Pitcher lifting weights

[Izzy's Dad]

DD is a freshman this year and is a pitcher on her high school team as well as her travel team. She is also in an advanced weights class (required if you play a school sport) that is taught by the volleyball coach.

I have read and been told that pitchers should not lift heavy weights, nor should they bring the bar down alll the way when doing the bench press. Something about not wanting to drop their elbows below the chest.

Well, this weights coach is having DD do everything I've "heard" not to do, as well as this past Wednesday and Friday, she had DD max out on everything. DD was really sore at pitching lessons yesterday.

I am thinking of going to the weights coach and have her stop doing this.

Has anyone experienced this, or have info on this?

 

[sluggers]

100% agree with Screwby-dooby-doo. My DD (D1 pitcher) lifted weights all the time in college.. As Screwby points out, lifting weights should be part of an entire fitness program, which includes cardio and *SERIOUS* stretching (not the crap they do before the game, but real, Pilates or Yoga type stretching).

The important thing is not that she is lifting weights, but rather that she is lifting weights (1) with the proper technique and (2) as part of an entire program.

I have read and been told that pitchers should not lift heavy weights, nor should they bring the bar down all the way when doing the bench press.

There used to be the idea that "lifting weights will bulk you up to much to pitch", but that concept was jettisoned 30 years ago.

Here are some links discussing weight lifting for baseball pitchers, which should be applicable to softball pitchers as well.

Eric Cressey Strength Training

Big Z's discusses weight lifting for pitchers

 

[GOINGDEEP]

My daughter does the OP regiment in HS. Pretty normal for all athletes. It has never effected any of our pitchers.

As long as it's in the off season all should be fine.

 

[Lozza]

Well first off women can NOT bulk up like men. It's not possible without drugs. Even the power lifters you see are eating a LOT of food to build muscle (over 2000 calories)

Weights are great. In the off season I push myself to lift as heavy as I can. When I was younger I could squat 100kg and deadlift 85kg. I'm working back up to that now.

Bench press is not that effective but should be done. Squats are wonderful, as are lunges. Bicep curls, tricep dips are useless. You don't want her to isolate muscles and build them up, because when pitching she needs to be using them in tandem.

 

[FastpitchFan]

This is one myth that will just NOT die. All pitchers can benefit from a very good softball-specific training program. There is no concerns to have. However, since the shoulder joint is used extensively in pitching (same applies to racquet sports or volleyball), the shoulder joint needs to be looked after by doing good exercises. There is no need to limit how much you lift.

Power (or explosive strenght) is a combination of speed AND strength. The stronger you are, the more powerful you can be.

Bench Press has a bad reputation and IS overused. Yet, it's not as bad as it is portrayed at times. Bring the bar all the way down to the chest depends on each athlete's shoulder flexibility. If an athlete has a tight shoulder joint, then it is better not to force it but if they have good flexibility, then no problem. However, while overused bench press should not be totally eliminated and is most useful for maximum strength work in the range of 4-10 reps. For more general conditioning, there are a lot of other types of chest exercises that are excellent and better than bench press fort the pitchers.

In a nutshell, softball-specific strength and conditioning can be very useful for pitchers.

Coach Marc

 

[halskinner]

This is one myth that will just NOT die. All pitchers can benefit from a very good softball-specific training program. There is no concerns to have. However, since the shoulder joint is used extensively in pitching (same applies to racquet sports or volleyball), the shoulder joint needs to be looked after by doing good exercises. There is no need to limit how much you lift.

Power (or explosive strenght) is a combination of speed AND strength. The stronger you are, the more powerful you can be.

Bench Press has a bad reputation and IS overused. Yet, it's not as bad as it is portrayed at times. Bring the bar all the way down to the chest depends on each athlete's shoulder flexibility. If an athlete has a tight shoulder joint, then it is better not to force it but if they have good flexibility, then no problem. However, while overused bench press should not be totally eliminated and is most useful for maximum strength work in the range of 4-10 reps. For more general conditioning, there are a lot of other types of chest exercises that are excellent and better than bench press fort the pitchers.

In a nutshell, softball-specific strength and conditioning can be very useful for pitchers.

Coach Marc

Marc

I am under a little different opinion when it comes to strength training and weights for pitchers. If you are a pitcher and are using weights, male or female, you can build muscle to the point you are fighting against them trying ro achieve speed..

I found this out the hard way one year. Two of my friends in the early 80's were body builders. I was not but we worked out together. I did the weight lifting exercises they did but not the amounts they did. A few months of that and it was time to start practicing for my team. I hag lost a very noticeable amount of speed. I felt myself fighting against those muscles I had been strengthening in those workouts.

This year one of the most promising students I ever worked with started her freshman college season. Been pitching since she was 5 and pitching in games since 8 and never once any injury. Her head coach had the entire team doing heavy weights in the gym.

She made her push herself trying to bulk up and add muscle. Ske is 6' tall, slender but strong. She tore a quad muscle doing squats under heavy weights. It was a secere tea and that ended her college pitching career before it even got started.

Pitcgers should strengthen the muscles they have but they should not try and 'bulk up' like a football player.

Long slender and strong muscles are quick. Large bulky muscles are not.

My best advice from the students I have worked with, work out on a rowing machine.

 

[Lozza]

Hal I'll say it again women can NOT bulk up. We simply do not have the testosterone to do so.

And I gained 10km when I was at full strength. Weights massivly improved my pitching both speed and accuracy. I can't talk about how men do but I'm using the program that all the state teams do and have done for the past 5 years. Including all the male pitchers. Including the Australian ones.

 

[halskinner]

Hal I'll say it again women can NOT bulk up. We simply do not have the testosterone to do so.

And I gained 10km when I was at full strength. Weights massivly improved my pitching both speed and accuracy. I can't talk about how men do but I'm using the program that all the state teams do and have done for the past 5 years. Including all the male pitchers. Including the Australian ones.

I was at my fastest in 1979. 1981 I started trying to add muscle with my 2 buddies. I did and my speed dropped, noticeably.

Light weights lots of reps. I still adhere to that rule myself today, now that I'm old and beat up from the feet up!

 

[FastpitchFan]

Hi Hal,

Yes, there are stories of people getting hurt training. However, it's no different than people getting hurt pitching. Just like bad pitching form or advice can lead to injuries, bad strength training techniques and advice can lead to injuries.

However, most elite softball players, including pitchers can greatly benefit from softball-specific training. There are two types of training you can do:

1) To improve appearance (i.e. ''bulk'')
2) To improve function

Athletes have to train to improve function (strength, stability, endurance, power, etc.). When you train for function, you will still improve your appearance but the type of training is geared towards improving muscle function - also called functional training.

I am sure you would agree that Tennis put at least, if not more, as much stress on the shoulder joint as pitching. Yet, female tennis players are stronger, more powerful and faster than ever before. Why? They do tennis- and sport-specific strength training and conditioning. The game has improved so much in recent years thanks mostly to the advancement in the quality of instruction (video feedback) and quality of sport-specific training.

It is NO DIFFERENT for pitchers. A well-designed, pitching-specific training program will greatly help a pitcher, not hurt them. Of course, like pitching form or using a bad training program from a magazine or a trainer with no real knowledge of sport-specific conditioning or no sense of what the true needs of a softball pitcher are can lead to bad things.

People should seek trainers that have these characteristics and they will greatly benefit from it. I've seen countless times over the past 10-12 years.

Coach Marc

P.S. Here's what a good softball-specific training program will do for you:

- Pitch faster and throw harder
- Swing the bat harder and hit the ball further
- Steal more bases
- Get better jumps off the bases
- Explode out of the batter's box
- Run down more balls in the field
- Reach, stretch and get more of those "oh-so-close" balls
- React faster
- Have more stamina for long games and tournaments
- Stay healthy and avoid injuries
- Tolerate heat better and perform when it's really hot
- Practice longer without being tired or losing your focus
- Be much more consistent and have less "ups and downs"
- Get it faster when learning or refining a skill because of increased body awareness
- Be much more confident and feel stronger
- Be mentally tougher
- Get more extra bases when running
- Develop an athletic body
- Recover faster between innings and games
- Be more dominant in all aspects of the game