3 Baseball Core Exercises For Peak Torque
Steal more bases. Stretch singles into doubles. Throw runners out. Here’s how...
Increase Power Output
Let me explain and show you 3 exercises that can DRASTICALLY improve on field performance.
We’ve been working with baseball athletes this early offseason and these guys have seen great increases in all their numbers from their hitting velocity, throwing velocity, to their vertical jump. This is due to an increase in their power output which translated smoothly to on field performance. The things is…
Lots of coaches are afraid to work on raw power output when it comes to baseball players because they’re afraid they’ll get injured. They’re more focused on fixing shoulder imbalances and working on mobility, which definitely has its place in offseason training.
However…
When you train a player to increase their power output, you’ll see a smooth translation to their game. The core is one of the most important components to work on with a baseball player. This is because they need to translate energy through their torso as efficiently as possible. Whether they’re hitting or throwing, their translating power from their lower body to their upper body to create a powerful swing or throw.
The goal is to increase the explosiveness in their torso, so that the athlete can transfer energy more efficiently and, the athlete can translate all the power and stabilization they’ve developed onto the baseball field.
To do this, begin to include movements that mimic the very same motion they perform during a game. Some of our favorite ways to do this include cable work (chops, lifts, twists), and ballistic medball work.
So for example, we may work with a medicine ball to create the explosive movement that is performed from the lower body to the torso. The motion of the upper body doesn’t need to match here since we’re working on loading weight in the rear hip and exploding forward.
We can create this same movement with a cable by doing a cable chop or cable lift. Here you can begin adding in rotation that closely mimics the motion used when hitting.
The goal is always to create as much force within a controlled manner as possible.
3 BASEBALL CORE EXERCISES FOR PEAK TORQUE
1. Cable Lift
Begin with your feet in the same position as your batting stance
Start with cable handle by your rear hip
Shift your weight forward and push off the back leg as you rotate the handle up towards your front shoulder
Repeat for desired reps
2. Ballistic Medball Side Toss
Start with your feet in batting stance position
Start with the medball by your back hip
Load the hips then quickly extend as you rotate the torso and hurl the ball towards the wall
Repeat on both sides
3. Cable Chops
Begin with your feet in baseball stance position
Start with the cable handle by your rear shoulder
Shift your weight towards your front leg and rotate the cable handle toward your front hip
Repeat for desired reps
Core training is only one slice of the tiny pie that you need for a bigger bat, stronger arm, and more speed. I’ve laid out that entire pie inside of Baseball Power Program.