Well, the regular season is over and, depending on which part of the country you live in, you may or may not have the chance to play some fall or winter baseball. Even if you do, there’s not going to be as much game time. The good news is, that leaves more time for working out on your own, or with some friends.
Here are a few things you can do this off-season:
Workouts on Your Own
The most obvious way to work out alone is batting practice, either off a tee or in the batting cage.
Young players, especially, make the mistake of using batting practice time to try to hit the ball as hard as they can. The purpose of batting practice is to work on the different parts of your swing, to strengthen weaknesses and to increase some strengths.
So start off with some easy swings before going for the fences. Get your balance and your rhythm. The best swings are usually the most compact swings, so try to stay ‘quiet’ in your stance, even during batting practice.
One of the things batting tees are good for is directional hitting - trying to hit the inside pitch early, going back up the middle with the ball over the middle of the plate, and developing that late, ‘inside-out’ swing to hit balls to the opposite field.
If you’re hitting off a machine, start your session with some bunts before moving on to full swings. Take a dozen swings, then step out and rest for a moment. There’s no hurry.
Workouts With a Friend
If you’ve got someone to work out with, play some Pepper. Just to make it fun, and help advance your skills at the same time, play it on one knee.
Hitting with your front knee on the ground makes it so you focus on working your upper body, and your hands in particular.
Workouts With a Group
If you’ve got several friends or teammates to work out with, and enough space to spread out, do a line drill to improve your throwing accuracy and arm strength. First warm up with easy throwing to each other, about 30 feet apart.
When warmed up, players stand about 50-75 feet apart in a straight line. The player at one end begins the drill by throwing to the next player in line. He turns and throws to the next player, who turns and throws.
When the ball gets to the end of the line, start it back in the other direction. Make sure the throws are accurate and nobody drops them. You can widen the spaces between players after a while.
You won’t be better next season unless you practice in the off-season. Dedicate yourself to improve at least one part of your game by focusing on it during the off-season.
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