Baseball Workout Mistake #4 - Neglecting by Protecting
Coach Dan Huff, CSCS
It should go without saying that the shoulders are one of the most
important parts of a baseball player's body. Without shoulders
there would be no way to throw the ball or swing the bat. However
too many ballplayers avoid training their shoulders because they
are afraid of hurting themselves. In reality, you are more likely
to hurt your shoulders if you don't train them because they will
not be properly prepared for the demands of the sport. You will be doing a lot of shoulder strengthening exercises which
you may or may not be used to, but you will also be doing a lot of
new exercises that will build the muscular endurance and stability
in the joint. Many of these exercises may seem small and
insignificant, but do not (repeat DO NOT!) neglect them! Just about every player in the game, regardless of position, has
experienced some sort of shoulder pain and it is usually due to a
weak or unbalanced rotator cuff. These "small exercises" are
designed to help you avoid those minor aches and pains so that you
can stay on track with your training all year long. Raises Your shoulder can rise to the front, side, and rear. You will
notice that these exercises are great for increasing your muscular
endurance and shoulder stability. Rotations The other set of movements that your shoulders are responsible for
are rotations. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles (supraspinatus,
infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis) that are responsible
for rotating the shoulder both internally and externally in its
socket. Your rotation exercises will be performed with your elbow
held out to the side of your body at shoulder height, with your
elbow held in near your ribs, and just about everywhere in between. The throwing motion consists of an external rotation of the
shoulder followed by a rapid internal rotation. As I mentioned
earlier in the example of the Corvette, in order to have a high
powered engine you must first have a great breaking system. If you
are going to ask your arm to rotate in one direction rapidly you
must have the ability to slow and stop that rotation. For this
reason you will spend more time working on your external rotation
exercises than your internal rotation exercises.
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