Chapter 15 - Fitness Isn’t Seasonal

There is no substitute for daily exercise in building a strong, healthy body. Locomotive sports and activities such as walking, running, climbing, rowing, swimming, wrestling, and bicycling are valuable in keeping fit, and most experts agree that normal people should participate in this kind of exercise an hour each day.

Before beginning a physical fitness program, boys should be examined by their doctors. They should receive a medical check-up once a year and a dental check-up twice each year to detect defects or incipient diseases which may develop.

Exercises

There are many ways in which young athletes can keep physically fit the year round and thus improve their ability to play baseball and other athletic games. An excellent exercise is that of rope-jumping. Many athletic directors and basketball coaches use this exercise extensively for basketball players, and it is a favorite of professional and amateur boxers, wrestlers, and track athletes. Rope-jumping is highly recommended for developing agility, leg muscles, endurance, coordination, and rhythm, which are so important for baseball players.

Since research indicates that American boys are pathetically weak in the development of the upper shoulder girdle and since these muscles are so important in throwing and hitting, several exercises are recommended. One is rope-climbing, which helps to develop the upper shoulder as well as the biceps. To get the maximum benefit of this exercise, one should not slide down the rope, but lower himself hand-over-hand in the same manner as in climbing the rope.

Pull-ups also are very good for the development of the arms and shoulders. Young athletes should practice so that they can pull up their weight at least ten times.

Strong wrists have great value to any athlete, and one way to develop wrist strength is to use bar bells or rods and to move them up and down with the wrists.

FIG. 54.

Rope climbing helps to develop the upper shoulder as well as the biceps. To get maximum benefit, lower yourself hand over hand in the manner in which you climb the rope.
 
FIG. 55. -ups develop the arms and shoulders. Practice until you can pull up your weight at least ten times.
 
Finger strength can be developed by doing push-ups on the tips of the fingers, but this exercise should not be used before participating in a game or practice drill. It should be done at the conclusion of a workout or practice session. Another method of strengthening the hands is to carry a sponge rubber ball and to squeeze it frequently.
 
Tumbling can be helpful in building coordination and balance. Individual gymnastic stunts such as forward and backward rolls, balancing on one leg and leaning as far forward as possible, doing a hand stand, and jumping in the air and spinning around to land facing in the opposite direction are helpful exercises.

Strong wrists are very valuable to an athlete. You can strengthen them by rolling bars up and down with the wrists as pictured here.

FIG. 56.

FIG. 57(a). You can make your own barbells by cementing broom handles into cans. Here cans are at the bottom of a wrist roll.
 
FIG. 57(b). Here he rolls up the homemade barbells.

FIG. 58. At the end of a practice session, you can develop finger strength by doing push-ups on the tips of the fingers.

Handball is an outstanding conditioner. Many of the arm movements are similar to throws in baseball, and both hands and arms are developed. You learn to stop and to go in a hurry, you make quick moves in all directions, gain strength and endurance, practice hand-eye coordination, learn to judge bounces off the wall as outfielders do and the hops of ground balls as infielders do.

Several college basketball coaches have discovered that the use of weights in an exercise can increase the leaping range of an athlete as much as three inches in a season. It doesn't take much imagination to see that increasing the jumping range of a player will permit him to spear more batted and thrown balls just as it will help him to shoot more baskets and block more shots in basketball.

The drill is simple—place a barbell, which is about one-third the weight of the athlete (if the player weighs 120 pounds, the barbell should weigh 40 pounds) on the shoulders of the player. Then have the player, in an upright position, raise up on the balls of his feet. Repeating this exercise daily and increasing the length of the exercise as strength is gained will give more bounce to the ounce. If barbells are unavailable, tie bags of rock or sand on the ends of a pole and they will serve the same purpose.

Another exercise which is of value in such sports as baseball, basketball, tennis, and football is that of leaping to see how high one can touch on a wall. A boy will find that he can stretch higher by pulling one shoulder and arm down as the other goes up. The body is built that way. Again it will help him to leap higher and get more altitude with his glove to catch the ball. Barbells can also be helpful in this stretching exercise.

FIG. 59(a). Again using regular barbells or homemade weights, try this exercise to increase spring in your legs. Start with weights on your shoulders which are one-third as heavy as you are (50 pounds if you weigh 150 pounds) and feet flat on the floor or ground.

FIG. 59(b). Then push up on the balls of your feet as high as possible and repeat this exercise several times each day, increasing the number of times as you gain strength.

Learning to dribble a basketball, bouncing with one hand and then with the other, is good for hand-eye coordination, and shooting baskets develops agility, coordination, and balance.

Tossing a medicine ball will also build strength, but requires two participants.

There is no substitute for running and walking in conditioning a baseball player. Every boy should do as much of both as possible, and bicycle riding is a valuable exercise, too. Major league players—especially pitchers—have learned that strengthening their legs through running and walking is as important to their success as knowing how to pitch. That is why so many of them play golf, hike, walk, and trot throughout the year.

If the weather is so bad that he can'); get outside, a boy can find a place in a garage, barn, or basement where he can run "in place." In doing stationary running, he should be sure to lift his knees high, running from two to three minutes at a time. Ice skating and roller skating are valuable in strengthening legs, too.

Some people think that one can develop baseball skills only in the summer, but this isn't necessarily so. Coach Joe Bedenk of Pennsylvania State University has been one of the most successful coaches in college circles over a number of years despite the fact that the school is located in a cold weather belt and that his players do not have an indoor practice area.

The Penn State pitchers begin to throw outdoors in February, wearing high shoes and heavy "sweat suits." They walk in the snow to the practice bull pens under the partial shelter of one side of the football stadium. There they throw every day until the season opens, and one of the main reasons for the success of Bedenk's teams is the superiority of his pitching staffs. If a boy does throw in the winter months, he should not try to throw too hard and should wear warm clothes.

Of course the value of a batting tee is obvious in developing wrist action, in addition to improving batting form and performance. It can be used indoors or outdoors year round, hitting pressed wool, plastic, tennis, or rubber balls into nets, screens, or walls.

BUILD YOUR OWN. These drills and exercises can be done individually or in small groups. You can rig up a rope to climb by tieing it to a tree branch, or the beam or rafter of a basement or garage. All you need for rope-jumping is a rope. For pull-ups, a tree branch, or two poles anchored in the ground with a rod stretched between them, or a broom handle tied at the ends with rope strung over a rafter will serve the purpose. An old mattress can be used for tumbling drills.

You can make your own bar bells by sawing off a broom handle to a length of about three feet, tacking nails into the ends of the handle and then cementing fruit juice cans onto the end of the handle. Patching cement works very well, and you can use larger cans to increase the weight as your wrists gain strength.

Adopt Health Standards

Boys of Little League age, with a newly sprouting interest in physical prowess, will adopt health standards and habits that otherwise could not be imposed on them so thoroughly. This pattern can become a basis for lifelong wholesome living.

Food is the source of energy. Unless a boy is abnormally underweight or run down, he doesn't need special dosages of vitamins. No matter how strenuously a youngster plays baseball, he'll derive enough energy from the well-balanced diet of the average American family.

Adequacy of diet is only part of the supervision Little Leaguers need from managers and parents. The habit of eating foods that are not good energy makers, though pleasant-tasting, must be corrected.

Dr. Erie V. Painter, official trainer of the New York Yankees for a dozen seasons, warns that since the Little Leaguer seems constantly hungry, between-meal snacks seem inevitable. But sweets, candies, cakes, super-duper whipped cream concoctions, and soda pop are not the best answer to this legitimate hunger. Taken in large amounts, sweets sate the appetite for other foods. Between-meal snacks should be energy-making and appetite-refreshing. Sandwiches with meat, cheese, or honey; milk (thought of as a food rather than as a drink); and fruits and fruit juices are preferable.

Food digestion is slowed during heavy physical activity, and players should not drink copiously of water—especially ice water. Do not chill the stomach with icy drinks immediately after eating because it slows down digestion. Drink water only in very small amounts while exercising. It is preferable to rinse your mouth when it is dry and then to spit out the water. Train yourself not to drink until after you have cooled off, and then to drink slowly. It's a good rule not to eat immediately before or after exercising.

All fine athletes know how to relax, even during a game. To relax doesn't mean being without tension. Instead, it is the elimination of unnecessary tension. The basic technique of effective physical performance is: "Start from rest; tense only when necessary; return to rest." Relaxation can be developed in everyday functions like eating, breathing, playing, and going to sleep.

Here's what Dr. Henry Donn says about sleep, in his health column of the Scholastic Coach magazine:

Judging by the amount of sleep they get, some youngsters think that it's a waste of time. Sleep is vital to good health. It builds, creates new spirits, readies you for the next day's tasks. Loss of sleep has a bad effect upon the nervous system as well as on the general appearance. Though your muscles can rest and renew their strength while you are awake, your nervous system cannot. During every waking hour there's an expenditure of nervous energy. So make sure to get at least nine hours of restful sleep per night.

Dr. Ray Duncan recommends as much as 10 hours of sleep a night for boys of Little League age. The amount of sleep needed varies with the individual, but most athletes sleep longer than nonathletes since they need to store up energy.

In the general realm of health habits, athletes should include the following: if you can't brush your teeth after every meal, at least rinse out your mouth with water. Wash hands and face before eating and before going to bed. Shampoo your hair at least once a week. Keep fingernails clean. Guard against infection by promptly washing with soap and water any break in the skin and then cover with a clean bandage. Remember that tobacco and alcohol cannot help an athlete to become physically fit.

And a final tip from Dr. Painter:

Leg and arm strains are the most common injuries in baseball. Proper conditioning and proper warm up will help you to avoid these injuries. If pitchers are physically fit and warmed up properly before bearing down, and if they throw naturally, they won't get a sore arm by throwing hard. Keep the arm warm and relaxed between innings. Use liniments sparingly; once in condition you have practically no need for them. If you are bothered by a recurrent sore arm, ask your coach to watch you pitch to see if he can detect a hitch in your delivery.

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