Tag Archives: Medicine Ball

Knock the Cover Off the Baseball with Medicine Ball Exercises

Knock the Cover Off the Ball with Medicine Ball Exercises

 

So you want to be like Roy Hobbs and knock the cover off the ball, huh? Well, you’re going to need some unbelievable hitting power. And how do you develop hitting power? It all starts with a strong core and your ability to generate rotational power through your hips and torso. One of the best ways to develop this rotational power is with medicine ball exercises.

You should know by now that the mechanics of hitting make baseball a rotational sport. By increasing core strength and coordination, you can make your body more efficient at transferring the strength and power you have in your legs through your torso and into your upper body where your hands hold on to the bat and the bat makes contact with the pitch. This is where the power generated by your swing transfers to the ball – or should we say makes the ball explode!

Developing rotational power is not easy. To begin, you need to have a solid core program that strengthens every part of your hips and torso. From that foundation, you can begin to incorporate medicine ball exercises into your strength and conditioning program to work on developing speed through the transverse plane.

Take a look at the following four examples of medicine ball exercises that you can use to take your rotational power from good to great the next time you step in the batter’s box.

Step-Behind Rotational Med Ball Shotput

Hot Feet Recoiled Shotput

Split Stance Medicine Ball Rotational Throw

Rotational Medicine Ball Slam

 

Remember, the game of baseball is built upon quick bursts of speed followed by extended rest periods. That means you should be taking adequate rest between your medicine ball sets. Pick one to three exercises above to perform in a given training session. Perform 3-4 sets of those exercises with 5-10 reps per exercise. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets, and then attack it again!

Baseball Core

Strengthening the Core for Baseball

Baseball Core

Core training for baseball has come a long way from situps and crunches. In today’s world of baseball strength and conditioning, strength coaches teach their athletes that the core is the center of power. We are not just talking about the abs here. When discussing the core, you need to think about the hips, abs, obliques, low back, and even the scapular area. Some ballplayers have trouble relating the athletic movements needed to hit, throw, and run with core exercises that can improve these attributes. Again, core training is more than just situps.

The Core as it Relates to Baseball

Most know that the core muscles help with rotating the body for swinging and throwing. However, another important function of the core involves power transfer. The legs generate the initial speed and power, but the core helps transfer that power from the legs through the torso and into the arms and hands. This is where bat speed is created for hitters and where arm speed and velocity is generated for pitchers. Needless to say, if you have a weak core, you will not be able to effectively transfer power created by your legs and apply it to your baseball-specific skills.

As we mentioned before, situps are a thing of the past for ballplayers looking to strengthen their core. Instead, baseball players should incorporate movements that involve rotation, flexion, and lateral flexion to enhance the similar movements we see in hitting and pitching.

You need to be selective with these exercises, though, as you do not want to cause overuse injuries to the core muscles that also stabilize and protect the spine. To strengthen the core stabilizers, you can perform anti-rotation, anti-lateral flexion, and anti-extension movements.

3 Sample Baseball Core Exercises

Whether reinforcing on-field movements or stabilizing to protect against injury, baseball core training can use medicine balls, cables, power bands, or just the athlete’s body weight. Let’s take a look at 3 sample baseball core exercises that you can begin using in your strength and conditioning program today.

Pallof Press

Split Stance Medicine Ball Rotational Throw

Body Saw

Core Power for BaseballCore Power for Baseball

If you are looking for more ways to help create a stronger core, check out Core Power for Baseball. With this program you’ll learn core training and baseball training exercises designed to drastically improve your throwing power and bat speed.  This program includes videos detailing every exercise with progressions so all levels of athletes can perform the designed baseball workouts.  Check it out today!

Good luck!