Power vs. Endurance

Baseball is a game of explosive power- repeated in bursts- over three hours with many rest periods between. Maximum explosive power requires maximum recovery between bursts. So how do you train for this process? How much base training is needed?

The Japanese and US models vary dramatically. The Japanese continue base training throughout the course of the season for all players, whereas in the US- a position player will simply maintain sprint work as dictated by the pre-batting practice warm up. So whats optimal?

In 2005 at Physiotherapy Associates Tempe Sports Clinic- Principle Therapist Keith Kocher (MOMT) was working with a few Japanese players when he approached me to assist the design of programs that would drive their physiological success. Then All Star Hiroki Kokobu was one of the athletes I assessed both through kinetic chain evaluation, and also with metabolic assessment.

I asked the interpreter- following the metabolic assessment what Hiroki did for training, as the assessment revealed a massive base and little power threshold at AT.

“Hiroki jogs 5 kilometers daily” he explained.

“Why?” I asked

What I come to find out is that Baseball is considered a mental endurance sport in Japan- and that this base work- performed with the team most mornings- compliments the mental discipline needed to sustain the 150 plus game season. What was missing from Hiroki’s workout- was the ability to recover from high level sprint activity.

I explained that Hiroki has trouble recovering from sprints- he agreed- and wondered how in hell I had figured that out. He continued that being out of breath after legging out a triple in the Tokyo dome was one of the reasons he sustained an injury.

This and the kinetic chain imbalances both played a part in his then knee injury.

I truly believe that the Japanese model cannot be overlooked as it is here in the US- especially as it applies to Japanese players. Just this year- The Red Sox struggling Ace Daisuke Matsuzaka complained that US training methods were not working for him.

It’s no wonder- he – and most of his counterpart Japanese players present a greater slow twitch fiber type to the game- created – by years of endurance work. Constant throwing- not days of rest between starts, were what he needed to maintain his athlete engine.

As I’ve indicated previously- the real story here is not the type of training- but how its applied to the individual athlete. Daisuke and Hiroki both need to be treated as individual athletes and have unique physiological profiles that we need to understand (starting point) before we design the program for them to exceed the demands of their individual position.

Sprint? For some yes… Distance work? For others- absolutely.

Let’s move our athlete development forward by knowing the starting point.