what baseball players should do in the off-season

​Assumption: You want to play baseball for more than just fun, i.e., at the highest level
         General Recommendations:

• Put your phone down!
• Have an extended off-season - 6+ months – DO NOT PLAY FALL BALL!

         I. Create and maintain a calendar that includes II-VIII below – organizational skills are critical                   for  success in school and in life
        II. Play other sports on a limited, part-time basis outside of school – swim, martial arts, rock                     climb, golf, i.e., anything that requires using your upper and lower body in sync
        III. Explore other areas of interest outside of sports, e.g., music, art, theater, robotics, coding, etc.,                Use your hands for something other than holding your phone or tablet, e.g., build something, repair                         something, paint something, etc. OFTEN!
        IV. Work (particularly a job that you had to interview for) – you will learn that good grades are                       not enough and are maybe even irrelevant.  Do you have “marketable skills” to help the company make                   money and a personality to fit with their culture?

• Volunteer
• Job Shadow
• Intern
• Work for pay with other employees to learn social skills and small group dynamics
• Work at home, e.g., pull weeds

        V.  Become a Better Person

• Limit your phone time!
• Volunteer to help the less fortunate
• Join a church group
• Read books about leadership and people who are very successful in sports and in life generally – “readers become leaders”
• Talk to/interview people who you admire and/or are where you want to be and find out their path to get there, including what they would do differently
• Learn how to meal prep, inc. healthy “grab ‘n go” snacks and to cook
• Learn how to clean and do laundry
• Learn how to change a tire
• Eliminate distractions and non-working/unhealthy relationships in your life

        VI. Become a Better Student

• Read a book every day not required by school – it will make you more creative and a better critical thinker
• Practice outlining
• Write paragraphs and essays – both informational and argumentative
• Listen to podcasts, Ted Talks and other educational media and take notes summarizing what you learned.  Then without looking at the notes, verbalize what you learned.
• Learn Spanish – it will give you 33% - 40% more job opportunities and make you 25% more money at the job.

 
         VII. Become a Better Athlete

• Improve your nutrition and sleep habits.  Time to add supplements? To keep food and sleep diaries? Add healthy snacks for after school and pre-game and post-game meals?
• Find/hire a reputable and experienced people to design and train you in strength and conditioning for a minimum of 4+ months , 3-4 days/week
• Find/hire a reputable and experienced people to design and train you in your proprioceptive skills – your ability to move quickly, efficiently and powerfully in all planes of motion with coordination of your upper and lower body in sync, e.g., dynamic movement and plyometric routines, sprinting, shuttles runs, etc.
• Improve your mobility, stability and fascial system routines, e.g., at a minimum, know how to do a thorough and proper foam rolling routine, but also learn massage and manual manipulation routines.

          The fascial system is a that surrounds and supports every structure in the body, including muscles, organs,             and nerves. It plays a crucial role in movement, stability, and overall health by allowing tissues to glide                    smoothly over one another and providing structural support.

• Improve your arm care routines for the off-season and in-season at practices and pre-game, e.g., bands, plyo balls, etc.

VIII. Become a Better Player

• Get an objective skill assessment from at least two reputable and experienced coaches at higher levels who do not know you and to whom you did not pay to attend their clinics or camps.
• Take 30-60 days off completely from throwing a baseball. DO NOT PLAY FALL BALL.
• On-board your throwing a baseball very gradually and systematically with help from someone knowledgeable about how to do it.
• Improve your mechanics.  Throw well before you throw a lot or with a maximum intent to throw hard.
• Learn how to throw a tight spiral with a football
• Do not play baseball games; improve your skills.
• Watch in-person and documentaries about how elite athletes train and take care of their bodies to achieve their results. Pay attention to the process, not just the results.
• Increase your sport IQ by studying the rules of the game. Go to umpire clinics; listen to podcasts and interviews of coaches to learn about their coaching methodology, strategy and tactics.
• Coach someone else. When you teach someone else, you find ways to improve your own mechanics and ways to learn.