Editorial Reviews. Review. Your book has helped me out exponentially by giving me a baseball photographs of nearly of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by athletes worldwide. .. How to Build a Ballplayer: The Ultimate Guide for Success on the Baseball Diamond and.
Table of contents
- The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Field Hockey
- Life on the Diamond - our adventure in raising ballplayers
- The boys' advice? Remember it's THEIR life.
It should be required reading for anyone who seeks to understand the game and how to maximize their role in it. The lessons he provides will help you become the best possible version of yourself both on and off the field. So in sharing his knowledge, Joey Anderson has indeed seized the opportunity to make things better for all of us. Our body has the capacity to do extraordinary things if we choose to allow it to function properly. Unfortunately, the process of evolution has changed the way human beings live and function.
Long gone are the days of hunter-gathering. We have replaced hiking through the forest searching for food with sitting at a desk in front of a screen. We spend more time than ever in a sedentary position and our bodies are paying the price. The average American is overweight, overfed, stressed, and significantly challenged when it comes to moving our body. On the surface, defining yourself as an athlete seems to overcome this phenomenon.
Athletes, by the very nature of engaging in sport, move their bodies. It is true that athletes tend to have healthier body weight, eat better, have less stress, and move more, all as a by-product of engaging in regular physical activity. The problem is, sports have evolved too, and not always in healthy ways.
The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Field Hockey
Today, more than ever before, kids are specializing in sports at a very early age. Certain body parts are abused and are put under tremendous stress at a time when all aspects of the body should be growing and developing together. Youth sports injuries are on the rise because kids are caught up in training one aspect of their game rather than being connected to their bodies and aiming to develop as a whole functioning human being- body, mind, and spirit.
Yoga is a system of physical postures, breathing techniques, and sometimes meditation, practiced to promote physical and emotional well-being. Yoga works on strength, flexibility, balance, agility, endurance, core, and overall strength, in addition to a variety of other things.
Yoga encourages one to find and celebrate the connection between mind, body, and spirit, and as such, can be beneficial for everyone, especially athletes. My hope is that the information she shares can be useful in helping athletes develop their whole selves while preventing injury and enhancing overall well-being.
What are the specific physical benefits of yoga for athletes? Athletes need great body awareness and an understanding of how they ask their bodies to move. Many sports require an athlete to move their body in all different directions, changing speed and force. Yoga can teach an athlete how to build on the strength and flexibility of primary muscles but also the secondary muscles supporting those parts of the body.
So yoga enhances the mind-body connection, while also helping to create greater flexibility, strength, and mobility. I remember from our earlier discussion you also mentioned yoga helps with core strength and overall alignment. And of course, you talked in detail about how yoga teaches athletes to breathe properly, which dramatically impacts endurance, energy, and overall performance. By incorporating yoga into their training they will strengthen not only their body but their mind.
Regardless of what sport or position, a player needs to be able to read and react quickly if they want to dominate. So it is important for them to know their body, breathe properly, and stay in the moment. We talked about breathing in our last interview, and you spoke about how proper breathing allows an athlete to tap into his full potential by learning how to use their body properly. So you are saying that yoga helps an athlete understand how the body functions, and how to maximize abilities by giving the body what it needs? Essentially, yoga helps an athlete develop self-awareness and stay balanced?
In fact, most sports create imbalances in the body. An athlete typically favors one side of the body over the other. This is especially true in baseball. Playing baseball requires a lot of repetitive movements. This leaves on side strong and the other side weak and worn out. In turn, this causes misalignment in the body and sets an athlete up for injury!
Life on the Diamond - our adventure in raising ballplayers
When the larger muscles are fatigued they begin to rely on the smaller muscle groups, which are not meant to do the same job or carry the same load. Eventually, they wear out and set the athlete up for injury. Yoga helps strengthen both sides of the body and the core, which will bring more power into an athletic performance.
In baseball, every throw should come from the core. It will not only save the arm of the player but think of the power behind that throw! It will also prevent the player from overextending the elbow, which we see happening a lot. Think Tommy John surgery, and how common it has become in youth baseball. One of my missions is to become as educated as I can on how to best use yoga to help keep athletes injury-free. Tommy John surgery has definitely become an issue, with some players having multiple surgeries over their career. I know it is a complicated issue, and there are several factors that contribute to the condition.
Can yoga help with that too? As I mentioned above, athletes tend to focus on certain parts of the body and ignore others. They have famously tight hips, hamstrings, and shoulders. When the hips are tight the pressure will go to the vulnerable knee. ACL injuries are one of the common injuries in youth sports. Other typical injuries that keep an athlete out of the game and on the sidelines are hamstring pulls, low back pain, knee injuries, shoulder pain, ankle sprains, Achilles tendon issues, tendonitis, and wrist problems.
Yoga alleviates tightness, increasing flexibility, mobility, and functional strength. If one part of the body is tight or weak the entire body has to shift to overcompensate, setting an athlete up for injury. Yoga keeps the entire body aligned and strong. There are specific poses that help strengthen the core and open the hips. When the body is working as it should and is not fighting for air, the athlete can stay healthy and bring so much more power into their performance.
Kids seem to be hitting the gym at a much younger age. Is there a difference between strength training and yoga? So much emphasis is placed on strength training in sports. This is not only detrimental to a young athlete from a psychological standpoint, but it can also be very dangerous to a kid who is playing year-round sports. Strength is just one piece of the puzzle.
You need flexibility and mobility to stay healthy and be successful! Typical weight training also does not allow the body to replenish itself. Yoga teaches you to recover. When you weight train, you gain muscle mass and bulk but lose flexibility in those muscles. Without flexibility and mobility, a muscle is more likely to be pulled or stressed to the point of injury. In addition, repetitive movements in weight training can also add stress to an already tired body.
Putting more stress on the body increases the risk of injury. Yoga, on the other hand, emphasizes developing the whole body, as well as working on flexibility and mobility. Yoga is much more than simple stretching and is different from weight training because it moves the muscles in all ranges of motion, working the entire body! So if an athlete wants to start practicing yoga, what type do you recommend? First, it is always important for an athlete to speak with their doctor before doing any type of yoga, especially if they have an injury.
If an athlete has spoken to their doctor and they are ready to incorporate yoga, the type I typically recommend for athletes is a good balance between restorative yoga and power yoga. Most athletes tend to be Type A, so they need and enjoy a challenge! Challenging poses can help push past the limitations of the mind and help athletes work their mental muscle. Poses should include grounding, balancing, strength, and a ton of breath work! If an athlete can breathe properly through challenging poses on their mat, they will be able to breathe through any challenges on the field or court!
Many athletes do not take stretching seriously. They do the obligatory touching their toes, grabbing the foot, and stretching quads, but not much else. We have to make flexibility, mobility, and stretching the body a priority.
Coaches and parents need to do everything in their power to educate themselves and help keep athletes injury-free. We have to help our kids stay healthy and strong in mind, body, and spirit! If we are asking our kids to play one sport year-round and play on multiple teams we have to give them a fighting chance! It continues to be a challenge to change the thinking of both parents and coaches, so much of the old mentality is still holding on. Youth athletics has changed so much over the years. The way we approach training these kids has to change with it. We owe it to our kids to do better.
Something has to change! As you can see, we have barely touched the surface in terms of what yoga can do to enhance the functioning, performance, and overall well-being of athletes. It is our belief that every athlete can benefit from incorporating yoga into his or her training regimen. As always, please consult a doctor before engaging in any exercise program.
One spring when my boys were very young, we took a trip to the local plant nursery to purchase some flowers for our garden. While there, I fell in love with a sweet little lilac bush, barely a foot tall, with a single fragrant bloom. I added this tiny plant to our cart with a clear vision of its new home- a sunny spot right next to our patio, where we could enjoy the sweet-smelling blossoms each spring. When we got home, the boys helped me dig a hole and we settled the lilac into the soil, excited to watch it grow.
One afternoon about a year later I was busy in the kitchen as my son Sammy and his friend Conor played in our backyard. At the time they were no more than 5-years-old, so even though I could clearly see them through our french doors, I would pop my head out every 10 minutes or so to check on them. On this particular day, they were busy playing whiffle ball, each taking turns at the plate while the other worked on striking him out with some nasty breaking ball.
As I was washing dishes, I noticed there was significantly less movement in the yard, so I walked over and opened the doors to find out why things were so quiet. For some reason, Sammy and Conor thought it might be fun to whack the lilac bush and try to remove all of its leaves. My poor little shrub was barely upright, like a Christmas tree in late January that has dropped most of its needles and can hardly hold up its remaining branches. It was a sad scene.
After explaining to the boys that we never harm living things, and that bats are meant for playing baseball, I surveyed the damage. What remained of my thriving lilac was a single trunk, surrounded by torn leaves and broken branches. But I also knew that the roots were strong, the soil was fertile, and it was growing in the perfect spot. Its foundation was strong, so I thought it was my responsibility to try to give this young plant a chance.
So I went out and got soil with extra nutrients to help nourish the roots. I put a stake in the ground to which I tied the trunk, hoping to make the plant more sturdy and upright. I watered it daily, added extra plant food, and made sure no curious little boys took a bat to its branches. And in return, that little lilac bush grew into a beautiful, healthy tree. A tree that now stands over 20 feet tall and produces hundreds of fragrant flowers each spring. A tree that provides shade and beauty to a sunny spot in our backyard.
A tree that is thriving because it got a little extra love and attention when it needed it most. Each one of us is that broken little lilac bush at some point in our lives. Trust me when I tell you that there will be a moment when you or your son or daughter, no matter how talented and successful, will feel defeated, less-than, frustrated, and ready to give up. We all know that the game of baseball will chew you up and spit you out; it will tear you down and build you back up again and again.
Times your team underperforms, makes mistake after mistake, or can't hit the broad side of a barn. Those are the times they really need someone to support and believe in them. Someone who acknowledges their strengths and builds upon them, rather than simply giving up because things seem hopeless. Having a support system is vital because athletes deal with stress from playing sports as well as stress from everyday life. Being an elite athlete requires tremendous sacrifice, dedication, and training.
It means being away from your family for long periods of time, only to return and have to leave again. It means enduring constant criticism from fans and those who want to see you fail. It is pressure from all sides, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, days a year. And it's not just at the professional level- kids in elite travel programs as young as years-old admit to feeling pressure to perform.
Who have your best interests at heart through the good times and bad. Who will spend the extra time, give everything they have, to make sure you succeed. I encourage you to seek those people in your life. Seek them for your athlete. Find the coach, the trainer, the teacher, and the friends who believe in you, who believe in them. The ones who will stand by your side, and theirs; who will celebrate their successes and help guide them through their struggles. It won't be easy. People will come and go because they won't be who you thought they were.
Invest the time and energy into finding the few who will stay, because that is what matters. Research shows that having the ongoing support of friends and family may be one of the most important factors influencing confidence, sports performance, and overall success. See the good in them. Look for ways to support, encourage, and celebrate those around you. But those relationships are the ones we treasure most. Find your tribe, invest in them, keep them close, and love them fiercely. They will have your back, so make sure you have theirs.
Because you will help one another grow and thrive in the good times and bad, and that will make all the difference. Are athletes being given enough mental health support? Yoga is a system of physical postures, breathing techniques, and sometimes meditation practiced to promote physical and emotional well-being. Explain the basics of yoga for those who may not be familiar with what it is and the general health benefits practicing yoga can provide. There are a lot of misconceptions about yoga.
Many people think it is a lot of simple stretching, chanting, and spirituality. The reality is many professional, Olympic, and college athletes have incorporated yoga into their training because it gives them an edge over their competition. I am on a mission to bring yoga down to the high school and middle school level so that athletes can reap the benefits and learn to make it a regular part of taking care of their body. You are the sum of all your parts. Yoga educates an athlete about their body, and connects the mind and body so an athlete can give a superior performance. Yoga also offers hundreds of poses to properly align the body.
You are only as strong as the weakest part of your body. The old school mentality no longer serves youth athletics. We need to prepare these kids for all that they are asking of their bodies. If they keep running full steam ahead and do not take care of themselves their body will eventually give out. We owe it to our kids to educate ourselves so that we can help them properly train their bodies and help set them up so they can have longevity and the ability to thrive in their sport.
Why do you believe athletes in particular need to incorporate yoga into their regular training routine? Youth injuries are on the rise at a staggering rate with no end in sight. The 1 reason for youth injuries is overuse and abuse. Gone are the days of changing sports with the seasons. Think about it- even professional athletes take time off to replenish and heal their bodies! Kids are at a much greater risk of getting injured.
So many of our kids do not even have good body awareness or mechanics. They are so disconnected from their bodies and on top of that have so much on their plate. School, homework, social media, socialization, college prep, etc. Many of them do not have a good understanding of the way their body moves. There are a lot of talented athletes out there but what distinguishes a top athlete over any other is not just their physical ability but their ability to stay in the moment and in their bodies.
Regardless of sport or position, a player needs to able to read a play and react quickly if he or she wants to dominate. So, it is important for them to be able to stay in the moment and within their bodies. Yoga can help them accomplish all of these things. A big part of what yoga can do for athletes is to help strengthen and develop breathing muscles.
While often taken for granted, proper diaphragmatic breathing is essential for athletes. Tell me more about how yoga can help athletes develop proper breathing and how this can benefit their ability to play? Most athletes, like the rest of us, do not know how to breathe properly. They breathe through their mouth, only using the top portion of their lungs. This triggers the sympathetic nervous system, that is, the fight or flight response, which sends stress signals to the brain and in turn, the body.
This constricts the blood vessels, causing the heart rate to spike, forcing the athlete to take more breaths per minute! When you control your breath and your breath does not control you think about how powerful you can be and how much longer you can perform. When a player trains their respiratory and cardiovascular systems it is a lot less wear and tear on the internal organs.
It increases their endurance and stamina, allowing them to go stronger longer.
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When an athlete uses the full capacity of their lungs with diaphragmatic breathing, it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, which keeps the heart and mind calm. The diaphragm pushes all the oxygen out of the bottom of the lungs, increasing lung capacity and oxygenating the muscles and the entire body, including the brain, which increases focus and clarity.
Proper breathing will allow the player to ground into themselves and tap into their full potential so they can give a superior performance. It can also calm any nervousness a player has around an event. In future posts, we will explore the physical benefits of yoga, weight training vs.
If you have a topic you would like us to explore, please let me know by commenting below! And when they come true for a hometown kid, you cheer just a little bit louder. Especially when you realize what that kid endured to make it happen. Jesse Biddle is a Philadelphia native who went to Germantown Friends School, which happens to be right down the street from Penn Charter, the high school my children attend. We play them every year. The school is known for its academic rigor, not its sports programs, so when a stellar athlete shows up there, you take notice.
Jesse was drafted in in the first round by his own Philadelphia Phillies. That in itself was probably a dream come true for him. Any player who makes it to that level understands the challenge that lies ahead. The Minor League system is not glamorous. In the early stages, it involves playing daily games on back fields with no one watching, facing players who are just as good if not better than you. First, it was a bout of whooping cough that dramatically impacted his ability to pitch.
After overcoming that and working his way back to being healthy again, he got caught in a rare hail storm that shattered his car windshield and forced him to seek immediate cover elsewhere. In doing so, he was hit in the back of the head with a hailstone and suffered a major concussion. This, too, sidelined him and affected his ability to throw. After working his way back from that situation and throwing over innings, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery.
In the midst of all this, the Phillies decided to trade him to the Pirates in , who traded him to the Braves about a month later. I can tell you it has nothing to do with luck, or magic, but simply a refusal to give up or give in. I imagine he has a strong support system and coaches along the way who believed in him. I imagine he was persistent in his quest and consistent about putting in the work.
But he made it, in spite of the curveballs the Universe threw at him. Jesse is currently on the Braves roster, another lefty in the bullpen, waiting for the call. Seems like there is a new fad diet every week! Well, very few people have time for that. And each human being is unique, with varied nutritional needs. I firmly believe that each one of us needs to listen to our own body and recognize the foods that allow us to function at our optimal level. Plus, we also need to take into account the pleasure we get from eating.
Sure, we want to nourish our bodies in order to function properly, but eating should be enjoyable too. The good news is it can be both! And while I am not a dietician, I would suggest the answer may be simpler than we think. I encourage you to take a close look at the contents of my kitchen and tell me what you see Hopefully, you notice that most of the options are whole foods from a number of key food groups fruit, vegetables, dairy, beans, whole grains.
You will also see that we are not perfect, because among the items available for consumption are some not-so-healthy pre-packaged foods. So, what is the goal? But what does that really mean? How does that translate into what we put into our bodies on a daily basis, especially in terms of feeding athletes? And how do we establish healthy eating habits so our children will learn how to make appropriate decisions into adulthood?
First of all, I am not a nutritionist. And no one in my family suffers from food allergies, sensitivities, or major medical conditions that would restrict the types of foods we can consume. Of course, that makes eating simple and complicated at the same time. Simple because we can eat everything and complicated because we can eat everything! It can seem overwhelming. But like I said earlier, it doesn't have to be. I've been laying the foundation for healthy eating habits since the moment my kids were born.
Actually, it was way before that, because fueling my own body during pregnancy was important to me, so my desire to make quality choices naturally transferred to the way I feed my kids. We can't have a real conversation about food until we all own up to that fact. That's a phrase my boys heard early and often. Your ability to function as a human being is directly related to how you fuel your body. Because athletes push their bodies further than the average person, nutrition becomes even more important to maintaining health, staying injury-free, and performing at the highest level.
This is a critical decision for every human being, but especially athletes. Now, I know what you are thinking. This all sounds completely unrealistic. I'm not a food nazi. We eat pre-packaged foods. My kids have had soda, and tasty cakes shoutout to our hometown Philly! We are on the road most of the summer so I know what it's like to have limited options.
The nature of life in means making the best possible choice as often as possible. And with a little planning and minimal prep work, this is an attainable goal. And it really can be accomplished within any budget. With these 9 golden rules, you too can lay the foundation for healthy eating and help your family achieve a plan that will increase health, productivity, and performance.
The boys' advice? Remember it's THEIR life.
For most people, the most challenging part will be making the decision to change their eating habits. Once you make that decision and see the changes in your health and performance, you will want to continue on the path of eating whole foods. I encourage you to take it one step at a time. Make small, manageable changes. Listen to your body and nourish it for optimal health and performance. Please comment below and let me know how you are helping your family and athlete establish healthy eating habits.
And not just dirty Like pants that have been soaked in a vat of teen hormonal sweat, rolled up in a ball, and left to die in the bottom of a baseball bag for weeks kind of smelly. Not that I would know anything about that So yeah, those babies stink worse than you ever thought possible. I remember one day it was so bad that I called my pediatrician in a panic to report that something must be very wrong with my 8-year-old son because his baseball stuff smelled like elephant urine. I actually told her in a completely serious tone that my garage smelled like the zoo on the hottest day of the summer.
Or the ground-in red clay from the slide into second after he legs out an RBI double. Trust me, however, you will be thinking about them as soon as he peels that mess off post-game and throws it on your laundry room floor. Of course, those are just the obvious stains. No one warned me about the mysterious impossible-to-remove black marks left behind by artificial turf, or their friends the little black pellets, that, like Christmas tree needles, show up everywhere 4 months after the season is over!
When my oldest started t-ball, I was super-excited to pre-treat, soak, and scrub so that he could have the perfect white pants for each and every game. Honestly, it was the sweetest thing to see him standing out on the field in stark white pants, as crisp and clean as they were on opening day. There was a tremendous amount of satisfaction in making those pants look like he had just ripped them from their plastic packaging.
Getting out those superficial grass stains made me feel like I could conquer the world. Most times, a little pre-soak with Shout, normal wash, and his pants looked like new. As he got a little older, I noticed the stains required some more coaxing to remove. And I soaked some more. I tried pretty much every laundry detergent on the market. I used dish soap. And bars of soap. There was the baking soda and vinegar soak. And yes, I even scrubbed those stains with toothpaste!
Back in the little league days, I could typically use one of these methods, or several on some days, to get the stains mostly out. I found using a combination of scrubbing with a good liquid laundry detergent, then pre-soaking in the baking soda-vinegar mix, and washing normally worked best to remove stains and odor.
Ahhh, the sweet bliss of naivete I should have known it was too good to last. Not to mention that I now had three sons playing baseball several days a week. But I still wanted them to look like I made some sort of effort, and of course, I had to try to get out some of the odor, or I feared the uniform might actually start walking around on its own. At this point I was frustrated and at a loss for what to do.
Until one life-changing afternoon on the diamond. I was chatting with another baseball mom and we started talking about the uniform issue. Honestly, when she first said it I swore she was joking. It sounded like some made-up language. This was a kid who played hard for the entire game, and always looked just as dirty as my own boys after nine innings. Either she had a huge secret stash of brand new pants and gave her son a new pair for each game or she was definitely onto something.
But, like any good skeptic, I had to try it for myself. First, the soap was easy to find- I had my choice of heading to CVS, Walgreens, Home Depot, or my local family-owned market to pick up a bar of the stuff that was going to solve all of my dirty uniform problems. Armed with my new secret laundry weapon, I headed home to scrub some uniforms. Now let me begin by saying I was not about to spend an hour scrubbing every single stain out of three pairs of pants. My goal was simply to remove the most offensive stains in the shortest amount of time possible.
I started by wetting the pants with some warm water and then went to work. I scrubbed each stain for about a minute with the bar, then rubbed the fabric against itself to really let it work its magic. Then I left it to sit for a few minutes while I worked on the other 2 uniforms. This is what the stains looked like after a little bit of scrubbing with the Fels-Naptha. After that, I threw the uniforms in the washer with my regular detergent boosted with a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener compartment and a cup of baking soda in the basin and waited for the cycle to finish.
The stains I treated were gone, and the pants actually looked presentable for a change! And it didn't require a lengthy process to see the results. I literally scrubbed the stains for about a minute. Those stains disappeared just as easily as the fresh ones. The best part about it? Fels-Naptha is simple to use, inexpensive, and effective.
I felt like I had wasted so much time and money on other stain-removal techniques, none of which were nearly as effective as the Fels-Naptha. I encourage you to check it out for yourself, and let me know how it works for you! Every day there is a new challenge, a new worry, a new issue to address. And parenting athletes comes with its own set of demands.
Are my children working with the right trainer? Attending the right events to be seen by the right college coaches? Sure, it's fun and exciting to watch your son develop and have success on the field, but there is a lot of hard work, tremendous sacrifices, and a number of struggles along the way. Now if your teenagers are anything like mine, their favorite words are "fine," "good," and "not much.
I get it- they have long days and a lot on their plate between school, sports, friends, girls, college plans, social media, eating right, getting enough sleep I definitely do NOT miss being a teenager, and kids today face more challenges than we ever did. They are being pulled in a million different directions, so it's not surprising that the last thing they want to do is spend what little time they have talking to us about anything. Here's the thing- whether they want to admit it or not, they need to talk, and there are certain things we need to know in order to support them as young adult athletes.
The biggest surprise was the fact that all three of my boys expressed a need for regular open dialogue between athletes and parents. Throughout our conversation, they reiterated the fact that it is vital for parents to really know their kids. Clearly, athletes DO want to talk, it's just about finding the right times to engage. For example, Jake addressed how parents should handle times when kids struggle versus when they are playing well. He said the key is to "read" your child; that is, recognize the cues he is giving you about what he may need and when.
He said if your son gets into the car and immediately puts on his headphones after a particularly bad game that's a sign that it's not the right time to talk. Maybe he needs space to decompress emotionally and process what went wrong but he may be ready to talk later that night or the next day. On the other hand, some kids may leave the field, hop in the front seat and begin breaking down each play, so it really is a matter of knowing your child. And when he's playing well? Give him feedback but don't overdo it. When parents are excessive with praise it loses effectiveness and can eventually lead to bigger issues when your son hits a rough patch.
I'll admit, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement when your son is playing well and getting attention for his on-field success. It can be equally difficult not to internalize things when your son struggles. Do they want and need support and advice? Do they need us living vicariously through them? Hold each position 10 times for 6 seconds each. Start with no weight and gradually increase the weight as needed. A strong core will help you transfer energy efficiently into your arms during a swing or throw. The Pallof Press is a terrific exercise for building anti-rotational core strength.
During a throw, your front leg must be able to absorb all the force that your body generates. If it can't maintain this energy, your overall throwing velocity will be negatively affected. The Front Lunge helps to develop a strong front leg and optimal energy transfer during the throwing motion. Both swinging and throwing are initiated by energy harnessed from powerful lateral movement, which is then converted into rotational power.
Ample strength in the frontal plane will pay off big in your swinging and throwing. Your hands and forearms are responsible for the final power push during a swing. A strong grip and ample forearm strength will help you transfer more energy through the ball. Plus, if you're hitting a mph fastball, your forearms need enough strength to absorb that force and swing powerfully.
That's the reason many big league hitters have gigantic forearms. A Common Problem for Young Pitchers. Path to the Pros Samaje Perine, Oklahoma RB.