Learn Baseball Warm-up Drills for a Better Performance in the Field

Playing baseball is a very physically challenging activity. It involves a lot of running, jumping, twisting, hitting, and other rigorous movements. Whether you are a pro or an amateur player, it pays to prepare your body for the challenge that lies ahead—and this is possible by performing warm-up drills before you play baseball. If you don’t do these warm-up exercises, your muscles will suffer as a consequence. To avoid injuries, you need to learn baseball warm-up drills and how to perform them properly.

Warm-up drills for baseball do not involve just stretching your arms across your chest for a few seconds. Instead, it involves various motions to warm up your body for the game so that you can be prepared for the movements that baseball requires. The following are the recommended warm-up drills for baseball players.

• Squats – Squatting helps relax your hamstrings, glutes, and quads. Start by standing with your feet apart (at about the length of your shoulders) and bending your knees to lower your body. When your thighs are parallel to the ground, you have to stand back up. Repeat this step about three to six times.

• Trunk Rotations – With your feet apart and your hand reaching out to your sides, turn your upper body to the right and then to the left. Do this again three to six times.

• Sprints – Short sprints, which are done like players do in an actual game, help improve blood circulation in the muscles and increase body temperature. To perform the sprints, begin at the first base line and run to the second base. Repeat this step several times.

• Arm Crosses – They help relax the rear shoulders and chest. To start the arm crosses, stand with your feet apart and your arms extended to your sides. Then stretch your arms to your back and cross them in your front. Do this again three to six times.

• Arm Circles – These are stretching exercises that condition the shoulders. With your feet about a shoulder length apart, extend your arms to your sides and rotate them both clockwise and counterclockwise. Start with small circles and then do the exercise again with bigger circles.

• Knee Lifts – This warm-up drill eliminates tension in the muscles of the legs and hip flexors. Knee lifts are done by standing with your feet apart and raising your right foot until your knee reaches your chest level. Then lower your right knee and raise your left knee. Repeat the exercise three to six times.

• Walking Lunges – Set your right foot forward and bend down until your rear knee is 2 inches and your front knee 90 degrees off the ground. Then come back up to put forward your left knee. As with other warm-up drills, walking lunges must be done three to six times.

It is important to learn baseball warm-up exercises so that you can prime up your body for an action-packed game called baseball. Without these warm-up drills, you will be prone to muscle and joint problems. You don’t want them to happen, do you?
