We are now getting into our offseason training. A player’s ability to put in the time and effort to improve even when coaches and teammates are not around is a big differentiator for players.
Commitment and self-motivation are skills that are applicable in many different areas of life. These skills can be developed and improved.
So, not only are we getting better at baseball when we train, we are also preparing to be better players at other sports, better students, and much more.
Here we will lay out a baseball-specific workout you can do at home in less than 30 minutes.
The activities will build on the work we have done together and can be done with limited space and equipment.
The training is broken down into 3 categories – hitting, throwing, strength.
If you consistently improve in these areas, you WILL be a much better player.
Approach to offseason training:
- Go hard – you should be at or even above game speed. See how far you can push yourself now so you are more prepared for games.
- Take chances, try new things – nothing is lost if it does not work. When you are training by yourself no one is even around to see if you mess up.
- Prioritize and build a routine – you are much more likely to complete your training consistently if you do this.
Training for Week 1:
Hitting
10 dry swing
40 quality hits off the tee
- 10 inside
- 20 middle
- 10 outside
Dry swings are when we are not swinging to hit a ball. We are still taking a game-style swing.
Envision a pitcher going through their wind up, load your hands and body, and take a hard swing. You can alter where you are ‘hitting’ the pitch – middle, inside or outside; up or down.
Tee work is when we are hitting a ball off of the tee. This is still most effective when we envision the pitcher going through their wind up, we load, and then take a game-style style that would yield a hard line drive.
A few important notes:
- You do not have to hit baseballs off a tee. Plastic or other light weigh balls are fine.
- If you have a cushion or net you can hit the balls into, that is great.
- If you don’t, get a 3 foot string and a whiffle ball. Loop one end of the string around the base of the tee and the other around whiffle ball loops. Now you can hit without having to run down the ball.
- The tee does not lie – if you top the ball or smash the tee, you would not have hit the ball well in a game. If you are way off on a swing do not count that swing towards your total.
- Positioning – we want to let the ball get really deep on us before hitting it – this gives us more time and we are stronger when we are not reaching for the ball.
- Take a look at the pictures below for a visual example, these are balls that were hit for homeruns.
- We want to practice hitting inside, middle, and outside pitches.
- Inside pitches: position the tee so the ball will be inside on you and the ball is aligned with your front foot.
- Outside pitches: position the tee so the ball will be outside on you and the ball is aligned with your back foot.
Throwing / Pitching
In practice this week we introduced 4 new drills that will help build strength and emphasize the mechanics we are building.
15 skier hops (on each leg)
15 rotational throws
15 overhead throws
15 towel drill throws
Skier / skater hops:
You can use the video below as a reminder. Remember, we made a small modification to how we do this drill – we bring our foot in front of our landing foot (instead of behind) since this is closer to our baseball throwing mechanics.
Focus on pushing yourself laterally (out, not up).
Medicine ball – rotational throw:
While these are ‘medicine ball’ drills, we are using a soccer ball/volleyball/basketball for now.
Start from the stretch position, cock the ball back to your ear and use your body rotation to throw the ball.
Here is a resource: https://youtu.be/_SgVlerT6jk?list=PLaF1d8EePXKiNbfaS5YJEF-KpaH11eOKb
Medicine ball – overhead throw:
Use the same ball you used above. Start from your landing position, pull your upper body back and explode forward.
Here is a resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f784hY1Qdek&list=PLaF1d8EePXKiNbfaS5YJEF-KpaH11eOKb&index=8&t=2s
Chair / Towel Drill:
We are going through our full mechanics with our towel between our middle and pointer fingers.
The goal is to drive with our back leg, take a long stride, and hit the chair (or bucket / other object) with a lot of force.
Here is a resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iekWINLKo-o
Strength / Fitness
We will keep it simple this week and do a few key movements. Break each one of these into as many sets you need.
25 push-ups.
25 rows (using a door frame, here is a resource on how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8NzhNe9Res)
25 squats
25 sit-ups
That should do it guys – each of the 3 components should take 10 minutes or less.
You can likely do this all together in 1 30 minute session but if you want to break it up, that’s fine too.
Let us know if you have any questions!
Pressure Baseball 