STRETCHING

I get to the park about 10 mins. earlier than the rest of the team because we don't get that much time to stretch, and it's been this way for every team except an elite 18u team I played for. But I like to stretch every single muscle and hold it for a good 15-20 sec., not just a quick count to 10. I really wish coaches would emphasize how important it is to stretch and prevent injury. I don't want my career ending because I didn't do the butterfly stretch and pull a groin muscle cuzz I didn't have enough time to do it.

Mr 3000

10 minutes earlier than what ?--- how long do you stretch before every game and what do you do when weight training if, in fact, you do weight train

We also stretch as a team before every game-- if a player wnat to get there early and do more that is fine but we all stretch as a team unit--we also run as a team unit and we throw before games as a team unit

there will be somebody come on here and say muscles dont stretch. im not a scientist. i dont know. i do know this - we go through a "stretching" program everyday and 1. our kids get more flexible and agile. its obvious as you watch them. 2. we havent had any pulled, strained, or hurt muscles. 3. we always do agilities and "stretch" before any weight work( well any work - practice, game, etc.) we also either hang or stretch after lifting. 4. ive been to an awful lot of pro games( a,aa, and majors) and college games. i try to always go early to watch pregame and ive yet to see a team that didnt spend alot of time "stretching" first thing with either their trainers or strength coaches. college and pro trainers/strength coaches do this stuff for a living. steve
http://www.leaguelineup/raiderbaseball.com

quote:

We also stretch as a team before every game-- if a player wnat to get there early and do more that is fine but we all stretch as a team unit--we also run as a team unit and we throw before games as a team unit

The elite team I mentioned and my old college team we did everything as a team. Unfortunately in college, we didn't get enough time get a good long stretch before doing our drills, and with other teams we'd only do hitting drills etc. as a team, our warm ups were on our own. So I'd show up about 10, 15 minutes before our scheduled 'arrival time' I guess you can say, so that I'm not getting the last bit of my stretching in while the others are playing catch, so I can then get my arm loose before the game starts.
One thing I think should be emphasized to, is to 'warm up' before stretching. You can't just show up to the park, stretch, and then throw, or play. You can pull muscles this way too if you're muscles aren't warmed up first. I'm not a scientists either, but according to a baseball training book I have (Complete Conditioning for Baseball) they explain the science there. Simply put, warming up the muscles to get the blood going by jogging, jumping jacks etc. helps to prepare your muscles for the stretching, whis is why it's best to jog, then stretch. Hope that makes sense.
Which is what I do for weight training as well. I jog, skip rope, jump jacks for at least a couple minutes, followed by resistance tubing for the shoulders, then on to the stretching. I also stretch after workouts/games to cool down and rid the body of lactic acids so I won't be sore the next day or two. I also stretch alot because it helps me feel "less cluttered", more loose, and rids my worry of pulling muscles and tendons (even though it's still possible, stretching makes it less possible). It helps out with my agility and explosiveness I find.
Coaches, I'm curious, what kinds of stretches do you have your team do? Static stretches (the normal stretch where you hold the stretch), dynamic( butt kicks, knee skips etc.)? Do you alter the routine each game/practice? Thanks.

Mr 3000

What does "not enough time" mean-- we as a team make our own time to get ready-- we find a plce and a time

The couple of minutes term you use bother me--what is a "couple of minutes"--we use at least an hour to stretch and get loose

Well our baseball here just isn't as organized as yours is. We arrive at practice say at 6:00 as scheduled. The players will throw, and if they wanna stretch they can, and when they do they hold the stretch for 3 seconds. About 10 after 6, the coach starts infield practice, everyone involved, doing the same drill, even if your an outfielder, you field some grounders at short. At 10 after 6, I am NOT warmed up and ready to go, by then I will have finished my jog along the outfield fence, and be about halfway done my stretching, then I have to grab someone who showed up late to play catch, and if no one does, then well I get screwed, that's it. I do fielding drills with a stiff arm and wait until a break to grab someone to throw with. If someone does show up late, we throw and miss most or all of infield.
So that's why I show up at least 10-15 minutes before scheduled time. It's only my dream to play on a team that warms up for an hour together.

our stretches and agilities are on our website. toward the end of speed/quickness and strength.
thanks - steve
http://www.leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

This has been a hot topic for the last 5 years at our yearly coaches conference.

What I have did last year was have my boys 2 do sets of polls (1st is slow jog, equivalent to a homerun trot) and the 2nd poll is a quick jog, epmhasizing arm action and push off with the back leg.

I then get my boys to do 5 sprints, 2 at 50%, 2 at 60% (emphasizing arm action) and 1 at 75% (exaggerating push off with back leg)

We then do at least 15 minutes of an assortment of stretching. Lots of arm circles, locked arm circles before we do across the chest arm stretches. Then we stretch the legs, then go to ground stretches.

After that we have 4 rows of 3 players each and i'll get them to do backwards run, side bursts, Karoake, butt kicks, high knees and jump skips.

Then they thorw at close distance, working out to long toss, then they bring it in for quick hands.

Then we bring out the whiffle balls and everyone gets 12 swings.

Then grounders and flies, then infield/outfield.

we do short sprints and then agilities before we stretch. we mix up our agilities - actually more plyos than agilities somedays - but we do a set stretching routine everyday. steve
http://www.leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

My friend (who never stretches) and I were arguing about wether to stretch or not. I stretch, except for my arms I use a type of flexible tubing and it helps (at least I think so) to get the blood throwing in my arms. I also do some running (you know, get the blood circulating) before I pitch. Tonight he sent me something via AIM

"Here is an article from the magazine Fitness Rx, June 2005.

The Latest On Flexibility Training

Stretching before exercise is a time honored ritual that athletes and fitness enthusiasts have practiced for more than 100 years. Recent studies found that pre-exercise stretching decreases strength and power for at least 15 minutes and cast doubt on the benefits of stretching for preventing injury. To stretch or not to stretch; that is the question. Drs. Russelll Nelson and William Bandy tried to answer that question in an article appearing in the Strength and Conditioning Journal (Feb. 2005). Reasons for stretching include increasing the temperature of the muscles, decreasing the risk of injury and improving athletic performance. After reviewing the literature, the authors concluded there was little evidence to support stretching. Stretching does not increase muscle temperature. Athletes with hamstring injuries are less flexible than uninjured athletes, but few studies have found any link between flexibility training and reduced injury. Likewise, no study has shown that flexibility training enhances athletic performance. Most fitness authors and professional organizations, such as the American College of Sports Medicine, recommend stretching as part of the exercise training program preferably at the end of exercise when the muscles are warm. Unfortunately, we have little objective evidence that stretching has any benefits. Stretch if you want to, but be aware that it might not do any good and may cause harm.

So if pitchers shouldn't stretch what should they do? A dynamic warm-up would consist of some type of agilities, light running, skipping, walking lunges, running backwards, forwards, kareoke etc. just to work up a light sweat. All you are trying to do is get the body warm. Then begin some light throwing and build intensity."

So... does anyone want to debate this? Agree or disagree? Please help me prove him wrong :P

im not into scientific studies. im into results - thats why i look to see what the college/pro guys are doing instead of the people out there claiming expertise, charging for their info but not working for nobody. ive yet to be to a college/pro game where they didnt stretch as a team before a game. all i know is our guys become more flexible as we progress through workouts and we've had no injuries. theres job security at stake at the college/pro level so i tend to trust those guys. theres a study to prove anything out there.
steve
http://www.leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

I had baseball practice today, in 43º weather no less (but it was fun), and I tried to just do running sprints to get the body temp up. I didn't really see a difference in the velocity I was throwing when I pitched.
I felt it took me longer to warm up playing catch then it usually did.

But, what if it's right though? I mean for 40+ years in the NFL, they use to think that water was for the weak, but then studies provided otherwise, and look, Gatorade. Who knows, maybe everyone is wrong about stretching? Or...maybe not, I don't know.

I am with raider--we know what works for us so why change it--we are happy and our players stay healthy--

Yeah, exactely! But one thing really bugs me is that it says that stretching decreases strength a little bit and it also decreases velocity... lol I hope it's lieing ;\

ive seen our guys get nothing but stronger and ive seen our pitchers velocity go up. we've not had a kid lose velocity. steve
leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

Ahh alright. Well thats good no one losing velocity.

Anyone on here not believe in stretching?

I think that article is bunk. I would rather lose a mile an hour or two on my fastball than pull a shouler muscles. They never told us what tests they did to prove that stretching is bad. So stretching may not warm up the muscles, but they didn't tell you that going for a jog does. Stretching does improve flexibilty and decrease the injury for of muscle tear, but if they mean that stretching doesn't reduce injury then maybe they're talking about twisted ankles or ligament tears, which stretching has nothing to do with.
How can stretching reduce strength? Again they don't tell you, and if it is true, then that's why we have weight lifting. And if stretching decreases your strength so much to the point where you can't function on the field, then you're definately out of shape and need to hit the weights.

I know we are blessed because we are able to have a trainer work with our guys everyday on stretching. He also makes sure that we have as system of stretching not only as a team but per individual. Our pitching staff goes to the training room everyday at lunch as well as before and afer practice. YES, WE BELIEVE IN STRETCHING.

Yeah, my friend who doesn't stretch hurt his hammy a little bit last game, we all told him to stretch but he is stupid. Well, he may start stretching now.. but yeah.

I also think that article is stupid.... very very stupid

agreed..why not stretch a little and then do some dynamics..I could never throw well back when i pitched without getting hot and strtching or loosing a little..I liked to do a lot of arm circle and arm exercises to get it feeling loose.

The authors of the article stated that they lost strength/power for 15 minutes ... not for the rest of the day ... I don't know of anyone who stretches and starts playing immediately. The last time I checked, most games lasted SLIGHTLY longer than 15 minutes (give/take 2:30 min)......

It's obvious that you can design a statistical study to prove about anything you desire. Since they didn't seem to be reporting anything other than strength/power for the short term interval.

But did you check the key words in the quote????
I'll repeat them in case you missed it.

quote:

"In reviewing the literature"

...... So these two individuals reviewed the literature on stretching, performed no direct research themselves and CONCLUDED that it was of little to no benefit.

It makes you wonder about the publishing standards of the magazine ... on second thought, in this day and age, it doesn't make me wonder at all ... what standards!!!!!

If we have any kinesiologists onboard, I'm sure they will weigh in; in the meantime, it might be safe to say this:

A stretching and flexibility program is as important to your workouts as is some type of weight training. Even though Nolan Ryan claims he used to lift on days he pitched [wonder how many mph's he lost doing that on gameday ], it's probably not something that would work for everyone.

That being said - weight training and a stretching/flexibility program have a documented record of long terms success and improvement for the athlete. The article in question speaks to the short term velo loss, not the long term improvement. If a hitter just completed a full body, weight lifting workout, then went out to take BP, I am guessing he wouldn't do quite as well as he normally would. Maybe there is some short term contraction of the muscles that undergo a stretching program, thus, some short term velo loss, just like the loss the "pumped-up" batter experiences. The important thing is that strength and flexibility training improve the muscles of the athlete. On game day it is about warming up properly so those muscles can maximize the movements they have been trained for.

It also may be likely that the subjects in the study performed their pre- experiment stretching more like a stretching and flexibility "Workout" and thus those muscles were a little "pumped" or whatever the analog is to weight lifting.