the start of baseball, and left him no time to ramp back up. He would have loved to have stuck with that, or played lacrosse (overlapped completely).

@Consultant posted:

It depends what you do with your time off. Practice your receiving, blocking, game "calling". Do you catch 2 handed or one handed? Do you shift your feet when playing catch? What are your goals, motivations.

Read about the great catchers = Bench, Yogi. Is there a "common tread"?

Watch the eyes of Maldonado [Astros] when he catches. They are constantly moving to the runner on 1st to the hitter.

Study U - tube. Learn the game!!!

Bob

Bob, good point. He'll continue all aspects of the game other than throwing. So working on receiving, blocking, footwork, fielding, along with doing some infield work just to keep working on athleticism. Also is doing arm strength program daily, and of course hitting daily.

@Dominik85 posted:

I think even for catchers like 6-8 weeks shutdown is a good idea.

However make sure you have enough time to ramp up again, you at last want to have time for 2-3 weeks of low to medium intensity throwing (I. E throwing slow) before you start throwing harder.

If you can't do that it is better to shorten the break, as nothing is worse than to immediately start max Velo throwing after a shutdown, it is no coincidence that the rate of UCL injuries in MLB is higher at the start of the season.

Basically you want to shut down, then a couple days just lobbing the ball and then slowly increase throwing velo and you need enough time for that.

Agree totally, Dominik, with allowing time for rampup. Hence the desire for the 6 week rampup from first time back lobbing to his first real pop in a practice. Just wanted to see if this felt right to those who've been there in the past. In theory, he'd shut down after this weekend, but there's a PBR event on Nov 8th that he needs to stay hot for. So it looks like a 4-5 week shutdown is best he can get.

My kid shuts down at the end of August. Takes a couple weeks off. Then hits the weight and sprints. He started throwing plyos and long toss about 2 weeks ago. In Nov, he will add hitting and catching drills. He will catch pens in Dec/Jan.

We have shut down in the past but thinking we will not this fall/winter. Have received advice from several people (coaches, pitching guys, etc) to maintain, get stronger, and refine mechanics this fall. It feels right as my son has played probably 20-40 less games in 2020 than a normal year and is no longer pitching as well. Post shut down and then the ramp up almost feels like there are more pitfalls to be avoided rather than maintaining. Fingers crossed we will not regret it. I do know that I will feel better if/when the recruiting dead period ends in December and we happen to have the opportunity to attend camps at schools that have been in contact with my son. Our spring season practice does not start until early March here in MN...seems like 75% of the rest of the country is midseason by the time our games start first week of April.

my son (a catcher) played and practiced baseball from January thru August..then was a qb in football until mid November....so for 4 years not counting junior high almost threw year round but he did get a break from mid November til late December...recently had a MRI on throwing shoulder with a lot of scar tissue and small tears...he was way overused Im sure...make sure he takes care of his arm, rest, bands, stretching, etc.

I emailed Jaeger Sports about this before Covid after reading his throwing manual. Basically, it's up to the C. If his arm feels good then don't shut down. Just reduce the throwing frequency and intensity. Long-toss a couple days a week and skip the pull downs. As someone else mentioned above, my son played a lot fewer games this year. Add in the fact he didn't throw a ball back hard to the pitcher from January - last weekend, there was a lot less wear and tear.

My son shut down last year for 6 weeks and was able to do the Driveline on-ramp program and finish the weekend before the first practice. This year he's going to do high intensity throwing twice a week with a bullpen mixed in there somewhere since his HS coach has said he wants him to pitch a couple innings a week.

One thing I'd take into consideration is his arm history. Has he ever had soreness? If so, then some rest is probably a good thing. Some kids have a rubber arm and can chuck it everyday year round.

Good stuff BP. After he talked with his throwing facility, he’s now looking at not shutting down, just reducing intensity and focusing on strength.

He has had injuries in the past, the worst being a bad case of LL Elbow 5 years ago (for lack of better term) after a coach had him throw 120+ pitches and then catch the next game (back when I knew even less than I do now). This year, he’s only had muscle soreness, not tendons/joints. Big step in the right direction for him. Taking last fall off from laying helped massively, he thinks.

@TerribleBPthrower was the driveline program "pitcher" focused or "baseball player" focused? What were the pros and cons of the program your son did...as a baseball player and specifically catcher? Feel free to pm if that is easier/better for you. Thank you.

@used2lurk posted:

@TerribleBPthrower was the driveline program "pitcher" focused or "baseball player" focused? What were the pros and cons of the program your son did...as a baseball player and specifically catcher? Feel free to pm if that is easier/better for you. Thank you.

The plan my son did was a catcher focused plan. Driveline recommended a few different drills to replace things like the Walking Windup. One drill I flip him balls and he throws it like he's pulling down to second. Another he's in a secondary with the ball in glove and throws it like he would to third. And the last one is hard to describe, but it is kind of a slow motion mechanic thing until the last movement where he accelerates into a throw.

I felt the plan was very helpful. First, my son was coming off of 6 weeks of no throwing. The plan eased him into throwing and had him at full strength by the time the HS season started. It also helped him gain a good amount of arm strength. The program really showed him how to throw with max intent. And lastly, it built up strength in the scap area where my son would get sore over time.

The only con I would say is we tried to follow the plan as written by DL without taking into consideration my son's size at the time. He progressed to the stage where he would use the heaviest plyo ball. That caused pain so I had him take a week off of using the plyo balls. When he resumed we stuck with the balls he'd already used without any issues.

Feel free to PM me if you want me to go into more detail on the drills or if you want me to include some pics of the drills.