Conditioning Musts For Baseball Pitchers

Conditioning Musts For Baseball Pitchers
By guest author: Steve Rau

Back in the Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax days pitchers were told to stay away from the weight room due to the fear of becoming too muscle bound and losing flexibility. Today pitchers are encouraged to train religiously to stay in shape, which also includes hitting the weights. This doesn't mean to go crazy pumping iron and come out of the off-season looking like Arnold, but pitchers do need to incorporate a conditioning program involving strength training and aerobic exercise.

The legs are the starting point for generating power and durability. Both weight training and running offer a way to build strength in the legs. Some common lifts are squats, lunges, toe raises, leg extensions, leg curls, and the leg press. These six lifts hit all of the key muscle groups in the legs. Running hills and/or steps is another way to strengthen the legs. If a player doesn't have the opportunity to go to a gym and use a treadmill or stair climber, the nearest hill or steps would accomplish the same results at no cost.

Next, the abdominal region creates the maximum external rotation that transfers the energy into the arm. The abdominal muscles are very easy to develop through crunches and medicine ball rotations. You don't need any fancy equipment. Fill up a volleyball with sand and you have a medicine ball; hit the carpet in the living room to perform sets of crunches. Abs can be worked everyday, at any time in the day.

Finally, it is crucial for pitchers to develop some sort of cardio routine both in season and off season. For young ballplayers, the off season conditioning can be that of playing another sport like soccer, football, or wrestling. As far as in season conditioning goes, a steady dose of sprints, comfortable jogging, and cardio-based drills would be valuable for pitchers.

Pitchers need to be in shape. Losing just a couple mph's late in the game on the fastball can mean the difference between a win and a loss for the team. When a pitcher's body breaks down from exhaustion, injuries are more likely to occur, therefore, youth baseball coaches need to be very much aware of pitcher conditioning and prepare their players for the increased pitch counts that are to follow as they grow older.

Coach Steve Rau is a long time pitching instructor and co-founder of http://www.PlayBallAcademy.com - He has been analyzing pitchers and hitters for a number of years and has helped a number of ballplayers become successful college and professional players.

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