Bigger, Better, Stronger, Softball

Strength is needed to succeed in any sport. The stronger you are, the higher skill level you can perform at. The muscle groups that are major in softball are the shoulders, arms, quadriceps, glutes, and abdominals. The shoulders, arms, and slightly the abdominals, all play a part in the throwing of a softball. The quadriceps, glutes, abdominals, arms and slightly shoulders, all play a part in batting. I have provided exercises (that don’t involve heavy gym equipment) that I use to help myself become stronger so you may become a better softball player as well.

The shoulders and arms bring strength and put power behind the ball when you throw it along with bring the bat around and make optimum contact with the ball. Good exercises involve a lighter weight dumbbell depending on what you can take without injuring yourself. I like to do lateral raises and standing reverse fly for my shoulders both with dumbbells. I like to do behind the head triceps extensions with one larger dumbbell, and wrists twists for my arms. Wrist twists is when you grab a tube (or a softball bat) and hold it with both hands parallel to the ground and twist your hands back and forth. 

Quadriceps and glutes provide momentum in your swing, if you were to stand straight up and have to bend or step,the ball would barely leave the infield. Exercises I do for my quads are weighted squats with either a weighted ball or a bar like you would bench press, and wall sits. These also contribute to glutes so I don’t necessarily add in glute exercises.

The abdominal muscles in swinging a bat help you bring your bat all the way through from start to finish. The twisting or trunk rotation helps bring power with your arms to hit the ball with the most power possible. The same idea goes along with throwing a ball. Abdominal exercises I like to do are Russian twists with a weighted ball, criss crosses, and planks.

I don’t provide specific sets and reps of each for a reason. I believe it is more effective to find your own limits. Do as many of each exercise until you feel the burn that means you are fatiguing your muscles, then do a few more, that’s the only way you’ll make progress. The weights you’re doing to giving you the burn without going on for 30 or so reps? Increase the weight. The only way you are to get better is by learning how your body reacts with the exercises and modifying for your own best results.

I hope these exercises help you become a stronger softball player. If you have exercises that you love to do, leave them in the comments below!

Featured Image “Stretching never looked that good!” by deleted.scenes @flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)