My 14u son has done winter workouts for baseball since he was 7. At first it was just a bunch of town guys renting out space in an indoor facility to work with the kids, and it’s progressed to a pretty impressive workout program with a club team. Winter workouts have become such a thing in my area that I’ve spotted beer leagues renting cages and rotund men my age dripping sweat as they work on their softball swings.
This winter, my son’s club team was broken down by outfield, infield, catching, and pitching, and run through a bunch of smart drills that looked professional to me. About halfway into the winter, they started having kids take live at bats against the pitchers.
But every year, this year included, my son has looked bad when we’ve gone outside to play or practice on a field. Even though we never miss a winter practice, there’s always a hard transition to playing outside that lasts a few weeks. And it’s not just my son. Some his teammates are absolutely killing it indoors and then they look feeble and not the same player outdoors.
All of this makes me ponder the question: do we really need to be doing a winter program? Is it worth the money? Should we just go back to the way it used to be where baseball was mostly dormant during the winter? If the first few weeks of the season are going to be rough anyway, why bother? Would it be better if my kid just did weight training over the winter?
Also, if there were no baseball winter workouts, then the winter could be exclusively for basketball or other winter sports and you wouldn’t have all the over-scheduling headaches.
We live in the chilly Northeast, and I get that kids from warm weather states have always been seen as having an advantage because they can play year round. And the facts back up that belief: a whooping 43 percent of Major League players were born in California, Texas, or Florida. The DR is obviously warm, too. (let’s forget that Japan can be freezing). So the winter workouts can be seen as our answer to the all year programs kids get to do in hotter climates, a way to level the playing field.
Yet in California, Texas, and Florida, they can play outside all year round. Until the colder states get facilities the size of the Astrodome, it won’t really be the same. Don’t get me wrong, I do think there’s a lot of value in private one-on-one hitting lessons during the winter to fix a mechanical flaw and that it’s imperative for pitchers to go through a winter arm program where they can both ramp up for the season and learn some new tricks. But you’re not getting much individual coaching during a team winter workout; it’s all about reps and drills.
Yet I don’t think these workouts are going anywhere, because they fall into the bucket of things you need to be doing because everyone else’s kid is doing it and you don’t want to pull your son for fear it might actually be doing some good and your kid will fall behind if he’s not doing it.
I’m as guilty of that way of thinking as anyone.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WINTER WORKOUTS? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.
For information about the emotional side of baseball, see:
- I Spent 30K on Youth Baseball Last Year; Here’s How
- Anger Management and Youth Baseball: How to Calm Down
- How to Manage Your Kid’s Baseball Tantrums and Meltdowns
- 4 Ways to Respond to a Coach Playing Favorites
- How to Stop Being a Crazy Baseball Dad
- How to Be a Good Baseball Dad in the Backyard
- Is It Now Fashionable to Hate On Baseball Dads?
- Are Local Little Leagues Bad for Baseball?
For information on hitting, see:
- How to Get Out of a Hitting Slump
- 4 Best Baseball Batting Aids (No. 3 is Free)
- 4 Hitting Drills You Need to Do Before Every Game
- 4 Old School Baseball Drills You Need to Be Using
- 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Baseball Bat
For information on pitching, see:
- What You Need to Know About Little League Elbow
- 4 Ways To Increase Your Kid’s Pitching Velocity
- Is the Circle Change Dangerous for Youth Pitchers?
- Why I Don’t Let My Son Pitch in Little League
- How to Make Sure Your Kid Isn’t Overpitched in Basebal
For ways to get faster, see: