Coach's Training Program - a good idea?

whats the program in some detail?
bench pressing and lat work is not evil for pitchers. provide some detail/specifics and jon doyle or steven ellis or some other people on here who are pretty smart baseball guys can give you a very educated answer.
we bench and do other "heavy" lifting and its only made our pitchers better and more durable. we just try to do no lifts behind the head/neck. ive got weight programs from good college/pro programs that do core lifts(bench, squat, dead lift, power clean) heavy. thats what we do - the bigger/faster/stronger program with baseball specific adjusted auxillary lifts. we mix in all the jobe excercises, tube work, can work, etc.

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At the least he will bulk up which will slow down his arm speed(and his bat speed when hitting).

Want to show some evidence of this?? I'll bet Albert Pujols never touches a bench press... and he nearly took a pitcher's head off last May. I'll bet that was due to his "slow bat speed"...

floridafan, if your outside instructor is who I think it is, our HS coach also has issues with his methods, but I know that he is very very good! We definitely see the improvement in the pitchers that he has worked with.

What are the consequences if your player doesn't participate in the HS program?

We had an issue last winter where 2B had some elbow pain but the new coach didn't believe him and wanted him to max at bench anyway. He said "no." Turned out he had an injury that would have been made a lot worse had 2B not stood up for himself. He earned his spot in the spring anyway.

2Bmom - yes you are correct and we are definitely seeing the results. I don't think he will jeopardize his position on the team, but you want to be able to be under the authority of the coach, but again you do not want to mess him up (my son).

Bulldog 19, not too sure if Pujols does much bench presses or not...Large pec's and biceps do little for a hitter and do hinder the ability to generate batspeed, especially on an inside pitch. I see no holes in Pujols' swing. Forearms, Wrists, Core and Legs are muscle groups I would focus on as a hitter.

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I don't think he will jeopardize his position on the team, but you want to be able to be under the authority of the coach, but again you do not want to mess him up (my son).

Yeah, I know. We have a senior lefty that has been working with the same instructor - is greatly improved - and regularly bashes heads with our coach over warm-up, training methods, etc. 2B has taken on a role as a closer (for HS, not HB), believe it or not, and I do worry about his arm. It is a tough situation. Good luck!

I had the same problem but I was an assistant coach and my concerns were ignored. My school has since hired a strength coach and the previous routine has been entirely scrapped(not a suprise)

I have an article on this topic at:
http://hardballcoach.com/?p=92

We will allow an individual player to work out with their own trainer as long as we are able to contact that trainer.

Hope this helps

The bulking up fear is mostly a myth. Can too much bulk cause flexibility issues? Yes. Do most players have to be concerned about too much bulk? Only if they are doing a bodybuilder workout.....

Pujols benches...but not a largepart of his program.

There are very few bad exercises, just bad application.

What does the entire program look like? Tough to make a comment unless we see the complete workout.

Guys,

I have looked at Tuff Cuff and also have lifting workouts from various college and pro organizations , the big question I have is at what % do you have the guys lift? Do you max? I have been working our kids with a Ron Woolforths workouts with the medicine balls. Our kids love these and we will continue to do this as the season nears and during the season.

My main concern is in regards to becnh press and power cleans, what is the best amount for pitchers to lift? is this different than position players?

On the front of this I will say that I am no longer a coach, but just a dad. Still, with both of my sons still playing baseball (one in HS, the other in juco now) I strongly reccommend that anyone that has a throwing athlete google "Eric Cressey" and "baseball." Go from there....
OBC