How to spend the summer after HS graduation?

I don't know of anyone who plays "travel ball" after graduation.  They either immediately go to campus to start working out/taking classes or they play in one of the thousands of summer leagues.

By summer leagues, I take it that you mean the college summer leagues?

@NotABaseballGuy posted:

By summer leagues, I take it that you mean the college summer leagues?

Correct.  If your school doesn't place you in one there are many all over the country.

In many programs, freshman are required to come to campus early for summer school and training.

So the Harvard Coach was 100% correct.

As you move forward this is a good question to ask coaches in every division that is interested in your son, this is very common in D1.

D1 players are often expected to go to campus that summer to take classes, get used to the lifting, bond with fellow freshmen, etc.

Levels below D1 usually do not do this.  So, you have to figure out what to do, in consultation with the college coach.  My son's D3 coach sent out a weight-lifting plan that he expected all players to follow.  Because my son had asked about it, he arranged for him to play on a collegiate summer team; it didn't happen because son got mono.  When he was cleared, he played on a local 18U travel team for a few weeks, and also started the weight-lifting.

In our experience, 18U travel ball was not pretty, it included many players who were not going to play in college but wanted one last summer of baseball.  It also included D2 and D3 players, but not the D1 players that we had been used to in previous summers.  On the other hand, at least it was baseball.

Also, pitchers are different from position players - pitchers need to have fresh arms in the fall, whereas PPs need to be ready to hit and field.

My son's college sent their workout routine for the incoming freshman to follow prior to coming to campus. 100% important to work out and get stronger.  My son was going to play local legion to stay sharp, but Coivd (summer 2020) scuttled that.   

My son is an incoming freshman. Like others, Coach sent a summer workout plan and told kids to arrive on campus ready to compete. As a pitcher he decided skip summer ball and work on training and getting better. It’s hard to hit the weights, do pitching work, and throw pens while pitching in games.

@anotherparent posted:

D1 players are often expected to go to campus that summer to take classes, get used to the lifting, bond with fellow freshmen, etc.

The D1 school my son is committed to brings all incoming pitchers to campus June 1.  They send incoming position players out to collegiate summer leagues.

We play summer high school baseball in Iowa. My son was committed to a D1 in Iowa and spent the summer going to all-star showcases, playing with his HS team and working out. I think in part, college coaches weren't expecting a ton from him, but he went to school still in full on baseball mode.

My son’s focus was working out and rehab. He played his senior season. But he wasn’t fully recovered college baseball strength wise from surgery in the fall.

He played Legion to play some ball. He said it was like batting practice. But when the team went to districts and states he said it was fun again to play win or your season is over which doesn’t exist in travel ball.

My kid's HA D3 recruiter placed him in a wood bat league in his rising frosh year. Kid opted out as he was still rehabbing from elbow surgery and decided to play a local wood bat league. He was given a workout program from the trainer, but he followed his training facility program instead. His school has mainly remote classes during the breaks and no option for him to go early.

Exposing HA Grads to College Players during the first 1/2 of summer is good for pitchers and catchers in the bull pen. They don’t need to get on the field; Just soak up knowledge.

There is no roster spot needed and Summer League Coaches are hopeful to have the player on the roster next season.

On the bench, each team has a BB , which is good for position players. Sitting with the players and coaches opens up the HS Grad to the differences between HS and Collegiate play and exposes the cadence of college baseball.

In addition, there are stats positions available, which helps to see how college pitchers differ from HS especially MPH and pitcher table setting.

Joining the College Summer League is not just for playing. Do your workouts, learn the college game and get ready for your August departure.

After high school season, my son finished up with some state all star games and some draft workouts, then completely shut down. We actually just got back a couple of days ago from moving him into his dorm. He didn't have much time between the extra events and reporting to school. So he worked with his trainer as much as he can. He started his summer school class this past Wednesday also. I believe they start up in the weight room at school this coming week after they all complete their physicals and testing required by their S&C coach to start working out. He has been hitting at the field every day since being on campus. Throwing wise, he is staying in a shutdown mode until near end of August so that he can rest and repair before practices kick off in September.

The summer after HS graduation is maybe the most important 90 days of a college baseball players career. That time should be used to train, practice, and get in the best shape of your life. When you get to campus you will be competing for a roster spot from day 1 against more experienced and more talented players. This is true no matter where you go. So you better be ready to compete right from the jump or you may be gone by Christmas if you are not on money, or gone after year 1 if you are on scholarship. IMO there are 2 things that no player should do the summer after HS graduation assuming they are healthy: 1) take the summer off, or ; 2) play travel ball. Do either of those things and you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Playing in a college summer league is a good thing to do as long as the workload is managed. The key is to do everything that will help you be at your best the first day of your freshman year. And not to get into the mode of thinking that you have made it - because you haven’t yet.

We are in that spot right now.  The only thing his college coach told him is to stay sharp but stay fresh.  Not sure if they gave him a workout plan or not.  The coaching staff is new for his college so not sure if the lack of specifics is due to this.  The other college that pursued my son said they sent incoming freshmen position players to college leagues.  In all the colleges we spoke with, and from our friend's experience, all of the pitchers were asked to shut down in the summer, and most of them were asked to report early to school.

Here's what my son did:

• Played with his 17u travel team for half of the season (just the 3 biggest tournaments where they will be facing the really good teams).  We figured 17u is more competitive than 18u.
• Worked out almost every day when he's not playing.
• Hitting with various travel teammates and/or HS teammates 2 or 3x a week.
• Caught a few bullpens for the local college summer team of his asst HS coach.

Not sure if what my son is doing is good enough or not.  We will see this fall.  We did want him to make sure to recover from catching almost every game for his HS in the spring.  Looking back, the only thing I wished we considered was having him play for his asst HS coach with that local college summer team.  Not saying we would have gone that route or if that route would have been better for him, but wished we looked into it.

@NotABaseballGuy,

I tend to agree with the Harvard HC.  Times have changed, and all players (especially freshmen) need to show up in the best shape of their life to compete in the Fall.   So, I would put a priority on summer work outs above anything else.  My son's strength and conditioning coach sent all incoming freshmen a mandatory workout routine & schedule as well as nutrition guidelines.  It was very detailed.  My son followed the workouts & nutrition guidance to the letter.   He also played American Legion baseball as a two-way player, and he worked part time for some spending money.  The summer went very quick, and the hard work he put into the workouts paid off when he hit the baseball field in the Fall.  He had a great Fall on the mound.

Yes, a lot of programs have the athletes come in early to start classes in the summer and workout on campus.   This was not an option for the Ivy my son attended nor do I recall the previous Harvard HC mentioning a summer class option when they recruited/offered my son 13 years ago.  Times may have changed.

Essentially college sports is a "job".  That job starts the summer after graduation, and the coaches expectations will be very high in the Fall.   There is one opportunity to make a first impression with the coaching staff in the Fall.   You'll want your son to be on the positive side of that first impression.  My son gave me examples of guys that didn't do that and it was held over their heads for a long time.

Just my experience....

@NotABaseballGuy posted:

Recently at Showball, I heard the Harvard HC comment to a large group of parents that one shouldn't be paying for travel ball for the summer after HS graduation. He said that time/money is better spent in the weight room getting a body that's ready to compete with 25 years olds (slight exaggeration, perhaps, but I got the point) and with family before leaving for college. I thought that was an interesting perspective and one that I had not heard before. I had just assumed that my son would be playing a ton of baseball the summer before college.

As we are getting ready to make decisions about travel ball for next year, I thought I would poll the group to see who agrees with the Harvard HC.

Not an exaggeration, son had a 6 year Grad Students on team.  One month from turning 18, he looked like a child, despite being 6'5" and putting on 15lbs during summer.  At DIII level, he played one team with a 28 yo SS. (ex professional wrestler).   Get in the gym is my number one advice.

I just want to add that I had read things like this before my son's freshman year (D3), and I was really anxious given that he had had mono and was not in the best shape of his life.  Obviously the coach knew about the mono.  Anyway, he worked hard in the fall and it all worked out.  Not at all saying that a player should slack off in the summer before (see cautionary tale here), but communication and hard work are key.