Sunday, January 12, 2014

4th Inning--Be Flexible

Yoga.  Pilates.  Cross Fit.  Spinning.  Core.

15 years ago, when I was finishing up my collegiate playing days, I had heard of (I think) one of these.  Yoga, as far as I was concerned, was a meditation technique prevalent in Eastern culture.  The rest of those words, well, they meant absolutely nothing to me.  For all I knew, they were methods used to increase productivity in industry.

What do they mean to me today?  Take a glance at any good high school, college, or even professional baseball conditioning program, and you will find one or more of these activities to be a prominent part of what today's baseball players are participating in to develop strength, balance, and flexibility.

As times change, and our students (as well as the expectations around them) change with them, we need to learn to be flexible---as much now as any other time in our profession's existence.


"15 minutes to warm up? Does a lion warm up when he's hungry? 'Uh oh, here comes an antelope. Better warm up.' No! He just goes out there and eats the sucker."

-Jack Lalanne, "Godfather of Fitness", 1954

Click HERE to view a video of the pre-game warm up routine of Trevor Bauer, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, 2013.







Today's conditioning routines are a far cry from the "old school" workout programs of yesterday.  In 1999, my senior year at North Park, my pitchers' workout routine consisted of three things.  Lift weights in the off season.  Stretch before practice.  The rest of the time?  Run.  Run during batting practice (pitchers weren't really allowed near the bat rack).  Run before games.  Run after the games you pitch.  Run the day after you pitch.  Run the day before you pitch.

And that was about it.  Times sure have changed. And (thankfully, for those pitchers who didn't sign up for the whole cross country routine), the game's approach has changed too.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------