Baseball Conditioning

Develop a basic aerobic foundation in early training stages.

Utilize numerous strength-training tools

Prioritize rotational power and range of motion

Develop multi-planar strength

Minimize the use of machines

Grip strength endurance and shoulder integrity are important for baseball players

Practice numerous quickness and agility drills

Learn basic sprint mechanics

Core strength is essential

Perform drills to enhance body awareness

Speed strength is more important than absolute strength

Never neglect skill training.

Conditioning Drills

Around-The-World

This tip is a very good conditioning drill that will allow your player to develop physically. Take the players to home plate, time them from home plate to home plate to get a base time. Then have a set time that they should complete each of the laps. I use 9 laps because of the number of innings we play. I require that all team members finish under the time required to make the lap count. This helps toughen players for game and competition.

Dive Backs

The players start out at Home Plate and run around first base, making an aggressive turn, and then dive back into the bag. After diving back they get up as fast as they can and head to second base to do the same thing. They do this also at third then slide feet first into home plate to end their round. Besides basic conditioning, this drill helps to build the players speed and quickness back to the bag. Also, it is helpful to work on quickly leaving the bag as well as helping the players to recognize how big of a turn they can make around a bag to make sure that they get back in case of a throw. A good way to prove the get back theory is to have an outfielder and a second basemen trying to get a player out every couple of times through. Have the players perform this 2 or 3 times.

The Glove

Split up the players in groups of 4 or 5 and have them line up and put their gloves in the outfield at about 25 foot intervals apart, away from them. They start the drill with a ball in their hand and run to the first glove and set the ball on it and come back to the line and go back and get the ball and come back to the line and go to the second glove and set the ball down and go back to the line and so on and so forth, until all the players have gone through.

 

Core Training

The core (abdominals and low back) creates a powerful twisting motion during the swing. Rotational torque provides speed and momentum to the arms and eventually the bat head. Like other muscles, it is necessary to develop strength by using resistance. A common mistake with abdominal training is to perform body weight resisted exercises and expect the abdominals to continually gain strength. In the beginning you will develop a certain amount of strength. However, after a while the exercises become nothing other than calisthenics or maintenance type movements. To develop strength you must add some sort of resistance the movement-as is the case in all exercises. The good news is that you can use most of the same traditional stomach exercises plus added weight, to get the desired results.

Upper Abdominals

Weighted crunches - Lying on your back with legs up in the air, hold a weight of your choice at straightened arms length. Using only your upper abdominals, raise only the upper body, keeping your back flat on the ground. Four sets of 20-40 repetitions.

Lower Abdominals

Hanging leg raises - Hang from an overhead bar, with your feet not touching the ground. Your grip should be about shoulder width. Contracting the lower abdominals, lift the legs together, knees bent at 90 degrees, so the knees are just above waist height. Lower and repeat. Four sets of 10-25 repetitions. To make this more difficult add weight slowly, using a very low weight at first. This exercise is already tough to perform. To increase difficulty without adding weights, keep your legs straight while lifting them. DO NOT rock back and forth as this allows you to raise your legs easier and by not rocking works your core a little better.

Rotational Abdominals

Standing weighted twists - Put yourself into an athletic stance with your feet spread at a comfortable distance and your knees slightly bent. Hold a weight about six to 12 inches in front of your body. After a slow warm up, begin to twist at the waist (do not twist or bend at the knees) as rapidly as possible. The key to rapid movement is maintain a low, balanced stance and make sure your shoulder reaches the chin on the twist. Four sets of 20-40 repetitions.

Leg Training

Never underestimate the value of leg strength for good, powerful hitting. The legs do not appear active and in terms of movement, they really are not. But it is the strength of the legs that enable the abdominals and core in general, to promote bat speed.

As the swing begins, the stride is in place and the body begins to rotate. Without a firm base, the body will not be able to generate any strength from the legs into the trunk. Simply, the force is generated from the ground, into the legs, to the trunk and finally the bat. Without leg strength, the force necessary to start a powerful bat is not produced. To take it a step further, the swing might be flawed due to only upper body generation and nothing to stabilize the legs. Do not expect to have the best swing or the most powerful bat if you are only going to work on the upper body and ignore your legs.

Forearm Training

Beginning with the grip and finishing with the forearms (the two are connected), the bat head will take the proper path if there is strength in the hands. Notice how I say hands instead of forearms. This is because the grip strength (fingers, hand) is the most important part of forearm strength for baseball.

Take a look at a swing and follow through. The movement is not about forearm flexors or extensors. There is really no point in the swing where these movements are dominant. However, the hand and hand strength are involved the entire time.

You can have strong forearms, but not necessarily a strong grip. This is why you must work grip specific exercises into your routine, such as squeezing tennis balls. This will strengthen the fingers, hand and overall grip. When you add these exercises to the already common wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, you’ll have excellent results.

Other Tools For Bat Speed

There are a some devices that are advertised to increase bat speed. My advice is to stick with the basics, because there are so many variables that affect bat head speed which cannot be directly trained such as pitch recognition or reaction time. Factors such as strength and hitting mechanics are variables that can be improved by some legitimate means.

One thing that has been used often, but incorrectly, is the weighted bat. When you are using this tool as a way to become stronger, it is important to maintain your game swing. What I mean by this, is that your swing should not change even though the weight of the bat is increased. Most of the time the weight of the bat is far more than is needed to increase power in a swing.

One thing that has been discussed in the development of power, is the need for speed. Speed of movement must be present if power is to be increased. Speed can be slightly reduced if a weight is being used, only because power increases when using the correct weight.

Movement is also important when training for power. For the swing to increase in power, the weighted swing has to be similar to the regular swing or there is no transfer of power. The same situation exists when you are running with a weighted vest or ankle weights. If you run differently with the weights, then it does not have a very positive effect on your normal running style. My suggestion is to use a bat that is only a few ounces heavier than your regular bat. Try to use the same length as well. This way the swing will be the same, but because of the added weight, you will be increasing power with your normal swing.

Be careful not to use the weighted bat in normal game or batting practice situations. Your reaction time will be the same, but your bat will be slower at game speed. I recommend hitting off of the tee or using soft toss to work on your weighted game.

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