Time off/playing year round?

[msirkin]

I'm trying to find information on what's best for our 14u program in CT. We're a very young team and are coming off a full season that started back in November of last year! We've not taken much time off from softball and I feel like the girls should disconnect for a few months, focus on school, getting fit and healthy and start back up training in January.

what's the latest thinking in training?

I'm encouraging many of our girls to play other sports this winter (basketball in particular) and to join our basic fitness program as well, but to put down the bats and balls...

can anyone let me know their thoughts on playing year round and time off for these kids?

It was nothing like this when I was a kid... I played a tiny bit of fall ball and in the spring and that was it!

coach marc - seahawks softball

 

[jacketsfan]

Well, down here in FL, there is no offseason. Burnout is definitely an issue, but that's usually more me as a coach than the kids. Our last travel ball fall tourney is around 12/15. There is a big exposure tourney the first weekend of Jan. So, we take all of about a week off around Christmas, then try to gather ourselves for that tourney.

At younger ages (before showcases), we would take off from about 12/15 to about Jan 7, then gear up again and start playing tourneys by 2/1. So, 3 weeks maybe. We would also take about a couple of weeks off right before the kids went back to school in August. Outside of that, it's softball-a-palooza around these parts.

I'm not so sure that doing nothing for a couple of months is a good idea. If your pitchers take 2 months off, it'll take that long at least to get them pitching consistently again. It is much less effort to keep it up, even scaled back, than it is to take time totally away. Same for hitting.

I'd be careful about 2 and a half months away for it. It might take you 2 months to look like a team again when you start back up.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I encourage them to play other sports, but they still need to hit and pitch.

 

[sluggers]

I feel like the girls should disconnect for a few months, focus on school, getting fit and healthy and start back up training in January.

You are talking about taking less than 3 months off. I think it is a great idea.

 

[Daddylawman]

Here in Georgia things are a bit different because HS softball is a Fall sport. Generally girls play HS ball August through October. We do have a practice most Sundays starting late September because of November showcases (18U). We will not practice mid-November through mid-January, but expect them to be taking the appropriate lessons at least weekly.

We'll start up in January - Sundays until school gets out. Hopefully we will finish August 7, 2011.

 

[Coach JV]

I too am in FL. We shut down for 6 weeks in July/August and again from mid Dec to Feb 1st.
The kids and coaches need time to recharge batteries rest and have lives outside of softball.

 

[sru]

Our association in Ontario shuts down for 8 weeks per season. My dd is starting indoor fitness, pitcher catcher and hitting this week. She hasn't played or practiced with her team since her last tryout in early Sept, althoug we have been going out as a family to hit. She will have another 2-3weeks off for the holidays as well. The excepting is our 18U team, they are still playing.

Previous to this year, it was 11 monhts a year. I found it to be too much. Kids where getting tired and losing focus and the drive to be at the park. Parents where getting tired as well. Since our winter indoors schedule is not as intense as our summer schedule, the girls are encouraged to have other winter activites as the beneifts of "cross training" are huge. Its amazing what dance lessons can do for your infielders!

Wayne Gretzky, arguably the best hockey player in the history of the game, rarely trained in the summer, he choose to play baseball instead.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have students that I couldn't make shut down, for over 2 days. They would be miserable. But, I we have this wonderful warm weather. I wish that I had been raised here. But, from age 8, I see girls here that have "it."

It is no different than piano or violin. These girls do not want time off. If they can't get someone to play catch with them, they are finding a place in the house to throw a sock against a wall.

They do play soccer and some basketball in grade school, but they hustle out to get to softball practice as quick as they can. It isn't their parents pushing this particular group. It is a love for softball.

 

[Duane]

For the last couple of years, we shut it down the week before Thanksgiving and don't start back at it until January. By the time we get back at it they are ready to go.

 

[lawdawg]

We usually take off from the week of Thanksgiving through 1st week of January. There is a good annual Turkey Tourney that we play in every year - that usually marks the last of the year. Some parents (usually parents of an "only child" who don't play any other sports) complain. About half of our girls play JH or HS basketball. Most kids and parents realize they need a break once were off a week. We will get indoors to pitch and hit a few times during that break.

As a father of 4 kids from 7 - 20, with a full time practice and a 2 class teaching gig at local university, who also coaches school team (Jan-May) - I NEED A BREAK!!!!!!