To All Parents

This message not only applies to our organization’s parents, but to every parent that has their kid playing some form of baseball/softball. Over the years travel baseball has seen substantial growth as teams are forming all over. What used to be just one travel baseball team in your city has turned into 5-10 teams, and sometimes more than that. Needless to say, the growth of travel baseball has been massive, and with massive growth comes advantages and disadvantages.

The top three advantages and disadvantages to travel baseball are experience, competition, and development. No matter what organization your child is playing for, if you can’t check these three boxes in a positive manner, then it’s not the right fit for you. Every organization should make the experience of playing baseball fun (they’re not MLB players, let them have fun), and along with a fun experience there should be a consistent plan/program in place to optimize their development. Don’t listen or trust the false promises that, “Your kid is going to become a division 1 athlete if he/she plays for us.” It’s a scam and a sell to all parents. No one should ever promise an 8-year-old that they’ll become a D1 athlete just to fill a roster spot and make money. Travel baseball might be a great opportunity for your child, but remember, it’s a business first. Dive deeper through the logo and the facility and see what the developmental process is like for your child.

Every development plan for your child should have proper progressions and deloads to help keep your child safe and in good health. Pitch counts should be implemented on each team and make known to parents prior to the season starting. This game isn’t a sprint, and no major league contracts are signed at 12 years old. Make sure your organization has a development plan in place to help your child adapt to new genetic changes they see as they get older. This means developing proper coordination skills and motor patterns. It’s crucial for kids to develop a proper strength and conditioning foundation early that won’t hurt their skeletal system or growth patterns, especially in younger athletes. Kids that are genetically ahead of others tend to acquire the most injuries as they get older due to poor strength and conditioning. Producing a high amount of velocity and force as a 10 year older needs the proper strength to uphold those forces and velocity as they get older. If not, kids can develop acute injuries that lead to major injures down the road.

That being said, I will close this post with load management/workload. Attached to the blog is a podcast by Eric Cressey, Owner of Cressey Sports Performance . Eric is the New York Yankees Director of Sports Performance but has also worked with all MLB teams developing both hitters and pitchers. He’s worked with guys like Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jacob Degrom and many other big-name athletes.  In this podcast Eric talks about load management for youth baseball athletes, and touches on short/long term affects. It’s important that parents understand that seeing your kid throw 100 pitches to get 10 strikeouts on gamechanger could cause for UCL tear in the future. If your organization doesn’t prioritize your child’s arm health or development of the game, then it’s not the right organization to be in. Protect your child’s arm, develop good foundational strength/form, and most importantly HAVE FUN!

Collin Floyd

Owner of Elite Level Performance LLC.

Ohio Glaciers Baseball Organization

Elite Baseball Development Podcast: 131. Understanding and Managing Workload w/ Eric Cressey on Apple Podcasts