Offseason-taking a break vs tryouts

[GunnerShotgun]

Is it a myth? All I see everywhere is how a year round sport is harmful for athletes and that breaks are crucial for their physical (not to mention mental) well being.

Yeah unless you can cite a professional research paper that states taking time off promotes increased skill level or prevents injuries long term it's nonsense. Those that need to shut it down were probably overworked to begin with.

I can't think of one skill that gets better without repetition (running, throwing, spelling bee, foreign language, etc.).

Do some players need breaks? Maybe if they were overworked (long season) or were pushing it to hard to begin with.

You are what you consistently do.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Yeah unless you can cite a professional research paper that states taking time off promotes increased skill level or prevents injuries long term it's nonsense. Those that need to shut it down were probably overworked to begin with.

I can't think of one skill that gets better without repetition (running, throwing, spelling bee, foreign language, etc.).

Do some players need breaks? Maybe if they were overworked (long season) or were pushing it to hard to begin with.

You are what you consistently do.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/

Some of the more interesting points of the study:

"There is general agreement that the number of hours spent in deliberate practice and training positively correlates with level of achievement in both individual and team sports; whether this intense practice must begin during early childhood and to the exclusion of other sports is a matter of debate. There are relatively few data to validate these theories."

"The risks of single-sport intense training include adverse psychological stress and premature withdrawal from competitive sport. Current data suggest that intense training and specialization may be independent risk factors."

"Higher training volumes may increase risk for injury in a variety of sports. In 2721 high school athletes, increased exposure was the most important risk factor for injury. There was a linear relationship between exposure and risk of injury (odds ratio, 8.28), showing significantly elevated risk once training volume exceeded 16 hours per week (Figure 1)."

The study doesn't touch on whether you should do no throwing periodically, it does conclude that athletes who train more and specialize their training tend to burn out at higher rates and have higher risk factors for injury. If anything, taking a break is good for athletes mentally, even if you don't believe it matters physically.

EDIT: I know Ohio State did a study as well. I haven't read it thoroughly but I think they came to the conclusion that breaks were essential for athletes. I'll try and dig that one up and read it to see what it says.

 

[DNeeld]

My personal take:

My DD is 11. She takes about six weeks off, from Thanksgiving to New Year. Not for rest, recovery, or any of that nonsense. But so she can go be a kid during the holidays and not worry about practice, etc.

When she's 15 or 16, probably will be a different story....if she's even still playing at that time.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/

Some of the more interesting points of the study:

"There is general agreement that the number of hours spent in deliberate practice and training positively correlates with level of achievement in both individual and team sports; whether this intense practice must begin during early childhood and to the exclusion of other sports is a matter of debate. There are relatively few data to validate these theories."

"The risks of single-sport intense training include adverse psychological stress and premature withdrawal from competitive sport. Current data suggest that intense training and specialization may be independent risk factors."

"Higher training volumes may increase risk for injury in a variety of sports. In 2721 high school athletes, increased exposure was the most important risk factor for injury. There was a linear relationship between exposure and risk of injury (odds ratio, 8.28), showing significantly elevated risk once training volume exceeded 16 hours per week (Figure 1)."

The study doesn't touch on whether you should do no throwing periodically, it does conclude that athletes who train more and specialize their training tend to burn out at higher rates and have higher risk factors for injury. If anything, taking a break is good for athletes mentally, even if you don't believe it matters physically.

EDIT: I know Ohio State did a study as well. I haven't read it thoroughly but I think they came to the conclusion that breaks were essential for athletes. I'll try and dig that one up and read it to see what it says.

I read through your post and read through the paper you cited and it would seem that the paper agrees with my position?

"Conclusion:

Some degree of sports specialization is necessary to develop elite-level skill development. However, for most sports, such intense training in a single sport to the exclusion of others should be delayed until late adolescence to optimize success while minimizing injury, psychological stress, and burnout."

The OP was asking about taking time off (the month of December) and my response was that you are better off not taking a break. The paper you cited talks about playing multiple sports and avoiding intense training at an early age. I don't think anyone disagrees with that?

The paper you cited mentions the word "intense" 30 times. Nobody is saying that. If you are asking me if you are better off taking 30 days off from pitching or practicing throwing twice a week trying to get better at your craft. It's a no brainer....

 

[riseball]

Is it a myth? All I see everywhere is how a year round sport is harmful for athletes and that breaks are crucial for their physical (not to mention mental) well being. I pretty much never get sick of watching DD play. We'd practice all winter without complaint. But I'm seeing a lot out there that's the opposite of what you're saying. Not that they should do NOTHING but that they should do non-softball things for at least 6 weeks a couple of times a year.

I probably should have qualified my post. Understand that my perspective is that of a PC/HC working with kids to get recruited and with young ladies already in college. IIRC your DD is in 10U so a total shutdown to do other stuff is just fine. For the record I feel that what a kid does up to about age 14-15 with regard to pitching makes zero difference in long term success. IMO most kids with true potential would be better off learning how to pitch at a later age then doing so when young. This would allow them them to develop the coordination and self awareness that permits them to learn proper mechanics and avoid lengthy remediation in order to be successful later on. I have helped many a pitcher get to the next level and when they come to me it is not a question of their current skills and abilities, but their ability to learn to pitch with proper mechanics. I.E; Can they learn to throw underhand and unlearn HE and master IR/BI.

 

[osagedr]

Bottom line IMO is that there is no "right answer" for every kid - it depends upon a lot of factors including (most importantly) the individual in question.

 

[Rocketech1]

She should use the "off-season" to work on areas of her game to improve for the coming season. Ok, to shut her down for 2 or 3 weeks but no reason to completely take 6 weeks off for the athlete who wants to get better. Do you think the other pitchers (her competition) at the January tryouts will be shutting it down for 6 weeks?

 

[riseball]

To the OP's point: If a coach knows what they are looking at they should not need more than 5 pitches to know if a kid is worth considering. A pitching tryout need not involve a significant number of pitches.

 

[Snotbubbles]

I read through your post and read through the paper you cited and it would seem that the paper agrees with my position?

"Conclusion:

Some degree of sports specialization is necessary to develop elite-level skill development. However, for most sports, such intense training in a single sport to the exclusion of others should be delayed until late adolescence to optimize success while minimizing injury, psychological stress, and burnout."

The OP was asking about taking time off (the month of December) and my response was that you are better off not taking a break. The paper you cited talks about playing multiple sports and avoiding intense training at an early age. I don't think anyone disagrees with that?

The paper you cited mentions the word "intense" 30 times. Nobody is saying that. If you are asking me if you are better off taking 30 days off from pitching or practicing throwing twice a week trying to get better at your craft. It's a no brainer....

It says that once a kid gets older, sports specialization is required to become "elite", but that in doing so it increases burnout and injury.

The study also footnoted two studies specifically looking at pitchers and injuries: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21098816

"Pitching more than 100 innings in a year significantly increases risk of injury."

And this study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16452269

"The injured group pitched significantly more months per year, games per year, innings per game, pitches per game, pitches per year, and warm-up pitches before a game. These pitchers were more frequently starting pitchers, pitched in more showcases, pitched with higher velocity, and pitched more often with arm pain and fatigue."

Again, it doesn't say that you need to rest for 6 weeks with no throwing, but it does find that over-usage increases the risk of injury.

 

[corlay]

For the record I feel that what a kid does up to about age 14-15 with regard to pitching makes zero difference in long term success. IMO most kids with true potential would be better off learning how to pitch at a later age then doing so when young. This would allow them them to develop the coordination and self awareness that permits them to learn proper mechanics and avoid lengthy remediation in order to be successful later on.

this is such a bold and radical (and probably oh so true!) statement!

i often think about this; how it would be so nice to take an athletic 14 yr old kid and start the process of learning to pitch.
i cant even imagine hiw the learning curve and frustration levels would be cut down!

but, if you understand and are playing "the long game" then working with a young pitcher can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.