I've seen things online discussing the effects of strength training once the season starts, and if it should cease or change. My daughter (9th grade) is a pitcher with two years experience, and we're getting to the last phase of dialing in her accuracy for spots. We mess around with a change-up some, but spots are #1 at this very early stage of her journey.
She's been doing moderately heavy strength training with her catcher 2-3x per week, and I'm now thinking it's time to dial back the weight and/or move to plyometrics. I've seen discussion over the years about how increases in strength and/or hypertrophy can inhibit development of patterns necessary to build accuracy and consistentcy through repetition.
Essentially, small changes in size and strength are changing the basic foundation the brain has to work with.
This was very evident last night at practice as she tried to pitch 90 minutes after leg day at the gym. I also need her to start conditioning. Base cardio and high numbers of plyometric stuff to replicate the dozens of times per game that she'll need to push off the rubber.
This thought also applies to her hitting, which has drastically improved as a result of the weights. But, is it now interfering with her ability to fine tune those patterns?
What do you all do in this situation? How has it affected your athlete's performance for the good or bad?
She's been doing moderately heavy strength training with her catcher 2-3x per week, and I'm now thinking it's time to dial back the weight and/or move to plyometrics. I've seen discussion over the years about how increases in strength and/or hypertrophy can inhibit development of patterns necessary to build accuracy and consistentcy through repetition.
Essentially, small changes in size and strength are changing the basic foundation the brain has to work with.
This was very evident last night at practice as she tried to pitch 90 minutes after leg day at the gym. I also need her to start conditioning. Base cardio and high numbers of plyometric stuff to replicate the dozens of times per game that she'll need to push off the rubber.
This thought also applies to her hitting, which has drastically improved as a result of the weights. But, is it now interfering with her ability to fine tune those patterns?
What do you all do in this situation? How has it affected your athlete's performance for the good or bad?
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