This is a guest post by Jedd Johnson, from UltimateForearmTraining.com.  When his baseball career was cut short by injury, he searched for another means to satiate his competitive hunger, and he found Grip Competition.  Now, he has competed in more grip strength contests than anyone in the US, and produced multiple resources on building world class hand strength.  Soon, he will release the new secret weapon that will change the game of baseball as much as steroids did – only this time, it’s legal!

Everyone knows how important Core Strength is in Baseball.  The core fires anytime another part of the body fires, so the sore is highly involved in creating a powerful swing, bracing the torso throughout the swing, and stabilizing the body after contact.

Leg strength is also something that we are fully aware of for taking the ball deep into the outfield stands.  That power is generated from the ground up.  It’s no wonder some of the best homerun hitters have had thick quads, solid hammies, and a big powerful ass.

But one thing that people forget about when they think about developing the strength for homerun power is Grip Strength.

Grip involves everything from the elbow joint down to the finger tips.  Many of the muscles that cross and influence the elbow travel all the way down into the hands and fingers.  These muscles are the ones that put the finishing touch on all the power that comes from the legs and core when we attack that hanging curveball at the plate.

Neglecting grip training is an error we can not afford to make if we seek to set ourselves apart from other prospects in the sea of Major League hopefuls.  Following are some simple exercises you can do before, during, or after practice, as well as in your garage or dorm room that will pack muscle onto the lower arms and help you put the finishing touches on your power stores that you can use the next time you stand in the batter’s box.

Sledge Hammers are great for building grip strength as well as full body strength and conditioning.  You can get these essential strength tools at most hardware stores and even Walmart and Kmart carry them for around $20 to $30.

This workout should take no longer than 20 to 30 minutes.

Warm-up:  Sledge Hammer Curls

This exercise involves gripping the sledge near the middle of the handle and performing curls.  The objective here is to resist forearm rotation during the course of the movement.  Do this for two sets of 10 to 15 reps with each hand to get the entire lower arm and bicep warmed up for other more violent work coming your way.

Primary 1:  Sledge Taps

Hold the sledge near the center of the handle and violently and rapidly tap it on a tire, tree stump, rock, or other solid object.  The objective of this movement is to generate fast, powerful bursts of energy when hitting the tire, while also controlling the eccentric portion of the movement when the hammer recoils upward after striking the object.  Do this for two or three sets of 20 strikes with each hand.

Primary 2:  Rubber Band Extension Swings

It is just as important to work the Extensor muscles as it is to work the flexors, rotators and deviators of the wrist, so that is what we are doing to finish up this quick workout.  Get your hands on some decent sized rubber bands.  Not those things that chicks put in their hair – go and steal some off of some heads of broccoli in the produce section at the market or go buy some from an office supply store.

Wrap a rubber band around your fingers and perform a rubber band extension.  Now, move your hands and body through the swinging motion.  This movement should be done in super slow motion, exaggerating each point of the swing.  This will burn in the extensor muscles all the way up through your forearm where the muscles originate.

I want you to visualize Josh Beckett’s weak ass throwing you his fastball.  Go through your entire swinging motion in Slow Motion, imagining the contact with barrel of the bat as you take that lame duck deep.  Exaggerate each step of the swing as you watch Tim Wakefield’s tired knuckleball fluttering helplessly to the plate and then like a laser over the Green Monster.  Does Boston even have a team anymore?

Do this exercise 6 times and make sure you go slow.  By the end of the third one, if your extensors aren’t burning through your skin then you aren’t working hard enough or slow enough.

In closing, baseball is a very grip dependent sport.  The hands are involved in everything.  I am going to show the world the best way to train the lower arms for high performance on the field very soon.  Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements from Coach Dan and me..

The days of squeezing Tennis Balls to build grip and wrist strength are over.  It’s time to come to the Big Leagues and unleashing the power of the hands and forearms.

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-

P.S.  For a free video with more information on this new SECRET WEAPON, check this out right now = = >  www.UltimateForearmTraining.com

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Hey Guys,

Check out this quick interval workout that you can do with your baseball players just about anytime and just about anywhere using only a few jump stretch bands!  This high intensity workout for baseball players will increase your ballplayers speed, help them cover more ground on the field, get better jumps on stolen bases, and accomplish all of it in less than 5 minutes per workout… How Awesome Is That?!

Check out the video and be sure to leave your comments, questions, & snide remarks down below.  And if you’ve got a baseball workout that you’d like me to post on the blog, send me the link and I’ll check it out!

Yours in Baseball,
Coach Dan

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Hitting 4 Power: Forearm Training – The Icing On The Cake
Coach Dan Huff, CSCS
I was reading a baseball strength & conditioning discussion forum the other day and it was downright upsetting how many people are dead wrong about strength & conditioning for power hitters. . . . keep reading

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Hey Guys,

If you’re a down & dirty baseball guy you might not want to read any further cause I might cause you to think about your emotional side… sorry!

Today I have experienced 2 of the most amazing honors of my life & professional career.

First, I had the honor of being asked to do a presentation on speed training for baseball to a small group of baseball coaches.  Being asked to speak is always an honor in and of itself, but being associated with this group of speakers is simply humbling!  I was speaking along side experts such as Ron Wolforth, Tom Hanson, Jonanthan “Zinger”, Jeff Cavalier, & Paul Reddick… talk about a panel of experts, huh?

On top of that, I got to meet some of my loyal long time readers & customers.  As humbled as I am to be included with such an amazing panel of speakers, I’m even more humbled that you (yes, you specifically since you are reading this far) trust me to provide you with quality information to improve the performance of your baseball players.  It’s an amazing thing when I get to shake your hands instead of just being a guy on the other end of an e-mail, blog post, or online video.  You guys (and your baseball players) are the reason that I (and the other guys that I mentioned) do what we do, and by being our customers you give us the ability to do what we really love to do and I can’t thank you enough for that!

And that leads onto the second amazing & humbling experience that I had today.

Talking with one of you guys at the seminar today we kinda got off of the baseball topic and onto the topic of family.  Because you guys are so amazingly supportive of what we do, I get to spend more time at home with my 2 1/2 year old son.  In fact, tonight is movie night so we are getting ready to watch Shrek as I type.  If it wasn’t for you guys being such awesome coaches & baseball parents I wouldn’t have the life that I do today.  Thank You from the bottom of my heart!

So what go me thinking so “mushy” today?

Well, Tony V. paid me a great comment and it got me thinking about you guys as coaches and the coaches that are giving up their entire weekend to hang out and listen to seminars.  Why do you invest so much time & money into educating yourself?  If you’re saying that it’s to be a better coach I am going to argue that you are lying to yourself and not giving yourself enough credit.

You spend your valuable time, energy, & hard earned money to improve the ability of your baseball players.  Sure, that will result in more wins but thats just an added bonus really.  Your dedication to making better baseball players is what really makes you a great coach and I applaud that!

So Thank You for your support of what I do with BaseballStrength.com!

Thank You for dedicating yourself to helping each and every one of your baseball players reach their fullest potential!

Thank You!

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 It’s time to rethink all of the running that you are doing with your baseball players in the name of “conditioning.”  Long distance running will only help to make your baseball players SLOW!

Click Here To Become a Premium Member and have access to asking Coach Dan your own question.

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How much training is too much for your young baseball player? Well, it depends on your ballplayer… Do they play more sports or EA Sports?

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Learn the “obvious secret” that most kids know about improving their arm strength & most coaches neglect because they are being over protective of their young ballplayers throwing arms.

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