Arm Care Exercises For Baseball Players

Now that baseball is back for all the age groups and tournaments are looming around the corner, we want to make sure your children and our athletes are heading in the right direction while avoiding a throwing injury. After a long break from all the sports due to the Covid-19, most of the athletes will be deconditioned due to the lack of physical activity and motivation because of the loss of the spring season.

The main misconception with baseball is that “you don’t need to be in good physical shape in order to throw.” This cannot be farther from the truth. Throwing is an explosive and powerful motion that requires a tremendous amount of force to propel the ball forward and a significant amount of effort to decelerate aka slowing down after the throw. If there is an inadequate balance in force generation (throwing hard) and force reduction (slowing down), shoulder and elbow injuries are quite common.

Because our job is to help baseball athletes staying healthy while improving their performance so they can play baseball at their highest potential, we put together shoulder and arm care exercises for them to do at home and before throwing activity.

What you need

1. A foam roller

2. A lacrosse/baseball

3. Mini band

Now, let’s get into it! Here are the drills to help you warm up and prepare your body for throwing activities

Mobility Preparation

• Foam rolling thoracic spine to improve rotation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EDrM31YzGc

• Lower body foam rolling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=logG1sX9rio

• Soft tissue decompression to improve range of motion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Dlg7AUMr4

• Open-book rotation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=825xUMAcoXs

Movement Preparation

• Downward dog and spiderman lunges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ90mN4hJYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzGfob11kX4

• Banded Baby Claps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdj5TfLDaQ

• Banded PNF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPJbP6-5N8Q

Throwing Warm-Up

• 10 feet throw - 10 throws

• 20 feet throw - 10 throws

• 40 feet throw - 5 throws

• 60 feet throw with crow hop - 5 throws

• 75 feet throw with crow hop - 5 throws

• 90 feet throw with crow hop - 5 throws

After your practice, if you have some soreness please go back and do the mobility preparation. Remember that soreness is NORMAL but PAIN is NOT.

What is the difference between soreness and pain?

Soreness is that fatigue and aching feeling that you get after a good workout

Pain is a sensation that can be sharp, burning, and deep ache that most of the time does not go away after 48 hours or so. If you are feeling within your throwing shoulder and elbow please give us a call at 973-370-0198 or email info@myokinetix.com to schedule a phone consultation so we can HELP you figure out the issue before it becomes a season-ending injury.

To the parents and coaches that are reading, the more throwing activity and intensity the athlete does, the more rest he/she will need. Please be mindful that you are working with a younger athlete and not an adult. What works for adults DOES NOT work for youth athletes. They are still growing and still learning about their own bodies which require patience and guidance. Please encourage them to be verbal and give feedback to see how they are feeling that is the best way to ensure success for their future.

We hope you guys find this helpful and remember we are here in your corner =)

Dr. Natty Bandasak

P.S. We are offering FREE 30 Minutes in-person/online visit for anyone that is dealing with some PAIN. Just because you are stuck at home, that doesn’t mean you should be in pain as well =) call us at 973-370-0198 or email info@myokinetix.com