QUESTION:

Dear Coach:

I am a baseball player--actually a catcher--and will play at the high school next year. I am very fast and a good hitter (I have the best 60 time on my babe ruth team), but I seem to have problems throwing guys out when they try to steal on us.

I joined a health club and the instructor suggested that I get my legs stronger so I can get a better jump on the base stealer...so she started me on leg extension, leg curls and the seated leg press...I have been working out hard for 3 months and my weights have gone up on these machines but I don't think I am getting any better of a jump on the base stealer...

Am I doing the right stuff to get stronger?

Jay F.
Norfolk, VA

ANSWER:

Dear Jay,

Any well-structured, progressive overload resistance program can help make you stronger, as evidenced by the increase in the weights that you can do on those machines.

However, my personal advice would be to abandon the three exercises that you have been doing (leg extension, leg curl and leg press) in favor of more sport specific resistance training.

My reasoning is as follows:

While all three of those exercises work the muscles of your legs, they all do so from a seated position. Jay, the only time you are in a seated position is between innings in the dugout.

A catcher squats for periods of time and then must explosively rise out of the squat in order to try and throw the base stealer out. You need to concentrate on exercises that mimic those demands.

I would suggest squat variations such as the back squat, front squat, and especially the pause squat. You can use dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, weight vests, or any other form of resistance that allows you to progressively increase the demands on your neuromuscular system.

Once you have built a foundation of functional, baseball specific lower extremity strength, I would have you progress to the explosive lifts, or Olympic style lifting derivatives, such as the power clean, snatch high pull, power snatch from low blocks, clean pulls with loads averaging between 50-90% of your best power clean and jump squats.

Again the mode of resistance can be in the form of barbells, dumbbells, or medicine balls, but the exercises should be performed with the idea of trying to move the load as explosively as possibly to improve starting strength and total body power.

These lifts are as safe as any other type of exercise, as long as you have a competent and experienced strength and conditioning coach or Olympic Weightlifting coach teaching you proper technique and coaching you through each session. Technical proficiency can be assured by taking the time to learn the lifts and following basic safety rules.

You can contact USA Weightlifting (their link is on our links page) to find a certified coach in your area.

These exercises, combined with a total body conditioning program that includes rotational medicine ball power (production as well as reduction capabilities) work, shoulder and elbow stabilization remedial exercises, and static isometric endurance work for the catching specific squatting stance, will help you move forward in your quest to get a better "jump" on the base stealer.

Then it will be up to the 2nd or 3rd base player to catch the ball and put the tag on.

Good luck with your training.

Good Luck,

Richard C. Lansky, CSCS*D
Director of Athletic Performance
OPTI Sports & Fitness Clinic
Sarasota, Florida USA

NOTICE: THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT MEANT AS MEDICAL ADVICE.

YOU ARE URGED TO CONSULT A PHYSICIAN OR THE APPROPRIATE MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY OF THE ACTIVITIES, DRILLS OR EXERCISES DESCRIBED IN THIS OR ANY OTHER PART OF THE O.P.T.I. SPORTS & FITNESS CLINIC WEBSITE

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PERFORM ANY OF THESE ACTIVITIES WITHOUT QUALIFIED SUPERVISION, SUCH AS THAT PROVIDED BY A LICENSED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL OR CERTIFIED STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING SPECIALIST

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