How important is squatting?

Strength is important, you can achieve it in different ways. I'd suggest checking out articles from Eric Cressey, and Zach Dechant (strength couch at TCU)

When my kids were starting out squatting was a regular part of their program. I would say now they are doing a lot more unilateral type work (lunges, reverse lunches, single leg RDLS). It's also important to not just work in the sagittal plane but incorporate frontal plane and even transverse plane movements.

When my 2020 squats now, he does a lot of pin squats. This avoids a lot of the eccentric which contribute to soreness.

Deep rabbit hole, lots of good info from the above 2 guys. Mike Boyle is great as well, but less baseball focused.

Agree with everything nycdad said. My son's legs are like tree trunks now and his trainer hardly ever has him do traditional squats. The craziest thing I've seen him do was a pistol squat on a box jump box so the non-squatting leg was off the box, then had him military press while doing the pistol squat with an Olympic bar and 25lb plates.

Great info here. My 14 yo and the dad perform trad squats. I guess it is the newbie and the oldie lift now.

Forgot to add, generally most baseball strength coaches will have ball players use an SSB bar or front squat to take strain off the shoulders. Front squat is more quad dominant, back squat works posterior chain more and SSB is usually in the middle.

My kids started lifting with me at the same gym (different trainers), something we bonded on for years, now with 1 in college and the other with a different trainer it doesn't happen as often. I definitely miss it.

@2022NYC posted:

Great info here. My 14 yo and the dad perform trad squats. I guess it is the newbie and the oldie lift now.

I'm doing my first power lifting meet next month, I have to keep the on doing the old man back squat.....

There are many ways to achieve lower body strength - as described in the above posts. IMO squats are high risk compared to the potential reward. There are many safer ways. My son effectively ended his career doing squats in his HS weight room - unsupervised. He was able to play 3 more years after his injury but it was a constant struggle.

Wow adbono sorry to hear that

@adbono posted:

There are many ways to achieve lower body strength - as described in the above posts. IMO squats are high risk compared to the potential reward. There are many safer ways. My son effectively ended his career doing squats in his HS weight room - unsupervised. He was able to play 3 more years after his injury but it was a constant struggle.

Very sorry to hear about your son. Hope he's doing well now and pain free!

@nycdad posted:

Very sorry to hear about your son. Hope he's doing well now and pain free!

Thanks. This is old news. His last year on the field was 2020. The adjustment to not playing was difficult for both him and me. It’s hard when an injury prevents the culmination of all the hard work that has been invested in the journey. But it’s not unusual and it mimics disappointments in life. My son is doing well and closing in on his degree in Digital Forensics. He was lucky to have a magical year in 2019 when he hit .381 and his JuCo team won a National Championship. How many college players of any sport, at any level, get to win a National Championship? Not very many.  So he is among the fortune few. Thank you for your comments.

You have to build a base of strength.  Squats and deadlifts are a good way to start.  The exercises train everything from the tip of your toes to the top of your shoulders.  Relatively easy to train but do require some supervision. Teenage boys are teenage boys.

Once you get "strong enough" you can/should get more baseball specific. There is no reason to try to beat Eddie Hall's or Kirk Kawarski's records (2x1000 anyone?). 400+ lbs on your back is no joke.  All power lifters will injure themselves.

So, my answer. Starting out, yes the squat is important.  You will progress past those specific exercises as everyone else has mentioned.  Single leg exercises work your legs without killing the rest of your body.

"How important is squatting?"

When I saw the subject line, I assumed this was a thread about setting up your folding chair an hour before game time to reserve your view station to watch your kid.

Single best workout for baseball are deadlifts. Skip the squats.

There are many others but if you had to pick one....

@Francis7 posted:

"How important is squatting?"

When I saw the subject line, I assumed this was a thread about setting up your folding chair an hour before game time to reserve your view station to watch your kid.

It would be a more relevant topic if that were the case.

Really solid answers in here. It's great to build strength (or power, depending on the weight and intensity). It's not the be-all-end-all, but it's a great option and pretty safe (when you look at injury rate per 1000 hours of exposure).

Pretty much no reason not to do it.

@XFactor posted:

Really solid answers in here. It's great to build strength (or power, depending on the weight and intensity). It's not the be-all-end-all, but it's a great option and pretty safe (when you look at injury rate per 1000 hours of exposure).

Pretty much no reason not to do it.

As long as it is supervised and kids understand proper technique - which is very often not the case in high school weight rooms

@adbono posted:

As long as it is supervised and kids understand proper technique - which is very often not the case in high school weight rooms

Yes, as with everything, having the proper structure and professionals in place to guide technique and programming is important.

See much too often people throw random numbers together and call it a program. Some schools are willing to skimp on that.