What's in this Plus Mini-Course

  • Hitter and Pitcher Med Ball Work

    We break down the differences between pitchers and hitters and how you can get the most out of programming medicine balls for baseball players.

  • Programming Medicine Ball Work

    We cover how to program sets and reps for different athletes based on the time of year. Plus, how the type of med ball exercises may change by the time of year.

  • Types of Med Ball Throws

    We break up our medicine ball work into four types of throws: shotput, scoop toss, vertical throws, and slams. Learn the drills we use and why we use them.

Medicine Balls for Baseball

Medicine ball training for baseball players is to help bridge the gap between the skill work and the weight room.

Medicine balls help athletes with the skill of rotation and the ability to express power in the throw and the swing. The ultimate goal for a strength coach is to help their athletes develop the physical ability to perform skill movements at the highest level possible.

We group our medicine ball work into four different exercise groups. Those groups are:

Rotational Throws:

  • Scoop Toss
  • Shotput Throws

Vertical Throws and Slams

  • Med ball slams
  • Vertical med ball tosses

Rotational Med Ball Throws

We review the difference between scoop and shotput style throws and why some drills are programmed over others at different parts of the year. We also cover common mistakes of the drills and the cues we often use to correct those movements.

Vertical Throws and Slams

We cover the medicine ball slam, vertical throw, and vertical scoop tosses. Unlike the shotput and scoop variations, these exercises are not rotational and still important to transfer energy and should be included in medicine ball programs. Similar to our rotational throws, we will cover common cues and mistakes that we see in gym.

Course curriculum

  1. 1

    • Introduction to Medicine Balls for Baseball

    • Medicine Ball Training for Hitters and Pitchers

    • Programming Tips

    • Rotational Medicine Ball Throws

    • Overhead Medicine Ball Throws