Product Review: 7 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up
Jon Doyle from BaseballTrainingSecrets.com sent me a copy of his DVD “7 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up”. (Yeah, yeah, I know Something about Mary fans, what happens if somebody puts out a 6 Minute Dynamic Baseball Warm-up video). That’s actually what caught my attention about the video.
Doyle had been advertising on our site for a long time via google adworks and I kept seeing the ad. It caught my attention. I am always looking for new and exciting warm-up routines and drills, so I decided to review this DVD. The package arrived in a padded envelope, a professional cover, and well designed artwork featuring a baseball on turf.
The video features Jon Doyle MCing and Giles Wiley and Mike Ranfone performing the stretches. The credits and number of commas after these guys names are impressive, they are obviously professionals with experience and training to back them.
The video is pretty much what you would expect. It is not a professionally produced product, it is done in a training facility with a standard video camera, but video quality isn’t what’s for sale, what is for sale is a stretching warm-up exercise, and there it delivers.
At times the video is hard to discern, one thing I wish they had done is used a remote microphone, but that can be forgiven based on the quality of content. The premise of the video is that dynamic stretching targeting those muscles most often used during baseball practice and games helps prevent injuries and strengthens the muscles most often used.
Doyle contends that “traditional” warm-ups of taking a lap around the field and doing a few basic stretches can actually prove harmful, he has a point. Followers of this blog will know that I am a huge opponent of any type of weight or strength training for those that have not reached puberty. This was beat into our heads by the strength and conditioning coach of the Washington Redskins when I lived in Virginia, this video borders on that so I don’t know that I would recommend it for younger ones. I think Doyle would agree.
For those in Juniors up, that have reached puberty, this is a great quick workout that won’t cut into your precious practice time. Another of my pet peeves about warm-ups is how much time they cut out of your limited practice time, this workout overcomes that challenge. For the younger kids, I would pick and choose a few of these workouts and incorporate them into a warm up that focuses more on muscle memory routines and motor skills, but for older kids, this is a very good warm up routine.
The video walks you through about nine stretches, my favorite of which is the “inch worm”, and then moves to hurdles. Rather than expensive hurdles, he chooses to use chairs, buckets or tees would work as well, the point isn’t the equipment, but the stretching out of the hips and hip-flexors. The duo ends with broomstick drills that focus on limbering up the upper body, especially the shoulders, vital for baseball and softball players.
I have heard both sides of the story, some say stretch before you run, some say run before you stretch. I prefer a light jog before stretching to get the blood flowing and the muscles loose. I recommend doing that before jumping into these extreme stretches to avoid pulling muscles. I have no medical expertise to base this on though and recommend you consult a professional.
All in all, this is a great video for kids beyond puberty, but stick to agility and motor skills warm-ups for younger kids. The main focus in the younger kids is fundamentals and muscle memory. Strength training can damage growth plates and stretching isn’t as important for muscles that have not yet developed.
What warm-ups do you do before practice and a game?
Videos available from Doyle Fitness:
7 Minute Warm-up
Baseball Training Secrets
Million Dollar Hitter
Unbreakable Abs
Update 10/17/08
Jon responded to my review and made some very good points in reference to the younger kids. Again, I am not the expert here, my opinion is based on experience and not research, I leave those things to the experts.
Here is what Jon said:
“I was surprised [sic], that [you] recommend it not be use for the younger guys. In fact, its perfect for them. If they can put their bodies through the stress of baseball, certainly this type of warm-up is safe and effective, from many angles. They are still developing overall body coordination and “balance” at this age. Most don’t realize this, but you cannot improve balance past puberty. You can improve your ability to right yourself in a specific skill, but not overall balance. The warm-up helps here.
Since the exercises are body weight, it will also increase strength & muscular endurance at that age. And since its not a lot of volume there’s little, if any, room for injury.
We have thousands of youth teams on the warm-up with nothing but great results.”
His point about the exercises being “body weight” seems to make sense. Quite frankly, I hadn’t considered that. I suppose that the training here is not so much “muscle” related as I initially thought. Also, the point he makes about balance is very true and relates directly to my agility point.
Again, I recommend purchasing 7 Minute Warm-up and incorporating it into your workout routines.
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