Strength Training -- for Pitcher or Position Player?

I would get him in a good overall strength and conditioning program as he has a long way to go IMO before doing a PO program. Make sure he is working with someone who understands lifting technique as well as working with younger (pre-puberty) athletes. He can probably do a position players workout through HS or until he becomes obvious he will be a PO. My son has done this all the way through college and is finally going to be a PO in his Sr year. He augmented his position workouts with Yoga, and mobility wod work. I would search around to find a gym dedicated to athletes more than a "pretty people" gym. (look for a bunch of squat racks when you walk in) For your son this will be a marathon not a sprint so do a lot of research on S&C as well as diet. A high protein balance diet will be crucial for him.

 

Erik Cressey is a good resource as well as P3 sports to help you understand at a high level what he should be doing, mobility wod is also a great resource. 

 

Good luck.

 

http://www.ericcressey.com/

http://www.p3.md/

 

http://www.mobilitywod.com/

 

My son is one year younger than yours, pitches, plays the field.  He goes to a training facility specific for speed/strength/.  I can't afford it long term, but hope to learn enough to get him started correctly.  In addition, he pulls bands for rotator cuff, does yoga from the jaegersports.com web-site.  This is a direct pull from the performance training website (not jaeger).

 

Performance Training Basics

1. ‣Speed - Proper running mechanics 

2. ‣Agility - Eliminate false step and improve lateral reaction

3. ‣Power - Proper strength training and plyometrics

4. ‣Conditioning - Sport-related conditioning to improve work capacity

5. ‣Flexibility - Increasing joint and muscle range of motion and durability

 

1. ‣Foot speed

2. ‣Leg and hip power and stamina

3. ‣Short distance acceleration

4. ‣Middle distance speed and change of direction

5. ‣Conditioning and desire

I strongly agree with BOF. Build a strong foundation before you start on sport or position specific trainning. Train a 14 year old like a 14 year old not at 25 year old.

A quick follow up to what Scotty posted. It is really important to find someone who knows what they are doing with pre-puberty athletes. For example dead lifts are one of the core lifts for baseball players, but you don't want a 14YO doing max dead lifts as his bone structure is not developed for this. Trying to build a lot of body mass in a low testosterone athlete probably has diminishing returns. This is not an area I am educated in, but something you should be aware of. Probably a lot of body weight and cross skill development work makes sense, but find someone who really knows what they are doing. 

 

 

This is not  advice from a technical perspective only practical knowlegde from experiance.2016 was always a multi sport kid.Baseball, football,basketball.swimming.Winter of 8th grade he would go over and lift with H.S.ers.This served more the one pourpose.The more important to me was he already had the new freshman kids thing out of the way well before the others showed up in early summer and at least with the athletic kids who most all lift here he was something more than just a freshman once school started.Anyway in fall of 8th grade 2016 was throwing 80-82 from 54 ft.Come spring travel on a 60/90 field  he was throwing 82-84.The only thing he had done different from past was lift.Our weight room is never just open for use.Its always staffed by 2 of the 4 people who set up the lifting program.Fast foward and 2016 is now just a 2 sport kid.Football and baseball.With all the off season things that need to be done its a perfect fit.He still lifts but that has been fine tuned for a pitcher.He also does his band work everyday whether at home or in his arm conditioning program.He also went with the core training class at school instead of lifting class.Nothing wrong with a class when your the only male in class.that too has been fine tuned for him as a baseball player. There are days when he has/is doing a school session and a off season baseball training session. for 2 workouts in a day.Now one thing that I noticed early on and was dealt with at the school level was what lifts/exercises was he doing the day before and espeacially the day of his start.That too has been fine tuned. in both cases lifting and core training.With the core class all he does on a start day is basically loosing up all class after warm ups.In 2016 case I just don't think its been a do this and don't do that.Its been more of whats works best for "him".After setting a good foundation early on as suggested above.Now this is just me but I don't think the average 2 sport kids are the same and I do believe theres nothing wrong with 2 sport H.S. kids.Unless the sports are played opposite.spring/fall or winter  so the kids can keep and advance the foundation there never going to be as good as they could/can be at each sport.Theres just not the time.Because lets not forget they do need to be just 16 yr. olds from time to time.I know theres been times here when I have chased mine out of the house with go be 15 16 whatever just call me when you end up someplace.High school like alot of other things is a one time/shot deal.I realize I am off track some but feel its all tied together.  

Thanks for the feedback. This is all very helpful. Sounds like foundational strength and flexibility training way, way before pitcher-specific training is the way to go. He's been playing other sports with his junior high (soccer, basketball), but baseball is his true love and I expect it will be his only sport in high school. 

Agree completely with Scotty83, I'm only a sophomore in high school, but my trainer(who is also a trainer for SF Giants pitchers) always preaches the training of foundational muscles that allow you to perform basic movements with power and flexibility(lean muscle). Basically make sure that for your son he is not just in the weight room with the team trying to max out and bulk up. On the topic of you putting off pitcher specific training, I would advise that you could start that now. Pitchers train in a way that strengthens the legs without bulking them, use core without losing flexibility, and increase arm strength(while also taking into account prevention of injury). I find(as a main shorstop but also pitcher) that working out as a pitcher is the best way to go. Practice on the other hand can be a different story, I guess that I would just make sure that he doesn't overthrow and mechanics are good. I'd like to say that a rotator cuff workout could prevent arm injuries and a pitcher workout on top of a basic body workout would build foundational muscle. Again though this is all my opinion and what has worked for. Hope all works out for you and your son.

Good advice from all above, your son doesnt need any position specific training until he gets much older.

 

BTW, my opinion is that when the time comes the consideration for a college program should also include the strength and conditioning program.  I know it doesnt apply to your son at this time but this is when it will. Excellent conditioning is the key to success for athletes, but when the time is right.

Thanks. I appreciate the input. We're in SoCal -- if anyone has any recommendations in L.A. County, please let me know. Thanks again.

It is important to understand the different between biological age and training age. In this case your sons biological age is 14 but his training age is 0. When an athlete is in the infant stage of his training career it is important that he gets on a program that correctly teaches the core compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, and presses. Grooving these movement patterns will set your son up for success later down the road.

 

As training age increases the specificity and individualization of the program must increase. Right now your sons primary focus should just be on becoming a better athlete through strength and conditioning. His goals should be to gain strength, core stability, explosiveness, and balance and motor control. Also, now is the perfect time to teach him about self-motivation. The sooner he can 'buy in' and understand how important strength and conditioning is the better. It is a process that doesn't always yield immediate results which some people I train just don't quite seem to understand.

Thanks Austin.He's pretty motivated and I'm certainly not pushing him into strength training, as he has been asking about it for awhile. But I am concerned about him getting improper training, especially, as you point out, since he is just getting started.  

That's great to hear he is excited to start training. Will he be training at his high school or do you plan on sending him to a private strength and conditioning facility?

He's still 13 and in 8th grade (turns 14 next month) so he will start at a private strength and conditioning facility (and I'm not sure what the high school offers, anyway), but I'd like to find a trainer who is experienced with (1) 13-15 year olds, and/or (2) baseball players. So, focused on explosiveness and speed, NOT seeing how much he can bench press (like I was foolishly doing at his age!).

There seems to be lots of stuff available online regarding pitcher training (e.g., Kyle Boddy has a youth pitcher program that looks pretty interesting), but I haven't been able to find a young baseball-player (non-pitcher) strength/explosiveness training program.

Here's an anaerobic workout for your pitcher:

 

http://www.baseballstrength.or...hould-not-do-cardio/

 

Good luck.