Upon Further Review: ‘Off’ seasons get shorter and shorter
Last week, I talked about our high school senior athletes and what they have accomplished. For some ball playing has come to an end, and for a few others they will go to play at the next level.
With that said, coaches have been busy over the last week with tryouts as they prepare for next season. Baseball, basketball and volleyball have all tried out and other sports are already busy with off-season workout programs.
Yes, it’s the end of May and basketball is already a topic of discussion — mainly because of the announcement of our new high school basketball coach.
I have heard some express their concern over why all this is going on so soon after school has just let out. A few parents don’t understand why these kids aren’t getting a little break for the summer.
I know it seems a little early to start thinking about high school athletics. I hear all the time about it wasn’t like that when we played. “You played football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. We didn’t have all this ‘practice all summer long’ stuff, and we still had winning teams,” said one parent.
For the most of that I will have to agree, but like I tried to tell my dad when I was growing up when I got some type of lecture, things are different now. I’m sure we have all said that to our parents at one time or another, and it’s true times have changed.
Coaches need to have their teams filled as soon as possible these days. There are all sorts of off-season workouts, and it seems as if every sport has some type of traveling team now.
Most of these kids who play on a high school team are involved in some type of summer ball program. They stay together as one team, work out and play AAU in order to better prepare them for the upcoming season. The more these kids have a chance to play together, the better off they’ll be when it comes to their performance on the field or court, so say those in favor of playing all year round.
An article I was reading a couple of months ago by the Cleveland Clinic on high school sports had some good points when it comes to today’s high school athletes.
The article talks about when is “too much,” and how it affects an athlete’s abilities and desire to play. It brought out some very interesting points. As freshmen, kids are eager to prove themselves and are willing to give it their all. But as athletes get older and go through a couple of years of nothing but playing ball, they tend to do poorer when they become juniors and seniors. The rate of injury goes up, and for girls, the chance of getting hurt almost doubles.
The article calls the body a marvelous machine, but said the machine will wear down — and break down — if not properly maintained and rested. It was suggested that high school athletes need more than a couple of weeks off during the summer to rebound from a long season. It goes on to say that four-to-five weeks are needed to give the body time to rejuvenate itself.
In turn, programs which gave their kids a little more time to rest during the summer suffered fewer injuries and had a big physiological advantage when it came time to playing and practicing on a regular basis.
So in the end, if you want to keep up with your competition, you have to meet or exceed what the other programs are doing. It’s all about staying active and staying in shape during the off-season.
But there comes a time when you’re not getting the full benefit of your workout and you have to realize when your body is not giving its all.