In-Season Baseball Training: Preserving What He Built

When the competitive season arrives, the goal of individual development changes from building new traits to fiercely protecting what you gained in the winter. You cannot afford to let your son coast for six months, but you also cannot afford to burn him out.

We are for parents taking an active role in managing their player’s physical and mental baseline through the grind of the season. To keep your son from losing ground between March and May, focus on three specific areas:

1. Preserve the central nervous system

In-season training should focus on fewer, high-intent contractions performed with speed. He cannot afford to be completely sore for game day. However, stopping entirely is a mistake; weekly, focused training sessions are vital to maintain off-season gains.

2. Maintain body weight

Young players easily drop hard-earned muscle mass during the season due to poor fueling. Focus on getting high-calorie, low-drag foods into them around games and practices. Aim for a daily guideline of roughly 1.1 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight to preserve their strength.

3. Keep mobility flowing

Frequency is everything when it comes to keeping joints healthy. Implement simple upper and lower body mobility flows directly before and after games to speed up active recovery.

Upper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMi7m9gHMfA

Lower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWNOh_xPif8

Note for pitchers

Pitchers require a more robust aerobic system to clear out fatigue. Avoid the joint stress of long-distance running. Instead, implement a 15-to-30 minute low-impact recovery circuit (air squats, jump rope, step-ups, and band work) at an easy pace the day after a start to move the blood and reset the body.

The 20 minutes still belongs in-season. Team practice is for the team — that difference is in individual training vs team practice.