The baseball and softball seasons have wrapped up and spring training is still months away. Now is a great time to get ahead! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to improve and grow in speed, strength, power and agility during the off season. Head into the next season with confidence!
These training tips from baseball and softball experts will make your off season a productive time.
Where Should You Work Out?
While Middle Tennessee certainly has beautiful days in the late fall and early winter months, it’s hard to rely on those. Off season is a great time to train indoors and develop techniques that will translate into better game play while also reducing the risk of injury.
What Skills Should You Work On?
There are several phases to your off season workout, each lasting about four weeks. Take the time to progress through them in order. Allowing your body to build on the previous phase will result in cumulative gains, putting you right where you need to be when spring training ramps up.
First, allow yourself a recovery period. This does not mean inactive, but focusing on rehabbing injuries and incorporating mobility and flexibility exercises. This will increase your range of motion (which can diminish during the season) and encourage muscle and tissue repair. Yoga, Tai Chi and other mind-body classes and routines are great options.
Next comes the reconditioning phase. Begin to integrate weighted exercises like goblet squats for lower body and dumbbell press and lat pull-downs for upper body. Keep the weights light and the reps higher. Boost your cardio with long distance running or low-impact machines like an elliptical machine.
Accumulative strength is next, adding sport-specific training and increasing the weights while reducing the reps to a mid level. Doing 100 meter sprints or sprints with a change in direction gets you ready for explosive base running. Push ups get the arms and chest strong for explosive hitting. And Bulgarian squats make your legs ready for catching flies or diving for ground balls.
Don’t neglect the core. Core work is critical in baseball and softball, as much of your hitting and throwing power comes from the hips and core. Doing active exercises such as forward and lateral bear crawls strengthens and stabilizes the mid-section, obliques and hips.
Hot Holiday Buy for Hitting and Throwing Training
At the end of the day, baseball comes down to hitting, throwing, catching and running. And it’s fun! Incorporate drills using a throw or hit into a net using weighted balls, like Champro® control flight weighted balls. They’ll help:
- Build strength as a hitter
- Reduce injury risk
- Improve the technique and precision of your swing
- Provide immediate feedback for instant assessment of your performance
Pick up a dozen Champro® 10” control flight weighted balls for only $79.99 at Play It Again Sports ~ Hendersonville and Play It Again Sports ~ Brentwood and see the off season gains you can make for confidence next season!
Play It Again Sports ~ Hendersonville
201 North Anderson Lane, Suite 300
Hendersonville, TN 37075
615-822-6633
[email protected]
Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 – 7; Saturday 10 – 6; Sunday: 12 – 5
Play It Again Sports ~ Brentwood
1701 Mallory Lane, Suite 350
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-661-1107
[email protected]
Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 – 8; Saturday 10 – 6; Sunday: 12 – 5
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