Playing multiple sports

I think it really depends on if the seasons over over-lap, but other than that let him go for it, the conditioning factor definitely won't hurt

Let him decide.

+1

Mine has his first scrimmage tonight.  He is a 3 year varsity starter and a 2 year captain.  Like you, I worry about injury, especially since he plays power forward and there are a lot of ankles to step on under the basket.  Just keep your fingers crossed and let him decide.  For what it's worth, I've had several coaches tell me they like the fact that he is a multi sport athlete.

 

Maybe we should start a "does size matter in basketball?" thread.

Thanks all, at 6'0" and 140 he will probably be one of the smaller guys on the team.

I agree with the prior posters.  When you read this board, it is easy to think that baseball=everything but high school can involve many different activities.

 

My 2016 plays both.  You ask him which is his favorite and he responds, "Whichever is in season."

 

I do think that basketball has helped with quickness in baseball.

As a high school baseball coach I tell my own players.  Play all sports until someone at the next level forces you to make the decision or until you feel like one of the sports is causing you to fall behind in your main sport.

I agree with all the above.  My son decided to play football his senior year so we did a lot of praying on Friday nights.  Worked out, although he realized his baseball dream would be over if he got hurt, but that is what he wanted to do.  As he laid on the turf for about 5 minutes motionless one Friday night I was kicking myself for letting him do it, but after the season, he said he'd do it again in a heartbeat.  The things you learn in other sports can only help you in baseball so go for it.  You could get hurt stepping out of your car. 

One of son's team mates didn't play football to prevent injury (he would have been an absolutely beastly linebacker...football coach was very sad), but ended up tearing his ACL trying to beat out a ground ball.

Heck,

 

I tore my rotator cuff fixing my car.  Damn things are dangerous.

Here are a couple of responses from D1 Head Coaches from last years CBI Coaches Clinic.  FWIW this is 1 of the best clinics out there!  I've never seen a format where the audience gets this kind of intimate interaction with the coaches.  Here is a link to this years… http://www.collegebaseballinsi.../Richmond011814.html

 

 

 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

My son played multiple sports. He suffered one major sports injury (torn MCL and PCL). It occurred playing baseball. Then he separated his shoulder (surgery) falling down during rehab. He never got injured playing soccer, basketball, middle school football, snowboarding or skateboarding.

"Play both sports until the competition tells you otherwise"

 

Mary Ann Shappi; RIP.

Basketball will help his baseball game in the areas of agility and conditioning.

I agree with this comment and everyone else's above.

 

The only thought is to ensure that the basketball does not interfere with baseball as I have seen some talented baseball kids (who are talented at basketball too) get slightly pulled away from full commitment to the baseball circuit especially during critical junior year.  That is, pressure to be at some of the summer open gyms/camps and more so voluntaries for basketball in the fall months when individual/college baseball showcases etc...are going on. Plus, baseball summer team winter workouts or at least HS baseball voluntaries are overlapping with basketball during Oct-Feb.  It is hard to maintain a solid base level of baseball conditioning (Aug-Feb) and juggle the politics of being two places at the same time particularly if you are at HS with strong basketball.

 

As I said, more of a concern closer to junior year (and if you are a very good baseball player but not the stud) as I have seen some talented baseball players fall behind with their peers with respect to the whole skills progression and recruiting process.

Buck Showalter fans will love this clip. At the 6:00 minute mark, he talks about multi-sport athletes "getting their nose bloodied" (outside of baseball).  But my favorite part is after that, when he's talking about POs in high school and college.  "You mean if you didn't pitch you didn't play?  Uh oh, we've got a problem."

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/4...ks-orioles-offseason

 

I posted a conversation I had with Buddy Bell (head of scouting with the White Sox) a few months back.  He basically said the same thing.  He was not a fan of player who specialize early (before Jr or Sr year at the earliest).  He also had a problem with the kid who was a PO and never played another position in HS.

We have a kid on our Varsity team that has not participated in a practice yet because he is playing basketball and the team is in the playoffs.

We have played 3 scrimmages and are on our 4th regular season game and the kid has not seen a baseball yet. 

 

Sometimes it is not the kid's choice.  It may be the coach's choice. Kids plays where coach puts them. 

Just passing along the info as I hear it, I am not looking to enter into a debate on this topic...

 

To expound a little on what Buddy said, and remember this is my interpretation, he was very concerned about kids specializing in sports way too early (I will get into PO in a sec).  The general feeling amongst he and his peers is that the kid who has been playing baseball only since the age of 12-15 has spent a lot of time concentrating on one sport and this can lead to issues.  He is worried about burn out, lack of potential upside, as well as having to deal with years of potential bad advice and coaching.  Not that this is always the case but in his experience these are issues that his scouts need to look further into if they are considering a kid who only plays baseball.  

 

As far as PO as Buddy pretty much has the same reaction.  If a kid is a PO on only his HS team then its less of a red flag then if he is a PO on both HS and his travel team.  If a kid has been a PO since the age of 12 it becomes a major red flag to them.  He pretty repeated similar reasons to a kid who only plays baseball, arm fatigue, burnout, potential upside issues.  This is not to say they wont look at a kid who is PO just that it sends up a red flag and they need to be careful as the consider the kid.

 

 

No disrespect intended; these are old-school MLB guys who work with elite athletes. Guys like Dylan Bundy who batted .457 and hit 11 home runs in high school. I think they expect (rightly or wrongly) everyone at that level to have dominated on both sides of the ball in high school ball.

joes87, deleted my post because it reeked of antagonism, not my intent on this board.  I get what Buddy and Buck are saying.  I respect their opinion.  But sometimes rules come with out context, especially when the great unwashed in the valley below hear it from the mountaintops.

 

I'm sure if a PO from birth was throwing 95 in front of B&B, they would come up with another saying.  (see, I just can't help it!)

I edited your response out from my post...

Play as many sports as you can as long as you can.... My son still talks about Friday night lights!

2015 Jr. son plays basketball in the fall and now his vertical jump for baseball has gotten so much better... it keeps your body in motion throughout the year.. Plus add indoor hitting...gets you ready for the spring...

Curious-what position does he play and will he take a starting spot once he returns?

our few basketball players have option to come to practices when they can. They have made an appearance. Our two football guys never came to anything baseball did in Fall including work on field day. Neither has talent to play at next level, more in it for fun, social time. Basketball player that shows up occas. Is one of best players and defin has skills to play at D1. Guess it's all about having passion for a sport and making it work. Coach would have given him a pass because because of other sport, but he made effort to come. 

The kid is a junior and plays Right Field and pitches.  He is a good player but as we all know baseball is about repetition.  My son and I did some long toss starting mid December (after football was over) just to try to get his arm ready. I hope the kid has been doing some throwing outside of basketball.  

My 2014 does basketball and baseball. Basketball is still playing and they are a pretty good team so not sure how far they will go. Tryouts for baseball started this week in Ohio so at present not missing much. Rules at our school (maybe Ohio, I am not sure) is player cannot practice with one sport while in season with another. I completely understand that. My son simply does his baseball workouts on side during basketball. He, along with 4 other basketball players, go hit twice a  week all winter long. He is only pitcher that also plays basketball, so his friend, the starting catcher and he have been working out twice a week as well, Pitching coach stops by occasionally to watch and point out something to try. He got a general workout routine from his summer pitching coach, talked to his HS pitching coach and he follows that.

 

Baseball is is first love by far and he is itching to get to baseball, however he is a huge part of basketball team, it is his senior year, they are having a year to remember at basketball and he is enjoying every minute of that as well.

My son is pretty much in the same place.  He's a frosh and basketball season finished up on Monday.  Our schools policy is to not allow kids playing an an active season to attend open gyms.  In addition his baseball coaches have told him to not worry about attending open gym this week and instead to spend sometime resting.  Mainly this is done to prevent injuries at the open gyms that would affect an active team.  He plays football, basketball and baseball.  At some point he will most likely give up one sport but until after his Soph year at a minimum.  Even though he can't attend open gym, he goes to the batting cage on Tuesdays, infield coach on Fridays (hit or miss depending on games), pitching coach on Sunday mornings and his travel teams infield practice on Sunday afternoons.  Last year he did start to whine a little about the summer camps.  We are hoping its better this summer as he will be playing on the summer basketball and baseball team instead of attending camps.  Last year they had football camp or basketball camp in the morning and then had to run to baseball camp in the afternoon.  The good thing is the football coach does not expect them to show up to camp on the day they have basketball or baseball games so in essence football camp is cut in half.

this is an interesting thread, my 2016 has played baseball, football, soccer everything up until now. he told us last night that he was not wanting to play anything other than baseball from here on out which is fine with us since he wants to use the spare time to take some math and physics classes at the local comm college before sats next year..

 

Problem is going to be the pressure he gets from coaches and friends as he is being counted on to be starting LB/ backup QB and starting goalie. should be interesting to see how he handles it once the word gets out on his decision.

Warning...a Mom's long perspective

Playing multiple sports can be a 2 sided coin. Our 2013, like many young talented athlete's, can excel in more than one sport, and choose early on to participate in as many sports as they can. Our son was no different, HE chose to & did.

Pro's:
*Provides structured atmosphere to fill young men's time.
*Provides positive environment for bonding as a 'team'. There's no 'I' in 'team'.
*Instills opportunity for building and/or creating character, values, dedication,  work ethics, life lessons & time management.
*Provides real life experience for their future real worlds, in cooperation, taking direction, dealing with success & failure, intuitiveness of those around one, and leadership skills.
*Keeps an athlete physically fit, and conditioned.
*Provides opportunities for an athlete to challenge themselves & set personal goals & expectations for themselves, athletically & academically.
*Allow them to have the time of their lives. Memories in the making!
Etc. ...

Con's:
*Can lead to an early burn-out.
*Can lead to a heavy stress load, that some young men, might not yet have the emotional & mental maturity to yet handle.
*Can keep an athlete from experiencing other High School, Life, and Religious opportunities.
*Can cause havoc on a social life or relationship. But, that's a whole nother can of worms! Maybe, this one should be listed under" Pro's"

*Can make it more difficult academically in maintaining a higher GPA, which can effect them later on.
*Can lead to overuse, fatigue, and injuries. Which lead to a whole bunch of things...Dr. appointments,
tests & procedures, PT, rehabbing, more time restraints and management issues to deal with. Not to mention, a lack in athletic performance, bench time ~ for the 1st time for some, and possibly at the worst opportune times. You never know who's watching.

There are also Pro's & Con's for the "family"...
Con's:
*Forget about vacations & much of a social life, outside of your Sport's Families, being around some of them at games, is enough. You'll be spending your time on a bench or lawn chair. Dress accordingly! 
*Expenses...gear, equipment, food, travel and hotels, lessons...

Pro's:
*You'll have golden opportunity and priceless times with your son, at an age, where otherwise you wouldn't be high on their social calendar.
*You'll actually like some of the Sport's Parents & find new and lasting friendships.
*You'll have the opportunity to learn some things that you might have missed in High School - Life #101. Like, juggling many things at once, the best ways to clean a uniform, managing time, politeness,  patience, diplomacy,  restraint, anger management,  being positive under less than ideal circumstances,  the best places to eat & drink...

While we tried to never be "Those Kinds of Parents", we never pushed any of our 3 sons into sports. We only tried to provide them the opportunities.  With 2013, we definitely never had too. Nor did we have to critique his performance. He pushed himself, he was always his own toughest critic. It was even hard to offer up praise. He didn't take that too well either. He always expected more of himself. A lot of quiet rides home, we'd wait & follow his lead, if he chose to want to open up and talk. And if it wasn't with us, then it'd usually be with a trusted friend & teammate. But, thee one thing we did require, was that they took the time and consideration, before "they" made a commitment to sports, to anything. Because, once they had made a commitment, they understood that there would be no grumbling, and would honor their commitments, 110%!

Now, looking back at all of those Pro's & Con's, I can honestly say that he / we experienced many of them. But, if we were to ask 2013 today, if he would of done things any differently in hindsight, I can almost guarantee that we would get a resounding "NO way!" For he lives and breathes the provided  competition of sports, and everything that goes with it. He, himself in High School, would say that sport's defined so much of who he was. But, now in College, reshirting, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery from the Summer after High School, I think he would say that he still has the desire and love of playing sports, but that it no longer defines him as a person, or his future. But, that playing sports, has definitely helped prepare him for life, and help with the direction that he has himself, for his life. And that it has not only aided in the person that he is, but the kind of Man, Father, Leader that he hopes to become.

As for us, the parent's,  we wouldn't trade any of it, for all the gold in China!

It is my experience that the top athletes can and do excel at multiple sports. They are great at everything because they are gifted athletically.

 

The rest of the mortals should follow the best advice I have received here for my son  at HSBBW and that is "to play both sports until the competition tells you otherwise"

 

For those new here this was from MaryAnne Shapi aka: FutureBackMom who, passed away a few years ago. 

 

Every time I see a thread like this I think of her and miss her posts. Sorry if I am taking this thread another direction, but her advice is as sound today as it was when I first joined this site.