May 1

May 1 Update

Tabletop Baseball Games

Not every baseball game that is played needs to be on the field. I have seen a steady stream of baseball memories being posted to social media. People have been posting photos from years past, others have been documenting their replaying of retro baseball games - like Super Bases Loaded (SNES), Triple Play 2001 (Playstation), and NCAA Baseball '07 (Playstation 2), which are some of my favorites still sitting in my basement - and others have been reminiscing on various tabletop or old school baseball games they would play. A couple of my own memories, which connect me to baseball, are here:

There have been a variety of games that have made their appearance on social media. Updated versions of electronic baseball, baseball pinball machines from arcades, custom dice games with their own game boards, and even various tabletop versions of baseball. All of these play a huge, indelible role in our collective baseball memory. The reason I mention these is that there is a new tabletop baseball game that is coming to market: StrikeZone: Tabletop Baseball

StrikeZone is currently being Kickstarted, and is slated to release at various times in 2020 (based on when the project is Kickstarted) with a mass release likely for 2021. The mock-ups look pretty well done. Check it out!

Long Term Athlete Development - Part III

Monday and Wednesday's posts broke down various parts of Baseball Canada's LTAD, Monday's being an introduction to the foundations of LTAD and why it's important (skills that scale) and Wednesday's being an overview of the framework established for each development division. Today's post will focus on the 10 S's of training and performance.

The reason these 10 S's are important is that by the time players reach the 15U and 18U age groups in baseball, their optimal training and development windows for different skills, such as speed and agility, happen before those age groups. Therefore, how we structure our training programs and practices is of the utmost importance, especially at our YOUNGEST age groups. From Baseball Canada's LTAD:

"[There] are clearly critical periods in the development of each capacity during which training produces the greatest benefit to each athlete/player's improvements...These critical periods vary among individuals as each athlete/player is unique in his/her genetic makeup...a long-term approach to athlete/player development is needed to ensure that players who respond slowly to training stimuli are not "short-changed in their development...If athletes/players are to reach their genetic potential, correct training must be provided during these critical periods, during which there is accelerated adaptation to training." (p. 29)

These training components are broken down by Baseball Canada into the 10 S's: Stamina, Strength, Speed, Skill, Suppleness, Structure/Stature, pSychology (yes...it doesn't start with an 'S'...), Sustenance, Schooling, and Socio-Cultural. The following summary is taken from Baseball Canada's LTAD document, pages 29-33.

Stamina

To start, endurance running is not a necessary skill in baseball. Long distance running is counteractive to overall speed and top speed development in athletes, which are much more important in baseball. What Baseball Canada focuses on is the difference in adolescent growth spurts, as the start of this is the important window for training stamina and endurance. As athletes progress through their growth spurt, then they need to be introduced to high intensity training, where their heart rates are elevated for an extended period of time. We do not want to "red-line" kids like this before their growth spurt.

Strength

Girls have two critical windows for strength training: immediately after their growth spurt and after the onset of menarche. Boys have one, roughly a year to a year-and-a-half after their growth spurt. Here's a great breakdown of resistance training and the benefits for youth. Realistically, athletes can (and should) start resistance training around eight years of age.

Speed

For speed, as mentioned in the stamina section, long distance running directly counteracts speed and maximum speed. I cannot hammer on this point enough, as this is a common misconception from youth baseball and into college and professional baseball. Baseball players NEED to stop long distance running. There is no benefit to it and furthermore, there are significantly better options for consequences for athletes for undesirable or negative behavior.

In the LTAD document, it addresses separate training windows for boys and girls. Girls see two windows, the first between 6-8 years of age and again between 11-13 (the FUNdamentals and Learning to Train sections of LTAD). Boys see their first window between 7-9 years of age (FUNdamentals) and between 13-16 years of age (Training to Train).

The first window is where agility and quickness need to be focused on. The second is immediate strength and power (such as first movements or drop-steps) and top acceleration. A couple interesting infographics regarding speed development and different growth spurt and maturation times in athletes is below:

Skill

Skill is a wide ranging category, inclusive of fundamental movement skills and understanding the flow and successfully reading what is occuring in their sporting environment. Ideal skill training windows are separate, as girls have an ideal window between 8-11 years and boys are between 9-12 years, straddling FUNdamentals and Learn to Train. Another great infographic for fundamental movement skills are below. Remember, the ideal training window (where the focus is) has been listed above. Fundamental movement skills should be developed all the time. Pick activities that focus on one in particular or where multiple are present. Kids need to work on these all the time!

Suppleness

This window happens between 6-10 years of age for girls and boys. This is during FUNdamentals, primarily, which is also where we largely introduce dynamic and static stretching.

One of my big pet peeves is static stretching circles, especially prior to doing any meaningful activity. There is a connection between static stretching and a decrease in power production. This also ties into one of my core principles in planning practices and activity: nothing meaningful should be done before we work up a sweat. This means, other activities need to be planned for when players arrive at practice, instead of playing catch. Our ability to throw the ball with power and accuracy is one of the most fundamentally important aspects of our sport. It should NEVER be done before players are starting to sweat, indicating their heart rate is elevated and they've started to "warm-up". Blood is pumping to their extremities and through their soft tissues (like their rotator cuff). Better yet, players should do some activation of their rotator cuff by rolling out with a round object and some band work - both facets can be really hammered on in the Learn to Train segment. Static stretch at the end of practice, after activity has been completed.

Structure/Stature

Here, the focus is placed on the stages of growth for athletes through their lifetime: from birth through death. We have covered growth spurts already and aspects of their importance during various training windows. The phases important here include:

Phase 1: Very rapid growth (growth after birth)
Phase 2: Very rapid deceleration (growth drastically slows down for an extended period of time)
Phase 3: Steady growth (growth leading up to growth spurt)
Phase 4: Rapid growth (growth spurt)
Phase 5: Rapid deceleration (post-growth spurt where growth drastically decreases)
Phase 6: Slow deceleration (marginal growth after growth spurt)
Phase 7: Cessation of growth (end of growth, usually into our 20s)

A great infographic is shared below, tied into the Netflix hit, The Last Dance.

pSychology

The mental aspect of the game. Here, we largely deal with "mental toughness", being able to focus, being confident, motivation, and overcoming adversity. This is an interesting category because this mental aspect can make or break an athlete's ability to achieve their highest potential or even transition between stages in LTAD. Coaches can (and should) include aspects of mental training in our practices! Goal setting, visualization, positive self-talk, anticipation, strategizing, and other skills that exist between athletes' two ears are incredibly important to their development and success. Better yet, athletes can see a sport psychologist and, provided that they are a provincially registered psychologist, can have their services covered by benefit plans.

Sustenance

This deals with nutrition, hydration, rest, sleep, and regeneration while combating fatigue. All these help the body with recovery before, during, and after training and competition. Burnout (physical or mental) can, and does occur, without addressing sustenance appropriately. It can even compound effects of overtraining, overworking, or overcompeting. Often, from what I've gathered through a lifetime of watching sports documentaries and interviews, sustenance comes last in an athlete's development picture. This is the final push that gets them from O.K. to good, from good to great, from great to excellent, and even excellent to the greatest of all time.

Schooling

This is program design and periodization - planning when we do things, when we don't do things, and how hard we step on the gas pedal. Coaches need to have a constant communication with their athletes to understand what stressors they have in their life. Most of our athletes are incredibly busy and have multiple activities and sports on the go. If they become overwhelmed with the stressors of life, their abilities and development are hindered. For example, some athletes may not be at their best during examination periods at school. Further, coaches should plan out programming based on what school activities players are involved with. If an athlete is in a school sport and was just pushed to their limit in their practice that evening, maybe the maximum intensity workout you have planned for them may not be appropriate. It takes an acute awareness of what athletes have going on to ensure they are capable of handling everything in life.

Socio-Cultural

These aspects include socialization of athletes. We can broaden their horizons and have them grow as people through sport. We can expose players to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities while coinciding with competitions and travel. Two really memorable baseball memories come to mind for me. In my first year of coaching, we had a tournament in Moose Jaw over May Long Weekend. We got our first game in and then the skies opened up and it poured for the rest of the weekend. We filled our time by going to the Al Capone Tunnels in Moose Jaw and saw how smuggling worked during the prohibition era. Second, during a trip to the Pacific Northwest, we made a side trip on a day off to go hike at the Trail of Ten Falls. It was an incredible hike, about 12 km long, with ten separate waterfalls throughout the trail. It was a sight to behold and a remarkable experience, only achieved through baseball.

The other aspect of this is culture, such as team culture. Us, as coaches, need to develop a team culture that is inclusive, healthy, age-appropriate, free from bullying and abuse, and engrained with ethics. For example, a great resource for this type of concept is a program called Coaching Boys into Men. This program is designed to arm 18U coaches with tools to incorporate directly into their practice plan to address relationship skills and reduce gender-based violence. This program is evidence-based in that it is rooted in academics and repeated testing to ensure that the methods provided are effective and relevant, especially with coaches being the primary positive influence in the lives of youth.

All this being said, Baseball Canada is revamping their LTAD framework to align with Sport for Life's updated Long Term Development framework. No longer will the focus be strictly on athletes! There are many parties involved in sport, youth or otherwise, that receive developmental supports. These include parents, officials, coaches, and other volunteers - and all play an essential role in ensuring sport can happen in our communities. There will be more on this next week!

If you would like further reading, especially if you're interested in the research that led to the development of Canada's LTAD programs, I've created a Google Drive folder here.

That's it for me this week. Have a great weekend!

Yours in baseball,

Coach Lovie
Baseball Development Lead
Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association
baseballdevelopment@spmba.ca