Most high school players have the goal of playing at college level and then after college, professionally. Everyone step to the next level means that the players are bigger faster, stronger, and smarter. Most everyone has exceptional talent in professional baseball or they obviously would not be there. Now there are always exthe few people that stand out among the rest (like the up and coming star Bryce Harper) that are just blessed at birth with unreal athletic ability; however, most guys are very similar in their talent level. Some do not make it past one year, and others end up having great major league careers. So what separates two guys of the same size and build, same skills, and same tools?

Work ethic and a passion for what you are doing.

If you do not truly love coming to the park and playing the game, then you will not last long. Most great players have the goal of maximizing their ability everyday that they are at the field. That does not just mean in games, one must maximize their ability at practice and when they are alone hitting off the tee. This is when true improvements will come. Just being at the field doesn’t make a person better, being at the field and giving a 100% and taking pride in your work is when the big gains come!

Keep training hard,

Kevin Winn CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Batting drills can be very beneficial tools in teaching athletes proper mechanics, but they can also ruin a swing if the wrong ones are used. Just because a drill looks fancy and hard to perform does not mean it is helping. Beware of coaches that perform 20 different drills in a 30 minute hitting session with your son or daughter. Often times, these drills are actually reinforcing BAD mechanics instead of good ones.

Recently I saw a dad that had his son standing on a tire and trying to hit. His kid kept falling off the tire and could not perform a correct swing because he was tripping all over himself. So all they accomplished in this hitting session was to reinforce really bad mechanics and possibly create some new problems in his swing. So please don’t listen to every video that you find on youtube and think it will help.

Sometimes less is more. Usually my drill work with athletes consists of working different portions of the plate off the tee, and hitting underhand toss (from the front of the batter, not from the side), and not much else. We need to stay as close as possible to our actual swing and not try to do things because they “look neat.”

Keep Training,

Kevin

When talking to athletes about training goals, one of the most common goals I hear is, “I want to gain weight.” Gaining weight from lean muscle mass is a great thing, but simply gaining weight doesn’t make an individual stronger. Lets say that I start a lifting program. I am 195 lbs, and want to get up to 205. I begin pounding protein shakes, and taking every other supplement possible. I work out for 12 weeks, training to “become stronger.” When the 12 weeks are up, I have reached my training goal of 205 lbs, “I did it!!” That’s my first mistake. If no adequate testing took place (1 rep max testing, and body fat testing) how do I know I am stronger? Maybe by taking so many supplements and not working out consistently or in the right way, I have only increased fat mass without increasing strength and power. Will this help me improve my performance on the field? Probably not. The extra fat mass will in many cases, make me a much slower and less explosive athlete. Moral of the story, just gaining weight is not always the answer.

The goal of a training program for athletes should always be to improve performance in the game. TRAIN LIKE A BASEBALL PLAYER! Early in an off season program, work to increase lean body mass (hypertrophy, 6-12 reps, 60-80% of 1 rep max), then increase strength (6 or less reps at 85%-95%of 1 rep max), and finally power (2-5 reps, 75-85% of 1 rep max). We perform a power phase later in the off-season program and closer to the actual baseball in-season program to be quick and explosive! The hypertrophy and strength training inhibit an increase in muscle mass, and muscle strength, which will allow for a greater power production (power=Work x Time).

Very rarely does a baseball player ever perform a movement greater than 10 seconds in a game. Actually, most movements that take place are less than 5 seconds! In other words, baseball is a power anaerobic (movements that do not require the presence of oxygen) sport! The energy system that is primarily called on is the phosphagen system, which lasts from 0-6 seconds and utilizes type IIb (fast twitch muscle fibers) fibers. Power movements should always be as quick and explosive as possible. Olympic lifts (power cleans, snatch etc.) are great lifts for developing power; however, these exercises may not be advantageous to baseball players due to stress that may be placed on the elbow and wrist. Instead, opt for other power movements such as a clean pull, box jumps, or rotational power movements. Using medicine balls are a great way to develop rotational power. (We will discuss the importance of developing rotational power in a later post).

Another great way to add explosive anaerobic movements into a workout is by performing plyometric actions like squat jumps, split squat jumps, and box jumps immediately after performing core lower body pushing exercise (squat, split squat, dead lift, lunge); however, only advanced athletes should complex core pushing exercises and plyometric movements due to the high stress levels that are imposed on the body. These plyometric actions should never exceed 5 repetitions in an attempt to keep them anaerobic in nature. When performing core lifts such as squats, and dumbbell bench press, try being explosive as possible and “driving” the weight up quickly.

To ensure that an increase in explosive power has taken place, test different power movements pre, middle, and post program. Examples of power tests are the vertical jump and standing long jump tests that the NFL utilizes in its combine. Also, 1 rep max tests can be performed pre, middle, and post program to monitor strength progress. If the results of these tests improve during and after the program, then progress has been made.

Also, measuring body fat is a great way to see if weight is being gained from lean muscle mass or from fat mass. If an athlete has 15% body fat at the beginning of the program, and ends up with 10% body fat without an increase in body weight, a gain in lean muscle mass has still taken place! So stop worrying so much about the weight on the scale, and start worrying more about the results on the field!

Keep Training,

Kevin