The Important Fall is Over

2010 World Series, Arlington, TX

Photo Taken by 

Jonathan Hall

The World Series is over, Fall Ball is over, and organized practice is over until January. The Fall World Series took it's usual course by being a straight sweep for the 4th year in a row. I was picked to coach with Nick Vera on the grey team. We had a mix of veteran players along with a majority of the freshman. Regardless we still came out on top. Being a 5 game series, the first to 3 wins is the winner of the series. We got the sweep, then lost the last 2 games of the series, finishing up at 3-2. It was a very well pitched series with few hits and not many runs. Wood bats were the main reason for this. Our team looked really good this fall and hopefully it transfers into the spring.

My 4 weeks of doing nothing is over and now I am cleared to workout, run, hit, and throw. I am going to start getting into it slowly. Everything is well.

During the fall we went to a 3 day a week workout schedule. If you wanted you could do extra workouts. Now that fall is over, we are back to our workout or running every day. One thing we as a team are trying to improve on strength wise is increasing forearm and grip strength. This will improve arm strength, bat control, and power. It is most important for hitting because bat control is a big part in the difference between an average hitter and a great hitter. If you look at clips of Derek Jeter, he is a perfect example of having bat control and forearm strength. He gets bloop and opposite field hits because he can get his hands inside the ball and use his arms to flip the ball the other way and up the middle. He has become the #1 New York Yankess' all time hits leader. As a team we are starting to incorporate a number of forearm and grip strength exercises to work on this. Here are some examples that would be posted on our whiteboard:

Forearms/Grip Strength:
Plate Grip: hold a 45 lbs plate in each hand. Hold them by the ridge on the rim (*Not the Handle*) Do this for as long as possible.
Curls/Reverse Curls: with Dumbells. Curl the DB up with palms down. Do the same with palms up. (Weight probably around 12-20 lbs)
Towel Pullups: Wrap a towel around a pullup bar. Grip each hanging part of the towel and do as many pullups as possible. Hang from towel at end for as long as possible.
Hammers: if you have a small, sturdy hammer and a wood stump, keep your elbow steady and hit the stump with the hammer up to 200 times with each arm.

These are a few of the workouts we do. There are other complex lifts but these should give you a solid burn in the forearms. Below is a video of Derek Jeter getting his record Yankees hit. Notice how he leans out and uses his arms primarily to drive the ball down the first base line. (Start movie at 1:10)

"Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off." - Bill Veeck

And the Battle Begins...

Fall is the time to show the coaches what you have. Its the time to show off your skills and try to earn a spot on the team and possibly a starting job come spring time. Players old and new turn heads, but some also disappoint. With such a large squad this year, the coaching staff has and will have to make some tough decisions on slimming down the roster come the spring. So far, through 2 weeks of practices (4 per weekend), the team has picked up right where we left off. The pitchers expected to dominate have done so, as well as the hitters who are expected to make a big contribution in the lineup. Everyone is looking forward to a great and competitive last 2 practices before the infamous Trinity Baseball Fall World Series begins. The first game is Sunday, October 24th.

Photo taken by Shari Robertson
© All rights reserved 

On a quick note, I was cleared to start doing light lifting, jogging, and some baseball activities today. I was eagerly waiting and excited to get back into the swing of things but am really disappointed that I won't be completely healed and ready to play for the next two practices and the Fall World Series.

Now onto the training. Last post I described supersets and how they are important for muscle strength and size, with also some muscle endurance training. That is what our workout consists of on a daily basis. But also, about 3-4 times a week after workouts we will incorporate long distance and short distance running. Long distance running is most helpful towards pitchers. The running increases endurance and helps with the pitchers throw deep into ballgames. The sprint work is usually done by position players as well as pitchers. To get faster, working out is a part of it, but doing sprints is how you get faster. Here are some examples of good running for long distance and sprint work:

Long Distance:
On track,
Sprint 100 m, 30 second rest
Run 200 m, 45 second rest
Run 400 m, 2 minute rest

Turkey Trot (2 mile jog)

Short Distance:
On football field,
(10) 30 yard sprints, full recovery rest
(10) 60 yard sprints, full recovery rest

(8) 300 yard shuttles: Sprint 300 yards (Down, back, down) 1 minute rest in between

Some of these running drills are very tiring, but in the long run they become very beneficial for speed and endurance. Good luck.

"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings." - Earl Wilson

A Minor Set Back... Fall Ball Begins

This week is a big week for the Trinity University Baseball team. We start our month of fall ball this Thursday at 2 pm. But I will not be able to participate in practice for at least 2 weeks because I was diagnosed with a hernia around my right groin. I got surgery Tuesday morning and should be out for a few weeks. Hopefully not the whole fall so I can get some at-bats and plays in the field. Anyways I will continue to give advice on training and updates on how the team is looking this fall.

Photo taken by Kelly Woodruff

Last post I talked about the importance of doing leg exercises to build strong leg muscles to endure a long season and perform well on the field. However you also need a strong upper body. When swinging you use your forearms and arm strength to get the bat quickly through the zone and use your shoulder and back muscles to pitch the ball off the mound or throw it across the diamond. The muscles that are key to these successes are your shoulder, rotator cuff, forearm (as a whole, top/bottom), and your upper back (or lats). Last post I mentioned what a W.O.D. or a "Workout of the Day" was and how it is beneficial to baseball players. There is another type of workout that is just as helpful, if not better. They are called supersets. A super set consists of 2-3 lifts that work opposite or the same muscles. Doing more than one workout for a muscle set really builds strength. The way supersets work is you will do one lift, then the other right after. When you finish a round, you can take a short break (no longer than a minute). This is more for improving muscle size and pure strength than muscle endurance (aka WOD). A typical superset looks like this:

(Photo taken by Shari Robertson)
© All rights reserved 

Superset:
Single Arm Row 3x8
Pull-ups 3x10

Forearm Superset:
(45 lbs) Plate Hold 3x Max hold
Forearm Curls 3x15

A normal workout would consist of 2-4 of these supersets. They are a great workout and really build up muscle. Together with WODs, these workouts get you in great physical condition for a long season.

"Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose." - Mike Schmidt

What to Focus on when Training for Baseball

So far these past 2 weeks for Trinity Baseball the workouts have been getting tougher and more intense as we near the start of fall ball. Fall ball consists of 4 weeks of practicing Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday, with Saturday as an off day. We practice from 2-7 p.m. However, even though we are starting to practice the workouts don't stop or get easier.

(Photo taken by Shari Robertson)
© All rights reserved 

When playing baseball what parts of your body are the most important and should be in great shape? Your legs and core. Hitting a ball farther, getting to a ground ball deep in the hole, or throwing 95 miles per hour off the mound all comes from your legs and core muscles. It's the torque, or exploding of the hips/obliques/abdominals that produces the power. With this in mind, our team workouts consist of starting with a warmup, then a heavy leg lift. These are most commonly back squat, deadlift, and hang clean. (Sometimes we incorporate more complex lifts but those aren't important now). We then go into what we call a W.O.D. or a "workout of the day". The W.O.D. includes a combination of back, legs, chest, and abdominal exercises. The point of these workouts is to build muscle strength along with muscle endurance to get you through a game or season, so the workout is done as quickly as possible and is timed. An example workout we would have on a given day would look like this:

Core Lift:
Back Squat: 3x5

WOD:
3 rounds of:
20 Box Jumps (24 in. box)
20 Push-Ups
20 Air Squats
**No rest in between rounds**


This would be our workout for the day, with some days having running afterwards. It may look like nothing, but try it and don't cheat yourself. It helped our team win a conference championship last year. I linked a few videos onto this post to sample a few other leg and core workouts we do. The guy in the video is our strength and conditioning/hitting coach Nick Vera.
"Landmines"





"Kettle Bell/Dumb Bell Complex"

"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too." - Roy Campanella

Introduction to Baseball Training

Hey everyone my name is Jonathan Hall and I'm a sophomore at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. I am from Kenilworth, Illinois a small suburb on the north side of Chicago. I am involved in many sports at Trinity, but play baseball competitively. It is often said that baseball does not take much strength, conditioning, or focus to be successful, thus making it sound like a "lazy" sport. However with the long season and grueling games, baseball takes a lot of muscle strength and conditioning along with a strong mind.

2010 SCAC Champions
(Photo taken by Shari Robertson)
© All rights reserved 

Coming into a tough, competitive Division III baseball program as a freshman, I thought I knew how to train and push myself to my full potential. But when lifting, running, or training alone you can make yourself believe you got everything out of the workout. This is my first lesson/tip to get into great shape. Training with a friend on the team, or a partner pushes both of you to beat the other, thus reaching your full potential in the workout. Our strength and conditioning coach, Nick Vera, writes up workouts every day that strengthen our muscles, condition us, and focus on mental strength as well. So whether you have a strength coach or not, grab a friend or teammate with the same dedication level as you so they can push you as hard as you push them. (**Make sure one of the people in the group knows proper form for all workouts. Form is more important than how much weight you can lift**).

For details on lifts/workouts from our offseason training, follow the TU Baseball Strength and Conditioning link at the top of the page.

"Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical." - Yogi Berra