Softball strength training · Apex, NC

Softball strength training for the swing, the throw and the run

Her hitting coach owns the swing. Her pitching coach owns the motion. Nobody owns the strength both of them borrow from. That is our job.

Strength in softball rarely looks like strength

Parents picture a weight room and worry about bulk. That is not where softball strength shows up.

It shows up as a ball that leaves the bat harder. A throw from the hole that still gets there. A turn around first that doesn't drift wide.

And it shows up in August, when the arm and knees that started the summer are still the ones finishing it.

Where a softball player needs to be strong

• Legs and hips — the push behind a first step out of the box and the drive leg of a windmill pitcher.
• The rotation — hips and trunk that turn hard and stop on time, because a swing is a rotation that has to brake as well as accelerate.
• The back of the shoulder and upper back — the muscles that slow the arm after every throw and pitch, and the ones almost no team practice trains.
• One side at a time — she bats from one side and throws with one arm, so left and right are tested and trained separately. Here is why that gap matters.

Is lifting safe for a 12-year-old softball player?

Supervised, progressive strength training is considered safe for young athletes by both the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. We summarize what those statements say here.

What worries us more is the reverse: a year of practices, lessons and tournament weekends landing on a player with no strength base to absorb it.

What we measure first

Before she lifts anything, we test. Strength, jump height on two legs and on each leg, first-step and sprint speed, and how she moves and lands. Testing uses Output Sports technology, so the numbers come off a sensor, not our eye.

Those numbers decide where the program starts, and the re-tests show whether it is working.

How training works

1. Prepare the body — hips, ankles, thoracic spine and shoulders opened up, then a few landings to wake the legs up.
2. Power while fresh — medicine ball throws, jumps or swings, at full effort with full rest.
3. The main lifts — squats, hinges, single-leg work and pulls, coached in a group of 3–5 so every rep is seen.
4. Arm care and trunk — the band and core work that keeps a throwing arm healthy through a long season.

Volume rises in the off-season and drops during tournament weeks. We ask about her team, lesson and game schedule up front, and count her throws along with her lifts.

Where we train

We coach small groups of 3–5 athletes at The Performance Academy, 1010 Classic Rd, Apex. It is a short drive from Cary, Holly Springs, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina and Raleigh. Directions.

Live closer to Pittsboro or Wendell? The same program is available online through the Athlete Academy app, with video feedback on her lifts and testing done here in Apex.