A healthy pair of shoulders is crucial for every baseball player that steps out on the field. Strong shoulders are crucial not only for hitting and throwing but for injury prevention as well. Pitchers need to be especially cautious with their shoulders as too much pitching as well as year-round play can have detrimental effects upon the structure of the shoulder.
A common mistake amongst many athletes is to wait for an injury to happen before addressing it. Shoulder injuries can be prevented by keeping the shoulder strong through various shoulder and scapular exercises. Maintaining shoulder strength should be a staple of an athlete’s year-round training program (especially athletes who do a lot of throwing). In addition to preventative training, all throwing athletes need to develop power and while certain weight training exercises can be beneficial for power development, a better option for youth athletes are plyometric (explosive) exercises using just one’s bodyweight.
The following are two exercises which can contribute to keeping an athlete’s shoulders strong and powerful.
SHOULDER CIRCUIT: Y’S and T’S
Performance:
1. Lie face down on a bench or on a stability device.
2. Squeeze the shoulder blades together and raise the arms so that from behind, your arms and body forms the letter Y. Using a clock analogy, your left hand should be pointing at 10 and your right hand should be pointing at 2. Hold this position for a count of 2. Return your hands back to the floor.
3. Draw your arms up and back so that they are pointing straight out to your sides so that from behind, your body forms a T. Again, using the clock analogy, your left hand would be pointing at the 9 and your right hand would be pointing at the 3. Hold this position for a count of 2. Return your hands back to the floor.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 and strive for a total of 10 reps with each letter.
MEDICINE BALL POWER-OVERS
Performance:
1. Assume a push-up with one hand resting on a medicine ball.
2. Bend at the elbows and lower yourself so that your chest comes close to the ground.
3. Explosively push up and power your torso over the ball and land in a low push-up position.
4. Rapidly reverse directions and repeat for 4-8 repetitions each side. Rest two minutes and repeat.
Use this routine twice per week on non-consecutive days as part of a strength training or conditioning session. Be sure to warm up with some mobility work for the shoulder joint (such as arm circles) and finish with some static stretching for the shoulder girdle.
Matt is an ACE certified personal trainer and NESTA certified speed, agility & quickness specialist.
