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SUMMARY
MEDICINE BALL EXERCISES CAN BE AN IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSCULATURE THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE. MEDICINE BALL EXERCISES CAN ACHIEVE ANGULAR SPECIFICITY AND STIMULATE TISSUES THAT MAY NOT BE ACTIVATED IN EXERCISE MOVEMENTS USED IN A TYPICAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PROGRAM. MEDICINE BALL TRAINING ALLOWS COMPLEX SPORT-SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS TO BE PERFORMED EXPLOSIVELY WITH GREATER RESISTANCE THAN THAT SEEN DURING REGULAR SPORTS COMPETITION. SPORTS-SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-VELOCITY POWER MOVEMENTS CAN BE ACHIEVED TO HELP TRAIN THE SPORT-SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS AT HIGHER POWER OUTPUTS ON THE FORCE-VELOCITY CONTINUUM.
KEY WORDS:
sports specific; supplemental exercises; power; force-velocity curve; baseball; tennis; golf
Medicine ball training has long been an accepted modality for resistance and power training (7). This mode of training is beneficial for those sports that require a great deal of rotational power to be developed for performance. Athletes in rotational power sports can use medicine ball training as a supplemental element of a periodized training program for a variety of reasons. Medicine ball training can allow a higher degree of sport specificity to be attained because exercises can be performed that can more closely mimic the range of motion (15) and velocities encountered in sport (3). Thus, such exercises can help build on the sport-generic exercises needed in every program (e.g., squats, bench press, power cleans, etc). Supplemental medicine ball exercises should complement the generic component, and exercises should be chosen to emphasize sport-specific demands such as velocity, plane of movement, and body positioning during the movement.
ROTATIONAL POWER SPORTS
For the purposes of this article, rotational power sports are defined as those sports that require explosive movements in either the transverse or oblique planes. All swinging sports, such as baseball, softball, hockey, lacrosse, tennis, and golf, can be considered rotational power sports. In these sports, it is vital for athletes to be able to create maximal angular velocity of their sport implement so that they can successfully strike a ball. Speed of movement and ability to react to ball position through a variety of planes are vital elements in many of these sports. Throwing sports, such as baseball, softball, javelin, shot put and discus throwing, and handball, or sports that involve throwing movements such as a quarterback in football or a...