I have an 11 year old daughter who plays competitive softball year around. She pitches, bats in the 2 hole and plays the middle infield..What type of exercises would be more beneficial for her age and would help her become more explosive?- Nate Here ya go Nate… Keep the questions coming guys…
Building upper-body strength is essential if you want to increase your pitching velocity and keep your shoulder healthy. Most of your power comes from your lower body—as discussed in Part 1 of this pitching velocity series—but a strong and stable upper body will transfer this power to your arm and to the ball. If your muscles are weak, you will lose power or risk injuring your shoulder muscles or other supporting structures. Perform the following four upper-body exercises in your pre-season strength workouts to continue building your pitching speed... Click Here To Continue Reading... Read more…
Im getting ready to begin a long college season that I am well prepared for. Over my winter break I did Matt Wichlinski's program that i forwarded to you a couple months ago. I made tremendous gains in everything and the most important aspect, the basebal field. So this leads me to my first question. What should I do to maintain all my gains I made in the weightroom while staying healthy? Also, I am a two way player. I play outfield, second base, and pitch frequently so my shoulders are taking a real beating on the field. I do a lot of shoulder work, soft tissue work, and mobility frequently. Read more…
My questions address the articles you wrote on In-Season baseball training. First, you state that 2 full-body workouts per week are sufficient. That's for those playing/practicing 5,6, even 7 days week. As I play twice a week (Saturday and Sunday), how many times per week should I be working out? Second, you state that dynamic and speed work are "almost avoided" due to the high volume of games/practices. Once again, what about myself who plays twice a week. When describing the contents of the full-body workouts, you state they should include "...., recovery work, and prehabilitation Read more…
Regardless of what you’ve been told, lower-body strength and power are critical if you want to increase your pitching velocity. Although you might give your arms and upper body the majority of your attention in the weight room, the lower body provides the horsepower on your pitches, because it contains the most powerful muscles in the body—the quads and glutes. Perform the following three lower-body exercises before the season if you want to add velocity to your pitches this spring. Click Here to Continue Reading... Read more…
I first learned about neural charge training a few months ago when I read, Neural Charge Training by Christian Thibaudeau. This article changed my perspective on training frequency and since then I have experimented with neural charge workouts in my own training and the training of my athletes. Here are the major points I took away form Thibs article and my experimentation. All exercises need to be explosive in nature (jumps, plyo push-ups, throws) Alternate between lower body exercises with upper body exercises Keep the workouts under 20 minutes Every set you should feel more explosive Read more…
One of the biggest mistakes I see baseball players make is in their off season training program. I've talked to many coaches and parents who believe that running is the key to building strong legs. If you have read any of my articles on baseball training, you know how I despise long distance running for baseball players, especially pitchers. The lower body is of the utmost importance for baseball players and in order to build a strong and powerful lower body there are certain exercises that all baseball players need to include in their off season training. These exercises should target the muscles Read more…
Coach, How did you get into the power lifting scene and competing? It seems like a broad jump to go from one to another, especially as a college ball player. Please let me know -Christian Christian, first off thanks for your question. I wouldn't say I got into the powerlifting scene. Here is the story behind it. The gym right next to the Underground Strength Gym, Apollon Gym, is a big powerlifting and bodybuilding gym and every 3 months or so they host a powerlifting meet. 2-3 weeks before the meet, some of the coaches I work with and myself decided it would be fun to do the Read more…
