Softball Conditioning - 5 Reasons Why Conditioning Should Be a Part of Your Training , Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 10:29 PM, in

When you look at it, softball isn't as physically-demanding as basketball or other sports. With softball, you don't have to jump and don't need to run throughout most of the game.
Because of this perception, a lot of coaches and players often overlook the role of conditioning as a part of their overall training. But players miss a lot on their performance when they avoid conditioning exercises.
Why do players like you need softball conditioning? Here are some of the reasons:
1. To increase your endurance - again, softball may not be as physically-demanding as other sports but if you're in a long game or playing under the heat of the sun, the endurance that you develop with conditioning will play a significant role in ensuring your success.
If you're well-conditioned, you won't feel tired easily and you'll be able to tolerate the heat or extended games much better.




2. To stay healthy and avoid injuries - if you're playing a long season, or if you want to have a long career in softball, then you must stay healthy. Conditioning will help you with that. More than just helping you increase your endurance, conditioning will also help you recover faster from fatigue and injuries. That's especially important if you're one of the teams trusted players. The more quickly you return to your A-game, the better your team's chances of winning.
3. To steal more bases and explode right out of the box - speed and acceleration are key components that every batter or runner needs. The quicker you can bolt out of the base and run to the next one can make or break your team's chances of winning. If you are well conditioned, you'll be able to move much quicker, and in effect steal more bases or explode right out of the box.
4. To prepare you for the next season - no matter how well skilled you are, expect your skills to get rusty after the off-season or the holidays, especially if you don't practice that much when you're not playing.
To prevent that from happening, you must be well conditioned before the season starts by training, exercising and doing your drills. And when you're well conditioned, the more easily you can adjust to the game than just slacking off and doing nothing.
5. To react to situations faster - things can change in a softball game very quickly. Before you know it, you could find yourself at the last base in the middle of a close game. Should you make a run to the home plate or wait for the next pitch? Your mind will learn to react quicker and make lightning-fast decisions if you primed and well conditioned. Don't expect yourself to make good decisions if you feel sluggish.






There you have it, 5 important reasons why you should make softball conditioning a part of your training. Leave it out of your regular training and see yourself bite the dust in every game that you play. Or, you could integrate it into your current training and see the difference it makes to your game.

Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. Visit his site and sign-up to get his FREE softball hitting tips!