Mobilities
Application of warm-up and stretching has become quite different since the times of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. A great deal of the stretching has been focused on dynamic motion and blood flow to the muscular joint. This dynamic style of stretching and warm up focuses less on lengthening the muscle as in static stretching and more focus on warming up a muscular area. Testing has shown that static style stretching can affect neuromuscular function in athletes (Allison, Bailey, & Folland, 2008). Most studies support the evidence that there is less neuromuscular drive in high intensity muscle contractions after static stretching (Allison, Bailey, & Folland, 2008). Static stretching causes muscle performance in activities like sprinting and jumping to be reduced. With the evidence found supporting better neuromuscular activity after dynamic stretching over static, the protocol for pre-game warm-ups has evolved.
The stretching routine design will be conducted in duration of 10-15 minutes per day and focus on dynamic style stretches that not only give the athlete range of motion movements but increase blood flow to specific body parts used in baseball. There are three basic components called cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and dynamic stretches (Fredrick & Szymanski, 2001). The two main aspects to our dynamic stretch routine are the mobility’s and the movement stretches. Mobility stress attention is in three parts seated, standing, and movement. The mobility stretches all produced a range of motion in the low back, hamstrings, hip joint, groin, hip flexors, and wrists. One example of a sitting mobility is the rolling v-sits. The athlete will begin seated on their behind and roll onto their back tucking their legs and then roll forward back to their behind. As the baseball player rolls forward they will extend their legs into a v position and slam their hands on the grass in between their legs. This stretch will stretch lower back on the backwards rolling action and hamstrings upon the final ground slap as the legs are extended. The standing mobility’s reinforce some the same muscular and joint areas but they originate from a standing position. The mobility movement stretches also start from a standing position but focus a bit more on light muscle contraction. One example of the mobility movement stretches is the thai blocks in which the athlete takes one leg and moves it backward and forward over an imaginary hurdle. This imaginary hurdle would sit behind them and the focus will be on their glute and hip flexor contraction, as well as range of motion in the hip joint. After finishing the three phases of the mobility’s players collect into five lines and perform our movement stretches across the outfield from the foul line to center field. Movement stretches have three main phases starting with the walking movements and finishing with the speed dynamic stretches. One example of the walking stretches is the knee to chest hip flexor lunges. This stretch starts with one step forward and then pulling the other leg into a hugging position with the arms to the chest. As the athlete hugs his leg the pulling action will stretch the glute muscles on that leg. Next, the leg that was brought to the chest strides out to a lunging position and the player puts their arms to the sky. As this occurs the athlete looks up and backward stretching their abdomen muscles and hip flexors. This dynamic stretch enhances blood flow and abdomen stretching and is a player favorite. The speed dynamic stretches really start to get the players breathing harder and sweating. Some examples of the speed dynamics are the butt slides, high skips, high knees, carioca, and backward pursuits with angles. The backward pursuits with angles are my favorite because they are great for our outfielders. In this stretch players start in an athletic position and make drop steps like they are tracking a fly ball to 45 degree angles. They focus on 2-3 steps before they switch to the next angle. This program takes us no more than 15 minutes and our players are breathing hard and sweating before they start to throw a baseball with is great for preparing to play catch. Video below was put on by Desert Vista High School strength and conditioning coach Doug Christofis.
Making and adapting mobility routines to your baseball players is important. Here is an example of a routine that my baseball players perform on a day by day basis. There is room for flexibility in the routine and it is important that coaches adapt this to each individual as they see fit. There should be concern by the coach to adapting the routine to be individualized for catchers, pitchers, infielders, and outfielders because they all utilized different parts of their body and require joint mobility in specialized areas. For example, catchers require a large volume of hip mobility so increased hip movement should be addressed in their mobility routine.
Example: Dynamic Mobility Routine LINK
The stretching routine design will be conducted in duration of 10-15 minutes per day and focus on dynamic style stretches that not only give the athlete range of motion movements but increase blood flow to specific body parts used in baseball. There are three basic components called cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and dynamic stretches (Fredrick & Szymanski, 2001). The two main aspects to our dynamic stretch routine are the mobility’s and the movement stretches. Mobility stress attention is in three parts seated, standing, and movement. The mobility stretches all produced a range of motion in the low back, hamstrings, hip joint, groin, hip flexors, and wrists. One example of a sitting mobility is the rolling v-sits. The athlete will begin seated on their behind and roll onto their back tucking their legs and then roll forward back to their behind. As the baseball player rolls forward they will extend their legs into a v position and slam their hands on the grass in between their legs. This stretch will stretch lower back on the backwards rolling action and hamstrings upon the final ground slap as the legs are extended. The standing mobility’s reinforce some the same muscular and joint areas but they originate from a standing position. The mobility movement stretches also start from a standing position but focus a bit more on light muscle contraction. One example of the mobility movement stretches is the thai blocks in which the athlete takes one leg and moves it backward and forward over an imaginary hurdle. This imaginary hurdle would sit behind them and the focus will be on their glute and hip flexor contraction, as well as range of motion in the hip joint. After finishing the three phases of the mobility’s players collect into five lines and perform our movement stretches across the outfield from the foul line to center field. Movement stretches have three main phases starting with the walking movements and finishing with the speed dynamic stretches. One example of the walking stretches is the knee to chest hip flexor lunges. This stretch starts with one step forward and then pulling the other leg into a hugging position with the arms to the chest. As the athlete hugs his leg the pulling action will stretch the glute muscles on that leg. Next, the leg that was brought to the chest strides out to a lunging position and the player puts their arms to the sky. As this occurs the athlete looks up and backward stretching their abdomen muscles and hip flexors. This dynamic stretch enhances blood flow and abdomen stretching and is a player favorite. The speed dynamic stretches really start to get the players breathing harder and sweating. Some examples of the speed dynamics are the butt slides, high skips, high knees, carioca, and backward pursuits with angles. The backward pursuits with angles are my favorite because they are great for our outfielders. In this stretch players start in an athletic position and make drop steps like they are tracking a fly ball to 45 degree angles. They focus on 2-3 steps before they switch to the next angle. This program takes us no more than 15 minutes and our players are breathing hard and sweating before they start to throw a baseball with is great for preparing to play catch. Video below was put on by Desert Vista High School strength and conditioning coach Doug Christofis.
Making and adapting mobility routines to your baseball players is important. Here is an example of a routine that my baseball players perform on a day by day basis. There is room for flexibility in the routine and it is important that coaches adapt this to each individual as they see fit. There should be concern by the coach to adapting the routine to be individualized for catchers, pitchers, infielders, and outfielders because they all utilized different parts of their body and require joint mobility in specialized areas. For example, catchers require a large volume of hip mobility so increased hip movement should be addressed in their mobility routine.
Example: Dynamic Mobility Routine LINK
Dynamic Warm-up
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