As a follow-up to the email on offseason training sent earlier today, I wanted to specifically address high school "weight lifting or training" classes.  Too many players/parents expect that  school-based training classes address the needs for offseason baseball training.   First, please consider the following ---- 7% of high school baseball players go on to play college baseball.  That is elite.  You need to start thinking and acting like an elite athlete or it is not going to happen. Based on our experience, we do not consider high school classes as a core part of a serious off-season training program.  We have now had hundreds of players go through the high school Gamers program.  I cannot think of a single example where a high school training class was the an important element of making a player a better athlete.  Not one. Two simple reasons for this: - In a high school class, you are not training with other elite athletes.  Training with mediocre athletes is not going to make you better. - You are doing a training program that is not tailored for elite athletes.  Elite athletes need to be pushed. The liability of pushing athletes is too great for this to be done is a school environment. Instead, your training plan needs to include a program that is: - targeted at elite athletes - challenging, progressive and includes upper, lower and core - makes you sore the next day.  Very sore.   - forces you to take a shower after the workout, not just  go on to social studies class. Unless you are working up a 30-60 minute sweat, you are not training at the level you need to.  This rarely happens in a high school classes that are part of the school day.  You workout needs to be AT LEAST as challenging as the 30 minute session before the Gamers rep sessions. Do not fall into this trap.  Better options are: 1 - Before or after school lifting at school that is part of your high school baseball program, or where other potential college bound athletes also lift.  Do not do this with the football team, or unsupervised in a group setting.  The risk of injury is too high.  You need a baseball specific program.  If your baseball coach does this in a professional manner, great.  If not, you need to find another option. 2- Group training or individual training at a sports training facility that focuses on elite athletes.  This costs money, for a reason.  It is supervised and tailored. 3- At a local gym, with a teammate/classmate who shares the same work ethic and goals, following a program targeted to elite athletes.  This takes a lot of self-motivation and discipline. But, we have seen examples of it working. This is one area where we care more about actual results.  That is why we do the speed and strength testing as part of the Gamers program. We expect to see improvement.   Don't confuse attendance with progress.   In this area, results are what matters that most.  This is all about numbers. Are you getting bigger, faster and strong? Are you meeting your goals? There is no easy way out in this area, Thanks, Mark Gallion