Four Exercises to Increase Power for Baseball Players
Power is the rate of doing work or the ability to be explosive. When it comes to being successful in sports, performance is closely linked with power.
In baseball, power can impact your throwing, hitting, base stealing, and fielding.
When you combine a strength base and move effectively, you are more likely to fully tap into your power potential. Just like increasing strength, there are many ways to increase power…
Here Are 4 of My Favorite Exercises to Increase Power for Baseball Players
Kettlebell Swings
Kettlebell swings are a great exercise that takes the power of the jump and uses that to propel a weight.
The swing is a total body movement that builds strength, while also requiring power, speed, and endurance.
Band Resisted Broad Jumps
Adding bands to some of your jumps, like broad jumps, are a great way to increase your force production.
The broad jump is a great measure of pure power output and is often tested inside gyms, combines, and athlete intake.
Trap Bar Jumps
Trap bar jumps are generally performed with low weight so that peak power can be achieved.
With too much load, the velocity will drop, which defeats the purpose of the lift. With the trap bar, the weight is now closer to your center of mass, with the arms down by the sides in a neutral position. Similar to a squat jumps, kettlebell swing, or broad jumps.
Weighted Seated Vertical Jumps
Similar to trap bar jumps, you want to choose a weight that will not make you too slow.
When you start seated on a box, you are eliminating the eccentric (lowering) aspect of the jump. You will not have the rubber band effect to help you.
You must provide all the power on the way up.
If you are adding these types of exercises into your training program, make sure your takeoffs and landings are optimal.
I typically program these types of exercises after a full warmup, but before your main lifts.
Stay in the 2-4 set range of 3-5 reps.
Focus on one rep at a time, similar to one pitch at a time, one swing at a time mindset. Make that specific rep the best you can.
Nick Esposito
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I like that you said that in baseball, power can impact your throwing, hitting, base stealing, and fielding. My nephew is in high school, and he plays for the baseball varsity team, he is always looking for ways to improve his hit. Thanks for sharing this article, I’m sure my nephew would like to try the exercises to improve his baseball skills.
Thanks for reading! Let me know how he does with those exercises.