EP90 – Should You Take a Baseball Gap Year? Is Gatorade Bad for You and Should Pitchers Vary Leg Kick Timing?

In this episode Dan discusses whether youth pitchers should vary their leg kick timing to disrupt hitters – is it good or harmful for their development? Should college pitchers take a gap year in 2020? And, are sports drinks a good nutritional choice during a game?

To submit a question for the Q&A segment, email a voice recording to Dan at hello@danblewett.com. Want to support the show? Buy a copy of Dear Baseball Gods on Kindle or Paperback, or listen on audiobook. Or, pick up Pitching Isn’t Complicated, his advanced-but-understandable pitching manual. Enroll in one of Coach Dan’s online pitching courses or his mental skills course. Use code BASEBALL GODS to save 20% on any course, just for being a listener. Sign up for Dan’s Email list and get a free pitching checklist, and follow up with him on the interwebs: YouTube Channel | Twitter | Danblewett.com

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Full Transcript: Dear Baseball Gods EP90 – Should You Take a Baseball Gap Year? Is Gatorade Bad for You and Should Pitchers Vary Leg Kick Timing?

You’re listening to the deer baseball gods podcast. I’m Dan Blewett. And on this show, you’ll learn advanced concepts in baseball. Explain simply I’m here to guide you on your baseball journey and help you paddle through. What’s now an ocean of misinformation, guruism, and overly technical diamondbabble.

Hey, welcome back to dear baseball gods. This is Dan Blewett. So today we’re going to cover three pretty interesting topics. Number one, should you take a gap year as a young athlete? Who’s head off to college next season, which is something that we’ve really never talked about before, but it’s a. So the question originally posed to me.

So I want to cover that a little bit today in our 90 second mindset segment, we’re going to cover sports drinks and whether these are actually necessary and healthy things. And then in our final question, we’re going to cover whether changing your timing as a pitcher. So like different speed, delayed kicks, pausing, different stuff like that, which you see a little bit more in majorly baseball today, whether or not that’s a good thing.

So let’s start with taking a gap year. So obviously with coronavirus, this is such a weird unprecedented time and there might not be baseball at a lot of college. I think it’s still up in the air. And I know there’s some colleges that have said, Hey, we’re not doing fall sports, or we’re not doing sports at all in 20, 20, 20 slash 2021 seasons.

So this is obviously really concerning. And it’s an interesting time. Um, I appreciate Jason, you asked me this question. But, um, Jason’s a kid I’ve known for a long time. He’s a, he’s graduated. He, he committed to a college for next season. And so he was asking me this, um, I think it could be a fine idea and actually it’s really coincides with a book.

So my last episode I talked about antifragility, which is the idea that, um, humans get stronger and more resilient when exposed to stresses and tough times and tough situations and stuff like that. And I’m in this book that I’ve recently been reading. I just finished called the coddling, the American mind.

They talk about something that’s really interesting, which is that young people today because of their interactions with screens and because of more online relationships like they’re texting and they’re snap chatting and doing all this other stuff, they’re more complacent with reaching. Personal milestones and not really like, like goals, but more just like the big personal milestones that sort of define lives.

Right? Your first girlfriend, your first job, your first boyfriend, um, you know, having sex. Those are big, like life milestones. And they said kids today are having a, reaching those mild, those milestones two to three years later than kids from like the previous generation, just from like 10 years ago. So they said, when you start to look at emotional maturity and life experiences and perhaps their resilience to adversity and the real world.

They know the harshness of the real world that sending a kid off to college at 18 today might be like sending a 16 year old off to college, which we know, I don’t know if we know, but I think we could all assume that 16 year olds are going to be a lot less successful emotionally and interpersonally in college than an 18 year old.

So the idea in, in with that, as part of it, the idea of a gap year, when you might not be able to play college baseball or the experience might be greatly diminished and it might not be worth wasting your year of eligibility, it might make a lot more sense, especially if it’s really uncertain. Like I don’t really have a good college.

That’s going to fit me. Then it probably does make sense to just take the year off, you know, get a job if you can. I know that’s also easier said than done in this climate and, um, do some things to grow as a person. It might make a lot of sense. Now we do know that athletes have a finite career. They have a ticking clock.

So when the major league baseball draft comes around, if you’re 20 versus 21, there’s more money coming your way. And you essentially need to be in the big leagues by 26, 27. And obviously the younger, the player can get to the big leagues. The better. So your value as an athlete is directly tied your age.

That’s something we can’t ignore and get away from. And so giving away a year where it pushes your, all that stuff back, that definitely has some implications. Now, if you’re going to do a gap year and then go junior college for two years, then it maybe doesn’t actually put your career back any because after three years, which you can’t be drafted until you’re after your junior and in a four year school.

You know, you could do a gap year and go two years at a junior college and you’re that same three-year output and you’re 21 and you’d go to the draft and so be it. So those are some of the pros and cons to think about. There’s certainly no right answer for everyone. It’s an incredibly complex time where again, everyone’s situation is different.

You might have a college where you’re committed and you’re going to play next year and you’re good to go, or it could be uncertain or it could be already canceled. And we don’t, you know, like I said, it’s highly variable. So, but interpersonally it’s only one year, it’s one of your younger years, um, you know, taking a gap year at, if you’re a junior right now, and you’re trying to go back to school and you’re thinking, taking a gap year, that’s the thing, that’s much riskier considering draft implications and you’re aging in college baseball.

But if you’re leaving high school, No, I think it probably makes a lot more sense where it can maybe a reasonable choice, even if you haven’t started your college career yet. So, yeah, it’s a really interesting thing to think about. I don’t have a firm answer, but the pros and cons, um, I hope we talked through a decent amount of it today and it’s so I think it is a big family decision.

I think the emotional maturity of the athlete definitely matters and also their training stability matters too. So the last thing I touch on is just, but do you have a good place to train and get better? Can you find it summer team to play on? Like, you still need to play baseball for that year, but you don’t have to burn a year of eligibility doing it.

So I think that’s the bigger picture. So if you feel like, yep, I can definitely play baseball, you know, for six months out of the year, I can definitely have a, a good coach, a good strength coach. I can continue to work on my pitching or my hitting or whatever it is, and actually have a productive 12 months.

Then I don’t think you’d probably lose that much. Cause the other thing to remember is that sometimes as a freshman, you don’t play very much at all, especially at a, at a D one school. So if it’s, if that’s the situation or, you know, obviously at junior colleges or smaller schools, you’re much more likely to play right off the bat, but if you have some stuff stability and you have the ability to keep playing and get better than.

Gap year might not be a bad choice.

All right. So for today’s 90 second mindset, let’s talk a little bit about the things we consume as athletes on the field. So obviously Gatorade and Powerade and, um, all these sports drinks are very prevalent, but as we started talking about longterm health and what you need and don’t need as an athlete, I think it becomes a little more clear that some of those beverages are really more just like soda.

They’re really just more like candy. So as a parent, I think the thing to remember is that your kids don’t typically need. Electrolytes. This is like the big selling point, but the thing most nutritionists push back on and the things that these big companies won’t really tell you is that the American diet there’s tons and tons and tons of salt.

And because we eat like all processed foods, right? Uh, you get plenty of electrolytes in your regular diet. Well, you’re not really gonna sweat them out to zero in, in a given game. Now, if you’re playing a double header and you’re gonna be out in the sun for six, eight hours then. Sure. Um, a little bit of Gatorade probably goes along the way, but the idea that you’re going to send your kid to the field with four 30 John’s Gatorades or four 20 ounce Gatorades, where they’re packing in tons and tons of sugar and you know, these electrolytes, which are made out to be these really meaningful, but ultimately not that meaningful, um, Substances.

It’s probably not in their best interest. What most people do at higher levels is they tend to make their own. And really what they ended up doing is just like cutting. So they’ll take maybe a three Johns Gatorade and they’ll mix that with water. So they’ll pour a third John’s Gatorade into an empty one and all of half.

It’ll basically just dilute it by half. And that’s what a lot of people recommend. There’s just too much sugar in a regular Gatorade and the electrolytes are okay, but you shouldn’t be seeking out sports drinks with their really high sugar content, just because you’re getting electric. I mean, you can buy electrolyte tablets, which don’t taste good.

They’re salty and gross. Um, But they serve the purpose with no extra sugar added. And especially if your athlete is at risk or if he’s a little huskier and he’s, um, when I said out risk, I meant at risk of gaining bad weight. Cause everyone’s, body’s different than this probably isn’t something that they need.

You know, most of the day, um, baseball often is not the most rigorous physical sport on a game to game basis. So if it’s a four o’clock game, hear me out there for two hours and maybe he’s going to start. Maybe he’s not is Gatorade really what he needs. Probably not a water will typically get the job done, diluted Gatorade will get the job done.

So I highly recommend like the powdered mixes at, um, you know, Costco or Sam’s club or wherever, you know, given at the grocery store or Walmart. But, um, you can just make it a little less strength and I think that’s, um, Lower strength. I think that’s an important thing to do. So, you know, longterm, all these food choices have implications, you know, and you started to think about, okay, just cause we’re at the field.

 Doesn’t mean we just throw out nutritional, um, a strong nutritional basis for what we’re doing. Like you shouldn’t be pounding candy and drinking sugar water constantly during a game. Now, if you’re a cyclist and you’re going on a two, two hour bike ride, Gatorade’s a lot more central because you’re going to burn up all those calories and you’re going to need more, you know, we know that when you run a marathon, you physically.

Only have enough stored energy in your muscle fibers to make it 20 miles. So to finish a marathon, you actually have to have take like either he had some Gatorade in you or one of those gels. Um, you actually run out of gas physically. And the glycogen is the muscle as does, is stored glucose. That’s stored within your muscle fibers.

That’s what your body burns first after that, it starts to burn, um, It burns the blood sugar first, then it burns your luggage and then it starts to cannibalize, muscle and fat and all that. So basically rethink what you’re giving your kids at the field. Um, dilute. Gatorade’s great. Um, water is obviously ideal.

They’re probably not going to have any issues with electrolytes unless they have some sort of precondition. Now if it’s a long day at the field of doubleheader, their food is still gonna contain plenty of electrolytes. If they’re going to eat between games, they’re going to eat before a game there’s electrolytes and all that food.

So just be, um, just be cautious. Don’t feel like you have to give them all these sugary beverages. Just to get through a game of baseball. Alright, now it’s time for our listener Q and a portion of the show questions from the pious pious means to be devoutly faithful. And if you’re devout to the game of baseball, then you’re exactly the kind of person I want to hear from.

If you have a question you’d like answered on the show, please email a voice recording to hello@danblewett.com. Mmm,

right in today’s question, um, was an email question and it was basically, Hey, my son has been mixing up his delivery as a pitcher, and he’s been doing pauses and slow leg kick and fast leg kick, and quick pitch. He’s been doing all these different things to throw off the timing of hitters. And, um, is this a good thing for him to do so in general, the answer is no, I do not recommend that young players do that because number one, most young players.

Don’t have the ability to command the strike zone nearly as well as they need to. So we’re kind of pulling the cart before the horse, when we’re talking about varying a delivery that we can’t even get stable in the first place. So when you see certain pitchers in the big leagues, like Johnny quedo was doing this, um, Marcus Stroman does this.

It’s important to remember that these are guys that have been perfecting their delivery for. 20 years. Right? And these are guys who are in their thirties.  closer to 40. So he’s probably going on 30 years. These are guys who are incredibly stable in their delivery. That means their hand when they’re releasing the ball is basically in the end, exact, almost exact same place plus or minus like.

Two to four inches on every given pitch. So they have a really high level of precision and their delivery. So when they mix stuff up, it’s not going to be a big deal to them because, Hey, they’re so stable and be there world-class athletes. Every major league is a world class athlete. You know, baseball players sometimes get a bad rap and pitchers.

Uh, but these are world class incredible athletes. They’ve great body control. They can do lots of things that other people can. So to use major leaguers as examples for young players, there, it’s always a double edged sword. There’s some stuff that they can do that they can do because they’re freaks of nature and world class athletes.

That’s just not going to be appropriate for your 12 year old. Who’s just like, not that good of an athlete. So. Be cautious with this. This is not something that’s necessary at their age. You don’t have to throw off hitter’s timing to be successful at 12, you basically 14 new baseball at 16 new baseball.

Okay. And if you have to do that to be successful, then you’re just not that good. I mean, I hate to be the bearer of bad news where if that’s what you need to do to be successful, then your stuff. Isn’t very good. You know, so the reality is that at any level baseball below college, you can be successful.

You can command the strike zone, you know, throw to the thirds of the plate reliably, throw a second pitch for strikes and maybe a third pitch for strikes some of the time, if you can do that stuff, you’re going to find success. And if you have to do all these other different things, be successful at 18, you baseball and below.

Then there’s other problems that need to be fixed. Like your slider just isn’t good enough. Your curveball is just not good of your is not good enough. Your commands not good enough. So that’s something to remember as well. If you feel like this is something that you have to do to have success, then a lot of stuff is also wrong.

So now that given that being said, if your son’s already doing this, he like he’s been doing it and he doesn’t have any adverse effects on his command. He’s still throwing strikes. Despite mixing stuff up he’s as, as whole, as he was, it was before as a pitcher, like nothing’s, he’s not losing anything. And this is just adding, then I’d say, okay, you can, you can keep doing it.

But for me as a coach, I would never recommend or let my players do it. Um, if someone was already doing it and it was finding success with it, I’d say, okay, but I still would be very leery. And any time I’d see mechanics slip or command slip or anything else slipped from my estimation, then I’d be like, Hey, this experiments done.

Like we gotta get back to basics and get back to fundamentals. And before we started doing all this tricky stuff, because again, if you’re only successful with doing the tricky stuff and you can’t be successful without it, then you don’t have the foundation of pitch, quality of command, all the other stuff that you need to really make it as far as you want in baseball.

Well, that’s it for today’s episode of dear baseball gods. If you enjoy the show and would like to support me while improving your baseball IQ. By one of my books were enrolled today in an online pitching course, sign up for any of my courses, to the links in the show notes and save 20% code baseball gods.

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