Morristown Area American Little League: Tips/ News/ Fun
Tuesday, October 3
By Cal and Bill Ripken
Playing Other Sports
By Cal and Bill Ripken
One of the questions that always seems to come up when we hold coaching clinics around the country is about off-season conditioning. Neither of us is a certified expert in this area, so sometimes our answers tend to be very general.
When we talk about off-season conditioning it is best for us to draw from our own experiences growing up. Many people think our dad, Cal Ripken, Sr., pushed us to practice and play baseball all year round. That just isnt the case. Even though he was around professional baseball for most of his adult life and it seemed like we are always hanging around a baseball field somewhere, Dad allowed us to explore and develop a love for the game ourselves. In fact, he actually wanted us to put our gloves down when baseball season ended. He firmly believed in the value of us playing other sports in the off-season both for the physical and mental benefits.
Participation in sports other than baseball promotes general overall fitness, but Dad also felt like the time spent away from baseball would cause us to be even more excited about the game when it came time to start playing again in the spring. Dad was a great soccer player. He really enjoyed coaching us in soccer and even playing in games with us. As we grew older we really began to develop a love for basketball and used that as a way to keep in shape during the off-season.
From a physical standpoint playing different sports can help you improve your overall athleticism. Soccer is the only game you play with just your feet, which is great for developing balance and agility. Playing basketball can help you develop explosiveness, quickness and better lateral movement. Other sports can assist in the development of strength, speed, power and agility. One sport is not necessarily any better than any other. With kids it is important that they enjoy what they are doing. If they enjoy something, they will stick with it and not even realize that it is something that is benefiting them physically or helping to make them a better athlete.
When it comes to the mental advantages of playing other sports you start getting into a discussion about burnout. Again, we are not sports psychologists, but we do worry when we hear about 10- and 11-year-old kids who play 75 games in the summer and then participate in a fall baseball league before enrolling in winter instructional programs. Certainly there are a percentage of kids who are crazy about baseball and cant get enough. Even with those kids, however, we have to be careful not to overload them.
Baseball and life in general gets serious enough fast enough. Our level of stress and the demands on our time seem to grow daily as we get older. We should remember to let kids be kids and expose them to a variety of activities. As a parent or coach, make sure that the choice to focus on baseball is theirs and not yours.
Each case has to be considered on an individual basis. Just keep in mind that if a kid wants to play basketball, football, hockey or any sport to be with his or her friends it can be beneficial to him or her as a baseball player. That enjoyment can translate into a lifelong love for an activity, which will help improve not only his or her performance on the baseball field, but also his or her overall level of fitness and quality of life.
This is not to say that baseball should be ignored altogether during the off-season. Keeping baseball-specific muscles in shape by going to the batting cage and playing catch also is important. This can prevent early-season injuries and give the player a bit of a head start over some of his or her teammates. Just be careful that you are not forcing the kid to do something and keep in mind that if a kid wants to go out and partake in another physical activity it will pay off on the baseball field.
 |
 |
| |
 | |
Little League Child Protection Program
|
 |
Click Here to See our Sponsors...
 |
