In my first article of this series, I explained why overspecialization in young athletes is detrimental to performance and dangerous in terms of injury risk.

In my second article I focused on why young athletes need to begin their strength and conditioning training with a particular phase and type of training called General Physical Preparedness (GPP).  

The GPP phase of training should comprise much of a young athlete’s training so as to build a foundation of broad athleticism and general strength from which to build explosiveness and speed. Only then should a young athlete progress into specific strength and conditioning phases and programs.

This week my goal is to make parents, coaches, and players aware that the asymmetrical nature of softball creates imbalances in the body that cause an injury risk and decreases in performance. I also want to touch on simple ways to fix imbalances in both flexibility and strength that result from playing softball

Softball is one of many “asymmetrical” sports, meaning a high repetition of movements are performed by either a specific part of the body or a particular side of the body.

For example, fielders and pitchers throw thousands of repetitions with just one arm and hitters take thousands of swings rotating on just one side of their body. These unilateral movements create imbalances in flexibility and strength on one side of the body.

All people have some degree of imbalance in their bodies just because of how the human body is designed and how modern society functions, i.e., sitting for hours on end.

But the very nature of an asymmetrical sport like softball creates additional imbalances because of the thousands of repetitions taken with just one side of the body. So not only do young softball athletes have natural asymmetries, they also compound these natural asymmetries with their high-repetition sport training.

Both natural asymmetries and sport-specific imbalances must be resolved because asymmetries will wreak havoc on athletes and their performance and health. Whether the imbalance is in muscular strength or flexibility, care must be taken in programming to address any kind of imbalance.

Symmetrical flexibility is of extreme importance to decrease injury risk and increase strength gains. Sound biomechanical movements are fundamental to seeing strength gains. If the body is forced into a bad position during a movement due to mobility/flexibility restrictions, its ability to contract the muscles in the correct sequence may be hindered, leading to the body to learn poor motor patterns and reinforcing the asymmetry.

Balanced muscular strength is of utmost importance as well to avoid injury and increase performance. The thousands of throws and swings taken with only one side of the body result in a heavy imbalance of strength on that particular side of the body.

Left unchecked, those imbalances cause the body to absorb any kind of force, be it from running, lifting, throwing, or swinging unevenly which will wreak havoc on the pelvis, spine, or shoulder joint.

Imbalanced strength also touches on my point about overuse injuries in article one. Narrowly specialized movement, like playing only one sport or not exposing the body to the variety of stimuli inherent in GPP training, usually results in a breakdown of the tissue and overuse injuries due to imbalances in the body.

Stretching and mobility exercises are an obvious way to promote asymmetrical mobility in the body. A less obvious way is to perform exercises to a full range of motion.

For example, beginner athletes in a foundational phase of training with no pre-existing injuries should perform full range of motion squats, meaning their hips should come below parallel to the ground. Such a squat promotes a healthy range of motion in the hips and, contrary to popular belief, is not harmful to the knee joint. Rather, it is healthy for the knee joint if done properly.

Symmetrical strength in the body can most easily be accomplished by including unilateral exercises into the program. Lunges, step ups, single-arm presses and pulls, and unilateral kettlebell movements are excellent examples of how to develop both sides of the body evenly.

Let me be clear: I am not advocating an entirely “functional” philosophy of training that removes staple bilateral exercises, like squats, deadlifts, Olympic lifts, etc, from training. They are necessary due to the poundage they allow athletes to handle and the neuromuscular and endocrine response they produce in the body.

The most effective way to promote symmetrical strength and a balanced body is to train both bilateral and unilateral lifts together in a program.

Failing to do so will at the very least create a shaky foundation and slow progress and at worst will cause injury and prevent training altogether.