Strong hands, wrists, and forearms can make a huge impact for baseball players. Whether hitting, fielding, or throwing, forearm strength and grip strength are involved in nearly every part of the game. While forearm strength is an afterthought to many coaches and players, think about this for a moment. Baseball speed and power begins with the legs. The core, hips, and trunk help to transfer the strength and power from the legs up through the ballplayer’s body and into his arms and hands. Obviously, the hands hold the bat for hitting, the ball for throwing, and the glove for catching. This is where you see that baseball power being unleashed. So at this point, if the ballplayer is weak at the elbow, wrist, or hands, then he is losing some of the power that was so effectively started by his lower half.
We don’t want all that power losing steam right when it means the most. So, ballplayers need to dedicate some portion of their baseball training to forearm strength and grip work. Training the lower arm (everything from the elbow down through the fingers) will also help in protecting the elbow, wrist, and hands against injury.
Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball
There are many exercises and methods for training grip strength. While consistency is always important in a strength and conditioning program, varying the types of exercises performed can have a positive impact on your success as well. When incorporated into an overall baseball strength training program, forearm and grip exercises are often completed near the end of a training session. Depending on your level of strength and the amount of time it takes you to recover, some grip training exercises can be done 2-4 times a week. Movements that are designed more as pre-hab exercises (injury prevention) should be done nearly every day.
According to Jedd Johnson, the wrists and forearms need to be worked from all directions to develop the most size and strength. Jedd is the creator and author of Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball. It’s safe to say he’s knows a thing or two about grip strength.
When it comes to training the hands and forearms, most baseball players opt for the wrist roller, rice buckets, and barbell wrist curls. But there are literally hundreds of exercises that can be done to enhance the strength and power of the forearms and hands. Depending on your needs and goals, ballplayers can incorporate certain exercises for bat speed, finger pressure on the ball for pitching, or recovery and injury prevention. A solid forearm training program can also help with your fielding ability, specifically catchers, whose hands get beat up on a regular basis behind the plate.
With so much unlocked performance potential in the hands and forearms, it’s time to stop skipping this aspect of your training and dedicate a portion of your strength and conditioning program to grip training. Make sure you get your copy of Jedd’s Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball and begin bulletproofing your elbows, forearms, wrists, hands, and fingers today.
