For the past five years my 12 year old son has played baseball year round because he LOVES it.
Will not playing (while others do play) put him at a disadvantage when he starts up again in January?
He's very athletic. He will be playing football for his JH School. What are your opinions on off-season training for him and what kinds of things should he be doing? He's had a pitching (elbow) injury recently, so I'm thinking he should lay off throwing of any kind for at least a month or so, but wondering about overall conditioning, building core strength, ect. Or, should he just REST?

taking the fall off from baseball might not be a bad idea considering his recent injury.I would certainly try and keep his strength and conditioning training going.Be careful though as football will tax his body pretty bad.If his pitching injury does not effect his swing ,I would still have him in the cages. Keep us posted

He is 12! Play other sports and he should have a minimum of 3 months (each year) of no throwing particularly as a pitcher. Other ideal off season training for 12YO's should be fishing, chasing frogs, tag, capture the flag, etc etc. (skip the xbox)

lodi14 and BOF thanks for the responses. His elbow injury is minor, but needs time for healing. He did go to a Sports Injury Clinic and Dr. recommended not throwing/pitching for a while. It just starts hurting when he pitches and the pain has gone away completely since he stopped throwing and pitching about 2 weeks ago (done with baseball now). I'm thinking I'll have him rest it for another month or two (just to be on the safe side) and then let him return to swinging a bat and gradually throwing after that, so that would put him at about 3 months of not throwing. Thanks for confirming that my thinking was on the right track about that, BOF. I'm just a single mom trying to help my baseball obsessed son develop and be the best he can be. It's not that I pressure him to do anything. He's just driven. He "works" a lot on his own without the pushing him. It's the holding him back from all of this while he's recovering that's the difficult thing. My thinking is...If he's going to do it anyway may as well be doing things that are productive at his age, so that's why I asked about what kind of things would be most beneficial.
I know weight training is out of the question (not gone through puberty), but just wondering if his routine of situps, pushups, running sprints, hitting off of a tee and popup machine are a good way to spend his time and efforts.

BOF-He rarely plays X-box and does do his share of the typical just "have fun" boys things. He's at a friend's house swimming right now. But, if he had his choice he'd play bball 24/7.

PlayWithHeart:

First welcome to HSBBW, I see you only have a few posts. Love the name. ASMI the leading authority on baseball arms recommends 3 months off for pitchers in particular. I believe they are at www.asmi.org for details. If he is injured this is even more important.

I would also encourage multiple sports at 12. It helps in keeping them active and athletic. Basketball, s****r in particular. It also keeps them from burning out by the time they get to HS. Running sprints, pushups, situps, jump rope, and other non-weight training is fine until puberty. He can never hit too much also.

Good luck!