More important to attend camps or rest arm?

In most cases, you won't be portraying that you're not interested in not attending. If your son has the talent to play at a given school...they will be interested so long as he lets them know he is interested.

Having said that, picking a camp or two (or three?) at a couple of schools your son has definite interest in isn't a bad idea. Both he and they will get to meet each other up close, on the field and out of earshot of mom and dad where they can really get to know each other. Your son may find he doesn't really like that school or them that much...or he may find that is THE place for him to be.

I wouldn't break the household budget to do it (some schools charge way too much for these camps...I've seen as much as $350 for a 2 day pitching camp )...but if its affordable, this is a good way to do some of the college visits you would have done anyways if your son wasn't a baseball player.

Good luck (and welcome to the hsbaseballweb )!

My Son is a position player so I may have a different perspective. We sought Winter Camps for Prime Jr. specifically to help ready him for his High School Seasons .... and it worked very well for us. Fall Ball usually ends in October; can he not get 4-6 weeks off from competitive pitching before attending a Christmas or January camp?

LTG2 Jr, 2011 RHP, had much the same scenario, did not play footbal his Junior year in HS. We attended several Fall/Winter camps at schools of high interest. These were one day pitching/catching camps that were actually very affordable ($ 80-100) but that really created great exposure. Other schools outside of the sponsor school were in attendence as well. Make sure that you bring the good stuff, if Jr. has not been continually throwing you may need to reconsider.

Thanks for the feedback. Our son just finished his Fall season and attended a camp less than two weeks ago. He had intentions of taking a break after the camp until the New Year as recommended by his pitching coach. But now with more schools showing interest since the AZ Fall Classic, we are second guessing whether he will miss out on recruiting opportunities if he doesn't attend. He has been continually throwing since last January. I guess with this being or initial entry into the recruiting world, we don't know how important these camps are to the whole process. Thanks again for the feedback!

If I read the question right...
A.You think the best thing for your sons health is to have a period of rest.

B. You are concerned that the layoff may contribute to lost recruiting opportunity.

The question of a period of down time has long been debated here, with strong arguments on either side. My advice is to look at options A & B and pick your priority. Is it your sons health or your sons college scholarship? What you are asking is, is it worth it to subject your son to possible health repercussions in the name of recruitment.

We thought it wouldn't hurt, so we cut short his rest time by a month. As of today, Senior in college, he's had one shoulder surgery and probably needs TJ...the Dr. has only given him a 30% chance of pitching this year with the amount of tearing in his elbow. Did the month short do significant damage? Who knows...but being able to see the traveled road in the rearview mirror, I'd not do it the same. I'd be more preventative and careful with Juniors arm.

BTW, the winter camp didn't help his recruitment one iota.

CPLZ, you hit the nail on the head. That is a powerful story you have. LHP2012 has always observed a rest period of about 3 months off the mound and it's been beneficial to him. I think he will just let these schools know that he is interested and maintain contact but will forgo the camps. It's just a hard decision because at this point, every move in the process seems crucial to his future.

CPLZ did hit the nail on the head, If your son drew interest, he will contimue to get interest with or without the camp. Our son has been recruited some. When he told a school that he is very interested in that his plan was to shut down his arm for 6 weeks, concentrating on hitting, conditioning, and defense, they not only encouraged it, but offered to e-mail son's HS coach their schedule of coming back from a pitching break. I think they were actually glad to see that son follows a plan. The key is, communicate thoughtfully.

Small Town Mom,

My 2014 has always shut down his arm for about 3 months but has talked to me about starting throwing sooner this year. Currently, he plays basketball 6 days a week, does bands and is working some moderate shoulder exercizes. Is there any chance you you could forward the coach's program for coming back from a pitching break?

Thanks.

IMHO - I would continue to do as you always have. We rested my son and explained to coaches who invited my son to camps what we where doing. For the most part the interest was still there during the summer showcase season. In the cases where the interest disappeared, we took that as a sign that perhaps that camp was just being used as another "money maker."