Athletic Performance For Baseball Players!

Being a strength and conditioning specialist and ex-athlete I understand the importance of having strength, speed, agility, and power when it comes down to playing any sport. The amazing thing to me is that I have had more argumentative disagreements with baseball coaches on training than any other coach in any other sport. The smart coaches are coming around, but there is still an “old school” mindset that looms out there with some coaches on how they train their players in athletic performance.

The thing that those “old school” coaches don’t get is that bigger, faster, and stronger should be the goal in EVERY sport! The old school coaches don’t understand the importance of athletic performance. They still want to constantly work on specifically “baseball skills” rather than trying to optimize there players’ athleticism. Performance for baseball is just as critical as any other sport. Football players spend the better part of their summer in the weight room or on the field conditioning before they ever touch a football. The truth is that those “football skills” will come back in regular season practice.

The same thing happens with basketball these days too. Guys spend more time in the weight room and trying to sharpen their speed and agility for when the time comes for them to jump back on the court. Just about every other sport does this across the board more than baseball. I simply point out the facts. I don’t make this stuff up. I’m a former baseball player so don’t think I don’t understand, because I do. If you are a player then don’t cheat yourself. Make sure you take the time to get stronger, faster, more agile, and overall well conditioned before the season.

Its time for a change in the baseball community. If you are a parent that is paying for your kid to take cuts in the batting cage during the off-season you need to rethink your investment. I’m not saying they don’t need to practice those skills, but if you really want them to improve on those skills then try to work on making them a better athlete first! That is where you will get them better. Train hard my friends!