Off-season baseball workout programs are designed to hone your skills and prepare you for the upcoming season. If you perform your program consistently and with attention to detail, you should notice an improvement in your play and increased success on the diamond. A well-rounded off-season baseball workout program incorporates the following activities: cardiovascular training, strength and flexibility training, and baseball-specific exercises for batters, fielders or pitchers.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular fitness helps players cope with the physical and psychological demands of a long season, and can help speed recover from an injury, should it occur. Dave Werner, head athletic trainer for baseball at the University of Florida in Gainesville, believes it's important for all ballplayers to establish a cardiovascular "base" before focusing on more specific exercises. "That narrower training," says Werner, "includes sprints, starting with 400-meter exercises and then working up to shorter and faster exercises, such as the 200- or even 100-meter sprint."
Strength and Flexibility Training
Strength and flexibility training in the off-season are equally important for ballplayers because these activities promote a balanced body, which reduces the likelihood of soft-tissue or joint injuries during competition. Strength training improves muscular endurance and power, and helps stabilize joints. Flexibility exercises stretch tight muscles and improve joints' range of motion, which helps maximize efficiency on the mound or in the batter's box. According to Werner, incorporating strength and flexibility training into your off-season workout routine provides "some of the best protection against injury you can get." He recommends to lift weights three to four times per week, taking a day off between workouts to allow your body to rest and recover, and stretching post-workout to keep your body---especially those areas, such as your shoulder, that are most vulnerable---flexible and strong. According to the Mayo Clinic, if your child or adolescent is interested in improving her strength, she should perform strength training, not weight training, using her body weight or resistance tubing.
Baseball-Specific Exercises
Baseball-specific exercises are crucial to the overall success of your off-season conditioning routine. Baseball-specific exercises are designed to develop and refine the appropriate motor patterns required for optimal pitching, batting and fielding mechanics. Because of the repetitive nature of baseball-specific drills, and because you'll be performing such drills thousands of times during the off-season, it's imperative that you first learn the skill correctly to know what "normal" feels like. Understanding what the movement or motion is supposed to feel like will keep you from developing bad habits and inappropriate muscle memory. Schedule frequent sessions with your coaches during your off-season to review your mechanics and make sure you're correctly performing the movement. Your coaches will be able to suggest any necessary modifications. Stop-frame video analysis is another helpful way to track your progress and perfect your technique.
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