Is it alright to push off-season athletes to participate in hitting sessions, lifting, etc., etc.? Or, is it o.k to back off so that they don't get "burned out."

I'll be curious to read what some of our more knowledgeable posters have to say about this. But, I would think the answer might be different in regard to what age and/or level of player are you talking about? Honestly, I don't think my son has ever had to be "pushed" to do the extras that it takes to keep moving in the direction of his dreams and goals. Now....an occassional "nudge" is a different story!

I guess it depends on several factors; How old is he? Does he have other activities at the same time? How good is he? How good are his grades?

In general though, I think kids need a little "encouragement" from time to time. Sometimes they'd rather be watching TV or playing Playstation.

Mine would have weightlifting two to three times a week, and then one night where he would hit and catch. Much more laid back than most of the year, and worked around his studying schedule, but enough to improve his skills and more importantly, keep him busy! After all, is there anything worse in the world than a bored 17 year old?

Good questions. What age are we talking about? Who is doing the pushing? The coach? The parent? The athlete?

At my son's high school, if you played another sport such as football or basketball during baseball offseason, you were not expected to also go to baseball workouts which started in November. If you were just a baseball player, you were expected to workout with the rest of the team.

Not to put words in your mouth but PUSH is a harsh word that seems to indicate you are forcing them to do something against their will and I don’t think that’s what’s happening. Maybe “encourage” is more appropriate?? I personally think his baseball needs to go into a more dormant stage BUT we’re starting to see that the business side of high school age baseball doesn’t have an off season. The problem you have during the off season is many players participate in off season baseball events like lessons, Christmas camps, and showcases. If a player chooses to participate in these off season events he needs to stay in baseball shape to avoid injury and showcase his skills. It’s tough to stay baseball ready if a player doesn’t continue to long toss and hit. I told my son that if he wanted to participate in these events he HAD to be ready or I wouldn’t allow him to do it. Is that “pushing”? I don’t see it that way. I see it as the rules of participation. If it takes 30 days to get ready for an event and you finish fall ball in October and have a camp and a showcase in the winter and start lessons in January and practicing for the spring season in February, you don’t have much down time.
I might add that my son came back after finishing his first year of pro ball and I thought he would continue to long toss and hit but he was told to shut down the baseball specific training completely until next spring. He was told to work out and stay in shape and the trainers would even call to see how his workouts were going but was told to shut down the baseball.
Fungo

JohnLex - I don't think your son has had much time to get "bored" due to the requests from a couple of females that I know for transportation and his time.

Squeeze - I would agree with the others here - there's a definate line between "pushing" and "encouraging". I think one thing that has always driven my son besides his love of the game itself, is a desire to win. The competiveness of knowing that he had to work hard in season and out of season.

All great posts / ideas, but I believe that there really is no such thing as the off-season. Off-season as it relates to no more games being played, but not the work that has to be put in to continue to develop your game.

Unfortunately today it is so hard on the players and the parents because everyone has to stay sharp to get that "elusive" scholarship so they can play college baseball. Baseball used to be a "seasonal sport", now it runs all year round or close to 11 months a year. It may even be worse in the southern and western states where you have the weather to be outside. But even in the Northeast, players are at indoor facilities working on their skill sets and improving their game.

Folks that have players that are freshman in college should have seen the difference when their son came home. Their priorities change significantly because they realize just how good you have to be and how hard you have to work to get a position on the squad and keep it.

Boy did I go off on a tagent or what? Anyway, I do believe you have to give that nudge / encouragement. But with most players that have seen that 1st year of college, I think you will find they have an idea what they need to do and will do it on their own with little or no encouragement.

O42

quote:

Originally posted by orioles42:
All great posts / ideas, but I believe that there really is no such thing as the off-season. O42

I just wanted to elaborate on my thoughts regarding "encouragement".....keep in mind this is coming from the parent of a 13u player who's sister is finalizing her college plans as a golf recruit (which motivates him too).

He already has his thoughts about playing baseball in college and frequently asks about specific potential schools. Recent examples have been Wake Forest, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, Miami Univ and Penn State (while watching the game last night). He basically trains year round with the biggest gap late fall; after fall ball during late football season. I'm all for the rest too because I think with a kid's growing body, it's helpful. Besides, he's getting plenty of exercise from football. But then HE wants to get going again but then basketball starts up...another "interruption". But he does go for hitting and pitching workouts during basketball, just not with the frequency he will prior to the season.

Here's where the "encouragement" comes in; even though HE says he wants to go pitch or hit, at times he's just not into it. This lack of effort usually happens this time of year. With other things going on, he doesn't focus on baseball, it's more like going through the motions. But at some point, the switch gets flipped and then he wants to work out every day.

It's those off-season lull days where I've got to remind him about what HE wants to accomplish and what he needs to do to get there.

Sorry for not getting back to clarify what I meant by "push" but in slang I meant to encourage. Another clarification is the age. Well the forum is for High School, so that's why I didn't put any age down because I just assumed the age was meant for H.S.
I have several players 9-11 graders who haven't shown up for the first 3 off-season hitting sessions.
I remember parents asking why their son wasn't starting, or sitting the bench. Well, I wonder why! They even asked if they'll be punished if they didn't show up. Can you believe that? I responded with a "no they wouldn't be punished, but those who show up will be rewarded!" I really think they didn't know what I meant by "rewarded."
My reward for those who do show up is a chance to play if there is a hard decision to make on who starts - the one who showed up for off-season workouts, or the one I never saw. Well, an easy decision for me - the one who came to workout.

I won't use the push word.

The team started conditioning this week, weightlifting and throwing. They have had weightlifting since mid November, but my son hasn't been to every one of them. He doesn't want to get burned out. I call it having a girlfriend.

Kentucky's HS baseball season officially gets started on the 15th of Febuary. He knows when to get busy. No encouraging needed. Thank goodness.

Squeeze,

From your explanation...I think you aren't asking too much of your players and I don't think any kid would get burned out from coming to off-season hitting clinics. I also think you are teaching them a valuable lesson....hard work is noticed and reaps benefits. When it comes down to two individuals similar in ability, I would certainly go with the one who displayed the extra initiative. A valuable lesson to be learned.

squeeze - agree with luvbb. That doesn't sound like pushing at all. Off season workouts are generally considered the norm, not the exception. Now if it is 7 days a week for 4 hours a day, that may be pushing it a little bit too much

Thanks for the support luvbb and CD. I probably need to exchange "push" for encourage, but around here it's the same thing. It's hard enought to get them in the weightroom, but I'd like a lot more turnout for hitting.
Now when Feb. comes around, I'll really be complaining when conditioning starts. Kids are smart because they know that I can't mandate conditioning because the State says we can't enforce it 'til P's & C's start Fe. 20.

Here is some of my sons experiences. They all attended a top 20 school in the Chicago area. As an 8th grader who wanted to have a chance at playing high school baseball, you signed up for the "summer baseball camp" which went Mon-Thur from 8-10am for freshman and 10-12pm for sophomores...from June 10 until approx July 15th. This was time for underclassmen to get to know the "varsity way" and for the coaches to get to know the players. Varsity players play in a HS summer league and play M-TH at 3 pm and had to be on the field by 12:30pm. Varsity players were "encouraged" to be role models and show up for the underclassmen camps. The players who particpated were "rewarded" with the opportunity to make the team, play, start...as squeeze has stated. Players who didn't attend the camp had more to prove at tryouts in January.
Conditioning for the spring season started Nov. 1 unless you played in another sport. It was 5 days a week from 3-5:30. Again there was "reward" for being there all the time...making the team, playing time, starting etc. You showed that you were dedicated to the program. As a player on the high school team you were told that family and family functions come first always, especially at spring break. Yet if you were gone during spring break, the start of the high school season, you would sit for every scheduled practice and 2 games for every scheduled game missed. So if you wheren't there at spring break, you took the chance of having to sit 13-16 games, or almost half the season. This was done to see who was "committed". I had 3 sons play at the school, so for 8 years there was no spring break vacations. Oldest son quit after his sophmore year, didn't like the coach. Middle son left after his sophomore year, didn't like the coaches or players. Youngest one played all 4 years, started on varsity for 2 years. His high school record for his class was 112-12 for the 4 years. In the fall he would play in 2 fall leagues...sometimes 4 games in one day at multiple parts of the Chicago area. He would condition 5 days a week and would hit 5-7 times a week taking 1100-1400 swings. Why did he do all this...not for his coach, he disliked him also, but for HIM. To reach HIS goals. He has goals that he set and he will do what ever he can to achieve them. He has a lot of girls that are friends...but NO girlfriends. He has seen how it takes up time from hitting, lifting, throwing, running etc. He has seen many guys bow out of hitting because their girl friends got mad that they spent so much time "with the guys hitting".
He has been home here for 3 weeks, had his wisdom teeth pulled, 2 holidays, yet has done his conditioning/lifting 4 days a week without fail and managed to get about 1800- 2000 swings in. Today he had a 2 1/2 hour work out with some major league players he knows and a professional football player and still had me throw him 320 pitches (in 50 minutes)...my arm is wants to fall off!! This is all hie dedication, I have just been along for the ride and some guidance.

My point to all this rambling is...make the workouts available to all players. You will know who is serious, who isn't and nothing wrong with "rewarding" the players who put in the dedication, when everything else is equal. It will show the player that his hard work is being rewarded.

Sorry for rambling on so long.

mde5 - nice post. Obviously, your son needs no external push or encouragement Most of the people I know on this site, their sons fall in the exact same category as yours. Very hard working and self-motivated.

I was almost shocked at how my son worked out over break. He would get up at 7:30 in the morning without fail (even when up late) to workout and then workout (throwing, hitting, running, or lifting) at various times during the day.

Nice story mde5. I don't think I'm going to be that serious about off-season practices. That sounds like a maniac.

Here is my son's so-called "off-season" after school ball. He played summer and fall ball with 7 different teams, including 40 with legion. That's 94 total games this year, and my son started 23 games as a pitcher. Went to tournaments in Spokane, Rathdrum, Las Vegas, Tacoma (PNW championships), Tri-Cities, Pullman, and Clarkston. 2 weeks in Vegas, running, BP and long-tossing each day. Tryouts with fall scout teams seeking invite to Junior Olympics. TRAINING SCHEDULE--- MONDAYS: 2 hrs hitting, throwing and pitching with school team before school. TUESDAYS: 2 1/2 hours of running and weight lifting with school team after school. Then go to the local baseball academy for 2 hours of hitting and pitching instruction. WEDNESDAYS: 2 hrs hitting, throwing and pitching with school team before school. THURSDAYS: 2 1/2 hours of running and weight lifting with school team after school, then 1 more hour for long-toss. FRIDAYS: OFF! SATURDAYS: Go to my health club, run 2 miles, lift, long-toss, BP in cage. SUNDAYS: 2 1/2 hours with head coach at local community college for offense and defensive training. On top of all this, each night do "Cannon Arm Conditioning" and alternative frogs or jump ropes. Also, this weekend go to the weekend-long WSU cougars showcase camp. On top of all this, he has a girlfriend, nearly straight A's, just completed driver's ed and is varsity debate with several out-of-area tournaments. I'm the taxi driver, and if all of this doesn't get him into college I'm suiing myself for emotional distress.