As travel baseball players, we’ve all been there. Baseball tryouts are coming up and you really want to make the team. To help you prepare for baseball tryouts, Ballparks of America has put together a guide on how to train and prepare for tryouts. Read on to learn our tips for training for travel baseball tryouts.
Don’t Forget the Fundamentals
It can be easy to overlook the fundamental skills of baseball—throwing, hitting, catching, base running, and fielding—but they’re vital for any player. And make sure you’re not just focusing on your position’s predominant skill. As a hitter, it can be tempting to just focus on hitting but don’t overlook the other fundamental skills. Being a well-rounded player will give you an edge over the competition.
Take Care of Yourself
In the weeks leading up to tryouts, make sure you’re taking care of your overall health. It can be easy to slack off during the off-season, but you want to give yourself every advantage as you’re prepping for tryouts. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, properly hydrating, and eating healthy. Stay away from sugary drinks and processed foods. Instead, opt for water and real, whole foods.
Develop Your Agility
Being able to accelerate, deaccelerate, and change directions quickly is important in most sports, but it’s especially important in baseball. That’s why as a baseball player you want to develop your agility. The best way to increase your agility is to incorporate agility drills into your workout regime. Below you’ll find a list of agility drills specifically for baseball players. Run the following drills a few times a week and you’ll start to notice an improvement in your agility.
- Lateral shuffles: Standing sideways with your hips low, shuffle for 10 yards as quickly as you can. Repeat five times.
- Agility ladder: Using an agility ladder, single-leg step in up the ladder and then back down the ladder backward. Repeat on the other side. Repeat three times.
- Pogo jumps: Standing sideways, jump up and down while moving sideways for 10 yards. Repeat moving the opposite direction. Complete three sets of these. For an extra challenge, try this drill on one leg.
- Lateral leg side hops: Standing sideways, as quickly as you can, hop back and forth over a line for five seconds. Repeat five times.
Get Stronger
Power and strength will always be a crucial part of being a successful baseball player. Kids 13 and older should consider adding a weight training program to their training regime. It can be very difficult to add muscle mass during the baseball season, so you’ll want to develop a weight-lifting regime before the season starts. We recommend lifting weights five to six days a week. For players younger than 13, we recommend holding off on weight training and focusing instead on mobility.
Develop your hand-eye coordination
No matter what position you play, hand-eye coordination is a skill you’ll want to constantly work on. As you’re training for tryouts, running hand-eye coordination drills is a great way to make sure you’re on your A-game. Try these drills from YouGoProBaseball.
Work on Your Speed
One thing that can set a baseball player apart from other players of similar skill levels is speed. You don’t have to get super fancy when working on your speed. We like these simple drills from stack.com.
Ballparks of America is the Premier Facility for Youth Travel Baseball
Here at Ballparks of America we live and breathe youth travel baseball. We’re the premier destination for stay-and-play baseball tournaments in the country. Sign up for a tournament or reach out to us with a question.
