The newest emphasize in baseball is on core development. That has become our new recommended starting point for training. A new series of articles will appear here in the coming days and weeks.

Normally the mental aspects of baseball might appear under coaching, pitching or hitting strategies, but confidence conditioning is likely more important to your success in the game than a few extra reps & sets in the gym.

Use this section to help structure a program over time using the exercises recommended above.
Introduction

• Off-Season
• Pre-Season
• Spring Tryouts
• In-Season
• Tournaments
• Post-Season

But before you can understand the value of any conditioning program, you need to understand what your body will need to tap into to build new-found power and ability.

This revamped section covers energy systems, nutrition, and - yes - the dangers of PEDs.

Some of the conditioning principles we have relied on for years continue to have followers, others have been challenged recently by new paradigms. But the basics remain - the terminology used for structured programs, the idea of sport specificity, the distinction between practicing and training, and some fundamentals of how the body responds to exercise.

The "exercises explained" subsection includes general exercises and routines - step-by-step instructions for lunges, lifts and curls often used in non-baseball-specific training programs. Always consider the baseball implications first.

This section will help you work the exercises in any time period using the principles of overload/underload training. The objective is to combine strength and speed to develop the balistic power required for baseball.

Note: Some instructors see a danger in using lighter weight balls, for example, but others believe the underload weights are required to develop elasticity and acceleration.

The theory behind these charts is defined under the  Introduction

There has also been a debate raging about the whole concept of overload training especially the use of weighted balls. See Why Overload.

Given that the player's role in the scouting process is to prep and play as well as possible, then any number of featured items could help, but none more so than knowledge. The second thng you will need that you might not have is experience swinging a wood bat. The third thing you need is a list of college coaches.