Baseball Part 1: Developing Maximum Power in Your Client’s Swing During Off-Season

Baseball has changed from a game of speed to a game of power. If you can hit the ball with authority, power and distance, you’ll have tremendous success. Look at guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa, all of which are power hitters. They have the ability to hit the long fly balls that enable them to hit 60 plus home runs a year. This ability to hit home runs is highly dependent on a year long strength training program. Baseball is a ballistic sport that involves quick, explosive, and reactive movements. The ability to generate this power, the product of force and velocity, is essential to being a successful batter.

Baseball is generally considered a game of skill. As with other sports, players who have a high level of skill and great athleticism inevitably perform at a higher level. However, baseball is often criticized for its lack of conditioning within the game. The game itself does not require continuous activity over an extended period of time. Nevertheless, major leaguers play 162 games per year over the course of 6 months. This is an average of 27 games a month with only 3 off days a month (13). All players at this level who follow such a grueling schedule can benefit from high levels of conditioning. Based on the quick, explosive, and reactive nature of baseball, anaerobic conditioning – the ability to repeatedly perform at a near maximal level with limited rest bouts of activity- is most valuable form of training for baseball players (13).

Due to the highly anaerobic nature of baseball, baseball players will primarily use the body's phosphagen system as its source of energy. Anaerobic training programs that concentrate on the phosphagen system (ie. sprinting and plyometrics) are completed typically under 10 seconds in duration and provide almost complete recovery. Therefore, lactic acid does not accumulate to any large extent and your client can perform at maximal intensities. This type of training, which enhances speed and power development, depends greatly on optimal neural recruitment for maximal performance, which requires recovery (1). Speed and power cannot be developed when your client is in a fatigued state. Therefore, some training sessions must be performed where your baseball clients are fully rested between exercise bouts to optimize neural performace (1).

Approximately 80% of the body’s metabolic energy pathways come from the ATP-PC system while 15% come from the glycolytic/ LA system and 5% from the aerobic system (12). A program developed with your baseball client in mind should employ interval speed training, athletic-reaction/plyometric drills, and resistance training to develop and improve sprinting speed, quickness, proprioception, explosiveness, and neuromuscular coordination and strength. Your primary goals for your baseball client should be to improve speed, quickness, and trunk rotation or swing power. Power is a function of force (strength) x speed (2), you must train your client on both factors of this equation.

It has become extremely difficult and sometimes confusing for trainers to select a conditioning program that will maximize their player’s athletic ability. Optimal athletic performance requires the integration of weight training and sport-specific resistance training in a comprehensive periodized program. Sport-specific strength is movement with resistance or assistance that imitates the joint action of the skill (11). Most athletic movements involve power transmission through the kinetic chain rather than isolation within segments of it. (11).

Baseball players need good trunk and lower body development in order to transfer power to hitting. Rapid rotational and explosive movements of the trunk are common in baseball. These motions are initiated by the hips and legs. Trunk development is vital to sport-specific training in baseball. The abdominals, obliques, low back, gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps initiate rotational power and should be trained in high-velocity, explosive manner (3).

Few studies have examined the effects of a comprehensive resistance training routine on baseball swing performance. Schwendel (10) compared the effects of traditional baseball weight training and power weight training program on bat velocity. Exercises included the leg press, leg curl, leg extension, bench press, lat pulldown, military press, bicep curl, and tricep extension. Results demonstrated that power trained players made greater significant gains in bat velocity than any other group. When considering the improvement of a wide variety of athletic performance variables requiring strength, power, and speed, combination training produces superior results (7).

In designing a strength training program for baseball clients, the following three principles must be considered: periodization, muscle balance, and sport-specificity. Clients should be trained 2 or 3 days per week and then progress to 5 days a week as their muscles adapt. Training specificity refers to the distinct adaptations to physiological systems that will arise in your client from a particular training program (1). Your goal with your clients should be to improve their functional strength, which means your program should involve multi-joint movements like squats, bench presses and pull-ups to get the most done with maximum efficiency. Functional strength can be expressed in terms of acceleration, execution time, or velocity in a given motor skill (11).

Another major consideration for the training program should be the amount of time your client would have available to train before he or she has to report to camp. In order to optimize performance and reduce the risk of injury and overtraining, training should be periodized by developing several microcycles. The microcycles adjust the volume and intensity of training for creating the training base, allowing the athlete to advance safely and steadily to higher intensity training. (9).

When your client is finished his or her off-season program, the emphasis during the preseason and in-season should not be to develop greater power but merely to maintain the power that was developed in the off-season. The sessions during the preseason cycle should consist of low to moderate volume and moderate to high-intensity resistance training, speed training, reaction drills and metabolic training. (9). Table 1 presents the duration of each period and illustrates a periodization program for your baseball client.

Baseball players can often be deficient in abdominal strength. If this is the case and your baseball client is relatively new to weight training, specific low-intensity/high volume abdominal exercises should be initiated to develop muscular endurance base. Exercises can include, but are not limited to, abdominal crunches, reverse crunches, seated and standing rotational twists with a medicine ball, and twisting crunches. After a few weeks of training, emphasis can switch to a high-intensity/low volume regimen to promote strength and power. All abdominal exercises can progress to include the use of medicine balls or free weight plates. Examples of exercises are twisting crunches, seated and standing rotational twists, V-ups, standing side throws, Russian twists, and the superman toss. These exercises are primarily focused on developing strength and power in the rotational muscles of the trunk which are essential for swinging a bat.

The Need for Plyometric Training

It is well known that speed and strength are integral components of fitness found in varying degrees in virtually all athletic movements. Simply put the combination of speed and strength is POWER. For many years coaches and athletes have sought to improve power in order to enhance performance. The purpose of plyometric exercise is to increase the power of subsequent movements by using both the natural and elastic components of muscle and tendon and the stretch reflex (3). Plyometric training is specific work for the enhancement of explosive power. It is a training method to be used in conjunction with other power development methods in a complete training program to improve the relationship between maximum strength and explosive power. Power is precisely defined as the time rate of doing work, where work is the product of the force extended on an object and the distance the object moves in the direction in which the force is exerted (3). Translate this power to a baseball swing with proper mechanics, and you will have a stronger, more powerful hitter.

Plyometric training enhances the tolerance of the muscle for increased stretch loads. This increased tolerance develops efficiency in the stretch shortening cycle of muscle action. During the stretching (eccentric lengthening phase) of muscle action a greater amount of elastic energy is stored in the muscle. This elastic energy is then reused in the following concentric action to make it stronger. This leads us to a fundamental principle of plyometric training: the rate, not the magnitude of the stretch, is what determines the utilization of elastic energy and the transfer of chemical energy into mechanical work (12). The mechanisms underlying plyometric activity are identified as the storage and re-utilization of elastic energy during the stretch-shorten cycle and the stretch reflex. The benefits of plyometric training are increased muscle force, rate of force development, and as a result, enhanced performance. There is clear evidence that plyometric training leads to adaptation at the level of the muscle fiber as well as improvements in neuromuscular functioning and gross body performance (8).

Applying Plyometric Training to the Baseball Client

Rapid, powerful upper body movements are required for several sports and activities, including baseball and softball. Plyometric training is therefore an absolute must for your baseball clients. Plyometric drills for the upper body are not used as often as those for the lower body. Plyometric drills for the upper body include medicine ball throws, catches, and several types of push-ups.

Before developing an appropriate plyometric program for your baseball client, you should seek to understand the basic musculature that is involved in developing a powerful baseball swing for your client. As previously stated, baseball players need good trunk and lower body development in order to transfer power to hitting. Rapid rotational and explosive movements of the trunk are common in baseball swings. Swinging a baseball bat is initiated by the hips and legs. Trunk development is also vital to sport-specific training in baseball. Though there are many different muscles recruited for the job of trunk rotation, the two most involved are the internal and external obliques (4).

The external oblique originates from the inferior and external surfaces of the lower eight ribs moving inferiorly and medially. It attaches from lateral to medial along the iliac crest, forming the inguinal ligament and blending with the abdominal aponeuroses in the midline. The external oblique performs several actions in the rotational planes. It helps bend the trunk forward through bilateral stimulation and it also produces ipsilateral (same side of the body) side flexion and contralateral (opposite side of the body) trunk rotation through unilateral stimulation. The external oblique is the largest abdominal muscle and has the most influence on the lumbar spine, tilting the pelvis forward. Finally, the external oblique helps increase intra-abdominal pressure and is a stabilizer on the contralateral side (4).

The internal oblique, takes its inferior attachment from the lateral aspect of the inguinal ligament, and the anterior one-half to two-thirds of the iliac crest. Its most posterior origin is from the anterior layer of the thoracolumbar fascia. The fibers of the internal oblique spread anteriorly and superomedially in the midline. Its most anterior fibers, form the inguinal ligament, blend with those from the transverse abdominus attaching to the pubis. The primary actions of the internal oblique are to bend the trunk forward through bilateral stimulation and bend the trunk sideways and rotate it toward the ipsilateral side through unilateral stimulation. The ipsilateral internal and external oblique cooperate during lateral bending. The internal oblique also is an ipsilateral rotator when the pelvis is anchored and a contralateral rotator when the trunk is anchored (4).

The anatomy can be complicated, but is vital to understanding how trunk rotation occurs. With this knowledge of the anatomical aspects of the trunk, you can now apply it to your client by choosing the appropriate exercises to isolate these areas. Below are examples of exercises specific to the baseball client. All involve rotational trunk and work to improve and develop the internal and external obliques.

Swiss Ball Russian Twist
Twister
Medicine Ball Half Twist	Medicine Ball Toss

In addition to the medicine ball exercises, there are many other exercises that specifically work the internal and external obliques. The use of Swiss Balls and cable stations can provide variety in your baseball clients workouts.

Swiss Ball Russian Twist
Swiss Ball Oblique Crunch
Wood Chop
Reverse Wood Chop
Cable Side Step with Single Handle
Rope Cable Twist with Step
Rope Cable Twist with One Arm Extension and Step
One Arm Rope Extension
Pectoral Flye Two-Arm Rotation
Floor Oblique Twists

Table 2 illustrates an example abdominal and rotational program depending on your clients point in the season.

In addition to the specific exercises presented above, Table 3 outlines additional exercises for strength, improving speed and for upper body plyometrics that can be implemented into your client's program.

Considerations For Your Baseball Client

Current Strength Training Program

Baseball clients that have just ended a sport season and have been involved in sport-specific strength training should continue with it unless the overall program calls for a change in volume, intensity, or recovery. For those clients who were not involved in a strength training program, 2-4 weeks of strength training will be good preparation for plyometric training.

Frequency of training may range from 1 to 3 times a week but depends on the sport and time of year. The intensity of daily workouts will affect the number of workouts each week. Three days of lower intensity drills may be lower in overall weekly intensity than two days of higher intensity drills. Recovery between plyometric workouts should range from 48 hours to 72 hours and again is influenced by the time of year, volume, intensity and body size (13). It can also depend on the given sport’s demands, intensity and volume of daily workouts. Beginners will need at least 48 hours of recovery or their performance will definitely suffer as a result (5). The muscles that are being trained will adapt provided they are subjected to overload conditions, but if this overload is not introduced gradually and systematically, overtraining can develop which will ultimately lead to injuries in your clients (13). Table 4 provides a guideline for the amount of upper body plyometric training you should be prescribing to your baseball clients based on the current training period they are in.

Performing heavy resistance training and plyometrics on the same day is not recommended. However, some clients may benefit from complex training; a combination of high intensity resistance training followed by plyometrics. If this type of training is performed, adequate recovery is needed between plyometrics and other high-intensity training. If your clients perform both heavy weightlifting and plyometric exercises, it may enhance the use of elastic strain energy or facilitate the stretch reflex to a greater extent than does maximal power training. In complex training, the volume of plyometric exercises should be reduced to a number that is easily workable between sets of the particular lift. As a general guideline, integrating two major lifts with plyometrics during a workout is a good place to start. Complex training is an advanced form and works best and most effectively on the athletes who have a solid training history and strength base.

Developing the Lower Body for Power

It is also important to develop the lower body of your baseball clients in order for them to develop power from the legs. The baseball swing is initiated by the lower body with an initial step towards the pitcher. It is then followed by a rotation of the hips and then the upper body follows with its rotation. Muscle imbalance occurrs when one group of muscles surrounding a joint is proportionately stronger than an opposing group of muscles. There is an important muscle strength balance between the upper and lower body that can be illustrated by the kinetic link system. The kinetic link principle includes the efficient transfer of force through the proper sequencing of body parts through the legs, hips, trunk, and upper limb to the bat. A muscular imbalance between the lower and upper extremities may cause injury, due to limitation of the optimal sequencing and functioning of all parts of the kinetic link system (3). It is for this reason that we need to focus on lower body training as well with our clients. In addition to the basic exercises such as the squat, leg press, leg extensions, and leg curls that may currently be found in your client’s program, you can provide your baseball clients with three other sport-specific exercises to help them develop power in the lower body.

Side Lunge
45 degree lunge
Power Step on Slide

Supplemental Training

No one exercise addresses the acceleration and resistance or neurological changes needed for swinging a baseball bat. Muscle fibers are classified into two general categories, slow-twitch (Type I) and fast-twitch (Types IIa and IIb). The maximal force production of Type IIb fibers results in the highest speed of contraction. Since the ability to produce explosive force with great speed is strongly influenced by the percentage of Type IIb fibers, one must train at game speed or above to get optimal results. The significance of being able to increase bat velocity is that it gives a batter more time to see a pitched ball before starting to swing. (11). Refer to Table 5 for a routine on using sprint cords while swinging a bat. Sprint cords are patented cords with attachments around the waist and mid-thigh which can be used to provide resistance while going though the motion of swinging a bat. The external resistance contributes to the development of hip and rotational power during the hitting swing (9). Please note that if patented sprint cords are unavailable, weighted bat swinging may accomplish similar results.

I hope this article gives you plenty of information and exercises for you to implement with your baseball clients. Keep in mind all the different topics covered within this article when you develop the right program for your client. Developing power in your clients baseball swing can be accomplished with the right type of training and periodization. Remember that these exercises listed above should be supplemental to a basic strength training program and should be performed on opposite days.

References:

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4. Chek, Paul. The Chek Institute.
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