I've been getting a lot of questions, especially from the high school kids, asking, should my training change this time of year?

Well, let's look at your training cycle. Most of our college pitchers are currently playing. Their training regiment is different that the high school kids and the high schoolers should be different from the little league kids. Not because of their ages, but where they are in their cycle.

Our college players have started their seasons. They should be working on maintaining their level of fitness right now and maintaining or improving their skill work. What does that mean?

Well, if a pitcher throws on Sunday, their hardest workout should be Monday, meaning they go through a conditioning workout Monday working on the core, shoulders, legs etc. He should focus on endurance, flexibility, strength and power. As the week progresses, less emphasis should be on the strength, but more on the flexibility work.

From a throwing standpoint, rest a little in the beginning of the pitching week, and focus on the skill work as you get closer to your next start.

Many high school athletes are getting ready for the start of their tryouts. This time of year, based on the workload, you need to keep working on the conditioning, but scale down on the volume. You want to start the season rested and full strength.

At this point, you should be refining the skill work, increasing your endurance and making sure your mechanics are becoming second nature.

The little leaguers, who generally start in April, should be in full swing with their conditioning, skill work and learning new skills.

For those of you that haven't started yet, I'd suggest you should get going quickly and not fall behind the curve.

Train like a champion today!

Bill Mooney www.bioforcebaseball.com

Fun Fact

Ricky Henderson set the record for the most stolen bases in a season before the All-Start break. Henderson swiped 84 bases for Oakland before the 1982 break, 21 more than anyone before or since.