Winter Workouts

Just wondering what players should be doing during the winter months. Seeing that the fall season is coming to an end. I know a lot of coaches are lifting at this time. What other things can players do to get ready?

 

Running

I really like to see players do winter track and field workouts. There are a few track and field clubs that have excellent indoor workouts. If someone thinks a few wind sprints is a running workout they are kidding themselves. These track people break the art of running/sprinting down like we break hitting and throwing. Other than this I would prefer they just take the winter off.

 

Speed and agility training where ever you can find it. There are many programs out there. Check out CAROLINA BASEBALL CENTER, they have a great program. Pitchers need to rest the arm and let themselves recover from the seasons past. We shut the pitchers down for two months, some people have different ideas, but you work with what works best. Pitchers will start throwing again in January.

 

Bands

This is a great time of year for pitchers and position players to strengthen their rotators through using bands, doing arm circles, etc. We will shut down throwing for a couple of months now, but the guys who religiously work the bands during this time will come back with stronger arms. The combination of rest from the actual throwing motion and band work instead during the offseason really brings noticeable arm-strength improvement.

 

Clean out their baseball lockers and clean up their rooms - then give their moms a big hug!!!

 

You got it.

You absolutely got it right!!!

 

The best thing is rest during the month of November and then start a long tossing program in early December to slowly start to build arm strength. It is so important to take some time off to recover from the long season and get ready for next year. The recovery period really shows in May when kids are getting tired and sore arms!

You see big leaguers all the time get fatigued in the late summer because they played winter ball somewhere and missed the recovery period.

As the showcases and tourneys at all ages go deeper into the fall, kids are not getting that needed rest. We are seeing that with more kids in rehab.

 

ASMI, James Andrews, etc. recommend 3-4 mos. of continuous rest with no throwing AT ALL. We usually skip fall ball and rest August through Oct. Usually start back with long toss around the first of November. HS Baseball cranks up a little earlier in SC, around 2/1, so we have to get a little earlier start. After long tossing Nov-Jan he's usually ready to go when the season starts. Then the challenge is to maintain the strength through the season.

 

What I believe in

You play from Feb to early June HS. You play summer ball and fall ball. I believe it is important to shut down from throwing around mid Nov to mid Jan. Its about 8 weeks. I believe the arm needs a rest from the throwing motion.

Now I believe these 8 weeks are huge in resting the "throwing motion" of the arm. But I also believe this is where tremendous gains in the ability to throw harder are gained. It has worked in a tremendous way for our players that have done it.

When you are not playing. When you are not spending any of your time throwing or fielding etc this is the time you can spend all of your energy on increasing your ability to throw harder without throwing at all.

I believe in a consistent thera band work out. Followed up with a "vicious" core work out. Im talking punish the core routine. Medicine balls , substituting plates for med balls , tractor tires , etc etc. A great lower body weight training program. Tons of stadium runs and hills. Sprint work with distance in between along with agility drills. For two months you are basically in boot camp. Five days a week 2 hours a day. No exceptions.

We see 2-3 mph in velocity increase every year from the time we shut down to the time we start throwing in Jan. Pratt was 81-82 as a freshman. He was 83-85 as a soph. He was 85-87 last year as a Jr. He was up around 88-89 this summer. I fully expect he will be in the low 90's this coming season. Darroach was 76-78 Fresham. 80-82 as a Soph. This summer 83-85. I fully expect that he will be 86-87 this season. Now some will say that this is just natural progression. I say that many come into HS and never throw any harder than they do coming in. Many reach a point in HS where they stop gaining. We have not experienced that since we started this program. In fact the gains have been tremendous. Not to mention the gains in flexibility agility and power at the plate. The last two years we have set and broken the schools HR records.

We always start out with a really good 20 minutes of dynamic stretching and finish with around 15 minutes of static stretching. You have to be disciplined and you have to be consistent. If your not your waisting your time. And you have to be willing to handle some pain.

Day #1-Dynamic Stretching - Band routine - Core - Distance - Static Stretching
Day #2-Dynamic Stretching - Band routine - Agility work - Stadiums Hills Sprints - Static Stretching

Our guys get the weight lifting done during school with our Pitching Coach who is also a PE teacher.

This is just what we do. Im sure there are other people out there with great programs as well that work for them. One things for sure "Taking a break from throwing should not mean taking a break from working at getting better."

 

See thread about Pitchers Strength Conditioning Clinic

This should be a great opportunity. These are the kind of things that people should take advantage of. Im really hoping that one of our coaches can attend this.