Sports Then and Now

Without strong shoulders, it’s tough to excel on the baseball field. Whatever your level now, there’s room for improvement! Use these three baseball workouts to strengthen your shoulders for better fielding, hitting, pitching, and throwing potential.

Understanding the Importance of Shoulder Strength for Baseball

Before we get into the exercises, let’s take a look at the mechanics of baseball. Shoulder strength, as it turns out, is essential for just about every move you make on the field. Flexibility is equally important, so don’t skimp on the stretching. Remember to warm up before every workout and game, too.

Start Every Baseball Workout with Arm and Shoulder Stretches

Before you start to stretch, spend a minute or so jogging. This warms up your entire body and increases your circulation, reducing the likelihood of injury. When you’re warmed up, you’re ready to stretch your arms and shoulders using slow, smooth motions while inhaling and exhaling deeply:

• Lock your elbows and hold your arms straight out in front of your body. Bring your shoulder blades together as you pull your arms straight back while keeping them elevated.
• Shrug your shoulders toward your ears, and then drop them back down into their natural position.
• Do shoulder circles by lifting your arms away from your sides so that your body looks like a big “T.” With your elbows locked and your arms parallel to the floor, make circular motions in a forward direction, beginning with large, loose circles and gradually decreasing the size of the circles. Do this for at least 15 seconds, and then repeat the motion with backwards circles.
• Look for chest, neck, and back stretches to complement your shoulder stretches. All of these muscles are connected, so it’s important to stretch them all, even when you’re only focusing on shoulder workouts. Read the rest of this entry →