Dynamic Warmups (Sandi)

**Remember: "you warm-up to throw, you do not throw to warm-up"

DYNAMIC WARM-UPS are the best way to warm-up your athletes before practice and games. They should be done before any throwing. The goal is to increase the body temperature / heart rate by through full-body dynamic movements which get the muscles, ligaments and tendons primed to play baseball. Start with the bigger muscle groups and progress towards smaller ones - an easy way to remember this is to work from the ground up (legs, core, arms).

(these are the dynamic warmups done on April 23 at the Sensplex during the Coach Clinic - lead by Sandi).

2x2 team jog
High Knee jog (~60' distance)
Butt kicks
Frankenstein walks (straight leg kick, opposite hand to foot - try to keep legs straight)
Grass Pickers
Lung & twist (hands at ears, twist torso in direction of forward lunged leg)
Reverse gate-openers
Karaoke /grape-vine (both directions)
side shuffle with groin stretch
Trunk rotations
Squat to Cuban press (arms 90 degrees, rotate at shoulder, press hands to sky and up on toes)
Arm circle sequence (arms straight out to sides, palms down, forward rotation for 5 small circles, 5 medium, 5 large. Then palms up to sky and backwards rotation for 5 small, 5 med, 5 large)
Dynamic Tricep (alternating arms, elbows to sky, slap back/should blade area)
Wrap arounds (chest open/close, arms swing in front of body and hands slap near shoulder blades)
Hand/wrist/forearm stretches
Neck rotations and mobility
*Bonus move - for pitchers: Paddle elbows. For Catchers: Praying squats
Runs off the line (use glove as 1st base, left foot crosses over, hips rotate. Arms at 90 degrees, keep it low for first 3 strides - running for power/explosive (simulates base running)