Transistion-Football to Baseball--Who does both?

My son played football and basketball. During football he would play catch after practice and would only workout or play games (approved by the football coach) on Sunday only if he had a Friday game. So he never really stopped working his arm out. He started working out fairly often around Christmas but would not join the baseball team until the Middle of March.

Most the other kids that only played football and baseball would immediatly start working out everyday after football was over.

I thought most CA HS leagues are not allowed to start official tryouts/practice until late January?

I'm in the same boat, and am interested in responses to this question. My son is same age, 14, incoming freshman. He plays baseball, basketball and football.

Baseball is his first love, but football is close second. He'll probably play fullback and linebacker on his freshman squad. (He's real solidly built 180 lbs and 5' 10".)

He hasn't made it to any of the football weight training sessions this summer because of baseball conflicts.

Baseball runs through at least Aug 11, and football starts before that. So we don't quite know what to do, and don't know how tolerant his coaches will be in HS when he starts late to finish the prior sport.

My son is a senior and plays Baseball and Football. He is a pitcher and I have always made him take a break from pitching in the Fall when school starts until early November to get ready for Thanksgiving tournaments and Christmas baseball camp.
Talk to the coaches at the school(baseball and football) and see what their thinking is. My son has always paid a price(extra workout sessions) for missing football workouts in the Summer and early Fall. When he joins the team when school starts he has to work hard to play catch up. He does what they ask and doesn't seem to mind paying the price.

You left-coasters have it made, In WI our kids shut down in the Fall to get ready for the snow shoveling season.

Seriously, let them enjoy the seasons while they can. There will come a time when THEY will have to make a call on the sport direction they want to go. There is a time to rest the body, and there's a time to bring it back. As the kids get older that schedule will become more evident.

In the seasonal areas of the country that is a little easier to manage. You guys with year round good weather seem to have more conflicts of interest between sports.

I play football and both b-balls. In the fall Ai play football and fall ball on the weekends. Then during basketball I take a break from baseball. Then after basketball is over I start baseball again.

This is what has worked for my son in the past. (He earned a starting position on the varsity as a freshmen for a team that made it to the state tournament)
1.He made every football weight training session during the Summer @ 7:30am
2.No organized baseball during football season
3.Go to the cages and hit & throw on Sunday during football season (this would take about 1 hour)
4.Take 2 weeks off after football season & rest your mind and body
5.After football season ends start to throw, field ground balls and hit 3 days each week until baseball season started (spend 20 minutes on each skill)
6.Weight train 3 days per week (Sat.,Mon. & Wed) after football & 2 days per week (Sat & Thur) during football
He probably didn't run enough during the off season but his high school coach does a great job with cardio and conditioning.

You need to have a solid plan and follow it.
We are now (he is a 2008 grad) trying to work proper nutrition into his training program.

Thanx everbody for taking the time to respond to a high school rookie dad

His high school football season is 10 games and starts Sept. 13th. It will end in mid November.

His baseball tryouts are during the Thanksgiving break. Don't know when the final cuts are, but they begin official practice in Feburary.

Keep the remarks coming!!

Thanx,
Garry

Freshman and Soph year, my son played golf in the fall, basketball in the winter and then baseball. His summer program between 8th and 9th and also between 9th and 10th was to play summer league baseball and basketball, and he got his lifting in by taking power lifting as his pe class, and then going to the gym in the summer on his own.

Junior year he gave up the golf for Fall baseball, and I think he's doing the same thing this year, although the football coaches have been recruiting him to be a kicker throughout high school and he was thinking he might like to do that this year (I hope he doesn't!).

This summer he let summer league basketball go buy the wayside, but I am certain he will play again this year when the season rolls around and the coach was understanding since baseball is son's preferred sport.

By the time the basketball ends every year, everyone else has been preparing for baseball for several weeks yet he hasn't been able to throw or hit at all yet. Thus he has some soreness in his arms the first couple of weeks. He actually ends up playing in some early season tournaments (baseball) on weekends before the basketball season ends.

I don't know about the wisdom of any of this, just that he loves his sporting life and it helps him to keep a high level of focus.

ktcosmos

quote:

Originally posted by ktcosmos:
Freshman and Soph year, my son played golf in the fall, basketball in the winter and then baseball. His summer program between 8th and 9th and also between 9th and 10th was to play summer league baseball and basketball, and he got his lifting in by taking power lifting as his pe class, and then going to the gym in the summer on his own.

Junior year he gave up the golf for Fall baseball, and I think he's doing the same thing this year, although the football coaches have been recruiting him to be a kicker throughout high school and he was thinking he might like to do that this year (I hope he doesn't!).

This summer he let summer league basketball go buy the wayside, but I am certain he will play again this year when the season rolls around and the coach was understanding since baseball is son's preferred sport.

By the time the basketball ends every year, everyone else has been preparing for baseball for several weeks yet he hasn't been able to throw or hit at all yet. Thus he has some soreness in his arms the first couple of weeks. He actually ends up playing in some early season tournaments (baseball) on weekends before the basketball season ends.

I don't know about the wisdom of any of this, just that he loves his sporting life and it helps him to keep a high level of focus.

ktcosmos

Thanx KT for your reply So far, football is doing well. I found out his last game is Nov. 9. That works out well for his baseball conditioning leading up to tryouts.

Garry,

Best of luck to your son. He'll be tired for the next 4 years. Just a couple of thoughts. My son played both football and baseball in high school and the heavy lifting routine for football caused his arm to drop noticably when throwing from the out field. He gave up trying to pitch after sophmore year. After he quit pitching and only worked on his hitting it was much easier to schedule "dual" workouts throughout the week. If your son wants to be a pitcher, which I would strongly suggest he do after seeing the Low 80mph lefty's in the area go to major D-I programs, I would suggest he do a baseball lifting routine only. We always thought my son would play football first and ask to tryout for the college baseball team second so he concentrated on a football lifting routine. Once my son chose to play baseball in college he changed to a baseball lifting routine only, stopped force feeding himself to keep weight and did a lot of long toss only then did his throwing arm postion come back straight over the top again. My son's high school football program, and I believe all others, have a mandatory weight lifting program. I would suggest you speak to the coach and work out a routine with the strength coach that won't adversely afect your son's arm flexibility.

The only thing your son requires first and foremost for a D-I football program is SIZE. Believe me talent doesn't mean anything if your son doesn't fit the recruiting "Size Chart" the Asst. coaches use. Baseball requires talent first. My son's summer team played the Indiana Bulls a few weeks ago and every player on the team is HUGE! They could be a semi-pro football team. I have read the are having an off year this summer.

My son could have been a D-I football walk-on or play DI baseball. He is very happy to have gotten the chance to play baseball and can't wait to go to school this fall. Best of luck to your son.

Pat'sdad, thanx for the info!

They have been practicing football since the beginning of July and the team has not done any weight lifting at all!! Seems strange to me. The varsity and jv players are in the weight room all the time since I've gone to my son's practices.

He plays wide-receiver, tight-end and split-end on offense. On defense, he plays free-safety.

The team had their first Passing League tournament yesterday. It's a 7 on 7 game against other schools. There were 8 in this tourny. They played 6 games. No pads and no tackling, just shorts and t-shirts. The teams use these tournys to practice timing on passing patterns against live competition. In the first game, while on defense, he got sandwitched between two other defenders while trying to intercept a pass in the endzone! He stayed on the ground for a little bit which scared the sh** out of me!!! He wound up with a bloody nose and a sore cheek bone, but continued to play! Didn't have to worry about that kind of thing happening while playing baseball..lol. I know if the teams had pads on, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, but it shooked me up a little bit.

Getting seriously hurt while playing football is the one thing that scares me, but he really wants to play.

I don't know if he will be a good football player, but he is on the first team offense and defense, so we'll see.

As far as the weight lifting is concerned, I don't know what to do. Should I mention to the football coach that he will be playing baseball and leave it up to them to adjust his program or should I tell the baseball coach to talk to the football coach?

In my opinion his future is in baseball, not football. But, who knows, maybe he'll turn out to be a very good football player, also. He'll have to make decsision, probably after his sophmore year, to continue with football or concentrate soley on baseball depending on how he's progressing on the diamond! Time will tell!!

Thanx again,

Garry

Garry,

I told both my sons to play freshman football if only for the fact that the season starts before classes and they would have 60 friends before school classes start. Most of those kids will be friends throughout high school. If they didn't like football they did not have to play as sophmores. At least 1/2 the freshman football team will quit before sophmore year. To keep this about high school basedball, my nephew played football only freshman year and then concentrated on baseball. He turned out to be a truly gifted baseball player and has had hundreds (Yes really that many) of schools start calling him once recruiting was allowed for this coming senior class. He is trying to narrow a list down to 25. After his freshman year he just wanted to play baseball. I always told my own son when he was a freshman that the odds were that he would not play either sport beyond high school. It's just the statistical facts. He followed the advice you see repeatedly from old time coaches and players on this website - study hard, listen, do what you are told and work hard. His skills got better every year even though he was never considered to be one of the "Preseason Best" picks or "100 Best" ect. ect.

As far as weight lifting you need to get a qualified person to advise your son on a proper program. Unfortunately this means paying to join a gym or some kind of a baseball academy. Also I would suggest that right after football ends he start pitching and hitting lessons. Also expensive but you can't fool a scout or college recruiter. Simply stated since almost every other "good" player has taken years of instruction it raises the standard to what recruiters are looking at. If your son attends a showcase it will be easy for the scouts/coaches to compare your son to other players and see where he lacks in his development.

Lastly my wife is happy my son chose baseball because she was always worried he would get hurt. Although I personally do not want to get hit by a 90 mph fastball. Enjoy the high school years, they go fast!

Thanx again, Pat'sdad for your insight! It is truly appreceited!!!

Garry

My son started at defensive end his soph. year, with little thought of baseball other than weekly long toss sessions with a team mate. Come jr. year, he moved to linebacker, but began to be concerned about increasing his baseball exposure, the sport he will ultimately play in college. After games on Friday nights, he would shower and crash in the car while I drove to whichever site his fall team was playing at. He'd play baseball Saturday and Sunday, and Monday he'd be back on the football field. Kind of crazy, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it worked for him and got him noticed.

Now that he's moving into his senior year with a choice of attractive offers from great schools, he's decided not to play football his senior year. The HS baseball coach/AD supports that decision, advising that he knows what he wants now, and can get himself into the best possible baseball form for his last HS season. Interestingly, one of the recruiters at our home this past week suggested that if he enjoys football, he should play, cause he'll never get that opportunity again. Go figure.

Bottom line... If you want to play two or three sports, you can do it. It's all about time management and self discipline. Never forget that, above all else, you've got to keep your grades up if you have any hope of playing ball beyond high school. The better the grades, the more second looks you will get from recruiters. ...and the easier your transition to college will be for you.

You're only in high school once. Make the most of that experience.

quote:

Originally posted by FloridaHokie:
My son started at defensive end his soph. year, with little thought of baseball other than weekly long toss sessions with a team mate. Come jr. year, he moved to linebacker, but began to be concerned about increasing his baseball exposure, the sport he will ultimately play in college. After games on Friday nights, he would shower and crash in the car while I drove to whichever site his fall team was playing at. He'd play baseball Saturday and Sunday, and Monday he'd be back on the football field. Kind of crazy, and certainly wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but it worked for him and got him noticed.

Now that he's moving into his senior year with a choice of attractive offers from great schools, he's decided not to play football his senior year. The HS baseball coach/AD supports that decision, advising that he knows what he wants now, and can get himself into the best possible baseball form for his last HS season. Interestingly, one of the recruiters at our home this past week suggested that if he enjoys football, he should play, cause he'll never get that opportunity again. Go figure.

Bottom line... If you want to play two or three sports, you can do it. It's all about time management and self discipline. Never forget that, above all else, you've got to keep your grades up if you have any hope of playing ball beyond high school. The better the grades, the more second looks you will get from recruiters. ...and the easier your transition to college will be for you.

You're only in high school once. Make the most of that experience.

FloridaHokie: Good post! You are right about the grades issue! I've seen too many of my boy's older friends have to sit out a season because of them!

Garry