At Home Strength Training for Softball Players
At what age should softball players begin weight training? There are many different viewpoints and opinions on this topic. As a pitching instructor, I have parents approach me all the time about how they want their daughter to get stronger, but she is too young for weights. I previously wrote an article about taking advantage of high school, summer weight lifting programs. Some feedback on that article was that parents have no way of getting their kid to the workouts during the summer because they work during the week days.
This got my brain thinking back to when I was a pre-teen and things I used to do around my house to build strength. Not everyone has access to a gym or a high school weight training program. Female athletes shouldn’t hit the weights until their bodies have developed anyway. There are many different at home exercises that kids, pre-teens, and teenage softball players could incorporate before, after, or during their hours of watching Netflix shows.
Below are a few key strength areas of the body that softball players should focus on. The exercises listed below can all be performed at home and don’t need much parental supervision.
Arm/Shoulder Strength: As a softball player, it is important to develop and maintain arm strength and flexibility. Before doing any exercise, it is encouraged to warm up and stretch. Even if it’s just a few forward and backward arm circles to get loose, your muscles and your body will thank you as you get older. Push-ups are a great exercise to build arm strength. You wouldn’t believe how many pitchers I see weekly who can’t do a single push up. Pitching is so one arm dominant; it’s common that young pitchers have muscle in their throwing arm and not on the other. Push-ups are a great way for softball players to develop strength and muscle in both arms. If you can’t do a push-up, start out on your knees and then move to regular form.
Core Strength: Developing and maintaining core strength is essential for a softball player. Think of all the areas of the game where a softball player’s core is engaged. Hitting, pitching, fielding, and throwing all require work from the core. Some easy at home core exercises include sit-ups if you don’t have someone to hold your feet or slide your feet under the couch to do your quality reps. Planks are another great core building exercise that softball players can do at home. Most kids have phones these days so that they can time themselves! Wall sits are another exercise that can be done at home. Wall sits not only engage the core but they also build and maintain leg strength which will benefit softball players as well.
Conditioning: The most dreaded word. Conditioning is important to the sport of softball, and it is something that needs to be maintained and practiced in the off-season months. There are many different ways softball players can condition on their own. Wind sprints are common and help softball players when it comes to running around the bases and chasing down balls in the outfield. Distance running is recommended for pitchers, even if it’s one mile runs a few days a week. Pitchers need to develop and maintain endurance for long innings, games, and tournaments. Biking is another great exercise for building and maintaining speed and endurance. Biking also requires leg strength, especially when riding up hill. This will also get kids off the couch and away from the TV/Phone if they ride a bike outside.
There are plenty of at home exercises softball players can engage in that will help them take their game to the next level. Not all practices and training need to be with a softball or a bat in hand. The elite athletes are the ones who put in the work day in and day out, on and off the softball field. Who knows, if you practice wind sprints on your own in the off-season, you may find yourself beating out more bunts and stealing more bases next season. There is always something to be improved on in the sport of softball. If your game is decent, focus more of your attention on the strength and speed portion, that counts just as much. The work you put in today will set you up for success in the future.
