2nd sport training

Question
Hello Jack--I'm a father and coach of boys aged 13 to 16, pre high school try outs. My question to you is, For the boy whose obvious #1 sport is baseball which secondary  high school sport should he pursue to stay in shape for the baseball season? My thought is swimming but I'm interested in some other more experienced ideas. THanks for your time.

Answer
Hi Dave,

Sorry about the mixup with the first response.  However, here is the answer to your original question:

I think you are on the right idea to recommend the kids play another sport in the off-season.  This is really good for keeping them from getting burned out on baseball and has a lot of good mental benefits as they let their creativity and mind run wild while trying out something new.

Generally, when I look at off-season sports, I want a sport that will meet three criteria:

1.  Novel and original.  I think this is important because it will allow the kids to express themselves creatively in a new way.  Plus, by the time the next baseball season rolls around, they seem to be refreshed and ready for another season.

2.  Good physical exercise that includes significant aerobic effort.  Sports that require the use of all the major muscle groups (chest, arms, legs, abs, etc.) work best.  Ideally, you want a sport that will require the kids to build up some aerobic endurance.  This is particularly important for outfielders who tend to do a bit more running and pitchers who will need this stamina to pitch later into games.  If the kids have this endurance built up prior to the start of the season, it makes it so much easier for them during the early part of the season.

3.  Choose sports that specifically require explosive or repetitive use of the arms.  This essentially is important because of how often arms are used in baseball.  Whether you are hitting, pitching, or throwing, it helps to have strong arms.  Choosing sports that require using your arms makes for a great way to build strength in cross-training way.

You had mentioned swimming, and I think this could be a very good fit depending on the specific swimming strokes used and interest level of the kid.  Obviously, it meets #2 and #3 of my criteria, particularly for swimming strokes like the breaststroke, butterfly, or freestyle stroke.  My only concern here might be if the kid did not think this was novel and fun.  If the child sees this sport as a chore, he would not likely reap as many benefits as he would if he chose another sport.

Other sports choices to consider:

1.  Martial Arts.  Although this is not a secondary sport, it does a great job at meeting my three criteria.  Many professional baseball and football players have used martial arts to improve their explosiveness, strength, and balance.  If I were to suggest specific ones, I would look at ones like Tae Kwon Do (known for explosive strikes) and Tai Chi (known for improving body balance).

2.  Lacrosse.  This may or may not be a secondary sport in your area, but it can be very good at meeting all three of my requirements.  The strong use of your arms to fire the ball around and aerobic endurance it requires would be very beneficial to baseball players.

3.  Basketball.  This is a pretty good one as well because of its emphasis on strong aerobic endurance and need to use your hands a great deal for dribbling and defense.  I am not sure how novel this would be to most kids, but it will definitely keep your kids in shape.

4.  Football.  I would rank this sport much higher if it were not for the risk of injury.  Football does a great job of introducing many kids to weights which can be a tremendous asset to baseball players if they are put on the right weight training plan.  For this reason, if the kids have interest in this sport, I would not stand in their way.

5.  Cross-Country.  This is probably a better choice than pure track because it will develop strong aerobic endurance.  Your pitchers should probably doing some distance running anyway, but running cross-country would be a way to help them develop some stamina.  The only catch here is it tends to be very boring and there is only a limited use of your arms.  For this reason, I would recommend some of the other sports first.

6.  Ballet.  This will probably get a good laugh and of course, it would be almost impossible to get a growing boy to consider ballet.  However, it actually does do a very good job of meeting all three of my criteria.  A number of football players, like Herschel Walker have used it to improve their flexibility and strength and, I don抰 see why a baseball player would not reap the same benefits.  With this said, I suspect your kids will opt for other sports.

7.  Honorable Mention: Others that would receive honorable mention would be wrestling and hockey.  I could see how both of these could provide a number of training benefits; however, I do not have any experience with them personally so I have not ranked them above.

In the end, I believe any sport that captivates their minds and forces them to break a sweat will be good.  My only other pieces of advice would be to advocate to your players entering into high school that they should start a baseball weight training program.  Also, advise them that it may be a good idea to alternate off-season sports to get the max benefit.  It is good to hear you are taking such an active role in young people抯 lives.

Good luck to you and hope this helps,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com