Over the past few weeks, our athletes from 12U to 15U baseball teams have been working hard to improve their overall strength, consistency and performance. Here's a breakdown of their progress, highlighting significant gains in push-ups, squats, burpees, long jump distances and velocity averages.
12U Strength Training
In the first week, the players began with foundational exercises like push-ups, squats, burpees and long jumps. By Week 4, remarkable improvements were seen across all categories:
Push-up totals increased significantly, showing enhanced upper-body endurance.
Squat and burpee repetitions improved, highlighting better strength and conditioning.
Consistency in velocity also showed steady gains.
13U Strength and Consistency Gains
Our 13U athletes demonstrated similar grit and improvement:
Push-up and burpee numbers increased steadily.
Long jump distances improved, indicating gains in explosive power.
Velocity consistency saw measurable progress across the board.
14U Strength Training Milestones
The 14U group worked diligently on both strength exercises and consistency training:
Improvements were noted in push-ups, squats and burpees.
Athletes demonstrated significant increases in long jump distances, reflecting better lower-body power.
Consistency in velocity readings showed positive trends over the 4-week period.
15U Progress Results
Our 15U athletes tackled their strength goals head-on with standout progress:
Repetition counts for push-ups, squats, and burpees improved significantly.
Long jump distances increased, showcasing gains in strength and explosiveness.
Consistency and velocity readings reflected focused effort and steady development.
This progress not only reflects the athletes' hard work but also the effectiveness of our program in developing strength, power, and overall athletic ability. Moving forward, we’ll continue to track these metrics and refine our training to ensure sustained improvement.
Consistency and Velocity Tracking
As part of our strength and performance training, we’ve been tracking velocity consistency across all athletes, providing valuable insights into their development. The focus on velocity is a key component, as it ties directly into how well the athletes can maintain their maximum effort over extended periods, which is critical for both strength and game performance.
In the 12U to 15U groups, we’ve seen noticeable improvements in velocity consistency, with athletes showing a better ability to maintain optimal force through successive sets of training. This is particularly important because consistent velocity allows athletes to perform at their peak during games, when fatigue sets in. Tracking velocity also allows us to spot any drop-offs in performance early, which can then be addressed through adjustments in training or recovery.
12U athletes showed early fluctuations in velocity consistency, but by Week 4, many demonstrated much more stable readings, indicating better endurance and a refined understanding of when to push harder and when to control their movement.
For the 13U and 14U athletes, velocity consistency improved week-over-week, with 13U athletes demonstrating strong resilience during longer training sessions. 14U athletes exhibited better-paced acceleration and maintained higher consistency even during more intense intervals.
The 15U athletes, already more advanced in their training, showed some of the highest levels of consistency, with very little drop-off in their velocity throughout the sessions. This suggests they are now able to manage their energy output and maintain peak performance across multiple sets.
Tracking and Analysis
The consistency chart we’ve been using breaks down velocity over time, showing not only individual performance but also trends across the group. We can track initial peak velocity, sustained velocity, and recovery velocity during and after performance bouts. This data gives us insights into whether an athlete is able to keep pushing for maximum effort or if they experience significant fatigue and slowing down in later attempts.
Peak velocity helps us identify the maximum speed or force an athlete can reach in a single effort.
Sustained velocity is indicative of the athlete's capacity to maintain a high level of performance over time, important for both strength and endurance.
Recovery velocity indicates how quickly an athlete can recover from high-intensity efforts, which is crucial for sports performance, especially in longer game scenarios.
Velocity Insights Across All Age Groups
The overall trend across all groups has been positive, with younger athletes (12U) initially facing a lot of variation in their velocities, but progressively showing better control. As the athletes grow older and more conditioned (13U and 14U), their ability to maintain velocity during repeated sets strengthens. By the time athletes reach 15U, we see remarkable consistency with little drop-off, which speaks to their refined conditioning, mental focus, and developed training strategies.
Long-Term Benefits of Velocity Consistency
The emphasis on velocity consistency is more than just about immediate results, it's about preparing athletes for the long term. Having the ability to consistently maintain velocity through different actions allows athletes to:
Enhance performance under pressure, as they are less likely to experience drastic dips in performance during key moments of a game.
Develop better mental focus, as maintaining velocity demands concentration and discipline.
Prevent injury through more controlled movements, rather than erratic or overly fatigued efforts that can lead to muscle strain or other issues.
By measuring and improving velocity consistency, we’re helping our athletes not only perform better in their training but also carry these improvements into their actual game situations, where consistency can often be the difference between a win and a loss.
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