Don't specialize too early

[docforbax]

Occasionally with work I come across papers, journals, etc. that pertain to youth sports. I'm guessing most of you reading this post, even those that earn income providing opportunities in travel ball, would agree with the article captioned below. I know the gentlemen with whom I coached for many years, will agree with the article below. I realize there are "unique" players and "circumstances" that affect individual players. The article says "...waited until their teens to focus on only one sport." I personally feel waiting until late teens (16/17) is better than early teen (13/14). I'll be interested to know if the readers of the Message Board reach a consensus opinion on when a ball player should "specialize".



Exercise: Does Specializing in One Sport Ensure Future Success? [/B]

Contrary to what some parents and coaches believe, researchers have
found no evidence
that athletes were more successful at earning a college scholarship or
in starting a professional career if they only played one sport starting
at a very young age.
It appears that most of today's successful athletes enjoyed multiple
sports as children and waited until their teens to focus on only one
sport.

American Society of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, April 2014
[/I]

 

[atcshrk]

I agree!

 

[NCSF]

I don't totally agree with the study but I do think kids should play everything as a freshman and probably a sophomore. If he shows that he has the opportunity to play at an elite level after high school in ONE sport, that summer after the sophomore year is a great time to get serious.

Regarding pitchers, too many guys are throwing year-round and that's a challenge. Honestly, high school coaches are going to use them the way they want. Most get it, some don't. Same as the top summer programs. We invariably would shut a guy down for a week or two in the summer, take August off, throw in short stints in September-October (recruiting events- whether we like it or not), and then shut down for three months and get strong.

The biggest problem is in the fall. Good pitchers can be pulled three ways- high school, club, and scout ball. It's crucial to prioritize all three and communicate. Kids have a tough time saying no and need support. It's not as bad here buts it's a real problem in Southern California.

 

[atcshrk]

I agree!

 

[saintwarrior]

I do not think it is any coincidence that more and more kids are having TJ surgery in or right out of high school. They just play/pitch too much. Kids need months off, not weeks. I think the biggest issues is not necessarily fall ball, but the fact that these kids play all the way up until the day of high school tryouts. They have zero time off. ZERO. When my kid is old enough and assuming he likes and is good at baseball, he will not touch a baseball for most of November (if not all), December and January.

The other issue is how hard these kids throw these days. It was not that long ago that a hard thrower in high school was 83-85mph. That is pretty much the norm now. I played back in the early 90's and I faced 2 guys that ran it up there around 90. Dan Serafini and Roberto Lopez. Serafini was the #25 pick overall his senior year! You combine how hard these kids throw and how much they throw and it is not a good combo! But as Bruno says, it really needs to come from parent/ responsible coach to mentor kids....they will never say no to something because they will fear it could have been their chance to "get seen."

 

[NCSF]

Saint- Shh, nobody knows that's me

You, ATC, and I are on line with most of this. Regarding the hard throwing leading to arm problems, I remember Serafini was pretty good size and Roberto was a horse. I think guys are training harder and harder and if you don't have the proper training program working the decelerators, you are going to break down. Our guys have a velocity improvement program that goes November to the first week of February and the results have been incredible regarding velocity and arm health. Very little throwing and only flat ground.

I don't think there's a coincidence that the guys in the Midwest and north develop power arms per capita and have less arm problems than pitchers that play in the sunbelt states. Simple- they can only pitch in anger and off the mound a limited time of the year due to weather.

I want to clarify a remark I made in my first post in the thread- I mentioned that high school coaches are going to use their pitchers the way they want. I'm good with that! I think that high school should be the time that a pitcher is out there competing to win and he should be pointing to that part of the season to peak. Competing for a high school championship is a different pressure- it just is. The rest of the year is a compliment to it and has its place for exposure purposes as well as development and strength gains in the off-season. Hope that clarifies and helps.

Finally, Saint I call that feeling that they might not get seen "fear and hope". They fear they have to do all these events because they might not get seen and hope that they perform when they do get there. I have some very strong feelings about this and will expand with a thread down the line.

 

[atcshrk]

So...since I agree with both of you...how in the world do you convince young parents who only get to do this once (most likely) that they don't need to say 'yes' to all the requests for events that come flooding in.

Heck, I can remember getting multiple phone calls from an organization that just had to have boy #1 at some event back East - and that it would go a long way in determining his draft stock. (No, he didn't go). But seriously, we can talk each other into believing what we're saying...but its a much tougher thing with 05% of parents out there.

Not to mention during recruiting process, getting all kinds of requests from college coaches to attend their camp "so they can get to know your son!" (Didn't do those either). But do you think you can walk into one of those Christmas camps stone cold from throwing and impress anyone?

Colleges, scouts...MLB could go a long way to helping reduce year-around baseball by simply not attending events November-January. Right?

 

[rez96]

atcshrk, great point.

 

[Streak One]

It has to be a team effort of educated high school coaches and club coaches looking out for the best interest of the player. The best success rate happens when the team around the player prioritizes the right events (HS season, showcases, etc.) needed for that certain player. Too many times, there are too many opinions going in opposite directions.

You also need a player who is willing to listen and has a good understanding of where his future lies in baseball.

 

[NCSF]

ATC- Those camps have become fund raisers for number three coaches and volunteer guys. What I tell my parents is that it's my job to save them thousands of dollars by telling them no to over 90% of the stuff out there.

 

[atcshrk]

Yep - you do a GREAT job. But what about all the others out there?

I can tell you, firsthand, that those phone calls or emails can be pretty tempting to bite on...even "convincing!" They'll say things like, "Junior, we really enjoyed your unofficial visit to our campus and we're pretty sure we're gonna make you an offer and so we just wanna get to know you just a little bit better." In other words, they're pretty leading.

Or the phone call, "Hey StudJim, you're gonna get drafted, the only question is how high and we've heard from a number of crosscheckers and important baseball people that they really wanna see you this one more time."

For all I know, the crosscheckers, recruiters and others may actually feel that way? As a parent, you start feeling like you're taking opportunities away from your son by not attending...in December no less!

I'm convinced MLB could help fix this.

 

[1315]

Parents need to take heed of two Northern Cal (not a plug, but a poster is grinning) cases. Kyle Zimmer (#5 2012 MLB draft) and Mark Appel (#1 in 2013.) Both young players are now multi-millionaires. Not long ago, however, they were "not on the radar." http://www.usfca.edu/Magazine/Winter_2012/Kyle_Zimmer/ and Appel was a very average (and frankly below average at age 15) HS P until his Jr/Sr year at Monte Vista Danville.
Frankly, I'm happy my two moved away from the slab after soph year. Arms saved.
If a parent wants to follow a P pathway for their son, strengthen the core, pay attention to reputable mechanics instruction, and pitch a little in high school (and after all I've seen, yes, it's fair for a parent to pitch count limit through HS. It's their child's arm, not the coach's.) I cringe every time I see a pitch count from a good stat guy on Max preps going over 80.

 

[BKWRDKUROUT]

REPOSTING

And one additional link

http://bigleagueedgeblog.weebly.com/4/post/2014/05/change-your-training-to-avoid-tommy-john.html

BASEBALL PRIMER

 

[tu2004]

Re: REPOSTING

If I were going to paint a picture for parents with young people matriculating into HS and athletics, I would not point them to Appel or Zimmer, even though they are great stories. My perspective is each is a very unique talent and most of our son's won't get to that level, especially the 5'11"- 6'1", 190 lb HS athlete.
Where I might point them is to players like Danny Diekroeger, a 2 sport HS guy who was All-State at QB and one of those guys with big, but far from fully developed, upside as a baseball player.
Whether he ever gets on a MLB diamond, he will have a Stanford degree, be a 3 year starter for the Cardinal and probably get a pretty solid chance in Milb based on his continued improvement in baseball and his ability to play just about anywhere on the field.
Heck, when our son was playing Milb, I was regularly looking at programs with players from the Bay Area and CCS, who I vaguely recognized by name. When I would get home and use that Google tool thing, I was finding them to be 2 sport guys from Burlingame, Pacific Grove and others who never played at top 40 D1's but were still playing when many of the names I would recognize from CCS and baseball were not..
However, so long as the focus is on the one's who make it rather than those who had wonderful baseball careers and so long as the focus is on the result, not the process, the situation will likely continue to deteriorate to the benefit of a lot of sports medicine doctors and detriment of a lot of disillusioned athletes. Part of that process will be an increasing number of parents blaming everyone...but the person in the mirror.

 

[1315]

My point was not the outcome/$, but more toward the fact they were late bloomers and their parents were probably not fretting about them making that "elite" 11 yr old travel team and throwing 80 in 8th grade. There are plenty of parents who've promoted the dual sport, tough grinder approach with their kids. Plenty of examples like those all over The Bay.