Yesterday the 2015 season began for the Defiance College Baseball team. In addition to team practices, the coming weeks of our own version of Spring Training will include not only individual workouts for pitchers, catchers and position players - but also time devoted in the weight room as well. So I thought I'd give a little insight into how we manage the strength component of our program during the season.
Our position players and pitchers [including dual guys] lift in two separate groups, two days per week - so that we're able to effectively manage the space in our weight room. Positionals typically lift after practice [Monday & Friday] while pitchers come in during the day [Tuesday & Thursday] to get their lift in. The program that we outline is derived from Eric Cressey's High Performance Handbook. Eric Cressey in my opinion, is the top resource for coaching strength & conditioning in overhead athletes.
I became familiar with Eric and Cressey Sports Performance (CSP) in the fall of 2013. After finding out he would be presenting at the 2014 ABCA Convention in Dallas, I researched him a bit more and liked some of the things I saw. I hadn't yet come across a strength program so meticulously outlined not just for overhead athletes, but specifically for baseball players.
CSP's High Performance Handbook also serves as a great guide and reference point in determining just what kind of attention an athlete might need - the needs of a hyper-mobile [very flexible] athlete are far different from the athlete who requires range of motion work. We use Cressey's extension program at Defiance - simply because throwing baseballs with high levels of intensity requires an athlete to be able to maximize extension [specifically that of his throwing arm]. We also train this through the throwing of weighted baseballs, but I'll save that for another day.
All in all, I would recommend Eric Cressey's work to anyone who is looking for something a bit more specific when it comes to training not only pitchers, but overhead athletes in general. Some of CSP's more recognizable pro guys include Tim Collins (Kansas City Royals), Steve Cishek (Miami Marlins) and 2014 Cy Young Award Winner, Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians). For additional information and resources you can follow Eric Cressey on Twitter @EricCressey and @CresseySP or keep up with his blog.
Until Next Time...
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