If you're a baseball player, then you know how important it is to not only stay in shape but keep your skills sharp. If you let yourself go during the off-season, then you might be in for a world of hurt when spring training comes around. Not only do you put yourself into a position where you might not be as good as you'd like when competing against another team, you actually risk yourself not making the grade and actually being cut from the team. This is why it is so important that you take this time during the off-season and make sure that you are all set and ready to go when you hit spring training. Here are some crucial things to do.
Bating Training Weights
You want a powerful swing so that you can hit home runs. It's one of the fundamental rules of baseball; hit it out of the park, and you score a run. The stronger you swing the bat, the better likelihood you have of driving a pitch thrown your way as far as possible. And one way to make sure you are strong enough is to get baseball hitting training weights and train with them during the winter. You can find a good set of weights and affix them to your practice bat and swing away. This way, you will have power in the exact movement that you need on the field. It's better than simply weight lifting because you will be using the precise swinging motion that you are going to be using when you step up to the plate.
Cardio, Cardio, Cardio: Hit The Track (or Treadmill)
In addition to a strong swing, you also want to be fast on your feet. In the event that you don't hit it out of the park, you will want to make sure that you can run as fast as you can and make it to first base (or second, in the event you hit it far enough). Also, when the other team is up, and you're in the outfield or infield, you want to be able to react fast and run as fast as possible to catch the ball. So, make sure you hit the treadmill (if it's too cold where you are to run outside) and keep your conditioning up.
Study Time: Game Replays
In addition to physically keeping yourself up to date, you will want to make sure that you've kept your mind sharp. The best way to do this as it relates to baseball is to study the plays and make sure that you've got all of the info you need on the plays that your competing teams will make. You want to study the pitching, the fielding, and make sure you don't go in cold when it comes time to meet that first opponent.
