Hit it out of the Park
How Baseball Players Benefit from Sports Chiropractic Care
To reach your full potential as a baseball player, it takes more than an understanding of the game and the ability to throw and hit the ball well. The best players possess a unique combination of physical and mental skills that they support by healthy lifestyle habits, such as proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and active recovery protocols.
Sports chiropractic care is regularly used by professional baseball players to both heal and prevent injuries and optimize their performance, but it can benefit players of all ages and levels of play.
Physical Agility
Strength, speed, endurance, and flexibility are key skills for elite baseball players to possess.
The muscular strength necessary to drive balls deep into the park does not just come from the arms. Baseball also requires shoulder stability, core strength, and explosive lower-body strength to initiate the base run after the ball is in flight.
In addition, the baseball season is a long one. High endurance and proper recovery techniques are key to maintaining performance and preventing injury throughout the entire season.
While all team players likely train for (and during) the season, a mass training program does not address individual needs such as muscle imbalances, lack of mobility due to pain or injury, and other specific needs of certain players. The individualized support available through sports chiropractic evaluations and treatment plans can make a huge difference.
Mental Agility
Along with physical skills, mental acuity is vital to playing baseball at the elite level. Hand/eye coordination, focus under pressure, and the ability to quickly read and react to the ball’s location and trajectory are essential.
While there are multiple ways to hone the mental game, it will always suffer if physical agility is lacking. A player must be confident enough in their strength and flexibility that they are able to make quick decisions in the context of a play.
Sports chiropractic care involves regular assessments of body alignment, muscle balance, and range of motion to assess movement quality and achieve full body functionality. When deficits are discovered in any of these areas, a variety of proven treatment modalities can effectively address and correct them.
Regular spinal adjustments improve nervous system function and allow for nerve signals to travel more freely. This means better overall coordination, accuracy, and quicker reaction times.
A stronger, more balanced musculoskeletal system equates to better balance, agility, and speed overall. A sports chiropractic analysis of a player’s biomechanics can reveal quality-of-movement and range-of-motion issues affecting play.
Myofascial massage and other manual and instrument-assisted therapies can release muscle constrictions and tension, as well as treat pain and injury. This can both improve joint mobility and increase range of motion.
All of these things can help with injury prevention, pain management, and faster recovery times.
Sports chiropractic care can include player-specific plans for nutrition and supplementation, when necessary, along with individualized strength and flexibility training and active recovery plans to complement a player’s current training program.
The team at DTX Sports Medicine offers expert treatment and guidance to optimize player performance in every sport. As you “PLAY BALL!” this season, let us show you how sports chiropractic care can improve your baseball performance while keeping you injury-free.
