When is the "OFF SEASON" ?

Great question. I think the off season was commonly referred to as the time between the end of the regular MLB baseball season and the beginning of the regular season. That means roughly October until the first of April. But welcome to the ever changing world of youth baseball where everyone NEEDS his attendance. It gets kind of confusing when you try to apply that "off season" to a high school player that plays summer ball, fall ball, showcases, camps, and instructions. For my son his off season started when summer ball ended until high school ball started. Usually late Aug until end of Feb first of Mar. Generally speaking he would hunt, play football, go to high school events, long toss a couple times a week and do some mild workouts and hitting instructions. His junior year of high school he attended two college camps and he had to do a throwing program to prepare for those camps. (about two weeks prior to the camp). In this day and age of youth baseball you can totally eliminate the off season and "do" baseball year round if you want.

Perfect timing on this post 32:

My son is Soph. pitcher so he is one year behind yours.

After much discussion we decided to shut him down after the end of the summer season (in late July) He will start to throw the first week of November. We have laid out a 12 week throwing program starting in November to have him ready by the end of January...with a couple of weeks of lag time. This would give him 12 weeks or so of not throwing and then 12 weeks to get ready for the season start.

We decided to not play on a scout team or go to any showcases, or tournaments, etc this fall since he is a year away from getting active in recruiting.

Next year is a different story.

We are planning on the USA 16U tournament in June and a few tournaments prior to get ready. I think we will try to limit his pitching during the summer so he can be fresh for the Arizona Fall Classic and maybe a scout fall ball team. This will depend on how hard he is throwing. If his velocity is where we think coaches may be interested then we will go through an active fall. If not then we will shut him down again just like this year for the fall and hit it between his Jr and Sr year.

This does not mean he is shut down from activity. He is lifting and working on speed/power training heavily right now through the winter.(including his band work) He is also on the basketball team and will continue to play on it until he feels it is impacting his baseball. This is a year-to-year decision.

So in general we try to shut down after summer ball through the fall and then start up in early winter to get ready for the season start in late January. This gives him a nice rest period and time to ramp up properly for the season start. However when we start the recruiting process we will try to slow him down in the summer so he has the energy for the fall recruiting activities.

All of the research I have done indicates that, pitchers in particular, must shut down for at least 3 months.
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There really isn't an "off season" In terms working out. The workout simply changes from when he is actively playing ball and when he is not. The decision is yours to regulate that. Many factors can effect your decision, rest needeed, injuries, year in school etc. For my oldest it has been a little different every year. After frosh year no Fall ball. Heavy weight lifting from Sep. to Feb. He picked up 20 lbs. After Soph summer, he was injured and rested and rehab til Mar. Right now, after Jr. summer he is getting back in shape from summer ball and getting ready for Fall Ball and Showcasing.

Something that surprised us this summer was how out of shape he got from traveling all summer, staying in hotels, too much fast food etc.

BOF, when you say pitches shut down for 3 mo. Do you mean not pitch? You are still doing some toss right?

Whew! Now I see where the "off season" went. When my son played college ball the coach didn't allow the pitchers to play college leagues so they were shut down all summer and had light workouts when school started in the fall. Position players could play summer leagues. In pro ball they shut the players down after the season (unless they were invited to 2 week "instruxs") with directions to report to spring training in playing shape.
I do find it odd that high school players will quit playing for their summer team so they can get ready for showcases, putting their "exposure" desires above their team's needs.
Fungo

Fungo

quote:

I do find it odd that high school players will quit playing for their summer team so they can get ready for showcases, putting their "exposure" desires above their team's needs

Did someone post that, I don't see it.

Trippledad: He will not throw long toss while he is shut down, he may not even pick up a baseball.

I know some people think that it is OK to long toss year round, but we are not going to have him throw at all this year. Part of the ramp up plan will be to start long tossing in November and ramp this up slowly until he is on a daily long toss schedule just before the season starts so his arm is up to strength just prior to seasons start.

His focus this fall is all about strength and power gains.

I think Fungo may have interpreted my comment on reducing his pitching during the summer as not being supportive of his HS team. Our HS coach wants the kids playing at the highest level they can find during the off-season and if this means some reduced innings in the summer for additional innings in the fall on a scout or travel team he is fine with this. As a guideline we try to keep my son’s inning count to around 100 per year. So in his year when we will try to get some exposure we will move some summer innings to the fall. His focus of course is in season.

quote:

Originally posted by TripleDad:
Fungo

quote:

I do find it odd that high school players will quit playing for their summer team so they can get ready for showcases, putting their "exposure" desires above their team's needs

Did someone post that, I don't see it.

It was mentioned that a player shut down in July.

It gets a bit tricky as a junior, if one plays summer ball for exposure to college coaches and uncommited and needs to continue through fall for showcases, camps, tournies you have to be careful for pitchers.
IMO, everyone needs an off season. Some don't agree, lot depends on how much time you play and what position, but all players should have an off season. Eventually the body breaks down, some struggle with injuries in HS or college because they never took any time to rest. For others it comes at the next level. No one gets ahead by being injured.

BOF,

I think your plan sounds good.it doesnt hurt them to just take some BASEBALL time off. do your weights and speed etc like your planning.
And your correct next year it will be busy for junior year. There are some great programs with bands etc to do in the off season.
My son finished legions at the end of july had been going non stop. he hasnt touched a baseball since. He starts college next week and they start baseball the week after, The college coach told him he needed a break because this JC hits it hard in the fall. My son has been lifting and working out 3-4 days a week. But hes being a kid, went to socal with a buddy for a week. body surfing, kayaking, sometimes they just need to be kids and get a mental break from the game as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Fungo:I do find it odd that high school players will quit playing for their summer team so they can get ready for showcases, putting their "exposure" desires above their team's needs

Well, its not so odd when you consider all the different ways people think, and what they believe about what will give them the best boost for the future.

When it was my son’s turn to go through this stage, I honestly didn’t want him playing even 1 more day with his HS team than was absolutely necessary, and I guarantee you he felt the same way. But it had absolutely nothing to do with his loyalty to his friends or the school. In his case, he had a coach that made the game more like a job than a game, and the way the players were treated made the entire thing an experience for the players that few remember with fondness. In short, no player or parent, on any of those 3 V teams he played on that I know about, had a whole lot of fun.

My son is an 09 SS/RHP that needs to showcase right now through the November time frame and he will be starting fall ball with his HS team as well. We're struggling to get him some active rest time between now and 2/1/09 when his HS season starts.

In terms of his conditioning, we've always taken a periodization approach. He did his heavy lifting right after his spring season. Right now he is doing more core and endurance work and starting in November he will be shifting to more baseball specific power and agility training.

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Offseason? ....

Didn't those go away with...summer travel teams...College summer ball...showcases...college camps...private lessons...summer workout planners...holiday camps...fall ball...9 year old national all star teams....

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Our son is primarily a catcher.....kind of a gunslinger type catcher that is constantly throwing on runners, back picking....the works. I do not know how many throws he has made thus far in 2008, but I am sure it is mind boggling. I have seen and heard many discussions regarding pitch counts and days off for pitchers, but the catcher topic is a bit of a different animal.

We have an off season throwing program, core strength program and a speed and agility program that has been provided for young son. Oh yeah forgot about yoga. This is so difficult to try to wade through because like it or not he has committed to play on a fall scout team that plays every weekend from now until the end of October.

Young son does not play football anymore (3 concussions in 4 months of "summer conditioning") Doesn't play basketball because he simply doesn't like it well enough to put in the effort, heart is just not in it. Young son has been taught to fulfill any committment he makes.....to the end.

When you get to be my age, self examination is much easier to perform than when I was much younger. About 15 years ago our small Missouri baseball town nearly lynched me because I took a small group of talented boys and "LEFT TOWN" to play travel baseball. 12 local league games were just not enough for that group of kids. Now here it is 15 years later and I am sitting around wandering "What have I done?" Baseball has become a 12 month year round program.......and I mean program. It is not what it was when I was a kid.....A GAME.

I guess one of my concerns is to make sure young son has the opportunity to excell, and or reach for his dreams. The young man eats and sleeps baseball.
We will do everything we can to provide him the opportunities and venues to do so.....as we have with our previous 2 children. Maybe I am already feeling the empty nest syndrom as young son is the baby and will be gone to college in a couple of years. It just feels like it is way to soon. When you get right down to it, I guess I am wondering if at 17 (Birthday Today), when this young man gets to just be a kid, or did he miss out on that?

A Rambling Old Dad.....

Great point, 32, about when do they just get to be a kid. My son tried that one summer and realized how much he missed baseball (after 8th grade). As far as your original question, if a player REALLY TRUELY wants to be at his best physically, there is not an off-season, just a DIFFERENT season...whether it be running, lifting, other conditioning, drill work, etc. In college, baseball is certainly a year round endeavor, especially for the position players.

In my mind, a key is varying the routine during the "non-playing baseball season" so your son does not get bored. As you said your son is a catcher, conditioning the legs is vital, as well as allowing his body the chance to recover from the pounding. It sounds like you have a good plan for him. One word of caution...catchers take a beating during the showcase and camp season, so you may want to focus his attention on a few select events. In some ways, I realize the summer before my son's senior year was so much, with his 38 game legion season, that he was burnt out at camps and showcases, and was worn down even into the fall showcase games. It hurt him in terms of getting a good look-see from the larger schools...he too was a catcher.