A little time off from the circle may do alot of good

[SoAZDad]

My 13 YO DDs TB team (02's) typically doesn't practice from about mid December to early January. During that most recent period, she only pitched for a couple of hours (one hour lesson with her PC and a couple 30-minute sessions to work on stuff from the lesson.

DW took her to a 5-game friendly the weekend of January 9th. In Game 1 on Saturday against a team I assume is fairly good (they are in one of the best organizations around here), she throws a 1-0, 5-inning shutout: 3 hits (all singles), 0 BB, 1 HBP, and 12 Ks.

She threw a few innings in Game 3 on Saturday and a CG tie in Game 4 on Sunday. 24 hours, 13 IP, and 3 ER. Her arm was a little sore for two days, but coaches said she looked strong and assumed she practiced a lot during the holiday. Oh yeah, I hear she didn't hit the ball well.

I'm starting to believe some time off doing nothing might be a good thing...

 

[riseball]

This has always worked for my DD and my other pitchers. Even if just for a couple of weeks. I had a 2016 shutdown from mid-December until first week of January right before HS tryouts. She came back throwing better than ever. Great command and more velocity.

 

[grcsftbll]

I was nervous about taking time off but we really had to with the elbow pain she'd been having. Took almost a month off and when we started back up she looked better than ever too. I'm a believer now.

 

[FP26]

DD has done this the last 3 years. The break is between 4 weeks and 6 weeks. In each case she has come back stronger, more accurate, and more committed. I'm sure it varies person to person, but it seems to work for her.

 

[Greenmonsters]

The mental break sometimes is even more valuable than the physical break, which is vital IMO.

 

[CoachBroker]

We do 6 weeks off mid Nov. to Jan 1. Each year. Zero softball, no pitching, no hitting, no nothing. My kid can be a kid and her body can rest. She comes back strong and helps from having burn out for her and the rest of us.

 

[M & R Davis]

We took off the month of December as it lined up well with our pitching coach and her maternity leave. Have to admit first day back I wondered if it was the right thing to do or not. Second day back all was well again and am very happy we did so. Think both physically and mentally there was a need to rest and relax some. Think we will plan to do this time frame off every year.

 

[josh]

We do 6 weeks no pitching from mid november to early january, she always comes back a little better after a week or two back, the rest seems to help, she does sometimes bat but no pitching.

We try to do the same thing for a month in the Aug/Sept time frame if we can

 

[dbronstein]

My DD isn't at the level as most of the pitchers here, she just plays rec. She last picked up a softball in early October. I took her for a lesson yesterday and there was a very noticable speed increase.

 

[DNeeld]

My DD doesn't take large blocks of time off, but she'll take off one week out of every six year round. She also varies the intensity and frequency of her pitching work. Pre-season, she'll do three days a week, very intense. In season its four days a week, moderate intensity, off season is two days a week, low intensity.

She also listens to her body and takes time off as she feels fatigued, burned out, etc.