If your goal is to play baseball at the highest level, you need to set yourself up for success. That starts with a solid strength training program. As your strength increases so will your skills and baseball abilities.

But most generic strength and conditioning programs aren’t ideal for baseball players. Some don’t train the right qualities to improve baseball performance, while others may include disadvantageous exercises that may be bad for baseball players.

It’s important to follow a baseball-specific strength and conditioning program. And if you’re a youth baseball player, you should follow one specifically designed for your age, not a professional athlete.

When performed and structured properly, a baseball strength training program will help take athletes to the next level and prepare them for their goals. We know strength training increases power production, speed, and stamina so you can play harder and longer. It will also reduce the chance of injury, stronger muscles create more stable joints.

You will be more prepared to play at a higher level, making you more appealing to college recruiters.

A good strength training program will incorporate in some shape or another, what we call foundational movement patterns. These movement patterns are broad umbrella categories, which many exercises can fall under.

1. Hinge Pattern – Deadlifts, RDL’s Hip Thrusts

2. Squat Pattern – Goblet Squat, Front Squat, Back Squats

3. Pull Pattern – Cable Row, Dumbbell Row, TRX Row

4. Push Pattern – Pushups, Dumbbell Bench Press, Landmine Press

5. Single-Leg Training – 1 Leg RDL, Reverse Lunge, Step Ups

Strength training will enhance everything you do on the field when incorporated correctly, and it’s never too early to start. Creating the proper strength program means taking into consideration where you are and where you want to go.

There are many things to keep in mind when building a program. Some big picture items to keep in mind though are:

• Your strength training should reflect and develop your current abilities, goals, and sport

• Train to failure can sometimes limit you, strength training is used to enhance your skills not hinder your performance, especially for younger athletes

• If you’re a young athlete don’t worry about specializing in your sport, train to master the movements, become more athletic, and work on long term development

• Strength training, like skill work, is a process so take your time and look at long term progressions, nothing will happen overnight

Speed and Conditioning for baseball players is often very misunderstood and for many, a lost opportunity to develop a crucial aspect of your performance. We all want to be faster, quicker, and recover sooner, but our speed and conditioning program needs to be able to enhance that. For many, conditioning is often viewed as a “punishment” or just simply, “going for a run.” Many coaches out there usually just fill time with something to make you tired or it was what they did as a player back in the day.

It is so much more than that.

Look, we have all experienced a “speed and conditioning program” that was more in line with a seek and destroy mission. But, are those sessions actually getting you faster? Or are they building up “mental toughness.”

Let’s breakdown what we feel are 3 big umbrellas that you must work on:

1. Acceleration

2. Absolute Speed

3. Multi-Direction / Agility

Acceleration for Baseball Players

We are breaking down acceleration as the first 10 yards or so in your sprint. Acceleration is a major factor for baseball players as that can make or break getting to that ground ball, catching that ball in the gap, or beating out that infield single.

Not to mention the impact acceleration has on the 60 yard dash and home to first times, which are universal measurable metrics for baseball recruiting.

What is Acceleration?

Plain and simple, acceleration is the act of increasing your speed while running. For baseball players, this is accelerating down the line to beat out the play at first, or accelerating to a ball in the gap as an outfielder. Acceleration will continue to build until you hit your top speed. This is a key point for baseball players, as most athletes will hit top speed around 40 yards (give or take).

A large point to bring up is you need to produce force. So many athletes, parents and coaches want “fast feet” but often neglect that you need to produce large amounts of force when accelerating.

We are also seeing a correlation between 10 yard dash times and throwing velocity increases!

Absolute and Top End Speed for Baseball Players

As you transition out of your acceleration and first initial burst, typically after the first 10-20 yards, you begin to enter what we call the Absolute and Top End Speed transition.

As your body moves out of the acceleration position and forward lean, your torso will become taller as you get further into your sprint. In the game of baseball, this occurs in the outfield, double, triples, or long duration base running.

Absolute and top end speed plays a crucial role during your baserunning, 40 yard dash and home to first times. The 40 yard dash and home to first times are important for college recruiting.

Core strength and stability is one of the most requested questions and concerns we receive from players, coaches, and parents. For good reason as well…baseball and rotational sports generate some of the biggest forces within sports, all at high speeds and end ranges of motion.

Core stability is the center of it all.

When it comes to building core strength for baseball players, we must remember what the core is supposed to do and function as… protecting the spine. For baseball players and overhead athletes, you are rotating, extending, flexing, and at high forces. We must increase core strength and create stability to support the high demands of the sport of baseball.

Here are just a few of the benefits of having a strong core:

• Helps decrease lower back pain or stiffness

• Helps decelerate your body when throwing or rotating forcefully

• Improves sports performance

• Improves your stability

• Can help your mobility

• Will help with power production and becoming more explosive

• Helps build up strength in your lifting program

• Helps you repeat high dynamic effort (especially for tournaments)

Recent research from spine specialists such as Dr. Stuart Mcgill has shown that the major role of our core muscles is to resist movement rather than creating it. These “anti” based core principals help baseball players and athletes stabilize the hips and spine during athletic movements (such as throwing, sprinting, hitting, jumping).

Proper nutrition and recovery can make or break your baseball performance. The foods you choose to fuel your body will directly impact your performance and recovery. Understanding how to choose the right foods at the right time will help you prepare your body to compete at the highest level.

Here are a couple of key items to help you when it comes to nutrition and recovery:

• Eat the right foods at the right time.

• Consume high-quality protein.

• Drink plenty of fluids.

• Save major changes and goals (i.e., weight changes) for the offseason.

What you eat and when you eat it plays an extremely large role in baseball performance. There are three major sources of fuel for your body: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Each of these macronutrients are extremely beneficial to baseball players, but when you eat them at the right time they can take your performance to the next level.

Carbohydrates are a player’s primary source of energy. These should be consumed throughout the day, and around game or training times to help provide enough fuel and energy for performance.

High-quality proteins are a player’s primary source of muscle recovery. Protein helps repair and rebuild muscles, which directly impacts how well your body recovers after activity. These should be consumed throughout the day, and right after game or training times to help kick start the muscle recovery process. In order to improve recovery, pair your high-quality protein with carbohydrates!

Fats are the last piece of the puzzle for a baseball player’s nutrition. Healthy fats should be consumed throughout the day, but not too close to game and training times. Since fats are slower digesting, they tend to slow down performance if consumed too close to game and training times.

Proper nutrition and recovery directly impact baseball performance. Learning how to navigate and implement a nutrition and recovery plan specific to the individual will help improve performance and compete at the next level.