Planning my return to the game.

[ape dos mil]

......................

[Jake Patterson]

Hey guys. Ive been lurking around here for awhile and figured its about time to post.There seems to be some extemely knowlegeable people here,so maybe someone could help me out.

What brings me here is that I plan on joining an adult baseball league next spring and I want to begin training for it. I am 24 years old and have not played competitive baseball in almost 5 years. (Long story) I do go to the cages at least once a week and have a membership at a local health club just to stay fit. What drills,workout programs,ect,ect would you suggest for someone like myself who has been away from the game for such a long time to get back into the swing of things? Im sure I can go back to the routines I followed in high school,but i think they may have advanced a little since then. I just want to get out and have fun playing the game I love again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!:)

We get asked this question often and returning players typically expect specific drills they can use to get up to speed quickly. The proplem we have in advising specific drills is not understanding the level of baseball atrophy that has occured.

If you are starting from scratch and your goal is to play adult ball I believe starting at where you left off in high school would be a good place to start.

People at the cages may be able to help you develop an association with someone who could better advise you and give you a better idea of the leagues expectations. For hitting and pitching I would suggest you go back and review old hitting threads here. We have several going on now that can help you.

Other suggestions- film, books, DVD's, etc....
Where are you located? Maybe we can offer more specifics.

[Maxx]

Good luck! I tried a comeback when I was 29, after not playing since college, and I failed miserably! My defense was better than when I was younger, since I was now a coach and was used to demonstrating proper technique. But my running speed was a lot slower, my arm strength was much weaker, and my bat speed was horrendous. I used -3 bats when I was younger, and during my comeback I was using -5 bats and still couldn't catch up to good pitchers. Granted you're making an attempt at a younger age, so I hope you succeed!

[Baseball gLove]

It's like riding a bike. Just take it easy if you think you will be pitching. Video record your at-bats in the batting cage and in games and post them here so that the hitting gurus can give you some advise.

[pgibbons]

Last year, I did the same thing as you, although I'm 36 and had a much longer layoff. In hindsight, here are some things I wish I had known:

Adult ball is MUCH more competitive than beer-league softball, so be prepared to compete. You need to find somebody who wants to play as badly as you do and is willing to take the time to work out with you at least once a week. Avoid guys who just want to talk about how great they USED to be and don't really want to work at it.

Hitting in batting cages is great, and I recommend you start there, but there is nothing like trying to hit live pitching. Take turns throwing BP to each other. If you can mix up your pitches, that's even better.

Once you feel comfortable with your individual skills (hitting, fielding, throwing to a target), then you must get enough people together for infield/cutoffs practice. This step is vital because it's where you'll start to blend the physical and mental part of the game - and where you learn about humility :)

FWIW, I found the whole experience very rewarding and highly recommend it. Best of luck to you.

[duckydps]

Be sure to start throwing. Dont throw too much the first time out, but start small and keep throwing more and further each time out. I have found that there is no better exercise to strengthen the arm than to just throw. Nolan Ryan's throwing the football seems to be pretty good too.

[hellborn]

Hey guys. Ive been lurking around here for awhile and figured its about time to post.There seems to be some extemely knowlegeable people here,so maybe someone could help me out.

What brings me here is that I plan on joining an adult baseball league next spring and I want to begin training for it. I am 24 years old and have not played competitive baseball in almost 5 years. (Long story) I do go to the cages at least once a week and have a membership at a local health club just to stay fit. What drills,workout programs,ect,ect would you suggest for someone like myself who has been away from the game for such a long time to get back into the swing of things? Im sure I can go back to the routines I followed in high school,but i think they may have advanced a little since then. I just want to get out and have fun playing the game I love again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!:)
I joined an adult baseball league at the age of 25 after having played some youth baseball (long story about why I had to quit, not my choice) and lots of SP softball. I had always liked to hit baseball at batting cages and had no problems with fastballs, but the breaking ball drove me nuts for about a month. Even terrible ones. I found that it helped to hit a round in an 75-85 mph cage and then immediately switch over to a 55-65 mph cage. I was amazed that I wasn't able to hit the slower pitching at all when I first tried this, and it took a lot of adjusting to be able to hit both in quick succession. If you were playing competitive ball in your late teens, you may have already mastered this. If you have a friend who can throw you a mix of FBs and breaking pitches, so much the better...I sure didn't.
You are getting to an age where you need to warm up carefully and throw often to keep your arm in shape. If you have a buddy at work you can throw with at lunchtime, that would probably help you a lot. Don't throw anywhere near full effort until you are fully loose!
The league I joined was new and many, many players were playing for the first time in years. Many, many of those players ended up tearing their hamstrings within the first several weeks of play. I think that my years of softball play and at least modest attempts to keep myself generally fit spared me there, but it was mind boggling how many guys were not able to handle the stress of running bases at full speed after some years of not using their muscles in that way. It was always baserunning that did it, it seemed, never fielding...can't say exactly why. I would strongly recommend a program of jogging and running sprints if you have not been running much since you last played, as well as hammy stretches. I don't know how to stretch the Achilles...does anybody else? I'd like to know...
I'm thinking about joining a local 38+ wood bat league as a part-time alternate after several years of just playing SP due to child-induced time constraints. I played in a 30+ baseball league here before becoming a dad, after my time in the 18+ league...I really miss baseball.
I hope that we both have fun playing baseball next spring! Best of luck!
BTW...if you don't have a bat, this might be a good time to pick one up on sale, or on eBay...same for gloves.