What Players can expect from Fall Ball

The average age of athletes who only play one sport continues to get younger and younger. As the level of competition for college scholarships heightens, players and their parents are looking to make an impression on talent scouts earlier and earlier. This has led to the fall of the multi-sport youth athlete and in all sports, baseball and softball included, players are putting their noses to the grind stone year round. The amalgamation of this trend for baseball and softball comes in the form of Fall Ball. The desire to fine tune one’s game, coupled with a love for playing the sport, has driven players to forego an off-season in the hopes that they can gain a head start in relation to their peers. Despite being a rising trend, odds are that most young players haven’t participated in Fall Ball before. Here’s what players can expect to get from playing baseball during their off-season.

First, it’s important to note that Fall Ball leagues are typically structured to be less competitive. Many youth leagues have infrastructures that spread nationwide, thus the all-star teams compiled from the regular season compete to win it all. Aside from the occasional intra-town/city cap-off tournament, most fall leagues serve to give players the chance to continue organized play and perfect their game.

A second thing you can expect is the chance to play other positions in order to build new skills. The Fall season mixes up the players comprising the team and that shake-up can push players to take on different roles. If coaches are strategic about it, they should want to move players around and see who has been waiting to find out they’re a first-rate third baseman. This also presents players who are behind in their development an opportunity to try new positions that they may not get the chance to play during more competitive regular seasons.

Third, Fall Ball is a safer sport for the season. While there have been studies that show young, specialized athletes can damage joints and ligaments specific to the sport, this is mostly due to a lack of commitment to proper rest rather than playing year round. For information on what causes injuries to young baseball players checkout our earlier blog, https://www.directsports.com/blogs/news/what-causes-injury-to-young-pitchers. Also, the safety of the Fall Ball option is not so much due to the failure of other fall youth sports but the great health records baseball and softball have.

Finally, for players who are of the age where they will be transitioning from small to large diamonds, Fall Ball provides a chance to adjust to the field before stiff competition arrives. Players can learn in a safe, predictable, and guided environment so that when the season begins, they feel less pressure to perform well and typically perform better due to their increased practice.

For those players who want to keep the baseball season going year-round, playing Fall Ball is a home run. It allows talented players trying to take their game to the next level the chance to play regularly, which is sure to reap better results than just training. For players who are newer to the sports of softball and baseball, Fall Ball will allow them to find the right position and catch-up to other players in a low stress environment. The only real caveat is the same as regular spring/summer ball, have fun!