Ramping back up after a break

[4Martini]

My daughter is on a pitching break. Her team entered a dome tournament earlier than planned- and I’m trying to figure out how far in advance she should start ramping back up. It’s 4 games I think and her team has lots of pitchers- she’s probably #2. 14u. So she will not be pitching a ton- but still full speed pitching.

How far in advance do you start ramping back up? What steps do you go through?

 

[Hillhouse]

My daughter is on a pitching break. Her team entered a dome tournament earlier than planned- and I’m trying to figure out how far in advance she should start ramping back up. It’s 4 games I think and her team has lots of pitchers- she’s probably #2. 14u. So she will not be pitching a ton- but still full speed pitching.

How far in advance do you start ramping back up? What steps do you go through?

I have no doubt you will get a plethora of answers to this but, you did leave out a lot of material.
1. how long was the break?
2. how soon until the tournament?
3 is a dome tournament in winter important? If it IS important, there's no such thing as being too prepared so, I'd suggest she start yesterday. If it is NOT important (meaning it won't effect her position as #2 on the team one way or the other), I'd say continue her break and enjoy the holidays.

The reality is, you cannot get in game shape without playing games. MLB'ers show this every year, they slowly start, do lots of simulated games, then play too many spring training games as the pitchers slowly progress.

You can have her throw 500 pitches per day, 5 days per week, and it doesn't equal 5 innings in a real game. You're probably thinking that doesn't make sense, pitches are pitches. Or, how "intense" she is in workouts. Ok. But you cannot count for adrenaline that we all get in games. It just can't be measured or completely understood. One year, I didn't stop pitching after the summer. 3 x 4 times per week I threw live hitting to girls for 3 hours per night, from Labor Day thru end of January (when we'd play a big International tournament in Florida). My thought was to keep in shape, never lose game shape, etc. It didn't work. By inning #4 of my first game, I could feel the tingle in my fingers, I could feel my arm turning to jello, and my legs wobbly. These are the same things I'd feel in the first game of each spring.

Now in full disclosure, I was 30 years old vs. your kid who's 14. Not a small difference. Having said that, even when I was a kid, my first games of the year had an effect.

I'm in favor of winter tournaments, even in domes, but essentially you're asking her to have 2 different "first of the year" feelings. I assume this dome event is a one time thing? I mean, you guys aren't going to play dome events every other or every 3rd week, are you? If not, she's going to get ready, work out, play in this tournament, probably be somewhat sore afterward, then not play in a game again until March or so? Again, I'm all for it. Kids are durable. But, I just want you to be realistic about how "ready" she will be and the after effects.

 

[4Martini]

Thanks!

She started break Thanksgiving week- plan was to take 6 weeks off til after Jan 1. But tourney is Jan 6. It is not high importance- just a chance for kids to knock the cobwebs off and play.

She has no signs of any injuries- mostly a break to play basketball on her school team and not think about pitching for a little.

It’s definitely a one time thing. I don’t think she’s at risk of losing her position. When her coach added it - I mentioned she would be coming off a previously agreed to break and could be a bit rusty and he said it that was fine.

Any suggests on ramp up plan?

 

[Jeffrey]

My DD had a similar problem last year. She had an unexpected prospect camp and needed to be ready the first week of January rather than the last week of February. It took 3 weeks of every other day to get back to full speed. (Roughly…I’m sure we took a few days for holidays LOL) This was after 6 weeks off instead of her usual 10.

 

[quincy]

If it is not an important tournament, a week before she will get going.

 

[Hillhouse]

Personally, I'm inclined to agree with quincy. If it's not important, I'm not sure I'd really "ramp up" at all.

Winter tournaments in domes are a good thing, it breaks up the monotony of practices each week. We all know it's not the same thing as a game outside but, outside of playing inside an MLB dome stadium, nothing will be the same as a game outside. And I respect you for wanting your daughter to be as ready as possible. But, as you said yourself, this isn't important. It won't effect her position or spot in the rotation, so I'd say continue her break as long as possible. I don't know where you live, but unless you have teams coming from FL, TX, or CA, the odds are EVERYONE will be out of game shape.

1. Pitchers will be off, not as sharp. This goes back to what I said before, its impossible to get in game shape without games. So, even if your DD and other pitchers don't get sore like I do at the start of a season, they aren't as likely to hit their spots as consistently as they would in mid June. That would be true even if you started "ramping up" now. New season, first game jitters, pitching to an ump, adrenaline, etc. are all things impact the first games of any new season. There's no avoiding those things.

2. Hitters will be off their mark too. Even ones that hit year round off machines won't be 100%. And, lets face it (at least in my area when I see hitting coaches in the cage next to me), hitters do a few things in their hitting lesson: tee work in all kinds of weird stances that I don't understand then soft toss. Even if a girl hits off a machine every week, while that's better than not doing anything, there is nothing that replicates live pitching. Not even hitting off a machine. Hitting off balls coming straight from a machine isn't the same as training a hitter's eye on what to swing at, what to leave, no change ups, etc. A 14u team could benefit massively by paying an 18u kid $20/hr to throw live BP. I don't know why more teams don't do more live hitting.

3. Also, umpires will be off their game too. That's something people forget about. Umpires probably haven't seen much in a couple months. Their zone's might be iffy at times too.

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

3. Also, umpires will be off their game too. That's something people forget about. Umpires probably haven't seen much in a couple months. Their zone's might be iffy at times too.

This is especially true if the game is in a dome, and the dome is a multi sport thing, that's basically a lined rectangle. These set ups tend to be all screwy, with bad lighting, bad backdrop, a net on top of your back, a non-permanent plate (that can move), no batters boxes for reference points, no circle, a pitching mat (that moves), and usually no partner. And you haven't done a game since Oct 31. And you get a frantic call that the dome needs an ump. And you drag your stuff out of the basement. And you have to learn the crazy rules about what happens when the ball hits the roof.

 

[uncdrew]

Thanks!

She started break Thanksgiving week- plan was to take 6 weeks off til after Jan 1. But tourney is Jan 6. It is not high importance- just a chance for kids to knock the cobwebs off and play.

She has no signs of any injuries- mostly a break to play basketball on her school team and not think about pitching for a little.

It’s definitely a one time thing. I don’t think she’s at risk of losing her position. When her coach added it - I mentioned she would be coming off a previously agreed to break and could be a bit rusty and he said it that was fine.

Any suggests on ramp up plan?

We try to get 8 weeks of no pitching every winter. Sometimes all we get is 6. For us, 6 is the floor. Gotta get 6.

We try to start up at least 2 weeks before the first tourney. And that date (like you), often dictates how much time you get off. Now our first tournament isn't until Feb in Florida, so we're in good shape.

So on the pitching break, we are still doing conditioning and work outs and have resumed hitting (after about a 4 week break - mostly mental). And have played catch a few times. So when we get ready to pitch again, we're not totally stiff.

Just fastballs week 1
Day 1 - 50% drills from about 25 feet. We have our drills, you probably have yours. 30 minutes or so
Day 2 - work up to 75% but still about 25 feet
Day 3 - rest
Day 4 - work up to 75% from 35 feet
Day 5 - work up to 80% from full distance
Day 6 - full pitch
Day 7 - rest

So after week 1 we're basically comfortable going 100%, feel we prevented any injuries by going slow, and are ready to get at it week 2. Week 2 is kind of game situations and working on all pitches. We try to get a lesson in week 2 as well. By the end of week 2 we're ready to pitch. Another week or two would be nice, to really work on each pitch a bit more. But at 14U I've found it all comes back to her really fast. Far less time to get back into game shape than a few years ago.

Just our plan, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

 

[uncdrew]

If it is not an important tournament, a week before she will get going.

Agreed.

Also, a great coach will just give you a pass (with no penalty). If I explained our rest and health schedule to our coach and told him this game/tourney really threw it all out of whack, he'd give us a pass with no questions asked. He understands you don't risk the season over some Christmas Tourney that doesn't mean much. And in your case, seems like plenty other girls happy to pitch.

 

[4Martini]

We try to get 8 weeks of no pitching every winter. Sometimes all we get is 6. For us, 6 is the floor. Gotta get 6.

We try to start up at least 2 weeks before the first tourney. And that date (like you), often dictates how much time you get off. Now our first tournament isn't until Feb in Florida, so we're in good shape.

So on the pitching break, we are still doing conditioning and work outs and have resumed hitting (after about a 4 week break - mostly mental). And have played catch a few times. So when we get ready to pitch again, we're not totally stiff.

Just fastballs week 1
Day 1 - 50% drills from about 25 feet. We have our drills, you probably have yours. 30 minutes or so
Day 2 - work up to 75% but still about 25 feet
Day 3 - rest
Day 4 - work up to 75% from 35 feet
Day 5 - work up to 80% from full distance
Day 6 - full pitch
Day 7 - rest

So after week 1 we're basically comfortable going 100%, feel we prevented any injuries by going slow, and are ready to get at it week 2. Week 2 is kind of game situations and working on all pitches. We try to get a lesson in week 2 as well. By the end of week 2 we're ready to pitch. Another week or two would be nice, to really work on each pitch a bit more. But at 14U I've found it all comes back to her really fast. Far less time to get back into game shape than a few years ago.

Just our plan, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Just wanted to say Thank You! My daughter was chomping at the bit- so I let her start following this and she’s two days in and very excited to be back pitching.