Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Wed Nov 21 09:43:42 2001

Hi, I am a 15 year old (Freshman)5'9" 145 Lbs. I was wondering what muscles i should concentrate working out on, during my offseason for baseball. I need to improve my power (batspeed). I have a pretty good idea of swing mechanics and i have never really had a problem with contact. I believe i am ready for power and control. I need to have a good season this year to start things well with my high school. i am dedicated to baseball and will do anything possible to improve myself. I was also wondering exactly what muscles create power and batspeed. any help appreciated thanks.
>
> ,Steve

Steve-
this is a very good question but one that doesn't have a short answer. It's only through getting a thorough understanding of mechanics and how the body creates the correct movements that you can understand what exercises will help and why.
For starters, you need to build a base of strength doing the standard exercises - bench press, squat, curls, etc.
For a good but chaotic discussion of weight training and its application to pitching (and most of that applies to hitting as well), go to www.thepitchingmound.com and start filtering through their discussions on weights, Olympic lifts, explosiveness training, etc. Paul Nyman at www.setpro.com has public forum archives full of hitting and pitching discussions, some of which deal with weight training.
The field of applied training is as controversial as hitting (and pitching) mechanics.
You'll learn a lot if you persue it.