Thoughts on powerlifting

[slugger3]

My dd actually met a girl on her travel team last night who is a powerlifter and has won state so very competitive. She also crushes the ball and is fast so I don't think it hurt her. I think I'm going to leave it up to her, my main concern was risk of injury.


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How long has the power lifting teammate been lifting?
How long has your DD been lifting?
If she very little experience lifting heavier weights, I'd lay off the heavy powerlifting until she builds up her structure (skeletal, ligaments...).
Let her build up her base strength and let her skeletal structure get acclimated to lifting weights.
There is a huge difference in standard weight lifting and true power lifting.
When she starts power lifting, you will be amazed how fast the strength comes...sometimes too fast.
And the skeletal structure can't keep up with the muscles mass and increased power/weight that is being placed on it.
Don't get me wrong...I'm a big advocate of power lifting. But start out slow, and let the strength come with time.
I lifted with my 3 DDs for 1 year or so, before I let them start hitting the heavier weights.
My second DD is getting too strong, too fast now that she is power lifting. So I'm throttling back the workout a bit.

Bottom line...ease into it.. and good luck!

 

[CatchersMom2017]

At DD's HS does powerlifting during the winter months. She's been lifting for 3 years now. As a catcher and power hitter it's helped a lot. I agree with the others, as long as the coach knows what they are doing your DD can only benefit from it.

 

[ThunderStruck8]

My dd actually met a girl on her travel team last night who is a powerlifter and has won state so very competitive. She also crushes the ball and is fast so I don't think it hurt her. I think I'm going to leave it up to her, my main concern was risk of injury.

I was a competitive powerlifter for a long time and still train fairly heavy. Knock on wood have never been injured. BUT, when I started it was all form focused, not weight focused. The weight will increase, but you must have proper form down first. My DD does Olympic lifting for the speed and explosiveness, but goes to a trainer that focuses mainly with young athletes. Definitely focus on flexibility as well.

 

[coach james]

I have a 12u pitcher who also participates in an afterschool weight lifting club. She came to practice last week super excited to tell me she had just done 10 reps of 225# on the leg sled.... I'm excited to see if her speed starts picking up. I've got a private pitching lesson scheduled with her tonight.... getting the radar gun dusted off and we'll see if its paying off any pitching dividends.

 

[mudrunner]

Holy snikees! A 12 year old doing 225 one time is crazy impressive....10 reps is off the charts. I bet a lot of grown men can't do that lol.

 

[ThunderStruck8]

getting the radar gun dusted off and we'll see if its paying off any pitching dividends.

So, did you see any payoff? I'm guessing more than likely not. The girl should be doing squats instead of leg press since the quads, glutes, and core muscles are much more involved which would all translate more into her pitching. Leg press is a far easier movement to push a lot of weight.

 

[coach james]

I've seen an increase in her hitting power... none to speak of as far a pitching speed.
Her weightlifting is an after school club....has nothing to do with softball. I was hoping to see results as her softball coach!
She's a 2nd year 12.... hasn't went yard yet, but did hit her biggest shot to date last weekend. Ball landed about 10 feet in front of the centerfield fence.... about 200 foot shot. Not too bad in my opinion!

 

[MacLobo]

Be careful with younger athletes and heavy weights....
Their bones, muscles, ligaments, etc., are not fully developed yet and full weight lifting regiment (especially with heavier weights) can hinder that development. An intense body-weight program with a lot of plyometrics, in my opinion, is much more beneficial for the younger athletes.

 

[Karchify]

Sounds awesome, my DD wont touch weights unless we have the whole team doing it. Now if you can get her to cycle between weight lifting and SPARQ (jump/explosive) training you can really make some gains in speed and dynamic power. Although if they are doing explosive lifting (like cleans or clean & jerk) that will help softball more than static lifts.