To continue training to be a great baseball or softball player, first you need to avoid getting injured. Training team deficits to become stronger as a whole is top of mind for the Miami Hurricanes’ Strength and Conditioning Coach, H.R. Powell.
“One of the things that we do at the University of Miami that I'm proud to be a part of is our pre-season deficit screening. This is a huge tool for me in the weight room, and it's a huge tool for the players on the field,” said Powell.
The screening involves assessing athletes’ areas of weakness to in turn focus on strengthening them. Powell looks at their range of motion, injury predispositions, and muscular imbalances, and then creates strength and conditioning programs to improve these factors. According to Powell, these screenings have been impactful in injury prevention for the team. “It's absolutely vital to the success of our program,” he said.
Powell’s set of seven baseball workouts target key areas that players routinely use during a game no matter their position. These baseball conditioning drills and workouts train for explosive movement, lateral power, and strength and integrity of your core, glutes, hamstrings, and arms. In the off-season and pre-season, Powell recommends amping up your strength conditioning. Once the season starts, he shifts his focus to maintaining strength, range of motion and full-body recovery between games.
BASEBALL EXERCISES
Depending on your athletic ability, goals, and the time of year, the weight and amount of sets and reps will vary. Powell recommends three to five sets of three to seven reps each.
Pro tip: Take these workouts with you to the gym by downloading the infographic PDF at the bottom of the page and saving it to your phone.
Barbell Front Squat
The skill we’re training: “The barbell front squat targets your quads, your glutes, and your hamstrings. This exercise is extremely important to baseball because it’s the foundation of explosive movement.”
How to do it:
- Lift the bar off the squat rack in a front rack position with the bar across your shoulders, keeping your elbows high.
- Begin to squat, focusing on driving your hips back, and breaking them before your knees as if you’re sitting back rather than straight down.
- Keep your core engaged through the whole movement while maintaining a neutral spine.
- Drive through your heels to raise back into the standing position. Repeat the movement.
Barbell Romanian Deadlift
The skill we’re training: “The barbell Romanian deadlift targets your entire posterior chain. So we’ll work on our erector spinae, our glutes, and our hamstrings. The hip-hinge pattern — which is the key movement in the RDL — may be the most fundamental movement in athletic performance. The ability for an athlete to create separation at the hip is vital for the athlete’s ability to create power and movement.”
How to do it:
- Begin with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell in an alternated grip position, with one hand facing your body and the other facing front.
- With a slight bend in the knee, focus on driving your hips back toward the wall behind you, lowering the bar toward the ground as you drive backward.
- The angle of your knees and the bar should remain consistent — the only thing changing is the position of your hips.
- Once your hips are back as far as possible, drive them forward to return to a standing position, driving through your heels and engaging your glutes at the top.
Medicine Ball Overhead Slam
The skill we’re training: “The med ball overhead slam targets your core muscles, and is a great way to train explosive upper body power,” says Powell. “Everything we do on the field is going to be explosive in nature — whether we’re throwing the ball or swinging the bat — so med balls are a great way to increase explosive power on the field.”
How to do it:
- Standing with your feet hip-width apart in an athletic stance, raise the medicine ball high over your head, engaging your core the whole time.
- Slam the ball to the floor as hard as you can, keeping your core tight.
- Catch the ball if it bounces up, and return to the starting position to repeat the movement.
Medicine Ball Rotational Scoop Toss
The skill we’re training: “This toss is really good for developing rotational power, which is used while throwing and swinging a bat.”
How to do it:
- Standing with your right side facing the wall, begin in a wide stance with your knees slightly bent and core engaged, holding the medicine ball.
- Shift your weight into your left leg as you rotate the medicine ball toward your left back pocket, winding up to throw it at the wall.
- Explode off your left leg, pivoting to throw the medicine ball towards the wall.
- Grab the medicine ball and return to the starting stance to repeat the movement. Repeat on both sides of your body.
Sprint Drill: 3-Point Start
The skill we’re training: “The 3-point start is going to teach the athletes to drive off their back leg and to gain ground in the opposite direction. This drill allows us to create reactive, lateral explosive power, which is a key component to many movements in the sport of baseball.”
How to do it:
- Find an open space about 10 to 30 yards long with ample room to slow down. Start with your right side facing the direction you will run.
- Begin in a single-leg kneeling position with your left (back) leg up and your right (front) knee down.
- On “go”, explode off your left (back) leg laterally and sprint down the field. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement on your other side.
Sprint Drill: Rocker Start
The skill we’re training: “The rocker start is another lateral strengthening exercise. This is a great drill to teach athletes single-leg balance and power off their backside.”
How to do it:
- Begin with your right side facing the direction you will run, in a hip-width athletic stance with your knees slightly bent.
- Do a short jump laterally to your left, landing on your left foot with your knee bent and holding your balance for three seconds.
- Explode off your left leg to sprint toward your target. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.
Arm Care Band Routine: T, Y, W
The skill we’re training: “This arm care band routine is essential to arm health and integrity throughout the entire season, whether you’re a pitcher or a position player.”
How to do it:
- For each letter, begin with the band attached to the wall just below chest height. Stand facing the wall in an athletic stance, holding the band or attaching it at your wrists. Focus on engaging your scapulas by pulling them back and down toward your back pockets.
- You’ll begin each letter’s movement by straightening your arms out in front of you toward the wall, parallel to the floor.
T: Pull your arms back away from the wall to create a letter “T” with your body. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Y: Keeping your arms straight, lift them up above your head at a 45-degree angle from your shoulders, creating a “Y” shape. Return to the starting position and repeat.
W: Row the band in towards your chest. When your elbows reach your ribs, rotate your forearms up to create a “W” shape with your arms. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Finding Your Strength
Adding these baseball exercises to your training can help you develop a strong foundation when it comes time to step onto the field. Over the years, Powell has seen the impacts of this prep throughout the season: “The teams that can stay healthy, stay strong, and continue to get stronger throughout the season tend to be the ones that have the most success,” said Powell. He encourages players to stay dedicated even when it gets tough, and to trust that you’ll come out stronger on the other side, proud of your accomplishments. “Even when you’ve reached the highest level, you have to continue to work hard. It’s about getting to the big leagues and staying in the big leagues,” said Powell. “If you have the right mentality, it doesn’t really matter what situation you come from. You’re going to give yourself a chance as long as you’re mentally tough, to have success.”
Now it’s time to put in the work. Save the baseball drills PDF to your phone for reference during your training sessions, and we’ll see you out on the diamond.
Take these instructions with you by downloading this printable PDF.