Okay, I know we have been having great fun covering the history of the Star Spangled Banner, NBA rigging, the LGBTQ community and a slew of other WAAAAAAAAAAAY off baseball topics, BUT, I have a baseball question.
Mid January is when HS baseball tryouts occur. Typically my son doesn't pick up a baseball from Mid October to late January, been that way for about 5 years. How do you stay in baseball form during your shutdown period and be ready for high school tryouts?
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Well, if you know tryouts start in Mid January, he will need to adjust the timing of his rest period. He should be ramping up his arm for at least 3 weeks prior to regular activity if possible - longer if he is a P. Consider the possibility that he may be asked to throw a bullpen to determine if he is P material. His arm needs to be in shape for that.
Of course, he can and should hit on a consistent basis, again at least 3 weeks prior and preferably include some hitting against pitching (not just tee and front toss work) as tryout date nears. Same with taking defensive reps. If he is unsure what position he will be trying out for, he should include IF and OF work. As I recall, catching is part of the equation with your son. If that is still the case, he should be doing the catching drills that work his legs as well as a heavy dose of squats as part of his overall conditioning.
Then, there is general conditioning and tie in some agility and lateral movement work. This should make for a good foundation.
Is he playing any other HS sports?
Any physical activity he can do with no problem. Running, lifting, speed and agility, etc... He can also be doing BP at the cages or having someone toss to him during the break. Ground balls and fly balls being hit to him as well. None of these things will do him any harm and all will help.
He should also start a throwing program sometime during December. Start light and work up to where he is in full throwing shape by the time tryouts start. You definitely don't want to go in with an out of shape arm. That's asking for trouble.
...freshman high school.... Son dropped fall baseball from his schedule, and is playing league basketball and working out for speed and agility. Not picking up a baseball for 2-3 months. Will start playing catch/hitting some in November. He will be "mound ready" by tryouts in late January. A lot of the winter specifics depends on whether he makes the freshman basketball team.
My son did FASST (Fitness, Agility, Speed, Strength Training) in the winter. He hit at least twice a week off the tee and Pro Batter.
cabbagedad posted:Well, if you know tryouts start in Mid January, he will need to adjust the timing of his rest period. He should be ramping up his arm for at least 3 weeks prior to regular activity if possible - longer if he is a P. Consider the possibility that he may be asked to throw a bullpen to determine if he is P material. His arm needs to be in shape for that.
Of course, he can and should hit on a consistent basis, again at least 3 weeks prior and preferably include some hitting against pitching (not just tee and front toss work) as tryout date nears. Same with taking defensive reps. If he is unsure what position he will be trying out for, he should include IF and OF work. As I recall, catching is part of the equation with your son. If that is still the case, he should be doing the catching drills that work his legs as well as a heavy dose of squats as part of his overall conditioning.
Then, there is general conditioning and tie in some agility and lateral movement work. This should make for a good foundation.
Is he playing any other HS sports?
He still hasn't settled on his position. In the last 3 months he has played RHP, 1B, C, OF, and 3B.
He's in Football currently, wide receiver. I'm attempting to talk him out of HS basketball, I think we both need a moment to breath!
CaCO3Girl posted:cabbagedad posted:Well, if you know tryouts start in Mid January, he will need to adjust the timing of his rest period. He should be ramping up his arm for at least 3 weeks prior to regular activity if possible - longer if he is a P. Consider the possibility that he may be asked to throw a bullpen to determine if he is P material. His arm needs to be in shape for that.
Of course, he can and should hit on a consistent basis, again at least 3 weeks prior and preferably include some hitting against pitching (not just tee and front toss work) as tryout date nears. Same with taking defensive reps. If he is unsure what position he will be trying out for, he should include IF and OF work. As I recall, catching is part of the equation with your son. If that is still the case, he should be doing the catching drills that work his legs as well as a heavy dose of squats as part of his overall conditioning.
Then, there is general conditioning and tie in some agility and lateral movement work. This should make for a good foundation.
Is he playing any other HS sports?
He still hasn't settled on his position. In the last 3 months he has played RHP, 1B, C, OF, and 3B.
He's in Football currently, wide receiver. I'm attempting to talk him out of HS basketball, I think we both need a moment to breath!
Cool, one of the great things about the other sports is they take care of most of the necessary conditioning. He will just have to make sure he gets himself on a throwing schedule at the right time. Add in the hitting as he gets closer to tryout date and he should be fine.
I know you've read all the pro and con threads regarding multiple sport kids. If he is likely in a good spot to make each team, is able to properly manage his school work and tasks at home, doesn't get too fried on the grind and really likes playing all the sports, I think it's great.
What cabbagedad said, plus some.
Personally I would not talk him out of anything, let him work it out on his own. If he's a good athlete the coaches will figure out a way to make it work for them and him. If your son has a real passion for baseball I would Just make the opportunities available to him to work out, forcing him to choose at this age can lead to early retirement from all sports.
When my son was in HS he played football, basketball and baseball all four years. He would do bp at lunch or after basketball practice and sometimes before games. It was more difficult to find time during football, although he played on a Sunday scout team during football. I would guess he did bp 3-5 times a week and threw a couple times a week on average during basketball, probebely 1/2 that during football, although he played in games. I think he also lifted 3 times a week year round.
btw, a position player needs to work out year round, especially on his swing.
I'm not trying to turn this into a multisport or not thread BUT football is rough on a body, especially when the entire other team is specifically chasing you down because you are running for, or with, the ball.
Basketball is rough on knees in particular, but also in GA it overlaps the beginning of the baseball tryouts. Last year the basketball team wasn't even in GA the day of the main baseball tryout. My son has said baseball is his number one priority so I'm thinking missing the tryouts for it would be a big bummer.
Travel baseball is from April to August and playing multiple positions, especially the way the formats are played with multiple games in a 3 day period...well I don't think it's healthy for a kid to be actively beat up for 12 months a year.
My 2017 has played basketball and baseball every year of HS. They overlap here too, but the baseball coach understands and makes allowances. The basketball players who also play baseball have helped themselves by throwing together and hitting the cage together before or after basketball practices.
Never mind tryouts, CaCO -- you have it good in Georgia. Depending on how far the basketball team goes in the state playoffs, here it overlaps a lot of the baseball season -- last year at son's high school the baseball team had completed 11 games before the basketball season ended.
Kids a freshman. Play them all. Enjoy high school. Good luck.
