As fall ball is coming to an end, a lot of people are asking me what is the best thing to do for their ball player. There are a few ways to look at this:
1) If your son is NOT a pitcher, then hitting once or twice a week to keep the hand/eye sharp will not hurt anyone, ever. Just make sure it is something the player wants to do and not forced upon them. Don't want them to hate this amazing game 2) For those that JUST pitch, I would give the arm a couple months off. Shutdown the arm completely from pitching. Young arms need time to rest. If he/she pitched most of the spring, summer, and fall, then they definitely need to give it a break. Overuse is a serious issue. I'm a firm believer of kids playing multiple sports and it is a great way to keep the entire body in shape and not just "baseball" muscles. 3) Lastly, those who did not pitch much and want to keep working on their mechanics to get the chance to get on the mound next year, this is the time to work on that, especially for the older kids needing to develop or improve a second or third pitch.
Even though it is my job to give lessons, it's more important to me that kids have a good, healthy baseball future for as long as they want to pursue it. If your player threw a lot this year, take a break and play another sport or act like a kid for awhile. Clear the mind and recharge the batteries. Sometimes this is what helps kids want to work harder when they do come for lessons or in practice.
For those that want to continue to work on their pitching or hitting mechanics, hit me up. I'm working with some kids now in the Northbrook location purely on arm strengthening through medicine ball work and band work. We do light toss to keep the arm healthy after the med ball work. This all helps with strengthening the arm along with the body. Kids that are age 13 and under are typically not ready to do much weight lifting so this is the best way to strengthen the body in ways that will not affect them. You must bring your own bands that you can handle. Med balls are at the facility. I do have one RED band. Bands are color-coded by resistance and red is the medium. There are a couple below and a couple above the red level.
If you have any questions about what to do or how to approach the off season with your athlete, please don't hesitate to reach out to me and we can discuss the best game plan for them. My message from the beginning is and always will be the same. I want your son or daughter to be in a position where they can be ready to play at the high school level. Every year that goes by, the game gets a little harder, but success is a direct result of hard work. I hope to see or hear from you soon to get a game plan in progress. If there is another approach your son or daughter would like to attack the off season, we can work with that also. Every player will have a different game plan to their success and I am more than happy to work with a player's game plan and give my advice to tweak it if need be. See you all around the cages!! Fabio 312-285-1662 [email protected] www.fabio28.weebly.com
P.S. Please don't wait until the last minute to set things up as I have limited spots available. Many of you may have already contacted me and reserved your winter spots and you're in the schedule. If there is anyone you may know that could benefit from my help, please pass my info on to them or I can reach out to them if you like. thx