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Off-Season Strength Training and Batted Ball Exit Velocity



One great way to use data in the off-season is to track improvements during a training program. Is your program impacting the strength, power, and quickness that translates to the field? Let's take a look at how this process can be used for an 8-Week Strength & Power Program completed with a group of athletes at The Performance Academy in Apex, NC.


The Process

How did we decide on a lower body focused strength & power program? This can also be boiled down to a simple process.

  1. Make an Observation

  2. Ask a Question

  3. Predict the Results

From a very robust dataset of elite amateur baseball athletes across the country, we know that an increase in CMJ Height (countermovement jump height) and Body Weight may lead to an increase in Batted Ball Exit Velocity. So this led us to step 2: Ask a Question.


If it is true that an increase in CMJ Height and Body Weight may lead to an increase in Batted Ball Exit Velocity, can a lower body focused strength and power training program influence CMJ Height and Body Weight?


Step 3: Predict the Results. By tracking weekly jump performance (CMJ Height & Body Weight) throughout this 8-week training program, can we positively influence jump performance, leading to an increase in Batted Ball Exit Velocity? Spoiler alert, the answer is YES.


The Program

For this program, 11 athletes participated in 8 weeks of a training program focused on lower body power and strength. Athletes lifted in the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. These athletes also completed Jump Performance Evaluations on Tuesdays.


Weeks 1-4:

The focus was to consistently increase weight and reps in-gym.


Weeks 5-8:

Stay heavy and gradually decrease rep counts


Evaluations: Every Tuesday athletes completed:

- Continuous CMJ (3 jumps) x2

- Single Leg Continuous CMJ (3 jumps) x2

- Cage Hitting (2 rounds of at least 8 reps)


The Results

At the completion of 8 weeks, the results were in. For the group, the average improvements are listed below:


STRENGTH

  • Back Squat +57 lbs

  • Deadlift +56 lbs

  • Hang Clean +37 lbs

  • Body Weight +13 lbs

JUMP PERFORMANCE

  • CMJ Height +2.20 in

  • CMJ Ground Contact Time -0.03 sec

  • Reactive Strength Index +0.30

EXIT VELOCITY

  • 83% of athletes added at least +5 MPH in average Batted Ball Exit Velocity



MAIN TAKEAWAY:

Every athlete that participated every week saw substantial increases in strength in-gym and in their jump performance which resulted in gaining at least +5 MPH in average Batted Ball Exit Velocity.


It is a great accomplishment if an athlete can gain +5 MPH in Batted Ball Exit Velocity in an off-season. Transferring that new found power to the field will be the next goal for that player. Tracking these data points allowed us to understand the effects of the off-season training program and its tangible outcomes. The tracking and evaluations don't have to stop here. If an athlete really wanted to take advantage of this new found power, they could continue with weekly or monthly jump performance tracking to see how the demands of their season might be affecting their power output, and truly see how that impacts how hard they hit the ball on the field.


 
 
 

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