AlwaysTheTruth just hit on my big problem with the November practice period. Dr. Andrews and the ASMI guys recommend shutting pitchers down completely for 3 months a year. When my son was coming along we usually tried to shut him down from Sept through Nov. Thanksgiving was usually our signal that it was time to start getting ready. That gave us Dec and Jan to gradually work his arm back into shape. The November practice period kills that plan. November practice may have some benefits, but it is terrible for pitchers.
January practice is an interesting idea. The hardcore kids are already going to be out in January throwing and hitting in the cages. Coaches could use it to gradually get kids arms back into shape. I don't see the cold as an issue in that regard. So long as he warms up properly, the cold is not going to hurt a kid. Let's face it. Temperatures on January 29th aren't going to be much warmer than they are on January 1st. As things stand now you start practice January 29th or thereabouts and start scrimmages a couple of weeks later. Anybody that thinks that two weeks is enough time to get a kid's arm in condition to pitch is crazy. That's why we always started early. The hardcore kids will do that, but a lot of kids won't. Starting earlier in January would certainly help the kids that don't have the motivation to do it on their own.
Would the cold cause problems with bats? Maybe to some degree, if they're left in the trunk of a car overnight. But that should be a manageable problem. College players are out hitting in the cold in early January and don't seem to have any problems.
I guess the other downside to starting earlier is the basketball players will be even further behind when basketball season is over. This will be a bigger issue at smaller schools where you have more kids playing multiple sports.
I'm not totally sold on the January idea yet, but it is an interesting idea.
Personally, if it was up to me I'd change the rules to say you could have 8 on 1's starting Dec. 1st AND you you could have multiple coaches working with groups of 8 at the same time.
As far as baseball classes are concerned I am opposed to those philosophically. Plus, it's not as easy to schedule those classes as it might seem, ESPECIALLY if the coach teaches something other than PE.
Originally posted by AlwaysTheTruth84:
the 7 on 1 only lasted a couple years poor to going to this silly 2 on 1. The 21 day rule is good in theory but you have to rely on players having arms in shape to get ready for 21 day rule and then the take 2 months off before tryouts.
the 7 on 1 also lead a lot of questions about summer and fall teams and HS coaches coaching them. Some claimed they didn't understand the rules in order to get away with breaking them. would make sense to use the 21 days in Jan except for weather. Some teams play scrimmage games during second week of practice, that is not enough time to get arms ready.
This post was edited on 9/28 8:58 AM by COHAZE