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by Dr. Michael Ciocco |
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by Dr. Michael Ciocco |
Introduction
Let me start by stating that I am not an expert, only a softball player who has spent some time trying to improve my hitting power. I have read a lot and tried various methods to improve my power. Summarized below is what I have found that can be done in the gym to improve hitting power. Listed here are only the methods I have had success with and I am sure there are other ways to improve hitting power, so this is by no means meant to be a complete list.
Every player can benefit from an increase in hitting power. For the power hitter it becomes easier to hit homeruns and for the singles hitter it allows the ball to get through the infield faster.
Hitting power is about 50% physical power and about 50% skill. In addition a players hitting power will always be limited by the weaker of either of these. Physical power is the power a batter can transfer to the bat, while skill is the ability to hit a ball at the maximum power point and at the optimal position on the bat and on the ball. A powerful person that can swing a heavy bat 100 mph will not have good hitting power unless they can consistently hit a ball well with that swing. Likewise a player may be able to both hit the sweet spot of the bat and the ball squarely every time but if they cannot physically generate power they will not have good hitting power.
Developing the skill part of power requires lots of practice both during batting practice (BP) and in game situations but this is not the main focus of this article. However I will say if you want to improve your power then you need to swing very hard during your BP sessions. Actually you may want to practice “over-swinging” during practice, because most players usually end up “over-swinging” in the game. As an old coach of mine use to say “Practice makes Permanent”. What he meant was if you practice at ½ speed, without focus, or practice bad habits you will end up playing that way. So practice how you want to play!
Below is a discussion of what power is and how to work out in order to improve your hitting power. For a vast majority of players softball is a hobby and as such you will only have a limited amount of time to spend on workouts. That is why it is important to maximize the effectiveness of your workout so that you are not wasting your time.
Power
First, lets take a look at the physics of power. By definition Power = Work / Time and Work = Force x Length. Also Length / Time = Velocity which yields, Power = Force x Velocity. In a simplified view, during batting, Force = Weight of the Bat and Velocity = Bat Velocity.
P = W / t
Where: W = Work,t = Time
Also: W = F * L
Where: F = Force,L = Length
Therefore: P = F * (L / t)
And (L / t) = Velocity, V
So P = F * V or P » (Bat Weight * Bat Velocity)
From a lifting point of view in order to improve power you want to increase both Force (weight) and Velocity. And since the Length of each movement is constant to increase the Velocity you are really trying to decrease the time it takes to do each movement.
Weight Training:
Weight training is a good way to improve power. It is important to keep in mind that you are training as an athlete. Specifically you are lifting to be able to swing with more power. (i.e. to increase either or both Force and Velocity.) So what muscle groups are important for swinging? Well it ends up that all the major muscle groups are involved, from the lowly calves all the way up to the hands. But some are more important than others, such as the legs, torso, triceps, and wrists/forearms.
When you talk to people about lifting you will find there are dozens of different lifting programs. The reason there are so many programs is because they all work. Unfortunately a lot of the programs were originally designed to achieve a certain look, body builders, or to increase maximum strength. These programs can be dangerous because they can promote the building of slow twitch muscles, which will not improve your power!
So how can you tell which programs are better suited for power? First of all swinging a bat takes less than 1 second, therefore lifting weights slowly is obviously useless. That is, concentrate on keeping your movements quick and explosive!
Also some very good scientific studies have shown that you use your quick twitch muscles for the first 4 reps and slow twitch muscles for any reps after 8, with a mixture of quick and slow twitch muscles being used in reps 5-8. With this in mind it is best to workout with reps of 6 or less with each rep taking less than 1 second. Also the reps should be of such a weight that you should be unable to do more than 6 reps (i.e. Lift Heavy!).
Another point that needs to be made is how long you should wait between sets. Remember you are training to swing with more power. During a game you will warm up then maybe take 2 or 3 swings at the most for each at bat. Then you will have to wait until your spot in the order comes up again before swinging again. Relating this to your training it is obvious that there is no need to rush through your sets. In fact if you try to do your sets with very little rest time in between you will end up working more on endurance and less on power. That is because you will still be fatigued if you do your successive sets without enough rest. Some people wait as long as 5 minutes between sets and will actually work a different body part between each set. In any case it is important to rest at least 2.5 minutes between sets so that your quick twitch muscles have recovered from the previous set.
One more thing you need to consider when working out is the length of your workout. Studies have shown the majority of the benefit gained from weight lifting takes place in the first 45 minutes. This is especially true with respect to the quick twitch muscles that fatigue fairly quickly and recover slowly compared to the slow twitch muscles. Therefore it is important to try to keep your workouts around 45 minutes. It is much better to do a 45 minute workout 5 days a week instead of a 90 minute workout 3 days a week.
Adaptability – When you lift weights you train your body to adapt by becoming stronger. Unfortunately this “adaptability” also means your body will become use to your workout program and you will see diminishing returns after time. You can add more weight, and this will allow you to keep improving. However your body will still be use to the workout program you are using. That is why it is very useful to change workout programs every 6-8 weeks, especially during the off season.
Exercises and Exercise Programs:
Standard – Lift each major muscle group twice a week. For instance do Chest and Triceps on Monday & Thursday and Legs and Back on Tuesday and Fridays. Usually 3 sets of each exercise are done with between 2 and 4 exercises per muscle group. This is a good workout routine for beginners because they learn the different exercises and proper form. When in doubt seek the advice of a knowledgeable person.
Compensatory Acceleration – See Ray DeMarini’s “Ulitiamate Bat Speed” video. One day HEAVY then one day FAST for each muscle group each week. Using the same schedule given as an example above you would lift FAST on Thursdays and Fridays. On the FAST days you would do the same exercises as the HEAVY day but you would reduce the weight to 60-80% of the HEAVY day maximums and concentrate on lifting as fast as possible through the first 2/3 of the movement. The idea is to be accelerating through the first 2/3 of the movement then to slow down. You need to slow down at the end to prevent injuring yourself.
Fives – (Also called Longshoremans workout) Do 4-6 basic exercises. Find a weight with which you can only do 5 reps and do 2 sets with that weight. (After warming up of course!) Do these 4-6 basic exercises every day, preferably 5 days in a row, then 2 days off, then repeat. This workout is great for adding strength and is very good during the season because it never leaves you completely fatigued. The idea of the “Fives” is that by doing 2 sets of 5 reps with a heavy weight your body is stimulated to get stronger without becoming overworked. Try it, it really works! Just remember to lift explosively!
Plyometrics and Ballistic Training – This type of training is similar to Compensatory Acceleration Training. The main difference is the use of eccentric muscle action utilization. An eccentric muscle action involves the muscle lengthening as the muscle tries to contract. The eccentric action is then followed by an explosive muscle action. An example of this is the use of an approach in jumping. Basketball players, volleyball players, and high jumpers all use their approach to add height to their jump. They do this by storing their approach energy in an eccentric muscle action then using this stored energy to explode into their jump. An example would be to try and jump as high as possible, first with your legs already bent at the knees at a 90 degree angle, then try by starting standing straight then dropping to the 90 degree angle and jumping. You will be able to jump higher in the second case because you were able to utilize some of the stored energy from the eccentric muscle action used to stop your initial collapse.
It is fairly obvious how this technique can be used for squats or leg presses. In addition this technique can be used for other exercises, such as bench press or triceps extensions, by “dropping” the weight from a few inches above the weights lowest point, “catching” the weight, and then exploding upwards with the weight. Note that you never actually release the weight you just release your muscle holding the weight up. As with Compensatory Acceleration the idea is to accelerate throughout the first 2/3s of the movement. Similarly weights less than your maximum (60-80%) should be used for this technique.
Over-Speed Training – An effective way to improve your swing speed is to condition your nerves to move your muscles faster. This can be done by Over-Speed training. You can do this by swinging a whiffleball bat as fast as possible a couple of times a week. All you will need is a 3-dollar whiffleball bat and a few minutes 2 to 3 times a week. Swing the whiffleball bat as fast as possible for about 8 reps doing 2-3 sets. Be sure and maintain good form for each swing. This is also a good way to warm up before a workout session.
Combinations and Permutations – With experience you will be able to build your own lifting routines that are effective. For instance the Plyometrics and Ballistic training can be used with the “Fives” routine on alternating days in order to mix things up.
Specific Exercises - There are dozens of different exercises, many of which are just slight variations of basic exercises. Below are listed some of the basic exercises for each major body part. If you are new to lifting be sure and seek out the advice of a knowledgeable person. Never forget that you are training as an athlete!
Legs: Squats, Leg presses, or Lunges. Squats are the best but they can be hard on your back. Leg presses are safer for the back but require a machine. Lunges with added weight are also a very good athletic exercise. A note of caution, if you have knee problems there are a few basic rules to remember. First, do not let your knees get out in front of your ankles, this puts a lot of strain on the knees. Secondly, avoid leg extensions or any other exercises that do not put weight on the bottom of the foot. Weight on the bottom of the foot is important to keep the knee properly aligned during lifting. Knee problems can easily become degenerative so it is very important to keep the quads strong.
Chest: Bench Press (Straight bar or dumbells), Dips, or Flys. Dumbell bench presses require more stabilization and coordination and are therefore better athletically. Also dumbell bench presses allow the hands to be positioned like they are during your swing. That is you can do dumbell bench presses with you hands in the “hammer” position (dumbells parallel to your body) or in the reverse position. These positions also work the triceps harder and are usually much easier on the shoulders. Weighted dips also target the triceps and are excellent for building power.
Triceps: Triceps extensions, Skull crunchers, or Triceps push downs. These are common exercises. These exercises can be done with a triceps bar, dumbells, or a cable machine. They can be done flat, at an incline or standing at a cable machine.
Back: Bent over rows, Pull downs, or Pull-ups. Again these are common exercises. Remember not to get to use to doing any one exercise. Switching between exercises keeps the workout fresh and promotes better overall gains.
Wrists and Hands: Wrist curls, Grippers. There are a variety of exercises for your wrists and hands. Strong wrists and hands are very important in transferring, and adding to, the power the rest of your body develops to the bat. I highly recommend the use of grippers to develop hand/wrist strength, especially if you use the over-lap batting grip. And not just the sporting goods store grippers, but a more difficult type of gripper. The best I have found are the Captains of Crushâ grippers available from IronMind Enterprises, Inc. (www.ironmind.com). Another nice thing about the grippers is that you can use them anywhere, like when you are driving home from work.
Swing Specific Exercises: Whiffleball bat / Weighted swings. In addition to Over-Speed training with a whiffleball bat, other exercises are possible employing increased resistance during swings. You can swing a weighted bat or swing a bat with an air resistance device attached, like the DeMarini Chute Trainer. Another option is to attach the handle of a bat to a cable machine at the gym and do weighted swings this way. You can cut the handle off of an old bat and attach and eye bolt about 10” from the knob. The eye bolt is then used to attach the handle to the cable machine, then swing away!
Nutrition
A power lifter once told me that gaining power was 20% lifting, 40% nutrition, and 40% genetics. This is probably a gross generalization, but it does hold some truth. Nobody can choose his or her parents, so there is nothing you can do about the genetics part. However you can control the lifting and nutrition in order to improve your power. By using the methods and philosophy described above you can effectively design a lifting program that is right for you. This leaves nutrition.
Supplements are everywhere and every company claims their supplements do fantastic things. If you were to believe even ½ of what companies say about their supplements you would think you don’t even need to work out! Of course this isn’t true, it takes a good deal of commitment and sweat to build power. But what supplements can do is insure that you have the building blocks necessary to build muscle.
Basically you need protein to build muscle and the best protein for muscle building is Whey protein. Following the suggested serving direction of a good quality Whey protein can really help you maximize the benefits of working out.
Another supplement that has received a lot of attention is Creatine. Proponents claim that Creatine both speeds recovery and improves strength. There have been a few studies that have shown that Creatine improves strength in swimmers and sprinters. However there has been no claims of Creatine increasing a persons 1-rep maximum. In addition Creatine is relatively new and there are no long-term studies of its effects on the body. Because it is a naturally occurring substance in meats one would assume that if taken in amounts similar to what could be taken through normal eating habits it would be safe. Another supplement, L-Glutamine, also claims to help you with recovery from workouts.
Weaknesses
It is very important to identify your areas that are the weakest and work to improve those areas. For instance if you are naturally slow you will need to do a lot of Over-Speed training with the whiffleball bat. This also holds true for muscle groups, if you have weak wrists/hands then concentrate on improving them. It is important to remember that your power will be limited by your “weakest-link”. Therefore working on your weaknesses is important because this is where you will be able to make the most dramatic gains.
Summary
It is important to remember your goal when training. Your goal is to be able to hit the ball harder! Combining the lifting tips given above with A LOT of QUALITY BP will allow you to meet your goal.
Remember to do each exercise explosively. Doing exercises slowly is a waste of your time. Try to keep the time it takes to do each movement less than 1 second.
Lift HEAVY weights for 4-6 reps. Lifting heavy weights promotes the building of quick twitch muscles.
Keep your workouts around 45 minutes in length. Longer workouts are not beneficial.
Make sure you have the nutrition necessary to build and maintain muscle.
Remember to change your lifting program every 6-8 weeks in order to keep things fresh and to maximize your gains.
Identify and work to improve your weaknesses. By improving your “weakest-link” you will gain the most benefit from the time you spend working out.
