My son is a 2022 and did not play fall ball in 2018 because he was working on getting bigger, stronger, faster. Do you think he should continue with that again this Fall? Or should he get some playing time in? While he had a good Spring/Summer experience this year, he may go to a couple of tryouts for teams that have connections and also fit into our criteria of location, cost and vision. My son says he's fine either way - he'll do whatever the possible new team does.
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Think in terms of what places him in the best position to make varsity and then, what places in the the best position for 17u in the future.
Can he do both? I know fall ball is different in different parts of the country. Fall is when the college coaches aren't coaching.....if your son is playing fall ball in front of them.
My 2021 did not play Fall Ball the last 2 Falls (15U & 16U). He used that time to take time off from throwing, worked on getting bigger/faster/stronger, and worked with a hitting coach to refine his swing. He also took a couple of weeks off entirely from any Baseball activity.
When he was younger he also played up a year or two in Fall Ball and stayed in local leagues, which was a good compromise between his desire to be challenged competitively and his parents desire to not spend gas & motel $$$ travelling out of state.
He will be a Junior in the fall this year, and after a pretty strong 16U summer there are a few mid major D1's expressing interest in him. As a position player he feels like he could benefit from more quality at bats, so it looks like he may play with a Fall Team that plays the Perfect Game KERNALS 18U tournament in Iowa, the PBR Fall Championships in Grand Park, and other strong events that get college coverage.
My kid is skipping fall ball again this year. He wants to gain another 15 to 25 lbs.
Have your son play a sport other than baseball - golf, soccer, football, cross country, etc.
https://www.athleticbusiness.c...multiple-sports.html
Son is a 2020 and just played his last travel ball game this past Sunday. I've spent a lot of time thinking of his journey and the decisions we made along the way.
I can't ever remember a fall ball season as really being worth it. Nothing wrong with getting to the cages on a regular basis, taking ground/fly balls or long toss if part of an overall throwing plan. Definitely bigger, faster, stronger is good. But the "fall ball" itself, we could have done without it and nothing would be different, son would still be committed to the same school.
The only fall ball season that was really relevant for my son was the one he played for his school team. In the fall of soph year he nailed down his starting position. It was his position to win in the spring. But fall ball made spring tryouts a formality.
The only other reason fall ball would be necessary is to participate in a major recruiting event.
Not being necessary doesn’t mean don’t play. My son played fall ball (in addition to high school soccer) freshman through junior year because he enjoyed playing.
My son was recruited during the fall season his junior year so for him it was very important and paid off. His club team has been selective on the tournaments they play (Fall Classic, PG Fall National Championships) so it was not too much and he still got a bit of a break. Our school "fall ball" is a short camp starting after Thanksgiving (we're in Arizona so can play outside year round).
Maybe the question that comes into play, is your son a pitcher or a position player? And the second is,does he play another fall sport? RipkenFanSon is a MI who also was a starter for the HS soccer team. He was a sweeper, so he rarely was substituted for. He found it important however, to take game ABs in fall ball against live pitching. He was blessed to have fall ball coaches who were flexible with his practices or games missed due to his other sport commitment. I know some POs though see fall as time for ramping down, based on the # of pitches thrown in school + summer seasons.
johnlanza posted:My son says he's fine either way - he'll do whatever the possible new team does.
If he doesn't want to play baseball every opportunity he gets then I would say college baseball and the baseball/school workload and grind is going to be a rude awaking.
SomeBaseballDad posted:If he doesn't want to play baseball every opportunity he gets then I would say college baseball and the baseball/school workload and grind is going to be a rude awaking.
I was thinking of it as an either/or scenario: Choose to use the fall to get B/S/F; or dedicate the time and energy to playing Fall ball. I'm sure he could do both to some degree. I just thought that working hard to become B/S/F would not leave much time for team practices/games.
Ripken Fan posted:Maybe the question that comes into play, is your son a pitcher or a position player? And the second is,does he play another fall sport?
My son is a position player who may get some time on the mound for Sophomore year in HS. He used to play basketball during the winter, but now he wants to focus solely on baseball (his decision, not mine).
SomeBaseballDad posted:johnlanza posted:My son says he's fine either way - he'll do whatever the possible new team does.
If he doesn't want to play baseball every opportunity he gets then I would say college baseball and the baseball/school workload and grind is going to be a rude awaking.
Spot on! As an incoming 2019/2020 Freshman at his P5, my son's workout and throwing programs for the Summer session has been 5 days a week plus 2 classes. In the Fall, his workout program, throwing program and practices will be 6 days a week on top of carrying 5 classes (with mandatory study hall).
