Introduction

As baseball season comes to an end, the time for growth and development begins. Athletes of all ages and skill levels find themselves enjoying time off, playing other sports, or beginning to look forward to the next season or phase in their development. This time is not only important for giving your body a break and recovering from a long season, but also to prepare to put yourself in the best position possible for success. This comes by developing skills, building strength, and managing training workloads from potentially many different outlets and teams. Most intermediate and advanced athletes (middle-high school aged) have to balance their off-season training programs, independent pitching lessons, school ball, and travel ball…all on top of academics and other extracurricular activities. Balancing these effectively through communication and the understanding of training economy is paramount in the health and development of any athlete.

What is “Training Economy”?

Training economy is a way to think of fuel an athlete has to use at any point in a training or game environment. Similar to gas in a car’s gas tank, an athlete only has so much energy to expend on a given day before any excess expenditure becomes unhealthy or potentially compromising to the individual. During the offseason, it is important for the energy stores to be refilled from the season prior to intense growth and development, both strength training and in our case, velocity and pitching development. This is why we go through our de-load and shut-down phases of training. During this time, energy expenditure is low on a daily basis, but with proper recovery and nutrition, the energy stores get fully refilled and the total volume can begin to grow. This leads into our next phases of development.

During our on-ramp and velocity building phases, we start to have high intensity days where the energy expended is often towards the limit of peak output. The more energy used on testing days, higher volume throwing days, or heavier lifting days needs more time to be recovered. This is easy to accomplish if an athlete is just training in house, but for a majority of young athletes this isn’t the case. There must be a balance between training, school ball, and travel ball.

The Importance of Off-Season Training

The off-season is a vital time for an athlete to develop multiple facets of their game.

Skill Development: The off season is the best time to develop and refine in-game skills without the pressure of competition. This includes development and feel of the lower half, rotational patterning, arm path, and throwing itself. As the off-season progresses, these translate into pitching development through bullpens and pitch design.
Strength Building: Vital to off-season development is strength building. A proper strength program helps an athlete increase overall power production and also reduces the risk of injury. Traditional strength building exercises along with functional movements that translate directly to on-field activities are essential to off-season growth.
Injury Prevention: If an athlete has a lingering weakness or pain, the off-season is an ideal time to identify the source of the injury and pattern a way to eliminate it while maximizing efficiency and performance. This progression often comes as a result of the previous two points, skill and strength development, getting better through the off-season.

Structured off-season training programs include all of these facets and blend them together for an individual athlete’s needs. In order for a program like ours to be successful, it has to be done in coincidence with other baseball activities.

School Ball and Travel Ball

Navigating the landscape of youth baseball often involves participation in both travel ball and school ball. As with training, most of these organizations usually start practice and workouts in the off-season and lead into the spring season. As with off-season training, school ball practices through the fall and winter, leading into the first games at the end of March. It is our shared goal to have an athlete ready for the first game of the year in peak condition and with a maximized skill set for the season. The complication comes with school workouts and practices coinciding with training on the same days, usually mixing high intensity days consecutively or on the same day as training. This is where the massive importance of communication comes in.

Because school ball is the first season an athlete will compete in, it takes priority to other in-season goals. In order to maintain the training schedule, it is important to communicate and work with school coaches and their practice schedules due to the limited availability and time schools get to work with athletes in the off-season. Coaches will often want high-intensity days to be with the school so they can have an idea of where an athlete is developmentally and how they fit into the team. Through communication, many coaches are lenient and trust the success found through off-campus training programs. This is beneficial for us because then we can monitor and track development and maintain a proper schedule to maximize the training economy of the athlete. If circumstance causes an athlete’s high intensity day to be with a school, then it is vital for an athlete to communicate with the trainers about what all occurred during a practice or workout. With proper communication through the athlete between school ball and training, an athlete’s off-season can be maximized for optimal development.

Travel ball fits into this as well, but to a lesser extent. Most programs have a much more limited window through the off-season before they have to relinquish practice until the end of the spring season. Because of this, they are much more hands off through the off-season and more flexible when it comes to off-season workload. Communication is still important so these coaches have an idea of what all an athlete is doing to develop and what kind of success they are having through the off-season. With the travel ball season mostly consisting of the summer season and early fall season, athletes are already fully developed for that year by the time they reach these teams.

Academic Considerations

While the off-season is an opportunity for athletic development, it’s vital not to overlook the importance of academics. Balancing sports and school can be challenging, but it’s essential for a well-rounded young athlete. Here are some strategies to maintain academic success while pursuing baseball goals:

Time Management: Creating a structured schedule that includes time for schoolwork, training, and games can help athletes stay organized. Using planners or digital tools can ensure that assignments and projects are prioritized alongside practice sessions.
Setting Goals: Athletes should set achievable academic goals for the off-season. This might involve dedicating specific hours each week to study, complete assignments, or seek help in challenging subjects.
Communication: Maintaining open communication with teachers and coaches is key. If an athlete anticipates conflicts between their school responsibilities and baseball commitments, discussing these issues proactively can help find solutions, such as adjusting practice times or deadlines.

By fostering a healthy balance between academics and athletics, young players can thrive both on the field and in the classroom, laying the groundwork for future success.

Conclusion

The baseball off-season is pivotal to the success of an athlete during their upcoming competitive season. Whether it’s just making a team, playing school ball, competing with the highest level travel programs, or just having fun being the best an athlete can be, development all starts the moment a season comes to an end.

Through proper communication, effective regulation of the training economy, and following an off-season training program, athletes are provided the opportunity to succeed, whatever their goals may be.

Managing an Off-Season Workload: the Relationship Between Training, School Ball, and Travel Ball