Sports Then and Now

For any baseball player, there are two important aspects which one should not ignore are body explosive power and body strength. The shoulder integrity is vital for baseball batters and pitchers. Therefore, baseball workout includes building muscles, adding arm strength and gaining speed. In case, if audience finds out that the pitcher is adding speed to the fastball, then they consider that the player is doing only upper body workouts. Whereas, building strength in arms needs more than just upper body workouts.

The most important aspect is mobility as well as stability in shoulders along with hips. Pitching is transferring the power from your legs to your upper body part of your arms. Therefore, to reduce the chances of injuries, one has to work hard not only on shoulders, arms and back but also on hamstrings, legs and hips.

Speed of pitching is directly proportional to arm speed not on the isolated muscle’s strength. It means focusing on pillar strength will increase the rotational power. Thus, the focus is on doing stability exercises of shoulder, strength work of lower body and propulsive exercises.

Exercises 1: Stride Stretch

This one will help the baseball athletes in giving more mobility and flexibility during playing baseball in their shoulders and rotator cuffs. In simpler terms, it is stretching of front as well as back of your hips. Never ignore the importance of mobility in hip as the mobility in hip is equally important to mobility in shoulders for pitchers. In the absence of proper mobility, then the pitchers will do only those actions which their body will allow them to move. It will decrease their leg drive, ultimately reducing the power and strength. Read the rest of this entry →