In the region where I operate my training facility, one of the high school baseball associations made a mandatory switch from aluminum bats to wood bats as a way to reduce potential injuries to pitchers.  Having been able to watch some of the games and see the players that train in my program has only reaffirmed to me the huge value of a well designed strength/speed program.  When the switch is made from metal to wood bats it immediately becomes clear which player’s strength train and which players do not! 

The difference is quite obvious.  The most glaring differences present themselves in a player’s ability to hit the ball for power into the gaps and the ability to get out of the box and up the first base line. The players who hit for higher averages the year before in this same league became singles hitters and could barely get the ball out of the infield this year with a wood bat.  The weaker player has little or no gap power with a wood bat and lacks first step quickness as compared to the stronger trained athlete who is superior in both areas. Having witnessed it firsthand the results don’t lie!  I see the parents of baseball players spending thousands of dollars a year on hitting instruction with hopes of turning little Johnny into Barry Bonds.  Little Johnny may look good swinging the bat in the cage, but he can barely get the bat head through the hitting zone quick enough because he lacks the strength to control the bat. When he finally makes contact it is a lazy fly ball to short center field that just drops like a wounded duck.  Forgive me for sounding critical but it just doesn’t make any sense to me, it seems we are approaching the task backwards or at least out of order. A good combination of strength/speed training in conjunction with skill training will give you a better developed and more productive player, but unfortunately not enough players have figured this out yet.

As you may have already noticed I am obviously very much in favor of the role that strength plays in training for improved speed.  I guess that is why they call us “strength coaches”.  Unfortunately though there continues to be a stereotypical misnomer that “speed training” and “strength training” are two separate disciplines and should be approached as two completely separate things.  WRONG!   This could not be any farther from the truth. 

If you really want to understand why strength plays such a huge role in speed development then you need to understand the meaning of strength as well as the different types of strength. Without going into specific detail on all of the types of strength I am going to briefly educate you on the specific types of strength most important for baseball speed.

Strength can basically be defined as the ability of the muscles to produce internal tension and exert resistance against external forces.  “Maximal Strength” is the most force your muscles can produce voluntarily in a single muscle contraction, regardless of the amount of time it takes.  There are three characteristics of maximal strength: Concentric Contraction is when the muscle develops tension, shortens and produces movement. Isometric Contraction is when a muscle develops tension but does not change its length or produce movement of a body part.  Eccentric Contraction is when a muscle lengthens while producing tension causing braking or controlled speed of movement.

When referring to baseball I use the words strength and speed almost synonymously because it actually defines the most important type of strength needed to excel in baseball called “Speed Strength”.  Speed strength can be defined as the ability of the neuromuscular system to produce the greatest possible force in the shortest amount of time.  There are three types of speed strength:  Starting Strength is the ability to produce a high level of force at the beginning of a muscular contraction.  A perfect example of this would be bat speed.  In order to improve bat speed you need to develop the capacity to overcome resistance and initiate movement as fast as possible. Another example of starting strength would be the starting or initial phase of a sprint or getting out of the batter’s box quickly after hitting the ball. 

The next type of speed strength is Explosive Strength.  Explosive strength is the ability to develop a quick straight up rise in force once movement has been initiated.  Explosive strength is necessary during a sprint after you have already taken the first few steps from a dead stop.  Once that force has already been initiated it is the ability of your body to continue developing that force as quickly as possible. 

The last type of speed strength is “Reactive Strength”.  Reactive strength is the ability to swiftly switch from an eccentric muscle contraction (muscle lengthening) to a concentric muscle contraction (muscle shortening).  An example would be the time it takes for the front leg during sprinting to decelerate (slow down) and switch to pushing off or accelerate.  Another example would be during vertical leap or jumping motions, the time it takes to bend and then straighten your legs is a gauge of reactive strength.  Without the development of these strength characteristics your body will only produce the speed it is genetically capable of or what it is physically capable of at that time. The strength components of baseball speed should now become clearer to you.  In order to generate more bat speed, first step quickness, agility, arm strength and power you muscles.

John Furia is the owner of Furia’s Xceleration Strength & Conditioning located in Deer Park, New York.  John is a highly sought-after Strength & Conditioning coach for healthy and injured athletes alike, he has helped athletes at all levels - from youth sports to the professional and Olympic Levels - achieve peak performance in a variety of sports. 


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