How should my kid get ready for baseball tryouts?
Start six to eight weeks out: build the arm up gradually, take game-speed reps, and know what coaches are watching.
Most players who struggle at tryouts didn’t lack talent. They showed up with an arm that wasn’t ready and hadn’t taken a game-speed rep in months.
Six to eight weeks out
- Start a throwing program and build distance and intensity gradually.
- Get back to regular swings, with live pitching or machine work if you can get it, not just tee work.
Two to four weeks out
- Throw at full intent a few times a week, still within a sensible workload.
- Take ground balls and fly balls at game speed, with throws to a target.
- Run: the 60-yard dash or home-to-first is timed at most tryouts.
What coaches watch
- Arm strength and accuracy.
- How hard the ball comes off the bat.
- Speed, and how the player moves to the ball.
- Effort and coachability: hustling between drills and listening the first time are noticed.
A Velo Check a few weeks before tryouts gives the player their exit velocity, bat speed and throwing velocity, so they know where they stand before they walk in.