Workout ideas

Question
Next year I am going to be a freshman is high school. I want a starting spot on the varsity team, but to do that I will have to out hit, out run, and possibly out pitch some of the players. I was wondering if you had any workout ideas to improve my arm strength, hitting power, speed, and jumping

Answer
Hi Derrick,

I can complete understand where you are coming from and think it is great you want to play on the varsity as a freshman.  Here, are a few training suggestions.  In regards to overall arm strength and pitching ability, I would recommend using a pitcher training program offered by Tom House (I personally used one of his and saw my fastball increase about 10 mph) or TuffCuff by Steven Ellis.  Here, is a link to the latter: http://www.webball.com/cms/page5773.cfm  In addition, you will want to incorporate long toss and practice some pitching.  

In regards to hitting power, I recommend the following:
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com/Baseball-Hitting/Baseball-Program-To-I...
or
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com/Baseball-Hitting/Rotational-Hitting.ht...

Both of these guides are good for helping improve hitting.  Although the first one is meared geared towards strength training.  Recognize that any good weight training workout for pitchers will invariably help you build strength for hitting.

Also, for pitching and hitting, it may be a good idea to get some lessons from a professional so that they can help refine your mechanics.  This can help you get faster, get better control, and help eliminate some mistakes you are making saving you time.

Finally, for speed, your best source will be to get some lessons with a running coach.  They can show you some basic tips to improve your running and give you some good tips.  Ideally, they will be giving you some plyometric exercises to work on as well.  

However, of all the above things, I think it is important that you plan your weight training out for the next four years.  Your goal should ultimately to be in the best physical shape by the time you are senior.  Each summer you will want to be getting a little bit stronger.  Weight training is more like a marathon race than a sprint so keep this in mind.

Hope this helps and good luck to you in reaching your goal.

Best,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com