Wishing each of you a wonderful day and year ahead!

Josh Y.
Cayden K.
Tyler B.
Hayden R.
Trevor B.
Christian G.
Alejandro F.

Before we head into the deep waters of this newsletter, I hope you and your family had an amazing Christmas and holiday season along with a glorious New Year’s.

During this wonderful time of year, the month of December speeds by due to so many things going on: shopping, travel, family coming to visit, as well as wrapping, gift-giving, food (the preparation and eating!), and all the makings of the holiday season.

One thing I’ve learned as I get older is that time really speeds up on me, and the holiday season is no exception. I believe it to be because we are so engaged with all of these “goings-on” that once we look up, it’s Christmas day, then New Year’s Day, and we ask ourselves, “How did we get through this month so quickly?”  

I also believe we become so appreciative of the blessings in our lives that we can’t help but want to enjoy them as much as we can, and those joys tend to go past us way too quickly, too. I would love to speed life down; however, for me, I am so engaged with my family that it seems as if time is just flying by, particularly with 3 grandsons. My hope is that you get to enjoy this time.

My reason for bringing this up is because often there are things we put to the side and tend not to think about during certain times. Baseball is one of those things.  

Cold weather — or wet weather, which we are in the midst of now — is a very slow time for baseball in general. We put it off the side for the time being, then WHAM! Suddenly, games are back on schedule.

It’s very important to understand the importance of your child building up his arm health and strength during this time like this: Imagine your child has a karate tournament in 2 weeks and needs about 6 weeks to prepare for it. But the holidays and all the busyness it entails end up putting your child’s training off to the side. Now, the tournament is in 2 weeks, but we have 6 weeks of training to prepare for it — physically as well as mentally.  So your child starts “cramming” training in to make up time, but by doing this, your child injures himself after the first week. 

Is he going to be in any shape to participate in that tournament? Not at all. 

The same is true in baseball. If by January 2nd, you realize you need to start “cramming” in your training, but your arm gets sore after the first 10 days, now what? 

If only you had continued your training during December to avoid this. Every year, this same scenario plays out.

I ask every kid over the last few weeks how much throwing they have done. One player out of every 10 players has thrown more than once a week, which is not ideal.  

And this is where the injuries start to happen. The shoulder, bicep, tricep, or elbow are all areas where pain occurs.  

These days we also have so many younger players who play travel ball only, and guess when the first major tournament of the year starts? In 2 weeks, starting on the Saturday of Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend and going through Monday. 

As a helping hand and something to consider, so we lessen the workload on your sons’ young arms, no more than 3 innings all weekend — 55 pitches maximum. If you build up arm strength now and slowly progress to regular workloads, then your son will be able to get through this relatively easily — all the way through Cooperstown for some players, the Omaha tournament in June, and what will be a long spring/summer season.

My advice to you is that if your son does a lot of throwing, then allow him to be put into my care for arm health, strength, and recovery. I can explain why things are the way they are, we can get him moving more effortlessly, and also recognize where he’s missing in and out of the strike zone and how to correct those misses through improved body mechanics.

This year marks the start of my 22nd season of running classes and training young players to move more freely and stay healthy during the baseball season. Our time slots are filling up fast, so reach out to me as soon as possible to figure out a day that works for you and your son’s schedule.

One of the best parts about training your son is that you are going to learn what he needs to do so your own practice time can be a place where our training gets incorporated into your training with him.  

I find that Dads want to learn as much as their sons do — and I have a few astute Moms learning as well — but this is something that can be so valuable for their time in high school and beyond: to get a very good and sustainable arm for throwing a ball effectively as well as staying healthy for a long period of time.

Today is the day to have your son training at one of the top facilities in Southern California: Throwzone Academy. Our specific training modalities have helped thousands of kids make their mark in recreational and travel leagues, high school as well as college, and, for a lot of our players, all the way into professional baseball with almost a dozen MLB players — including a Cy Young Award winner 2 seasons ago.

We know what we’re doing and want to pass this information on to you and your son. Today is the day, and I look forward to hearing from you either by cell at 661-644-2147 or by email at throwzone20@gmail.com.

You won’t be disappointed!!!

Until next time,

Jim

P.S. Also find us on the web at www.throwzone.com as well as on social media (Twitter and Instagram at @throwzone and on Facebook). Search for Jim Wagner’s Throwzone Academy, and contact me to answer any more questions for you!

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”

– Jamie Paolinetti

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

– Leonardo da Vinci