Time To Take Some Time Off From Throwing

[The Man In Blue]

There was a proposition/resolution (I don’t know what the correct term is for IHSA) last year to make softball a fall sport in Illinois. The reasoning was to allow TB players to be with their travel teams in the spring. It didn’t make it out of comittee, so wasn’t actually voted on.

I can’t see Illinois ever changing to the fall. I had heard they were considering it so they weren’t competing with soccer (soccer’s numbers are increasing while softball’s are decreasing). Moving to the fall puts them in direct competition with volleyball though.

IF they did ... would they move the middle school season to the spring then? You are still fighting that same battle in that case. I never heard that addressed. (Typing this as I am getting ready to call the first MS game of the season!)

 

[Cougars]

No idea how close fall softball was to making it to an actual vote, just saw that it had at least been proposed.

On a side note, it probably just makes me look dumb (dumber?), but I didn't even know middle school softball was a thing until last season. Town we live in has 45k-ish people and 3 public middle schools, but doesn't offer softball. We had a couple girls from other towns that played it last fall, and that was the first I knew of it...

 

[Jj malone]

I am a big believer in time off.

We take 6 weeks off with no lifting, hitting or throwing of any kind after the fall season ends. It drives my daughter insane.

We took an additional few weeks off last year to give a break between summer and fall At the time we took the break, she was setting new highs in pitching speed. After the break, she never regained that speed. I know...it makes no sense, but that is what happened.

So between seasons this time she took a week off. Pitched. Took another week off. Pitched. Now she is back to 3 days a week. Not much of a break, but I could see it helped.

In baseball i always heard a pitcher is throwing their hardest right before their arm goes.

 

[chinamigarden]

DD got two days off between end of travel season and beginning of school season. We play school ball in the fall in GA. "Walk away for a while" from school ball and you ride the pine for the season. What's the solution for these girls?

Take time off after school ball.

 

[Strike2]

For several kids I know, it just never stops...

Spring school slow-pitch overlaps tournament/travel ball, which bumps up against school fast-pitch, which immediately precedes basketball (or track), which overlaps winter practice for Spring slow-pitch and tournament/travel ball.

 

[CMMom1740]

Take time off after school ball.

Not if you're playing A-level travel in GA. There are two big showcases the first two weekends in November. Travel ball picks up right after school ball. Maybe a week break before practice starts.

 

[The Man In Blue]

No idea how close fall softball was to making it to an actual vote, just saw that it had at least been proposed.

On a side note, it probably just makes me look dumb (dumber?), but I didn't even know middle school softball was a thing until last season. Town we live in has 45k-ish people and 3 public middle schools, but doesn't offer softball. We had a couple girls from other towns that played it last fall, and that was the first I knew of it...

MS Softball seems to be a hit-and-miss thing in Illinois ... I never knew schools that didn’t have it until I became an umpire. It seems like there are three reasons for schools in Central/Western Illinois to not have teams: 1) numbers; 2) Little League (not travel ball, but LL specifically); 3) volleyball.

 

[The Man In Blue]

For several kids I know, it just never stops...

Spring school slow-pitch overlaps tournament/travel ball, which bumps up against school fast-pitch, which immediately precedes basketball (or track), which overlaps winter practice for Spring slow-pitch and tournament/travel ball.

Slow-pitch?!

 

[_MIA_]

Slow-pitch?!

They have HS slow pitch here in OK in the Spring. Most in the TB community hate it but for some reason it has stuck around. I think OK is one of only a few states which still has it..there used to be more down here from what I hear.

 

[chinamigarden]

Not if you're playing A-level travel in GA. There are two big showcases the first two weekends in November. Travel ball picks up right after school ball. Maybe a week break before practice starts.

Then don’t take a break. Dont take control over what happens.

Youth and college softball are over in a minute. Over use injuries can last a lifetime. Parents need to get back in charge of what happens to their kids.