Sr Year Summer Season

[Coach11]

Looking for thoughts/opinions on this final summer season of my daughters 18U "career".

As it stands now, her travel team has a pretty light schedule for the upcoming season. 4 maybe 5 tournaments. I believe all are within driving distance so that overnight hotel stays won't be necessary. This was discussed and decided upon as a team at the end of the Fall season.

Everyone felt that since all of the girls would be committed by summer, there was no reason for showcases and with all the HS goings-ons of their Sr year (Prom/Graduation/etc) too many tourneys didn't sound good either.

Sounded like a good idea at the time.....just wondering if I'm overlooking anything in the aftermath of the hectic recruiting process?

[softball_parent]

If she is going to play at the college level I would have her begin running and weight training. What is required at the college level is not like travel ball. My daughter's college schedule started at 5:45 am with running distance and stairs and then some type of calisthenics all in time to get to class by 8am. They were back on the field at 12:45 to warm up and then do field work until 4pm. They were then back at study hall at 6:30. In between that she needed to do her individual weight training, her pitching and her batting. Even though her travel ball coach was intense and she worked out with a personal trainer it was still an adjustment for her.

[Big Momma]

We did same with DD #1. She had a light TB schedule and started working on her fitness. She started a running and lifting regiment. She moved to circut training towards the end of the summer. She was more than prepared when she got to her D1 Mid-major school. She did receive a workout book from her coach to use as a guide. That helped a great deal.

She practiced about 3 days a week b/w hitting and team practices and had about 4-5 local tourneys.

[americandad]

The last thing you want to do is play a light schedule in the summer.Your kid needs to show up to college in shape and with plenty of games under her belt.She only have one first impression with her college coach.Don't let senioritis set in .Play hard right up till the day she leaves for school.
I have 3 DD's that played in college .She worked way to hard up to this point to back off now.
I hope this helps

[artomatic]

ha, I told my kid (jr in hs) about this post, and her reply was "duh, they will send me the conditioning schedule my senior year."...
not sure why I thought she would start listening to me all of a sudden...

that being said, last summer I also overheard her travel coach telling her that she could start building up her legs and ass now and get a good start when she starts her college freshman year, or she could wait, and maybe be caught up by her college junior year...

[Coach11]

The last thing you want to do is play a light schedule in the summer.Your kid needs to show up to college in shape and with plenty of games under her belt.She only have one first impression with her college coach.Don't let senioritis set in .Play hard right up till the day she leaves for school.
I have 3 DD's that played in college .She worked way to hard up to this point to back off now.
I hope this helps

Thought about this side of the argument as well. That would mean trying to jump to a new team for a final season. She's been with this group for the past two years.....some of them for the past four.
She's looking forward to finishing up with this team. She will have more than a few weekend conflicts. We've talked about guest playing an extra weekend or two. But I think she's actually looking forward to a little down time this summer.

As hectic as its been these past few years, it's about to get a whole lot moreso once she heads off to school.

I like the idea of continueing with her personal training though to keep in shape.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Do lots of cardio and break it up ... Hills, sprints, long runs ... Lift a lot ... do higher weights and low reps, but also do lower weights and see how many reps she can do in 15, 20-30 seconds to help the quick twitch muscles ... Play her last year of 18's or get on a 23 & play a few tournies and have fun ... Teach her how to drink before she leaves home ... Hug her every day and tell her how much you love her ...

[jonriv]

My DD went through this last summer-

team she was on was made up of HS seniors going to college to play(or walk-on) and current college(freshmen) players. Team played a mostly local yet very competitive schedule of 8 weekends, but no year end "nationals"

Pros-

1) Learned a great deal of what to expect when she reached school from the current college players
2) Coach specialized in teaching bunting- this was a shortcoming in my DDs game- she has become actually very good now
3) It was a new group of girls- very talented
4) Beat some very good teams


Cons-

1) Many of the college girls were a little burnt-out- combination of long college season and the month -off before TB started
2) Team became unmotivated by year end
3) DD did not like playing with unmotivated players


Here's my advice-

1) Local schedule is great- make sure it is very competitive-players need to keep motivated
2) Make sure coach is a good motivator and knows how to prepare girls for the next level
3) Get a work-out schedule from the college coach- my dd got that (it was a lifesaver)
4) Have fun-enjoy these times- a friend of mine talked about driving back from a tournament with his daughter and realizing it was that last time ever... cherish the time

Most players are not prepared for the weight and condition training that they will see in college(at all levels)- either physically or mentally. Getting ready for that is key

[Coach11]

"1) Local schedule is great- make sure it is very competitive-players need to keep motivated
2) Make sure coach is a good motivator and knows how to prepare girls for the next level
3) Get a work-out schedule from the college coach- my dd got that (it was a lifesaver)
4) Have fun-enjoy these times- a friend of mine talked about driving back from a tournament with his daughter and realizing it was that last time ever... cherish the time"

1) Scheduled tourneys look good. Some old favs. Playing for hardware outta get them all motivated after all the showcases.
2) Coach is very good. Has an older daughter he coached all the way to a D1 scholarship.
3)Great idea. Hadn't thought of that.
4) Coaching my boys teams now, I missed most of last summer with her. Got to a few over the Fall. As these are all driveable, I'm hoping I can get to a few more around my boys schedules. (Being on the local LL board also helps when I'm trying to tweek my schedule.) Friendlys has always been our favorite after tourney stop. Hopin to share a few more sundaes with her.

[Sftbll4ever]

During my dd's non-HS season, she see's a personal trainer twice a week. He is also her physical therapist, so he knows what she needs to work on as a pitcher. He has improved her core, her legs and ass (as Arto stated), and both shoulders to keep her from having any shoulder problems. Most of her work out is the same that he did for Dodger player Justin Sellers. She had the pleasure of meeting him a few times after her workout.

When she gets her college workout, she will continue her twice a week with the personal trainer and then do her college workout as well.