Managing Younger Pitchers

The pitching rotation for 11-year-olds should be determined first and foremost to protect the health of the players and respect the pitch/inning limits established by the tournament. The coaches know their pitchers’ abilities and should set the pitching rotation according to the games. All coaches should plan to win each game. Many coaches start one of their weaker pitchers in a game they feel they can win, rather than playing their pitchers in order from 1 to 4.

The relief pitcher or a pitching change may be decided based on the score and inning of the game. Whenever possible, the better pitchers should remain available for the championship round of the tournament.

One parent interviewed for this article related that when his son’s team scored three runs in the top of the first inning of a championship game, the coach decided to change his starting pitcher as the original starting pitcher was walking to the mound. The new pitcher had not properly warmed up and did not have a successful start; at the end of the second inning, the team was losing 5-3. The coach put the original starting pitcher into the game, but it was too late to recover, and his team lost 6-4.

RELATED: How Young Pitchers Should Prepare for the Upcoming Season

When a starting pitcher get ready to throw before a game, he should prepare physically and mentally. Otherwise, if the coach decides to make an abrupt change to the original plan, the player may not be able to mentally handle the last-second adjustment.

Pitching limits established by the tournament must be respected. Coaches must also immediately remove from the mound any player who has an arm problem or a physical ailment. No player has ever earned a college scholarship or been offered a professional contract due to their performance in a tournament they played in when they were 11 years old.

Handling Pitchers 12 and Up

Establishing a pitching rotation for an older team can be more difficult than managing a staff of younger pitchers. Older teams understand which pitchers are better suited to throw against other teams, and coaches can benefit by learning from their players.

I spoke with a college coach who was recruiting at an 18-and-under tournament. He said a team was throwing one of its weaker pitchers, and the game was scoreless in the fifth inning. The college coach asked the team’s coach to insert his No. 1 pitcher for an inning so he could see him pitch. He put in his best pitcher in the bottom of the fifth and went on to score six runs in the sixth inning. The college coach said you could see an immediate boost in the players’ confidence when their top pitcher went in to the game.

RELATED: Consider Lighter Baseballs for Young Pitchers

When a coach is developing a pitching rotation that will give his/her team the best chance to win a tournament, he or she should follow these simple steps.

• Evaluate the pitchers and rank them 1 to 8.
• Plan to win every game (throw the best pitcher you have available).
• Communicate with the players and learn which pitcher they have the most confidence in.
• Talk with the pitchers and learn what they think are their strengths and weaknesses.
• Be a coach who is always positive, teaching and learning.
• The health of the players is always more important than any out, inning, game or tournament. If a pitcher is experiencing an arm problem or any other physical issue, remove him from the game immediately. It only takes one pitch to damage an arm forever.

But before we get to the nitty gritty, a few guidelines:

• It’s best to include all of your players, infielders and outfielders, in these drills, since some infielders may end up playing the outfield sooner or later.
• You can do all five drills inside a training facility or outside on a field.
• Encourage all your players to take a direct path to ground balls and fly balls. Angle on the ball is vital to taking a shorter path.
• A player’s first step can be the difference between making or missing a catch. Players should take their first step with the foot closest to the ball. Instruct them that every time a ball is hit, take two steps in the direction of the ball—even a foul ball into the parking lot.

1. Ground Ball Drills, no runner on base

The coach rolls or hits a ball to the outfielder. The outfielder gets into an “infielder” position to field the ball. The player stays in this position to field the ball out front. After fielding the ball, the player steps with his throwing foot forward, then his glove foot, to get into throwing position. Encourage players to stay upright when fielding ground balls, because of the potential for a “bad hop” on the field.

 RELATED: How to Build Arm Strength for Baseball: Throwing Drills

2. Ground Ball Drills, runner(s) on base

The coach rolls or hits a ball to the outfielder. The outfielder continues to move through the ball, fielding it in front or just inside his glove foot, while maintaining momentum to make a strong throw to the cutoff man. Coaches should encourage working on this technique until the player is comfortable fielding the ball on the move.

3. Throwing to the Cutoff Man

Do this drill with the above techniques; perform #1, then #2. If you’re indoors, allow the outfielders to throw into a net. Tape or use a string to set a target on the net. If you’re outside, have the outfielder throw 100 to 130 feet.

RELATED: 5 Little League Baseball Drills to Teach Fielding and Throwing

4. Catching Fly Balls

This is one of the most difficult outfield drills for youth baseball players. Some youngsters are afraid of the ball; therefore, we start this drill with a tennis ball. While preparing to catch the ball, the outfielder should say “mine” or “I got it” to alert everyone.

Key to this drill is for the outfielder to gain confidence. We allow younger outfielders to kneel and have a coach toss a ball directly to them. After that step, the outfielder learns how to stand and catch the ball over his glove shoulder, to ensure that he sees the ball all the way into his glove. When that task is conquered, he learns to catch the ball over his throwing shoulder to allow for a quicker catch-to-release time when a runner is tagging up and trying to advance.

RELATED: Agility Drills to Improve Baseball Fielding

5. Backing up Bases

This outfield drill is not much fun for youth baseball players, but it can save a game when done correctly. From little league to the big leagues, players make bad throws and need a teammate to back up the throw.

When a ground ball is hit to the second baseman, shortstop or third baseman, the right fielder should sprint to back up the throw to first base. The left fielder and center fielder need to back up the infielder who is making the play on the ball.

When an opponent bunts, outfielders should sprint in to back up the base in front of them, because at that point the infielder has not thrown the ball.

• Supine Start and Prone Start begin with the athlete lying on his or her back or stomach. The coach starts the athlete with a verbal command.
• The 5-10-5 Drill works on first step and lateral movement.
• Shuffle Sprint simulates a softball or baseball player gaining his or her secondary lead and then reading a ball in the dirt or a delayed steal.
• The Rock Sprint is an option used for softball base running. It is a movement that is reciprocated by corner infielder on a bunt play or an outfielder reading the ball on a line drive. 
• Drop Step Left Sprint and Drop Step Right Sprint work the skills necessary to catch a fly ball hit over the head of a defensive player.
• The 4-Cone Drill works on lateral, backward and forward movement. For this drill, the athlete should set time goals.
• The Figure 8 Drill assists with softball and baseball speed by strengthening the body for making turns around the bases. We have two  athletes do this drill at the same time. The second athlete chases the first athlete around the cones. The athletes should be similar in speed to make it fun.

All of these exercises can be done on the same day. The age and ability of the athlete will determine the sets and repetitions. Coaches remember that in order to gain softball and baseball speed the athlete will need to rest between these exercises to ensure they are training at high intensity. The stopwatch as well as knowledge of your athletes’ limits will enable you to push, but not over-train, your players.

Supine Start

Prone Start

5-10-5

Shuffle Sprint (Secondary Lead / Delayed Steal)

Rock Sprint

Drop Step Left Sprint

Drop Step Right Sprint

4-Cone Drill

Figure 8

Check out more baseball and softball drills:

• 3 Speed and Agility Drills to Help Your Baseball Performance
• Develop “Usable Speed” for Baseball With the Florida Gators
• Texas Baseball Speed: Lose the False Step

I have coached baseball for the past 15 years and played for 20, and I’ve never been ejected from a game. We were playing in a tournament in which the opposing coach’s dad was the umpire. After the third (in my opinion) terrible call, I had to voice my frustration. He ejected me, and it was frustrating to say the least.

I use that story hopefully to inspire young coaches to stand up for your players. While playing, I had a coach who regardless of how bad the umpire was never said anything. I’ve also played for coaches who argued for his team if he felt we were not being treated fairly. The main objective is to show your players you care about their success, and that you’ll go to battle for them. A player respects that in a coach.

Players should focus on their game and not on a bad umpire. Regardless of how the player feels about a call, until you are getting paid to play, your job is to play the game and respect the umpire. Focus on your job and let your coach handle the officiating. If you get all worked up and lose focus, your performance may suffer as the game goes on.

With instant replay at various levels, from the Little League World Series to MLB, the guys in blue are trying to get it right. Players and coaches should always try to build a rapport with the umpires before and during the game. Having mutual respect increases the chances of a game being called fairly. And if there is a poor call—it’s bound it happen—cooler heads will ultimately prevail.

I have also umpired, and sometimes my call didn’t go the way one coach thought it should have. As he approached to argue, I stepped back and politely thanked him for sticking up for his team. He didn’t know how to reply to that other than say thank you and turn around to go back to the dugout. This happened two or three times with the same result. The umpire’s attitude is important to how he or she is perceived on every call, discussion and argument that happens during a game.

As long as people play baseball and softball, they will see bad umpires from time to time. The focus should be on the players enjoying the game and competing fiercely to get to the next level.

The size of your fingers partly determine how you hold the ball. If your hands are on the smaller side, you may need to use more fingers to control the fastball. The pictures in this article show an athlete who uses two fingers and a thumb on the ball. If you need to add a third finger to control the pitch, slide your middle finger closer to your index finger and add your ring finger.

Baseball Fastball Grip

To grip the four-seam fastball, place your fingertips directly on the perpendicular seam of the baseball. Your thumb should be underneath the ball in a comfortable position. The thumb assists with control and potential movement as you perfect your fastball. We teach our athletes to hold the ball like an egg, softly in their fingertips.

If your hand is large enough, there will be a gap between the ball and your palm. Hold the ball as loosely as possible and still be able to control it. This will allow the ball to spin out of your hand faster, so it can travel at maximum velocity. The faster the ball spins, the faster it travels, creating what is often referred to as a “heavy ball.”

The second fastball that we teach is the two-seam fastball. Hand placement is similar to the four-seam fastball, except the fingers are placed in line with the seams rather than perpendicular to them as with the four-seam fastball. Try the two-seam after you can control the four-seam, because the two-seam requires more control and more movement.

Baseball Being Thrown From Hand

After you learn to throw a fastball, work on throwing at targets with proper arm action. If you can grip the ball and throw with good action, you should be able to locate your throws. And after you can locate your fastball while playing catch, you can begin to work on pitching.

Start on flat ground to get the mechanics down before you try to pitch from the mound. Bad mechanics is exaggerated on the mound and can lead to injury.

From here, the three keys to pitching are balance, power, and finish.

1. Balance

First, establish a balance point. In its simplest form, this is where the pitcher is basically “loading” to pitch (as seen in the picture). The head is on the target, and the eyes stay focused on the catcher’s mitt throughout each step.

Pitcher

2. Power

For power, your landing or lead foot should be in line with your back foot and the target. Your front knee should also be pointed at the target to allow your hips to rotate your body toward the release point. Your head is still on target and in the middle of your body at this point; notice the eyes on the mitt.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – SEPTEMBER 18: Pitcher Derek Holland #45 of the Texas Rangers starts against the Tampa Bay Rays September 18, 2013 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

The glove hand is also a checkpoint. Your glove should start out toward the catcher. Your wrist rotates and your elbow stays tucked in close to your side. One of the biggest checkpoints is the elbow in relation to the collarbone or shoulder. Your elbow should remain above your shoulder as seen below. If your elbow consistently drops below your shoulder, you will not throw many fastballs as you get older.

FORT MYERS, FL – MARCH 11: Pitcher Trevor May #65 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch during the fourth inning of a spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 11, 2015 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

As seen in the front-view photo below, your glove-side elbow is tucked into the side. Your front leg and knee are pointed toward the target. At the point of release, your head is over your front knee. Athletes have different release points; the stronger your arm, the later your release point can be. The release point determines location.

 3. Finish

Take your throwing elbow to your opposite knee. Your glove and elbow are still locked in close to your side. Your head and eyes are still on target.

Finishing properly allows you to use your body to absorb the energy you exerted to throw a fastball. The back of you shoulder will become sore if you do not finish, and you could injure yourself.

PHOENIX, AZ – OCTOBER 28: Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher Randy Johnson watches his delivery to a New York Yankees batter during the 1st inning of Game 2 of the 2001 World Series in Phoenix 28 October 2001. The New York Yankees are playing the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Photo credit should read MATT YORK/AFP/Getty Images)

Zach Greinke’s pitching mechanics can be seen in slow motion in the video below.

“You could be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball.”

– Cal Ripken Jr.

All the little league drills we teach focus on fundamentals. The great thing about baseball is that if you learn and can perform fundamentals at an early age, you will be able to play the game all the way through high school. The key thing for coaches and parents is to stay dedicated to these five baseball drills and always go back to the basics every year.

1. Fielding on Their Knees

When a player in on his knees, several things happen that automatically teach the proper way to field a ground ball. First, the position forces the athlete to have his hands out front. This is key, since a common mistake for young players is fielding the ball too deep between their feet and missing it. Players should field every ground ball with their hands out front. Another bonus of the position? When the hands are out front, he can actually see the ball enter the glove.

Here’s a helpful video where the guys from Infield Fundamentals explaining how to help an athlete set up for this drill:

The drill also helps you teach an athlete how to better read hops, and when to switch from forehand to backhand. But all of that comes after you establish that good fundamental technique of—you guessed it—having the glove out front and on the ground.

RELATED: See our guide to teaching hitting fundamentals 

2. Ready Position

Here’s a quick tutorial that quickly covers the three main points of the ready position:

All players on defense should be moving just before the ball is hit. The infielders and outfielders who get into an athletic stance with their feet hitting the ground when the ball is hit learn how to get a jump on the ball. This should be taught to every baseball player.

The easiest way to teach this drill is to have everyone in the field do it during batting practice and fielding practice. We also do it  with the coach raising his knee, prompting the fielder to “jump.” Then the coach either rolls, throws or flips the ball in the air to the player.

RELATED: Baseball Fielding Drills for Quick Hands and Feet

3. 1-2-Field, 3-4-Throw

The ability to move through the baseball is the best way to field and throw. We use “1-2-Field, 3-4-Throw” as our cadence for this drill. (You can see a demo below. They call it 1-2-Field, 1-2 Throw but it’s the same basic idea.)

We teach the drill with a ball lying on the ground and have the fielder move slowly to the ball. For a right-handed fielder it could also be Right-Left-Field, Right-Left-Throw (opposite footwork for left-handers). This is the best drill for teaching fielders to stay low through the ball and take minimal steps to throw the ball to the target.

4. Catching Fly Balls

This can be one of the most difficult drills for young players, because judging a fly ball is a learned task. We can roll a ball to a player of any age and he will attempt to stop it. When the ball is in the air, he may not be so eager to catch it. The reason for this is that players are afraid of failure and get hitting in the face with the ball. Therefore, start with tennis balls and no glove for this drill.

RELATED: Improve Your Fielding Prowess with Two-Knee Drills

The player is approximately 5 feet away from the coach, who lifts a knee to prompt the player to get into ready position. At that point, we toss the ball to the player, allowing him to catch it. Technique is not the first goal for teaching this drill; first we want to build confidence. We continue to develop players with a tennis ball, then add the glove, then add a real baseball.

5. Throw at the balloon

We have the kids demonstrate how they throw before we begin teaching them how we think they should throw. Many kids can pick up a ball and throw it at a target. We use a helium balloon tied to a batting tee to teach throwing to a target. This is a fun drill for kids of all ages. Again, we use a counting system of 1-2-throw (or 3-4-throw to coincide with the above mentioned fielding drill). We add fielding drills to work through to this throwing drill.

We ask the players to step toward their target and point their front elbow/glove toward the target before they throw. The main thing we like to see young athletes learn is to use their whole body to throw a baseball. Keeping the throwing elbow above the collar bone from arm whip (catapult) to release reduces the chance of injury.

BONUS: Relay

Divide the team into two teams and have them throw the ball down and back as the picture above illustrates. We have them roll the ball and work on 1-2-Field, turn and roll to the player behind them. This little competition is a good way to keep players motivated during drill work. Any time a coach or parent can add a competitive aspect to drill work, it will benefit the athlete as he gets older.

READ MORE BASEBALL CONTENT:

• Outfield Drills for Youth Baseball
• Check out These Helpful Drills for Pitchers
• See the Best Cleats on the Market—with Advice from an MLB Team Equipment Manager
• Throwing Drills for Building Arm Strength

Know Your Roster

The tournament roster is important to winning youth baseball tournaments. We encourage coaches to know their players’ potential and allow them to play the positions where they can best succeed.

Talk About Your Goals

Communicate your expectations for the tournament to parents and players.

Being competitive, winning the tournament, and playing to gain experience against high-caliber competition are three examples of goals coaches can convey to parents. Communicating expectations between coaches and players is vital to giving players confidence in their ability. A youth baseball player will play up to his coach’s expectations if the coach remains positive and teaches the game the right way.

Warm-Up

The warm-up is critical to mental as well as physical preparation. A great youth baseball tournament warm-up can be found here.

Set Your Lineup

The lineup should be established as soon as possible so the players know where they are playing, who is pitching, and who is catching. Here’s a breakdown of how to build a lineup:

1. Player with highest on-base percentage
2. Best contact hitter who can bunt
3. Best overall hitter
4. Biggest power hitter
5. Second-best power hitter
6. Second-highest on-base percentage
7. Contact hitter who can bunt
8. Hitter who can work the count
9. Second lead-off hitter with speed and high on-base percentage

Start With A Positive Attitude

A coach’s pre-game speech should consist of positive motivational statements and set the tone for the game. We encourage coaches not to get too “pumped up” at this time, because youth baseball tournaments can last many hours—a long time to keep young athletes excited. A coach’s constant positive attitude allows the players to follow their leader.

Think About Your Closing Comments

The post-game speech is the most important communication with the team. The players leave afterwards, typically get in the car with their parents and have a conversation—often started by the parent asking, “How do you think the game went?” or “What did coach say to you after the game?” Parents can be your biggest asset or your worst liability, so your post-game speech should be encouraging regardless of the final score.

Winning a youth baseball tournament against even competition is not easy. The most important things a coach can do to win are to have a solid roster, encourage positive communication, supervise a great warm-up, pick a strategic lineup, and maintain a positive approach in his or her pre- and post-game speeches. We encourage coaches to focus on winning each pitch, inning, and game. The coaches who are positive, and who focus on winning each pitch will be more than coaches to their young athletes for years to come.

RELATED: 

• 4 Common Mistakes Made When Coaching Young Athletes
• What’s the Most Effective Coaching Style?

You’ve probably heard someone say, “hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports.” They weren’t lying. Hitting a baseball is no easy task, and it gets harder and harder the older you get. By the time you reach high school, you’re facing pitchers who not only throw hard but have mastered a number of different pitches. Learning and maintaining the proper fundamentals of a baseball swing isn’t easy, but it’s the only way to become a consistent hitter.

Your baseball swing is something that needs to be worked on constantly so that it becomes muscle memory. After all, when the ball’s on the way to the plate, you don’t have time to think. You only have time to react. Here are four fundamentals that’ll help you refine your baseball swing and become a more consistent—and dangerous—hitter.

Your feet, your hands and your head are keys to hitting success. If you can move them properly and in concert, you’ll put yourself in great position to rack up hits.

RELATED: Struggling at the Plate? Try These Easy Hitting Drills

Feet

The feet are the foundation for maintaing balance throughout your swing. Balance from the beginning through the finish of the swing is crucial for your ability to track the ball accurately.

The stance should be comfortable. You should stand approximately a bat plus an arm’s length away from the opposite side of the plate. To ensure you’re in the right position, stand in the box and reach the bat to see if you can touch the opposite side of the plate. If you can, you’ll be in a position that provides complete plate coverage.

The load is when the hitter shifts all of his weight to his back foot while his entire body moves together. The load stops when the back knee and back shoulder are in line. The load is like the hammer on a revolver being cocked—it’s done slowly and comes to a subtle stop before the trigger is pulled. It’s the same thing in hitting: the load should happen in a slow and controlled manner before the swing is initiated. 

The stride happens next. The front foot strides in line with the back foot toward the pitcher.

After a nice load and a soft stride, you should be in a balanced position and can begin to move your hands to the ball. We teach our hitters (regardless of age) to hit the ball where it’s pitched and hit it into the outfield. That means that if the ball is on the outside part of the plate, you should try to take it to the opposite field. If it’s on the inside part of the plate, you should try to pull the ball.

Hands

When moving your hands toward the ball, don’t immediately extend your arms or push your hands forward. Keeping your hands back at the start of your swing will allow you to generate a lot of energy with your legs and core before bringing your hands through. As you make contact, your eyes should see the bat hit the ball. You should hit through the baseball, meaning your bat speed should be at its peak just before contact. This is a huge step in having a better hitting technique and driving the ball. Check out the video above to see how Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon focuses on keeping both hands on the bat to keep his upper body loose in batting practice.

Head

Your head should be still throughout the swing. An easy mental note to enforce keeping your head still is to think “Ike to Mike.” This is a saying I learned from an older coach and it’s a great way to teach hitters.

“Ike” is on your front shoulder and “Mike” is on your back shoulder. You should say hello to “Ike” at the beginning of your swing and say hello to “Mike” after you hit the ball. In other words your chin should go from shoulder to shoulder while you swing the bat. You’re not actually moving your chin, but your swing is rotating your shoulders. If you can control your head throughout the swing, hitting becomes easier.

RELATED: Batting Practice Do’s and Don’ts

Hitting Drills to Build Fundamentals

Building muscle memory for a fundamentally sound swing takes a ton of practice. The following drills can be done in order to gradually develop the proper muscle memory necessary to consistently drive the baseball.

Dry Cut Drill

Developing a hitting technique is as easy as counting to four—1. load, 2. stride, 3. see the ball all the way, and 4. hit the ball. 

The Dry Cut Drill involves verbal commands from a coach, where he or she counts out loud 1, 2, 3 and 4. The key is to remain balanced throughout all of the steps.

• The hitter should be in his stance to begin the drill.
• On the coach’s 1 count, the hitter loads. The back knee and back hip should be aligned, and the knob of the bat should be pointed at the opposite batter’s box.
• On the coach’s 2 count, the hitter strides. The nose and belt buckle should be aligned within the middle of the feet.
• On the coach’s 3 count, the hitter listens for the pitch location. The bat head should be directed to that location, and the eyes should focus on that location.
• On the coach’s 4 count, the hitter swings. The hitter’s back foot should pivot, the bat head should travel directly to the location, the hitter’s  back shoelace should face the pitcher to ensure he got his hips through, and his head should remain still.

The coach should have the hitter perform this simple drill on air before adding a ball. The hitter should learn how to swing and understand the checkpoints in this drill, which will enable him to make pitch-by-pitch adjustments in a game scenario.

Tee Drill

The Tee Drill helps you learn where to hit the ball. I heard Ken Griffey, Jr. say, “it’s like jousting. If the pitcher throws the ball away, hit it to opposite field, and if he throws it inside, pull it.” That’s a very simple way to say it, but it means take your bat head to the ball and hit the ball where it’s pitched. The contact point will determine where the ball travels.

The outside pitch should be hit to the opposite field gap, middle pitch over the center fielder’s head, and inside pitch should be smoked down the pull side foul line. The coach should move the tee all over the plate so the hitter has to adjust his swing to ensure the flight of the ball is toward the proper field.

RELATED: Tee Drill Fundamentals With LSU Baseball

Flip Drill

The Flip Drill is the next step in our fundamental hitting drills. The flipper moves according to the location the hitter is working. For an inside pitch, the ball should be tossed at the hitter’s front hip, allowing him to work on pulling the ball. For a middle pitch, the ball should be tossed from a 45-degree angle in front of the hitter. The ball should head toward the hitter’s belt buckle, forcing the hitter to get his hands through a middle pitch and hit a line drive up the middle.

For an outside pitch, the flipper will be behind the hitter and the ball will travel through the contact zone on a line. This will encourage the hitter to focus on the ball all the way from the hand and to work on bat speed to drive the ball to the opposite field gap.

Batting Practice

Batting Practice is the next drill we use with our hitters. We throw from behind a screen to different locations to allow the hitter to work on taking the ball to all fields as well as the complete swing (remember 1-2-3-4.) The coach can count out loud to get the hitter in a rhythm and allow him to take that approach to a game scenario.

Live At-Bats

The final step is live at-bats from a pitcher or machine. We use a live pitcher when possible. This drill requires the hitter to put it all together. If the hitter has a flaw, it will be quite evident during this drill. When the ball travels at game speed, the hitter must stay controlled on steps 1, 2 and 3 and explode through step 4.

Please view one of our students demonstrating the stance, tee drills and flip drills: click here HuddyWorks.

READ MORE: 

Increase Your Hitting Power With 4 Strength Exercises

5 Baseball Fielding Drills Perfect for Little Leaguers on Up

The Perfect Way to Warm-Up for Baseball Games

6 Baseball Conditioning Workouts

[FUN] What Your Baseball Position Says About You

Athletes want a stronger core. A lot of times, it’s probably because they want a shredded six-pack. But whether their intentions are sound or not, building core strength will serve them well in their sport in terms of performance and injury prevention, and may even give them the washboard abs they seek.

However, I see too many athletes overcomplicating their core training. They end up trying to incorporate as many cool-looking exercises as possible and fail to challenge their core. Or they don’t know where to start and end up ignoring core work altogether.

To make things simple, I’ve developed a Plank routine that only takes 90 seconds to complete. For many athletes, holding a Plank for 90 seconds isn’t all that challenging. But the beauty of this routine is that while you hold a Plank, you raise your arms and/or legs off the ground. This changes the center of the gravity of the exercise and forces your core to keep your spine stable and fight extension, flexion and rotation—a critical attribute of a powerful athlete.

The 90-Second Plank workout is extremely simple. Perform each variation for 10 seconds. By the end, your core will be on fire. As you get stronger, you can increase the duration of each exercise if needed.

• Standard Plank
• Plank with left arm extended
• Plank with right arm extended
• Plank with left leg lifted
• Plank with right leg lifted
• Standard Plank
• Plank with right arm extended and left leg lifted
• Plank with left arm extended and right leg lifted
• Standard Plank

READ MORE:

•  25 Plank Variations for a Shredded, Stable Core
• 6 Side Plank Variations for a Killer Core
• The Reverse Plank is the Best Core Exercise You’re Not Doing

In the United States, the No. 1 cause of death is heart disease. Several changes to your diet should be made to decrease your chance of heart disease and to even reverse heart disease. Healthy eating can improve your cardiovascular system, as can exercise (discussed in Top 3 Exercises to improve Cardiovascular Health).

Healthy eating can be difficult, but knowing what to eat is the beginning of a heart-healthy lifestyle.

According to Harvard Health Publications, here are the top 3 things that should be avoided:

1. Processed meats

These foods are preserved using salts and nitrites. Examples include deli meats, sausage, bacon and hot dogs.

2. White bread, white rice, and low-fiber breakfast cereals

3. Soft drinks and other sugary drinks

The body does not process liquid calories the same as solid calories, which could result in consumption of the same amount of calories from liquid as “add-ons.” There are 10 teaspoons of table sugar in one 12-ounce can of soda.

What should I eat to reduce my chance of heart disease, and be considered healthy eating?

1. Fruit

Choose locally grown fresh fruit (no added sugar).

2. Vegetables

Choose locally grown fresh vegetables when available.

3. Grains & Cereals

Choose 100% whole grain products.

4. Protein

Egg whites or liquid egg substitutes, fish, scallops, and shrimp (broiled or grilled).

5. Healthy Drinks

Water, green tea, Caffeine-free herbal teas.

One of the most respected people in the world of health care is Dean Ornish, Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF and Founder/President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute. He has written several books and offered many suggestions to reduce the chance of heart disease and even reverse heart disease.

A sample of what Dr. Ornish recommends for diet and stress management

1. Diet

Lower intake of high-fat animal proteins, red meat, pork, and full-fat dairy products. Increase consumption of complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, non-fat dairy products, soy products, and egg whites. Eat moderate amounts of fish, skinless chicken, avocados, nuts, and seeds.

2. Stress management

Techniques include stretching, relaxation, breathing, imagery, and meditation. The keys are practicing stress management techniques, developing a relaxation routine, locating a safe and quiet place to relax, finding a good time of the day for relaxation, and creating a positive mental attitude about relaxation daily.