Bench Presses for Pitchers???

Okay all you pitching coaches, I have a question where I have been told numerous things by numerous people. In your opinions, .... should a high school pitcher ever bench press?
If not ... why?
If so ... why?
Also, what type of exercises (chest) should a pitcher do, .... if any at all?

 

I have never been a proponent of it and this explains it better than i could:

http://www.stevenellis.com/steven_ellis_the_complete/2005/03/heres_exactly_w.html

My opinion is pitchers should concentrate on legs and core...and use plyometrics-stretching for the shoulders. Orel Hershiser never lifted more than 3-5 lbs for his arms---his career lasted pretty long

 

Coaches have told my son that are not fond of it. I'm going to be curious when they chime in.

 

Lifting for pitchers

Dont have alot of time right now but will try to get back to this later...
Pitchers: Focus on Legs/Back/and shoulders in that order. Light on the chest and arms. Curls are for the girls!...not really need other than to maintain strength.
Lifting is good for any athlete is done the proper way. We do lift to strengthen the chest but we do it with light weight dumbells or a chest press machine.

 

Bench pressing is a great way to add mass and strength to your upper body. Is it necessary for pitchers? Probably not.

With good form, the bench press is a solid addition to upper body training. If a pitcher wants to bench, though, do it in the off-season and make sure he has a spotter.

That Steven Ellis link is a good one. Also, Eric Cressey is a knowledgeable strength coach for pitchers. Just look through his site for information. I believe he wrote an article regarding what lifts are good or bad for shoulders, but I cannot recall where I found it.

I do know that dumbbell presses and using a swiss bar are both better for your shoulder than barbell pressing.
And if you do push-ups, I would suggest following them up with pull-ups or chin-ups.

Edit: I reread the original post and saw that it asked why benching was bad. Simply put, it can be hazardous to your shoulder. With proper form, its alright. Still not perfect, though. And using bad form is just asking for an injury.

 

Don't do it unless you also DH.

 

Pitchers stuff

Talking specific to pitchers now...you would be much better served to incorporate a regular program using resistance bands / tubes. Also anything focusing on the core ( ie., the body delivers the arm )

Search on "Jobe Exercises" for starters ... here's one link :http://www.webball.com/cms/page1322.cfm


Also I think mentioned previously, the Steve Ellis site has alot of great info (and occaisionally good discussion).

http://www.letstalkpitching.com

 

When i was working as a trainer we did tons of Fly work instead of bar Bench press I like the symmetry and range of motion you gain. then again i know pitchers that Lived on bench and were very very strong guys and had no shoulder issues ever come up. to give advise as a blanket statement is just flat wrong. I would advocate a N.S.C.A certified strength coach to evaulate and prescribe a workout plan for best advice

 

Hey Guys,

Some good discussion here. I prefer and encourage my pitchers to do dumbbell presses instead of pressing with a straight bar. It's OK to bench. But the key is to balance out the exercise with upper back activities. Aim for a ratio of 3:1. That's 3 upper back exercises for every 1 chest exercise.

Keep working hard. Good luck to all of you this baseball season!

Steven Ellis

 

Just say NO!!

Benchpressing is certainly a fine way to display upper body strength and for some sports its superb for that. For pitching I think not.

Best form of weight pressing IMO is overhead press. Flys work great also.
There are other movements but these are what I recommend.

However CORE body strength improvement is the absolute essential for pitching.

Nothing beats CORE body strength for pichers. IMO