The number of baseball injuries, especially early in the season, has increased greatly in the last few years. Every week you can read articles about how many team players are injured and fans complaining that if only the athletes weren’t injured, the team would be having a much better season.
All baseball injuries are not preventable. However, we know that the number of injuries can be cut down greatly through proper training. This is a proven fact which most teams seem to ignore or use inadequate methods to produce good results. Most often they keep hoping that their players will not get injured. If they are injured, “It is part of the game.”
Coaches think that they are doing their job by hiring strength and conditioning coaches to prevent injury. But little attention is paid to the type of training done and when it is done. For example, most players who come into spring training are out of shape and work to get in shape 2-3 weeks before the first game. But this is impossible. They may get over some of the soreness experienced after the first few days, but it is not enough to prevent injury. The physical demands of baseball are such that if the player is not already in good physical condition prior to the season, it is impossible to get him in good shape during the season. Thus, they will always be playing at a sub-par level and be more prone to injury. This is especially true if they use steroids.
Because many players are in poor physical condition, strength coaches try to get them strong and physically ready by undergoing heavy weight training programs in the late preseason and during the season. But it is impossible to produce effective results or to significantly improve strength and other physical abilities as they relate to skill execution in such a short period of time.
Programs to develop greater strength in-season often lead to a greater number of injuries because the weight training interferes with skill execution on the field. In other words, the new-found strength interferes with technique of hitting, running and throwing. Understand that the leading cause of injury is poor technique or neuro-muscular coordination. When you increase strength, you change coordination. Because of this, training must be done to couple technique with increases in strength or other physical qualities.
Injuries have a neuromuscular basis found in a combination of nerve firing (timing) and strength and other physical qualities related to the execution of specific skills on the field. For example, many players get injured while running the bases and making changes in direction, two of the more common causes of hamstring injuries. Some injuries are due to improper swinging especially with the “sit and spin” technique. Pitching injuries are often due to over-reliance on the arm, ineffective arm actions and poor releases.
When players have ample strength, speed, quickness and explosive power developed prior to the season, the main concern in season should be maintenance. Because most teams do not use effective restorative methods after playing a game, it usually takes 1-2 days before some players, especially pitchers, to recover sufficiently before they can any type of worthwhile “extra” training. This leaves very little time to develop any new or specific physical qualities prior to preparation for the next game. Thus, the concept of physically preparing the players while in season is erroneous. It is physiologically impossible, especially if you also want top performance all season.
The solution is simple, but one that will probably not be carried out because of antiquated practices and how most owners and general managers think. In some cases it may even be because the athlete has it written into his contract that the team will not place any demands on him in terms of his physical preparation or require him to be available for training prior to the season. If owners would make pre-season training part of the contract so that the athlete is in good physical condition or be fined or not paid, the number of injuries would be less. Players would then be forced to get themselves ready to play. They would not, as they do now, play in hopes of getting ready to play more. Some of course do not care as they are already set financially for life. Players are in good physical condition will need strength and conditioning coaches who are well versed in the biomechanics of the skills (pitching, hitting,.running, etc. They will also need coaches who can analyze their technique to determine weaknesses, areas needing improvement, causes of injury, etc. and then be able to make corrections and prescribe special strength exercises to make corrections and enhance their performance. This is not an easy task but one that must be done if we truly want to prevent injuries and improve player performance…It may also decrease our reliance on foreign players to fill the rosters of MLB teams.