Is this normal

freshmandad,
Welcome to the HSBBW!

We have a lot of great coaches here and catchers parents who I hope can respond to your concerns.

Best of luck to your son.

Make sure he run's after practice.
Not fast but for a good distance.
Maybe run the warning track about 10 times.
That will burn up the lactic acid built up in his muscle's.
And allow him to recover faster.
Same goes for pitcher's after a full game of pitching.
The lactic acid build up causes the muscle's to get sore, or should I say stay sore. Burn it out of there.
EH

Thats a long practice...but not uncommon unfortunately. Hopefully its just him trying to get ready for the season and he'll back off once the season get going.

In the Spring we would occassionally let my Son sleep in to catch up on his sleep and rest, to avoid getting sick and get some rest. He is a good student so it did not hurt him and sometimes he would finish the homework in the A.M.

Not the ideal way, but it always seemed to help him get refreshed and also took the pressure off on homework and having to be up until midnight or later trying to get something done for 1st period.

To add to what EH said make sure he stretches when he finishes running and it should be a slow jog. Combining the slow jog and the stretching will help stop the lactic acid build up.

Make sure your son ices after each practice. Ice his knees, elbows, shoulder and ankles. This will help recovery time. This also would be a good time to do his homework. Keep the ice on for about 20 minutes, off for 10 and then on again for 10 minutes. You probably don't need this much time but it won't hurt you and the cold will help keep your son awake to do his homework.

Novice Dad I hate to critcize but I think you are sending the wrong message although your intentions are good. These kids choose to play baseball and therefore have to accept the responsibilities that go along with it. It is tough to go to school, practice / play and then get homework done but it is something you have to do. By allowing your son to miss the morning of school you are placing athletics in front of academics. As a head coach it is a rule for my guys to be in school the next day - if not they sit a game. I tell my guys to stay on top of their work and if they don't then they have to answer to me and they don't want to do that. If they have several minutes in class they are not doing anything they need to do homework for another class to stay on top instead of talking to their friends.

That is just my opinion and you probably don't let it happen that much but I still think it's bad business.

My son's practices are that long as well, and in his case, it does not slow down as the season progresses. Saturday's are 9-6 unless there is a game.

On top of that, his school is a 1/2 away from home. Tonight it was snowing.

Freshmandad:
It's not easy to be a student athlete. Those are long hours but somewhat normal. My sons through high school had baseball as a class so it started ealier but ended sooner also. Only one has moved on to college ball, but I have heard the stories more than once.
Don't want to scare you but your sons schedule is a taste of the college level. I am sure all college players parents have heard from their kids how little time there is to do anything.
Just a example up at 545 am weights, find time for a shower and eat maybe, then school ,then practice right after their last class until whenever and then mandatory study hall at 6 pm or 8 pm. Once they are home, a shower, any unfinished homework, attempt to eat dinner and go to sleep. The next day, Wake up and do it all over again.


Good Luck

I hate to say it but this is a normal day - the practices and field maintenance take up a huge amount of time. If his arm is hurting make sure he lets the coach know - trust me, evryones arms are and the coach wants them as fresh as possible for the beginning of the season.

I think where freshman mess up is that they are trying to impress on every throw/pen or whatever and it is just impossible.

We live in Gwinnett and if you want to drop me a PM we can discuss in more detail. Oh by the way, I always inquire with my son what homework he has and break it down by class and an estimate of how many minutes each will take. Many times he is able to do the homework in the car on the way to school in the AM. Also (teachers cover your ears) there usually a class or two where he can get homework done for other classes. From what I understand, Frosh and Soph years are the toughest.

Congrats to your son on making the freshman team! A worthy accomplishment, especially given the size of the HS.

As many posters have stated this is not unusual, especially on the freshman team.

I have to agree with the previous comment that we (players AND parents) need to remember that our sons are STUDENT-Athletes.

Again, congrats and good luck this season!

Congratulations to your son!!
I keep a special place in my heart for freshman catchers! ( son was a former catcher- now a shortstop- and I miss it!)

Key was hydration, hydration, hydration the night before!!! Stretching out before bed is also key!!!
This is a new era,..HS baseball,..and its a hard one,..but its also a blast!
Exhaustion is part of it,..especially in the beginning. Catchers work out hard and have the excess equipment weight on them. Takes alot of getting used to. You will be amazed how these boys can handle so much more then we as the parents are used to.

My son was tired,...sore,...and hungry all the time. Be prepared to buy stock in Powerade and Gatorade and have an increase in your grocery bill of about 5 bazillion dollars a week! ha!

The classic mom test to see if my son was truely doing too much was to ask him the next day if he wanted to go back. He always did.
Kind of a love-hate thing in the beginning.
It will all come full circle.

One thing though, as parents I know we had to make adjustments. Our family no longer ate together at night. As a mom I ended up wrapping up a plate for my son and leaving it for him on the stove. Know that he appreciated me picking up the uniform and mysteriously throwing it in the washer while he was in the shower, every so often. Made sure there was extra food in the cupboards that was easily available to take with him to eat in addition to the usual school lunch. Just little things now and then to help him and support him and to ease with the changing schedule and new life style. It will be an adaption period for the entire family.

Much success to your son!!! I'm excited for you guys!!! Please let us know how the season is going and feel free to pm me anytime. I'd be glad to have my son ( hs junior ) write yours.

I agree that this is standard operating procedure for a sport--I also found from my own experience that the players grades were usually better during the season because they had to budget their time---there is no down time in which to goof off or be playing video games

Another thing you might try is to get up extra early in the morning 60 to 90 minutes and do the homework when fresh and alert rather than at night when tired and spent

This is my high school sophomore’s schedule. Football at 7:00 am; Monday, Wednesday, Friday. School; 8:00 am to 3:00, P.E. (baseball) starts at 1:30, practice until dark, around 6:00. Tell your son to hang in there, take a good multi vitamin every morning; eat a good healthy breakfast, bring a breakfast bar or a peanut butter sandwich to school to eat right before practice. Be in bed as early as possible after shower, dinner, and homework. Make sure he gets all the sleep he can get on the weekend (no staying up late) asleep by 9:30 – 10:00. I know it is extremely hard, but he can do it. His hustle got him a second look; therefore his hustle will get him through this.

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His hustle got him a second look; therefore his hustle will get him through this.

Good point!!!

( I forgot about the dozens & dozens of peanut butter sandwiches!!! )

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Originally posted by TRhit:
I agree that this is standard operating procedure for a sport--I also found from my own experience that the players grades were usually better during the season because they had to budget their time---there is no down time in which to goof off or be playing video games

Very true TR.

Funny story, Last year my wife and I finished a project for my son because he was just too tired to do it. He normally is an A student but "we" got a 75 on the project. Needless to say, we dont do that anymore.

He will be fine. School at 8:30 - 3:30. Practice starts at 3:50. We finish up around 6:30 most of the time sometimes 7:00. Get home , eat , homework , chill a bit , go to bed. Pretty standard routine. Now the road games will be worse. 7:00pm start finish up around 9:30. Got to stop and eat or at least hit a convenience store. Depending on where you go sometimes 1 or 1:30 drive we get back around 11-11:30. Those can be tough but they learn to adjust. The biggest thing these young players have trouble with is throwing everyday. Most kids before they get in HS are not used to throwing everyday. Its important that if they have some deep soreness or pain they tell the coach right away and protect their arm. But they will adjust and they will find by the end of the year their arm is stronger than ever. Good Luck

Does he use "knee savers". Some players like them some dont.

From my experience those practices seem very long. We started about 3:30 and ended about 6

Thanks for all the advice. I think once we can find the right balance things will work out.

That is the norm for my sons HS program until we play the first game. 2:30 to 7 or 7:30. Then the coach starts to back off some until they finish up around 6. Right now my SR son sounds just like yours. It usually takes a couple of weeks for him to adjust, even though they have a very good off season lifting and conditioning program.

freshmandad-
Way too long, in my opinion. For me, I very VERY rarely ever go over 3 hours tops. In my humble opinion, quality practice organization will allow you to get 4 1/2 hours work done in 3 if the kids are hustling and everything is set up carefully. My players never stand around and we don't waste time - we work our tails off for 2 1/2 - 3 hours...and go home. I have never seen QUALITY practices that last that long - but every coach has his own thing.

I'm with you Coach Knight.. 9-6 on a Saturday??
Give me a break... You see the same things in some drills... You'll see a kid hit 75 balls in a row off of a tee; the first 8 cuts were fine and after that it can turn into slop...

And what do the pitchers do for 4 hours after school and 8 hours on saturdays?

Maybe he needs to have a physical from your family doctor. (Not the school doc). Ask the doctor to run a complete blood test. Then you can rule out things like low blood sugar, thyroid not working correctly, etc. Just something to consider. But, yes practices are long and it's a tough sport. You really have to condition properly to be ready for the season.

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Saturday's are 9-6 unless there is a game.

The weekday practices should include plenty of streching and warm ups - then there is field maint so a 3 1/2 long "practice" is pretty normal. But 9-6 on Saturday - I dont get that one?????

I don't get that either, Your just going to burn them out early if you practice that long.
Quality over Quanity.

9-6 practice? Do they do that very often?

5 hours is roughly the amount of time spent playing a double header. We used to have some 5 hour practices just to be ready for double headers. But 9 hours seems like it could be counter productive. I can't believe the coaches can handle it, let alone the players. We often set through 4 or 5 games a day scouting tournaments and that is tough just setting there that long.

Have you talked to other parents on the team? Are their kids feeling the same? (I realize that catchers take extra beatings all the way around) Sometimes, there are coaches that are gluttons for punishment. My son had one in a summer league. The guy was gone about 3 weeks into the season because basically everyone rebelled. (I wasn't around at the time, don't blame me!)

Good points about good nutrition and hydration. Power/protein bars maybe right after school before practice, and water/gatorade. Also, some of this is just getting used to time management and extra exertion. I guarantee it doesn't get any better in college! Think basically baseball all afternoon every day (as well as early morning running and conditioning) and then games all weekend, plus a regular courseload of classes.

My kids as high school freshmen didn't have terribly heavy homework/workloads, even though they were in honors classes at a very tough high school. So hopefully he can start learning to work ahead on his assignments and get some of his work done on Sundays, etc. Our teachers give assignments at least one week in advance for precisely this reason.

Kids these days do so much more than we ever did--I don't know how they manage. Best of luck to him and you.

One possible explanation for the long/hard practices: school has a no-cut policy and there are 80 kids on the freshman team.

Well it turns out that the kid is more resiliant than the parents. One good nights sleep and one day with no homework and all was right with the world.

Today no practice due to all the rain, Friday is a short day due to a varsity game. No aches, no pains, just smile after practice yesterday.

I think the lesson learned is, let him be, quit worrying so much and just let him work through the bad days himself.

Thanks for all the help.

Nicely done Freshmandad - we all need to be reminded of that goodnights sleep every once in a while!

Here at the #1 1A school in MD we hardly ever go past 90 min. People will lose focus much after that, not to mention get sick of baseball.

I played on a "competetive" travel team during and after the HS season. We had practices run from 5:30 to 10 or so. It was horrible--I honsetly hated that team and wanted to quit.

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Well it turns out that the kid is more resiliant than the parents

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No aches, no pains, just smile after practice yesterday.

YES!!!! Had a feeling things would get better!!! Highschool baseball,...hold on tight,...it should be one heck of a ride!