Cross Country bad idea?

I think it's great . He is not a life long runner where the running stress injuries seem to appear. It is no more than a short term, concentrated, cardial workout. Besides, CC being an individual sport for the most part involves digging down deep inside a to finish. I can see where that mentality can be carried over to other sports specifically baseball.

The only thing I would suggest is having workouts running on grass versus tracks.

I would think CC would be fine,at our school the runners do distance and sprints.

Thanks guys for your response. I was just concerned he was training his muscles more for endurance then speed. It seems like I had heard somewhere that you can lose or dull some of your fast twitch reactions?

My son runs cross country in the fall, to build endurance, and then switches to sprints when winter track season hits in order to build more explosive power in his lower body (he's a pitcher). Both his pitching coach and his high school baseball coach think its a good program for him - especially since each sport has a unique weight training program that works well for baseball players. By that I mean during cross country season the legs are getting a great deal of work running, so weight training primarily targets the core and upper body (for strength - not mass). During winter track, sprinters focus on weight training exercises designed to add power to the lower body. By the time baseball tryouts roll around, the body is in pretty good shape for baseball (and its certainly ready for all those laps around the field).

The experience will well prepare him for college ball.

My son began running 2-years ago as a freshman. He now runs 50-70 mile a week in the fall.

His running (along with weekly long toss) had a huge impact on his velocity as a pitcher. He has gone from high 70's to the mid to upper 80's.

The downside is that he is now being recruited as a distance runner and he is likely done with baseball.

ILVBB, WOO, WOO, WOO. Stop right there.
Don't tell me anymore.

DONE WITH BASEBALL?

Take the Running Shoe's away.
EH

My older one is still playing in college so that I can still enjoy the game that we love.

It is amazing what a diffence sports can do for your kids. My older boy is 6'3" 220 LH power hitter. His younger brother is 6'2" 145 gazzelle.

The good news is that whether it is Baseball or Running, they either will or are getting the opportunity to go to College and be involved in something they love.

OK at least to have One Boy Playing. LOL

You know Gazalle's make great Outfielder's.

EH

Cross training is always a good idea... and ask any pitching coach about long distance running. Ever hear of POLES..???? I think you will find (at his age) ... it will actually help speed, quickness and agility, as it will strenghten his muscles and keep them long and lean... and he'll have a better base on which to establish his baseball specific skills come January...

quote:

2-years ago as a freshman ... cut ... huge impact on his velocity as a pitcher. He has gone from high 70's to the mid to upper 80's.

While Running is very good to build stamina and strengthen lower body... and probably did play a part... I would have to say growing up from a freshman to a junior had a LOT more to do with his velocity increase. My son (never a long distance runner)(but did condition in other ways) went from mid 70s to 90 in the a same time period. And typically at least a 10 mph gain in that same time period is typical in the pitchers I've seen.

My son also runs XC during the fall and like the others before it helps his stamina and endurance tremendously. He enjoys it and it makes it easier to get him to run a couple of miles the day after he pitches. Once they start practice and conditioning in the spring, he is already ahead of the game.

I don't think I will ever have to worry about him giving up baseball for XC in college.

The XC coach just talked to me about playing today. Should I do it?

My son is really enjoying cross country. He placed 8th in a league preview 5K race good enough to qualify for state if he can do it again when they host districts on the same course. The only problem is he decided he did'nt want to play fall ball. I'm a little disappointed with that he would have been able to face some varsity level pitching. Which would have helped his confidence for his freshman yr.

As a former baseball player that also ran I can tell you that it will help your sons speed. I went from having average speed to being the fastest kid (40, 60, and 100m)in the school after one season. His legs will become very strong and his body fat will really drop. This is much better for his baseball than football ever will be. The only negative is most high school running programs don't get in the weight rooom like they need too. Your son may have to do the lifting on his on.

I've gotten hammered several times talking about my son and his speed,..so I'm going to tip-toe carefully around this subject.

My son is a Junior in HS and has played two years of varsity baseball and varsity football
so far. He's fast,....pretty stinkin' fast ( wont put his stats in here because that can cause doubters and meanies to come out of the woodwork ) so lets just say,... the kid has speed & it gets him noticed.

Here's the interesting part:
He credits his speed now, due to all the past cross country training/competing that he did in 7th and 8th grade. ( We lived in Hawaii at the time, so he trained year round. )
Out of that came a passion for distance.
That passion has lead him to run 12-15 miles (+) per week to this day.
Now I'm not a physiologist or a doctor
so I dont know the physical or scientific
corrolation between the two, but I have to say that I agree with him.
He runs 3.5 miles every other day on his own,
( mix in Fall baseball workouts and Varsity football practices in addition to that ), lifts weights daily, and eats right. This combination has worked well for him.
He believes that his extra running has been key to having the advantage over his peers as far as conditioning is concerned. Poles? Piece of cake! ha!
If he had never ran cross country, perhaps his passion for running long distance would have never evolved!

It may be quite simple:
He's worked over the years building and building up his muscle and cardio conditioning. The result now is that he is fast. Who knew?
Maybe it was just coincidence. Dont know for sure, but if its worked for my son, perhaps it will work for yours too!

( quick note: my son plays infield and is not a pitcher,... so I know nothing about long distance effects & pitching volocity & wouldn't want to steer you wrong! )
Best of luck!!! I'd say if your son made the varsity team on his first try, there must be some natural talent already there! Good job!!!
Let us know how it goes. I'd love to hear back from you as to how it all went!

On your mark, get set, goooooooooooo!!!!!!

cbg & shortstopmom, I hope you guys are right about the speed thing. In the last yr he went from being below avg to above with out any distance running I think a lot of it was just maturing some. It will be interesting to see his 60 time next spring after XC.