Baseball Training In Bad Weather

Baseball Training In Bad Weather  

Just because it is raining outside does not mean that you can’t practice.  In fact, there are quite a large number of activities you can do if the weather gets bad.  Here, is a list of several things you can do besides the regular lifting weights and running on the treadmill for baseball training in bad weather: 

1.  Find a location that is dry and will allow you enough room for doing soft toss. 

This is critical because if you can find a space that is this size, you can do a large number of different things.  The location doesn’t truly matter.  Popular choices will be garages, basements, high school gyms, fitness centers, tennis courts, or even a room in your house.  The best choices will be those that have a wall that you can hit wiffle balls into.  This may require erecting some padding, but a basic bed mattress can work or just about anything that can withstand repeated hits by wiffleballs.  In this area, you can continue to practice your hitting and pitching motions.  This means do your swing regiments and practice your throwing motions from the stretch and windup.  Also, you can do soft toss and practice with a hitting tee.  If you can afford it, a basic net can be really helpful in helping ensure all the wiffleballs go in the same area.  This makes picking them up faster.   

2.  Seek out indoor baseball facilities and batting cages. 

In the major cities, you can normally find some baseball facilities that are indoors.  These can take place in large storage warehouses which have been converted into indoor batting cages and pitching areas.  These are great when you can find them so be sure to ask all the local coaches if they are aware of one in your area.  Most outdoor baseball hitting cages can be used after light rains.  This is because they use dimple balls and the surface is normally cement.  However, don’t be surprised if you get more wild balls.  Many of the balls can still be slick and the result is that you might get a few more wild baseballs than normal.     

3.  Go to the video room and watch your film and instruction videos. 

Hopefully, you are having someone occasionally tape your performance in games and practices.  This can be very helpful for review to see where adjustments can be made.  A great time to review this material is when the weather does not let you play outside.  Another way to help your game is to have a number of baseball training dvds stockpiled so that you can go over them.  No matter how much you know about baseball, there is always something else you can pick up.  Even watching the same dvds again will show you something you overlooked.  If all else fails, have some baseball games recorded where you can actually see how the pros do it.  This too can be helpful for you to mimic assuming the habits used are sound. 

4.  Use your hands indoors for more training. 

If you remember from Baseball Insider’s Secrets, one thing I mentioned was the sock drill.  This is a great exercise for indoor fielding practice, but it is not the only one.  Another method that can be used is practicing with someone else and learning to field the baseball barehanded with someone rolling it to you.  In fact, there is equipment now that lays down like a mat that will cause the ball to move and bounce when it rolls over it.  The result is you learn to adapt to bad hops and improve your flexibility and responsiveness. 

5.  Train outside of the box. 

This is essentially finding novel ways to improve various things.  For example, you can practice your balancing drills to help improve your balance as a hitter or pitcher.  Basic tai chi moves can be very effective for this.  Here, is a link to an article I wrote giving an example: Balancing Drill.

Another way to think outside the box is to find other ways to get in your cardio work that are more enjoyable than running on the treadmill.  Popular choices can include playing full court basketball, competitive racquetball, swim laps at an indoor pool, spin classes, etc.  The point is just to find things that are a little different than what you might normally do.  This can be helpful in keeping your brain occupied with something new and to helping keep your regular routine from getting stale.  

As you can see baseball training in bad weather is still possible.  The main takeaway here is just to recognize that with a little pre-planning you can find a number of activities to do to help your baseball training.  If you can continue to find ways to improve your game, over time you can make tremendous strides.