Shutting Down for Fall

I'm sure you will get a lot of feedback on this one, and from folks that are much more qualified than myself.  But assuming your son is a 2017 or later, if it were me, I'd shut him down.  If he's not at his best during the fall it's not going to matter who sees him.  I think there's plenty of time next summer.    Just my opinion,  good luck!

Did you take him to the doctor?  That would be my first stop.  If everything checks out ok, then you can make a decision regarding the rest of fall ball.

As a strength and conditioning coach I would recommended that he switches his priority from pitching to hitting the weight room hard. Now is the time where he can build strength, regain mobility, and set himself up for an even more successful senior year. 

I see how there are pros and cons to both but it sounds like he already has some solid offers and he's going to play at the next level. Working on his physical development at this stage takes priority, in my opinion. 

I cannot imagine many PO parents haven't "been there"... Every season a PO seems to "need" to be showing his stuff.  College coaches actually recognize this too - you can read many places here where it's been said to be a multi-sport athlete is favored (well rounded, not over-useing one thing).  The risk-reward of shutting down has to be weighed - as in who really is showing up for those fall ball games? One thing to remember about a "lousy" outing is a college coach learns more from those than you may think... As in how do you handle adversity? Get down on yourself? Get down on a teammate? Just get back up and work to make the next pitch/play? I sat near a coach that walked away right after the pitcher started showing disgust - pitcher was a stud too - just didn't have it that day.

Use the fall to focus on taking campus visits, working out (core, legs, plyometrics, etc), building endurance...   If a coach asks your son, he can always say it's part of the plan so that his arm doesn't fall off.  While I could never force them, I'd encourage my boys to not throw during mid-Oct->Christmas (we were in NH).  Pick up a ball during the Christmas break, try to get some work in before the late January indoor showcases started.

A doctor's visit will probably get you a "prescription" for some Physical Therapy... might be good too as they'll give your son some useful exercises.

Thanks all son is a 2016 so were running out of time

If I'm reading you profile correctly, you are in Mississippi.  As such, high school ball starts relatively early.  I'd get the calendar out and try real hard to carve out some downtime.  I was wanting to get some feedback from the group specifically about late December events and how a pitcher is supposed to be ready for such events.  I've read that downtime (no actual pitching) should be about 8 weeks with 4 of those weeks having no throwing at all (I presume the initial 4 weeks) followed by an additional 4 weeks of ramping up with long toss and some light bullpens or light pitching off of flat ground.  One approach, assuming you can skip December events, is to work backwards from the high school schedule.  Perhaps he could pitch a few additional outings up until mid-November, take Thanksgiving off, start long tossing a week before Christmas and be in decent shape by middle of January.  

If you are shooting for a December event, perhaps you shut down immediately and try to get back into form for some events planned for the final week of the year.  Would like some additional insights into the doctor's visit - I can only imagine they are referring to someone who works extensively with athletes - If I went to see my GP complaining about a dead arm, not sure how much insight they could provide.

Since he's a 2016, it's this next season and summer that is most important time for recruiting and it's probably wind up being a very active time for the process of being recruited and deciding just where he'd like to go.  So, I'd think he'd want to be 100% when he starts the season.  Until then, I would have the arm checked out by a good sports doctor who's well experienced with pitchers and see what he says.  In any case, like what was suggested before. . .now is the best time to lay off and focus on strength and conditioning.  The time off at this time of year isn't likely to be a negative.  

My son was at an ACC college prospect camp back in August and the Head Coach was very emphatic about shutting down any player that pitches for 3-4 months.  It takes that long for the soft tissues to heal.  

Plan your shut down period and commit to a serious strength training program during that time.  For the remaining 8-9 months while your playing ensure you have a long toss program going and a strength maintenance program.

Sorry your son has challenging time ahead of him, but you've got to stay healthy first.

Good luck to your son.

IMO, it depeneds greatly on how good your kid is. If hes a senior throwing 75 shutting down seems like a bad idea as he need to develop more velo rather quickly. You said he already has some offers so I dont think it would be bad to shut him down. If his arm is just dead you may be able to stop throwing completely for around 3-4 weeks then the rest of the fall throw but almost all of it flat grounds. Lots of work can be developed on flat ground imo.

Side Question:

Can a pitcher still do towel work if he is supposed to be "shut down?"