Building good habits from a young age will pay big dividends over time as young athletes get older. This is especially true when it comes to taking care of their bodies. The following warm-up routine is appropriate for pitchers and position players, between the ages of 10 and 12 years old and it includes:
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- Arm Care / Band Work (5 min)
- Multi-Planar Movement Prep (5-10 min)
- Long Toss (10 min)
This 20-25 min protocol not only prepares the athletes but also covers all the bases for prepping a young body for practice or game play. Static stretching is not included at this age and can actually do more harm than good due to length-tension relationships with an immature body. At this age, they’ll get what they generally need from the movement prep and band work.
1. Arm Care / Band Work (5 Minutes)
*** Note: For young ball players, band work should be only performed with lighter gauge bands such the Jaeger Jr. J-Bands or RPP Activation Bands. Regular J-Bands are too heavy for this age group.
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- Forward Flys (X 10 each)
- Reverse Flys (X 10 each)
- Retraction to Low Row (X 10 each)
- OH Tricep Extensions (X 10 each)
2. Multi-Planar Movement Prep (8-10 Minutes)
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- Butt Kicks (20 yds / each)
- Skipping w/ Arm Swings (20 yds / each)
- Carioca (20 yds / each)
- Lateral Shuffle (left side and right side) (20 yds / each)
- Backpedals (20 yds / each)
- Front / Backs (4 X 30 yds.)
3. Long Toss (10 Minutes)
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- 10 throws going out (@ 70-80 % RPE)
- 5 throws coming back in, with no arc @ 90-100% RPE
After the conclusion of this pre-game warm-up:
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- Position players can proceed to the field for pre-game preparation (hitting / fielding, etc.)
- Pitchers can proceed to the bullpen area to continue with their pre-game throws off on the mound