ERFORMANCE
P
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL
C ONDITIONING
A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PLAYERS
www.performancecondition.com/baseballsoftball
Base Strength Training- Covering the
Four Bases to Get the Most Out of Your
Baseball/Softball Specific Training
Jose Vazquez PT, CSCS, member of the PBSCCS
Vazquez spent four seasons with the New York Mets and is now is in his
second season with the Rangers. He served as the Mets’ Director of Rehab (2005)
and was the club’s Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coordinator (2002-2004).
Before joining the Mets, he was the Sports Physical Therapist at the Therapy Center
in Knoxville, TN, and at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, TN. He cofounded TNT Sports Specific Training in Knoxville in 1988.
After earning second team All-American honors at the University of Tennessee in 1992, Vazquez was selected by St. Louis in the 42nd round of the 1992
draft. He played professionally for three seasons as an outfielder for the Cardinals
organization and for the Northern League’s Duluth club.
T
he biggest disconnect that I see in conditioning the baseball athlete is
the immediate overemphasis on sports-specific conditioning (agility,
balance, speed, etc.) done without the proper basic strength exercises.
Jose Vazquez
I see an overall lack of strength in baseball. I see this all the time at this
level—not being strong enough to improve their game. Too many players, both
high school and college, are moving away from basic strength development. One player coming into our program had not done
squats in years! When we got him back into that habit, he commented that he had not felt that good since college. He is a typical
player who got away from the basics and neither improved nor reaped the benefits of an “agility program.” He does not have the
strength to be agile. You must have the right amount of strength to explode, change direction, accelerate and decelerate. Just as
every baseball player should have basic skills, so too every athlete needs basic strength.
Defining the Base Program- The Four Base Strength Exercises
What are a base program and base strength? I have read certain numbers and definitions for what
the base strength requirement is, for example, being able to squat twice your body weight, bench one
and a half times body weight, etc. These are good markers. However, they may not be feasible
due to the athlete’s medical history. There are basic, whole body exercises that give you the
strength the player needs in order to do other athletic development things properly and to reap
their benefits.
Exercise #1—The Back Squat
In my opinion, this has the greatest benefits of any exercise. You do not have to
handle twice your body weight to gain these benefits. The rule of thumb I use for baseball
athletes is to be able to squat their body weight with correct form for eight to 10 repetitions.
For a workout, I like doing sets of three to five with a high volume activity—doing 10 sets
of three reps rather than the traditional three sets of 10 reps. We also rest one minute during
TM
the base phase and for the power phase we do two to three minutes to ensure quality. It should be noted that loading is adjusted
down based on the rest time to ensure proper techniques throughout the entire training session. This method also ensures good
strength gains. This is enough to properly strengthen the major muscle groups (buttocks, quads, hamstrings) and offers great core
stability work in the back and abdominal area. These are the muscles that are critical in sports-specific “agility type” training. There
are only a few exercises that accomplish all this at once and I prefer the squat.
Exercise #2—The Barbell Dead lift
The dead lift might be considered a controversial exercise. Seven years ago, I would try to get athletes to do this exercise
and they would freak out because they thought that it would hurt their back. However, this has changed. I know physical therapists
who are now advocating the dead lift as a functional exercise used in everyday life (we pick up our children or boxes off the floor,
etc). These are all dead lifts.
There are some basic techniques that are important, and the first is hand position. The dead lift is performed using an alternating
hand grip. I have my players place their throwing hand externally rotated (palm facing up) and the non-throwing hand with the palm
facing down. This puts the throwing shoulder in a more stable position. Most of my players are tall, so I recommend a shoulderwidth stance rather than the wide stances that you see powerlifters doing (a technique know as “sumo style”). That is more for the
shorter athletes, or under six feet tall. The head is straight or slightly looking up and the back is in a neutral position with the bar
close to the shins on the way up. The coaching cue I use is for the athlete to think of mimicking picking something off the floor or
sitting on a chair. With good technique and proper loading progression, there is no reason why an athlete should injury themselves.
This exercise is relatively new to the Rangers, so we have the athletes do three to five reps of working up to body weight. We do a
similar set and reps workout as with the squat—10 sets of three reps with one minute expanding to two to three minutes and increasing
the load.
One point of emphasis is the concept of a neutral spine. The idea is not to have a lordosis situation of the lower back where
the spine curves in toward the mid-line of the body. We emphasize this by keeping the athlete’s eyes and head looking at a specific
spot dictating to the position of the lower spine. I also feel that this prevents curvature of the cervical and theoretic upper areas of
the spine. This too creates an advantageous neutral spine. The second part of this is to have the athlete tighten up the abs. It is the
coach’s job to ensure the back’s position does not break down.
Exercise #3—The Push up
This is a basic exercise that requires no loading. Once an athlete is able to do 30-40 reps, we do plyo push ups (clap hands)
and reduce the number of reps to five or six with multiple sets. Many athletes will combine this with the bench press and do benches
first, followed by a set of plyo push ups. We do three to five reps (light) on the bench followed immediately by five or six plyo pushups.
Readers may wonder why the bench press is not part of the four base exercises. I believe that the bench is a good exercise
as long as it does not interfere with the throwing motion. I did not do benches when I was a player because it bothered my shoulder.
However, I have players who are not affected by it. That is why the push up is the primary exercise and the bench press is “supplemental.” It is a matter of the athlete’s specific needs/situations.
Exercise—#4 The Pull up
Many players cannot do a single pull up. We want to achieve the ability of doing the exercise 8-10 times with good form.
This is a good indicator of overall body strength. Once the athlete achieves 10 pull ups, we load the athlete and have him do sets of
five reps. This allows the athlete to gain more strength and rest between sets (they are not doing as many reps). You can use a kettle
bell with chains or weighted vests to load. We do approximately 30-40 pounds.
Putting the Four Base Exercises Together
My basic philosophy is to do legs and back on the same training day. I learned this from Vern Gambetta. He believes that
the back and legs are the bigger muscles and linked together. This makes working them both a matter of efficiency. We have one
back/leg day when the squat is heavy and the dead lift light. The next workout, it is just the opposite—heavy dead lift and light
squat. We would start with power clean, do the heavy/light squat/dead lift sequence and finish with pull ups. This is a great total
body, multi-joint program done in a very time-efficient matter. On the “chest” day, we do a push press, the bench press, plyo push
ups (super setting) and finally, shoulder presses. This is a program for position players whose shoulder concerns are less of a factor.
Pitchers are more sensitive about doing overhead lifting, such as the shoulder press. I believe that done correctly, the shoulder press
does not create shoulder impingement—improper throwing does. I should also point out that high volume in lifting should be discouraged.
I am not afraid to do any exercise as long as I trust the player to give me honest feedback and that the player is physically
able to handle it. This goes back full circle to having base strength. You start the off-season with base phase strength for six to eight
weeks and then add some of the other things such as agility, or plyo-type training. The base strength program is still done, but the
volume decreases and the weight increases; the coach can use the agility work as part of warm-up. This is ideal because the athlete
is fresh and can concentrate on their movement mechanics. Plyometrics can be done in conjunction with the lifting. We do super
sets of squats with box jumps doing five to six reps, for example. We also do endurance work at the end of the workout.
Maintaining the Base
Strength work is less of a priority during the season, yet it is important to maintain it. I pick one of the Four Base exercises,
the squat, which is the most important lift. Let’s say an athlete does 300 pounds for five reps starting in April. If the athlete can do
275-300 five times in September, the strength has been maintained. I give the players this long-term outlook. We adjust form based
on how the season progresses.
The players with the best results in these four exercises are the ones who have the best vertical jumps indicating lower body
power, the best 10-yard sprint for speed and the best 5-10-5 agility runs. The players who do the exercises and handle the weight
are the ones who do best in these athletic skills tests. One of the things that I did in a research study with Jay Hoffman, PhD was to
correlate slugging and on-base percentages with overall leg power. This study will be published in a scientific, peer-reviewed research
journal later this year. At this time, the four players on the Rangers who are hitting over .290 are the ones who have vertical jumps
over 28 inches and these are the guys who effectively do the Four Base Strength exercises. We tested players from the rookie league
to the majors and the results are very interesting. This is an important first step to scientifically validate the relationship of strength
training, lower body power and on-field performance. It is very exciting information and will give reason to make the Four Base
Strength Program an important part of every player’s baseball and softball development.
More Information Please! Contact Jose at [email protected]
Exercise Technique Questions Answered
Here are answers to many of the questions about doing some of the exercises described in the article. These tips are designed
to help you deal with real world situations that come up. -Ken Kontor, Publisher, Performance Conditioning Baseball/Softball
Resisted Pull Ups
I don’t have a kettle bell or weight vests to do resisted pull ups. Is there something I can do to get the job
done?
Although it’s hard to measure the exact resistance try resisted pull ups. All you need is a pull up bar and
a training partner.
Here’s how: Using a chin-up bar, position the hands slightly wider than shoulder width, palms down. A partner
should stand behind the athlete, placing his hands just above the hips on either side of the body. Using the muscles
of the upper back, pull the chin up and over the bar. Slowly lower to the starting position. The partner should
apply a slight amount of resistance as the athlete raises and lowers himself. Repeat for the required number of
repetitions.
Resisted Push Ups
I’m a pitcher and don’t want to do bench presses what should I do?
You might consider doing resisted push ups. This would give you some additional
loading possibilities without doing benches.
Here’s how:
• Back flat and abs tight, body straight keeping correct form.
• Do 10-12 repetitions
• After 12 repetitions spotter puts pressure on shoulder blades. Do as many
as possible using correct form.
Also a lot of people don’t pay attention to correct push up position
and may be due to a weak pelvis. Let’s take a look at a weak pelvis in action during the push-up.
Notice the body alignment. With a weak pelvic girdle, often times
the hips are lower than the shoulders or the lower back sags. When the
back sags, the pelvis is tilted forward. This puts pressure on the lower back
and shoulder joints.
To pull that sag out of the lower back, contract the abdominal muscles
pulling the rib cage and pelvis together. By flexing the abs, the hips raise.
Now you can start working the abs, by using them when you do push-ups.
What you are looking for is a tabletop. The back ought to be so flat and stable
you can eat dinner off of it.
Dead lifts
I have trouble with the bar slipping out of my hand during the dead lift. Is there anything I can do?
Try an old powerlifter and Olympic style lifter trick- the hook grip.
Here’s how: It will take time for athletes to get accustomed to this method of grasping the bar because weightlifting is
the only sport that uses this type of grip. Even though the initial, light weights that will be used in training will not necessitate the use of the hook grip, it should be used anyway to establish the proper habits needed for heavier weights that will
be lifted later. The hook grip prevents the bar from slipping during lifting, and it allows the athlete to lift much heavier
weights without fear of losing the weight due to a weak grip.
• Standing behind the bar, the athlete should approach the bar and prepare to grip the bar with the hands in pronated (palms
facing down) position.
• At the proper width, the thumbs should wrap around the bar first. The first two fingers of each hand (index and middle fingers)
then grasp the thumbs, not the bar.
• Grasping the thumbs in this manner is to the grip what welding a link is to a chain. A closed link is much stronger than an open
one. The ring fingers and little fingers then wrap around the bar.