Don’t Play Summer Baseball!
Yes, we said what we said, and we mean it! For the most part… We wanted to explain our thoughts on summer ball and explain both the benefits as well as the downsides. As with most things in life, there are a lot of factors that contribute to whether or not it’s best for an athlete to play summer ball, so let’s discuss!
Each of the four, full-time instructors at Next Pro Training have played (and excelled) for various summer teams in various summer leagues. As we’ve taken time to reflect on our careers and our experiences in summer baseball, a common question has been “Did our time playing summer ball truly help us develop as ballplayers?” For us, the answer was generally “no.”
Our goal as a facility is to DEVELOP baseball players. While summer ball was a great experience with a lot of good memories, we feel that it’s not always the best place to go if your goal is to truly improve as a baseball player. We want to put our athletes in the best situations possible to help them become the best players they can be.
Let’s take a look at what can be expected out of a typical summer season and see if it aligns with the goal of putting athletes in the BEST situation to improve. For college summer leagues, many are set up pro-style, meaning you play games almost every day for two months. That can mean anywhere from 40-50 games, on average. Keep in mind, college teams usually play 3-5 times per week and high school teams play around 2-3 games per week. That’s a significant bump up in workload…
On top of games, athletes are encouraged (if not expected) to go to early work to get more swings, reps, and work on mechanical adjustments. This usually goes well for the first couple weeks, but as the season progresses and the weather gets hotter, motivation, energy, and determination all start to dwindle. At a certain point, you’re just trying to make sure your body and mind are rested enough for your game that night. You might be starting to ask the question, “is this helping me take my game to the next level?”
If that’s the case, maybe we need to start challenging what has become the norm of summer baseball. Let’s look at some examples:
A college pitcher just finished his spring season and didn’t get the amount of innings he had hoped for. There could be many reasons as to why. Maybe he wasn’t throwing hard enough, couldn’t find the zone consistently, or just had some mechanical inconsistencies. What’s going to be the best course of action to make sure that pitcher gets back to campus in the fall as a BETTER baseball player? Is it going to a summer league where he will also likely get inconsistent innings with limited instruction and just enough time between outings to recover? Or what if he could train in a development-first, process oriented environment, with a structured throwing program and actually get stronger while STILL being able to face live batters. The latter sounds like a much better option to increase his chances of improving and getting more innings at school.
How about a position player that did not perform as well as he hoped. Maybe he started every game and just couldn’t get results in-game. Should he go play for a summer team and HOPE he can get consistent at-bats? If he struggles during the summer, does that put him in a better situation going back to school ball the following year? A better solution seems to be training with a hitting instructor assisting his development on a DAILY basis. A high level hitting program tailored to create: Consistency, Confidence, and a solid approach at the plate. A program with REAL feedback and development tracked every step of the way. Having live at-bats and game-like training to help him perform better in game is a great way to get your REPS and DEVELOP.
From a physical standpoint, there will not be any increase in athletic capability by consistently engaging in competitive gameplay on a daily basis. At some point, there needs to be a period of time where the athlete focuses on getting bigger, faster, stronger and increasing his ability to produce higher amounts of force. This is extremely difficult to accomplish if the athlete engages in what is effectively another full season of playing soreness and fatigue. Couple that with long bus rides, late nights, minimal sleep, and poor nutrition and suddenly athletic development takes a back seat. True sport performance training resides in focusing on coming back to school with a new body that is more resilient and adaptable to the consistent, everyday stressors of a baseball season. Think about it like this: not many professional baseball players weigh 160 pounds…
Now, there are circumstances where summer ball can be the best solution for an athlete. If you’re a high school player getting ready to go to college next year, and want to face similar competition to what you could face in the fall, that’s a great solution. If you are a college athlete playing in a prestigious summer league and trying to get extra looks to play at the next level, AWESOME! Outside of those small amounts of scenarios, most players would benefit the most from TRAINING and DEVELOPING, not just playing for the sake of playing.
At the end of the day, our goal is to develop players and do what is best for them to take their game to the NEXT LEVEL. Maybe it is time to challenge the status-quo and invest in yourself or your child for what is BEST for them.
Looking for a place to suit all of your training demands? Click the link to sign up for our SUMMER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
Questions? CONTACT US!