Baseball Weight Lifting and Baseball Strength Training

What’s good about the Internet is also what’s bad about it. The easy dissemination of information it fosters is a good thing. But sifting through all of it to determine what is true and what is false is a much different matter. In this report I’ll provide some ideas for your consideration in selecting a trainer or program for baseball and softball strength and conditioning.

While my list of recommendations is not foolproof, you can use it as part of your process for evaluating various programs and trainers.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR

ü What is the trainer’s background? Former player, coach?

ü Any relevant education and certifications?

ü Are they specialists, or do they take a more generalized approach, claiming expertise in several sports?

ü Do they offer comprehensive training that is relevant to the sports of baseball and softball? To state the obvious: sports skills and activities are not created equal!

SOME NEGATIVE CONSIDERATIONS

One of the disconcerting things I am observing is the proliferation of so-called trainers and coaches throwing up web sites and videos on YouTube, claiming to have the latest secret or solution to whatever your problem is.

Unfortunately, many people consider former pro players as being specially qualified and therefore reliable sources of training and information. In too many cases, this is simply not true. Most former pro players, while being top performers, have little idea how they actually did what they did. On top of that, many of them are poor communicators, not able to effectively teach fairly complex concepts.

Beware anyone who says weight lifting is not good for ball players. Yes, improperly designed programs can cause problems, but to suggest that there is no benefit to ball players, including pitchers, from a well designed resistance training program is grossly ignorant. The benefits are well documented and beyond dispute.

Any coach or trainer who says
otherwise is either:

1) Grossly ignorant with ZERO credibility

OR

2) Trying to sell you something else.

In either case, such trainers should be avoided. Keep in mind, the opportunity for players is not simply avoiding injury, but to augment performance. Properly designed strength and conditioning programs strike an appropriate balance between these two objectives.

Beware anyone who suggests swimming is beneficial for ball players. This is a bad idea for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that many accomplished swimmers suffer from chronic shoulder pain and problems. In addition:

ü How many baseball coaches are knowledgeable enough to teach proper stroke technique?

ü How many baseball coaches know how to design a swimming regimen, as in, What stroke? How fast? How long?

You know how this so-called training is actually structured:

“OK guys, get in the pool and swim
for 30 minutes!”

Why do baseball coaches think it is a good idea for their players to perform this activity? If anything, the kind of swimming your average ball player would be doing is aerobic in nature. Baseball/softball are not aerobic sports, so there is ZERO benefit to ball players in swimming.

Further, the crawl stroke involves activity that is exactly opposite in nature to what an overhand thrower performs. We want a throwing arm to move forward and through its range of motion as fast as possible. When the arm enters the water in the crawl stroke, it faces the resistance of the water. The arm is now moving SLOWLY forward, SLOWLY pulling water to propel the swimmer forward. Exactly how does this benefit an overhead thrower? There are other ways an overhead thrower can train with resistance that augments throwing performance with minimal risk of injury.

For those who are still not convinced, click here for clinical data in support of the above.

Beware Coaches who are proponents of aerobic training – running poles, biking, swimming, etc. Not only is this type of training a waste of time for ball players, it can detract from on-field performance. Click here for clinical data in support of this.

Beware weird, goofy training ideas – strange overhead lifts, excessively difficult training regimens (this so-called “boot camp” mentality) and the like. Baseball and softball are not metabolically demanding, so your conditioning doesn’t have to be overly difficult either.

A trend I’m seeing with some trainers (and those who aspire to be referred to as such) is the devising of exercises that are more and more out of the mainstream of established strength and conditioning methods. It would be one thing if these “trainers” were basing their new approaches on new research, but they are not.

If anything, this trend appears to be nothing more than an attempt to attract new clients with their so-called NEW methods. Unfortunately, the result for players following these approaches will be a lack of training progress and very possibly, injury.

The science of strength and conditioning is pretty straight forward. For those who know how to properly design sport-specific training programs, performance outcomes are fairly predictable. Usually, if you do “A” you’ll get desired result “B.” Using the suggestions above, look for trainers who will effectively and safely train you for your sport.