Fitness Testing for Baseball
Baseball is a sport in which skill plays a significant part, however a high level of fitness is required to perform at the elite level. It takes incredible athletics ability to throw a baseball 100 mph or equally hit a 100-mph fastball. There are several components of fitness that are important for success for all players, though there are positional differences in the requirements for fitness. Generally they need to be powerful, quick and agile. See our discussion about the fitness components for baseball for more information.
Physical Demands of Baseball
The physical demands of baseball are very specific to the sport. Baseball requires repetitive high intensity explosive movements, with time for full-recovery between plays, and all this spread out over nine innings. Consequently, training for baseball should incorporate high-intensity movements with adequate recovery periods. The conditioning program should also emphasize baseball-specific movements, to develop the energy systems and muscles for improving power, speed, & agility.
Training Fitness
Regular training is needed for all areas of fitness to at least maintain current fitness levels. For an effective training program you need a good plan. The training should be aimed at achieving specific goals and be individualized to maximize the physical capabilities of particular players. In order to improve, the physical load needs to be increased over time as the players get fitter. By using cross training and by incorporating fitness into the training drills it will keep training interesting and maintain the motivation of the players. There is more information about training for sports.
baseball sprint to first baseAssessing Fitness
Regular fitness assessments are required to monitor training improvements and to determine which areas are best to concentrate on. We have a discussion of the fitness components of baseball. There are also some good baseball specific fitness tests and others that can be used to test the overall fitness of baseball players. Read more about fitness testing for baseball.
Related Pages
- Fitness testing for Baseball
- Attributes of a Great Baseball Player
- Discussion of the fitness components for baseball.
- Who Is The Fittest Baseball Player Ever?
- Baseball Warm-Up
- Poll: Fitness components for baseball
- Fitness Testing for Sports.
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