Should Baseball And Softball Players Participate In Weight Training Programs?

It's baseball season, and you are ready for it. You bought a new bat, dusted off the cleats, and oiled the glove. You drilled, grounder after grounder, only to follow it by fly ball, after fly ball. When the fielding drills were over, you moved on to the batting cages.

By Joelyn Pullano

You have hit so many balls that you could probably tag a slider in your sleep. So, what's next but to hit the field, right? Wrong!

What about your weight training? Yes that's right, lifting weights. Almost all baseball clubs, from high school to the majors, use weight training for injury prevention, rehabilitation of injuries and for strengthening individual weaknesses. One of the most important things a weight training program needs to do is to isolate certain muscles specific to the throwing motion and strengthen them to prevent arm injuries.

A combination of various forms of exercises tends to work best: isometrics, isotonic and is kinetic, plyometrics, (not just for tennis anymore), active resistive and especially flexibility/stretching exercises are all important in developing a well-balance program. Players at different positions need to emphasize different elements of the program, and different body parts.

For pitchers, you need to build cardiovascular endurance, and lower body strength and endurance. You also need to build general flexibility, and strengthen the shoulders and the elbows. For catchers, you need to emphasize leg strength, flexibility and agility. Building hand a wrist strength is also important along with building abdominal strength.
For Infielders and outfielders, a combination of building leg flexibility, hand and wrist strength, upper body strength and endurance is very important.


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For all positions its important to add exercises that emphasize the rotator cuff complex, consisting of internal and external shoulder rotation, and front, rear and side elevation isolating the supraspinatus. Especially effective are lightweight shoulder excursuses stimulating the small muscles (rotator cuff) essential to the throwing motion.

When putting together a workout program for baseball, it is most effective if three programs are built. The first program should be the off-season program. The program should be designed to strengthen and balance all major muscle groups of the body. You should consult your coach or trainer about varying the exercises in the program to strengthen your particular weakness and/or correct muscle imbalance.

The second program should be the pre-season program. This program should be designed to build more strength. This program should be started 4-6 weeks before the season, this is also the time to start incorporating baseball-specific exercises in the gym or out on the field. This helps get your body ready to perform baseball skills again.

The third program should be the in-season program. This program should be designed to maintain strength levels acquired during the off and pre season programs. Abdominal, rotational and light weight work are essential parts of any in-season program. Pitchers should concentrate on light weight shoulder work such as deltoid raises.
As you can see, as much as we want to hit that chalk lined field, it's just as important to incorporate a weight training program, to insure a fun filled, and injury free season

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Preventing Throwing Injuries

Injuries are the number one preventable reason youth (9-12 years old) pitchers seldom continue pitching past high school. The risk of injury is especially high in this age group due to immature skeletons, poor coordination, improper technique, and coaching. At all levels, the biggest risk factor is "overuse".

By Gerry Van Dyke

While most Little League pitchers dream of pitching in the "Big League", the sad truth is that none will. Almost all Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers, if they even played in Little League, played a different position in their youth. Do I have your attention yet? As surprising as these statements may seem, according to studies by several MLB team physicians, they are true.

While injury risk factors can be mitigated, injuries are inherent to pitching. For example, despite access to the best coaches, trainers, and doctors, virtually every MLB pitcher sustains a serious injury at some point in their career.

What can be done to reduce the risk of pitching injuries, especially in young pitchers? The three most important contributors to a pitcher's ability to perform well and stay healthy are pitching mechanics, pitch volume, and pitch type. Pitching mechanics, "proper form", is the same at all levels of competition. That is why it is so important to teach proper pitching and throwing mechanics early. As the level of competition increases, pitchers throw harder-increasing the torque and forces on the throwing arm. Good mechanics will spread the forces more evenly along the kinetic chain (foot to hand). Flaws in the pitching form will put more stress on the joints (shoulder and elbow primarily), causing an injury sooner, rather than later. Because Little Leaguers don't throw very hard (relatively speaking), injuries may not be visible for years. Yet the effects add up and will cause problems eventually. Some studies have reported that 15% of male college students feel their ability to throw in college is hindered or hampered by pain, tenderness, or limitation of movement as a result of their youth baseball pitching. So teaching proper pitching mechanics is first step in reducing throwing injuries.






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The next most important contributor is pitching volume-the number of pitches thrown. All youth leagues have regulations limiting innings pitched. Yet the important component, number of pitches thrown, isn't (usually). Although there is no study that defines the exact number of pitches that can be thrown safely, MLB pitchers are generally limited to 100. College and high school pitchers often greatly exceed that number. What is a "safe"amount for Little Leaguers? I recommend no more than 70 pitches a game. The third important risk factor is the type of pitch thrown. Most people assume that throwing a curveball is more stressful to the arm than a fastball.

Biomechanical studies of adult pitchers indicate though, that there are minimal differences in elbow and shoulder forces when throwing a fastball or curve ball, and significantly less force throwing a change-up. But, an improperly thrown curve ball is much more stressful than an improperly thrown fastball. Worse yet is the split-fingered fastball (should be banned at the amateur level). The least stressful pitch? Knuckleball. A fastball is the easiest to learn and the most natural to throw, and along with a change-up, should be the only pitches thrown before the age of 14. There are a lot of factors contributing to pitching injuries, most of which can be minimized by emphasizing pitching mechanics and limiting the number and type of pitches thrown. Proper conditioning is also important, and we will talk more about that in future columns.

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Sports Psychology - Anger Management and Young Athletes

How can you train your mind to focus when you play a sport? What should you be thinking about when you compete in your sport and you want to perform your best? This article offers suggestions on training your mind so you can perform your best.

By Jay Granat

Athletes frequently asked me what their mind should be on when they are involved in their sport. For instance, golfers want to discover the ideal state of mind to strike the ball purely. Baseball hitters want to know what they should be telling themselves before they step up the plate, at the plate and in between pitches. Gymnasts and divers want to know what they should be thinking about before and during their routines.

Now, obviously, the answer to this question varies a bit, depending on the sport. A quarterback dropping back to pass has a different mindset than does a golfer. Similarly, a tennis player needs a different mental outlook than does a soccer player.

However, many athletes in a wide variety of sport seem to do well if they can train their mind to have a simple thought, one thought or no thought at all. For example, one golfer who tended to over swing liked to repeat the phrase "easy does it," before he would start his back swing.

A baseball player, liked to say "find the path of the ball." Another one liked the saying "drive it into the gap."

A swimmer trained his mind to view himself as a cross between a speedboat and a dolphin before he would race.

Many athletes can move to the empty mind technique after they master the art of focusing on just one thing. I encouraged a gymnast to empty her mind before she would compete in her event. I suggested that she imagine a cub being emptied of water. When her mind was empty, she felt ready to let her body do what it had been trained to do for many years.

Many athletes have too many thoughts racing through their mind when they compete. Learning self-hypnosis, meditation and visualization can help athletes to gain the control over their minds that they need to perform well.

Jay P. Granat, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and the founder of http://www.stayinthezone.com. He has written several books and developed several programs to help people perform to their fullest potential at sports, at work and at school. Dr. Granat, a former university professor, has appeared in The New York Times, Good Morning America, AP, ESPN, Golf Digest, The BBC and The CBC. He can be reached at info@stayinthezone.com

His books include Zone Tennis and Get Into The Zone In Just One Minute. He is also the author of How To Get Into The Zone With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, How To Lower Your Golf Score With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump and Bed Time Stories For Young Athletes. Golf Digest named Dr. Granat one of America's Top Ten Mental Gurus. He was recently featured in a documentary film on long distance running. Dr. Granat writes a weekly column for three newspapers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Granat

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