Program Design Project 1
Program Design Project
Liberty University
EXSC 541
October 6 2024
Introduction
Program Design Project 2
A high school baseball player has requested assistance with his current performance. He
has some concerns with the lack of bat speed, explosiveness, and change of direction speed. He
is also a switch hitter, so some differences may occur in this area that should be known upfront.
In the past, the athlete's training programs mainly focus on resistance training and he is looking
to start training regarding plyometric, speeds, and agility training. While looking at his
assessments, the strength tests show above average scores overall. While many of the tests were
above average, the athlete did fall a bit below in terms of power, speed, and agility which is
exactly where he is looking for assistance. This program will be used during the off season, to
have a better outcome during the time actually playing in the next year. With this knowledge,
the program design will include different articles that highlight training styles for these needs,
and discuss the best way to complete the program. Overall, these will look at increasing bat
swing and overall having a greater explosion at bat and even change of direction speed.
While in the process of this training program, it's essential to assess the athlete's
performance overtime and ensure all needs are being met. In many sports, changes of speed or
rapid and decisive changes of direction can result in a break, a score or a shift in the momentum
of the game. As a result, change of direction ability has been extensively investigated across
various athlete populations using cross-sectional and intervention approaches (Nimphius et al,
2018). A pre-assessment is included, along with a mid way assessment and the final one when
the program has come to an end. A variety of tests will be included to properly assert the
athlete's power, agility, and change of direction overtime. Since I am trying to assist a variety of
skills within the athlete, I am going to be using the 505 agility test, this is due to the need for a
baseball player to be able to make quick change of directions, and accelerate in times such as
stealing a base. To begin the test, there will be cones placed approximately two meters wide and
Program Design Project 3
laser timer will be used after 10 meters from the start. The next cones will be approximately 15
meters from the beginning line. When the athlete takes off this is a quick motion from the start
towards the 15 meter line, then will complete a 180 degree turn and head back to the start
(Dawes, 2019). This test will be completed three times, with the higher score being recorded.
The 505 agility test is not only great to assess agility and change of direction, it is also able to
assess the athlete's acceleration which is a necessary skill in baseball (Klein et al, 2021).
Along with the 505 agility test and 10 yard test, an assessment of performance will also
be conducted. Verbal cues will be used during all these tests to help the athlete stay focused and
complete them to his best ability. A deep jump assessment will be completed next, this will
work on the strength and mechanics components of his abilities. Using different formulas and
time, this will determine the height of the athlete's vertical jump, and overall assess his abilities.
Next a single leg and vertical jump will be used to measure the overall strength of the athletes
(Klein et al., 2021). This will look at the overall balance during performance on one leg, which
will help to determine his skills as a whole. The final test will be to measure stroke speed by
using the distance from the starting point. After the pre-assessment the test will be conducted
again during week 3 and when the training program ends on week 6.
Plyometric Plan
An assessment has an important role in terms of assessing the effectiveness of a
program that is being done. For the program to produce meaningful results, it must align with
the objectives being evaluated. The athlete has expressed a need to improve his overall power,
agility, and change of direction speed. In response, I have selected assessments that go along
with his goals and created a program to enhance these specific areas. The athlete will perform
plyometric exercises for 15 minutes, three times a week, after his dynamic warm-up and before
Program Design Project 4
his resistance training sessions. We have designed a training split that complements his
off-season strength training regimen. This three-day split focuses on full body, upper body, and
lower body workouts, aligning with his strength training goals.
The sport of baseball does require rotational movements that work alongside
acceleration and change of direction as well as powerful movement within the arms. The sport
requires many repetitive movements like pitching, hitting, catching and sprinting (Kim et al.,
2022). Keeping this in mind, it's important to use those same movements of something similar
to them during the training sessions, to help the athlete improve the areas the most. This can be
done by using plyometric training, also known as stretch-shortening cycle (Kim et al., 2022).
This will be used to increase power and help to improve overall neuromuscular function which
is especially important in younger athletes.
The program goes over a duration of six weeks, with each two-week block maintaining
consistency. Throughout each week, the athlete will engage in a series of movements, including
overhead throws, two-handed chest passes, squat jumps, split squat jumps, explosive diamond
push-ups, 90/90 shoulder internal rotations, simulated upper-limb accelerations, kneeling
rotational throws, box jumps, lateral single-leg hops, depth jumps, and lateral depth jumps.
These exercises are systematically categorized into full-body, upper-body, and lower-body days.
On each designated training day, the athlete will execute four specific movements aligned with
the focus of that day, completing a total of three sets in a circuit format. Given that the athlete
already follows a resistance training regimen, it is anticipated that he will reduce his overall
volume while enhancing intensity, as his primary objective is to build strength. In terms of
plyometric training, we will progressively increase both volume and, if necessary, intensity to
foster endurance and explosiveness. The program integrates weighted throwing techniques,
Program Design Project 5
rotational movements, explosive jumps, and balance exercises, aiming to develop a more
versatile athlete for his sport.
Results
The main purpose behind this training program is to help the athlete with his speed at
bat, overall explosiveness, and change of direction during the game. I am using a hypothesis
that the assessments used during this program will have an overall increase in the areas he is
most concerned about coming into the program. However, these results are a hypothesis as we
will not be aware of changes until after the 6 weeks is concluded. An article by Cure et al, 2020
engages their athletes in plyometric exercise and saw an overall increase in their velocity in
terms of throwing. Since this program is implementing many exercises that are built to increase
one's overall acceleration, change of direction and explosiveness, I believe this will be a great fit
for the athlete at hand. Unfortunately since the program is designed in only a 6 week long
program, this could cause the results to show a slight increase over a giant one. If this program
is used for a longer period, or used with some innovation there would be a greater increase in
results overtime. Conclusion
In conclusion, when the athlete came to me he expressed concerns with his overall
performance on and off the field. This was mainly related to the lack of bat speed,
explosiveness, and change of direction speed. From a large view, these problems mainly
occurred as the athletes lack specific training in certain areas. At the high school level, the test
and assessment aren't extremely large, and most people focus on a variety of workouts instead
of finding areas of concern first. To improve the overall performance of the athlete, this initial
6-week program design which is based around plyometric exercises overall should help with the
improvements he is looking for.
Program Design Project 6
Week 1 & 2
Day 1: Lower Extremities
Day 2: Upper Extremities
Day 3: Full Body
Exercise
Reps
Volume
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume
Sets
Program Design Project 7
%
%
%
Box
Jumps
6-8
60%
2
Overhead
Press
6-8
60%
2
Lunges
6-8
60%
2
Goblet
Squats
6-8
60%
2
Hammer
Curls
6-8
60%
2
Deadlift
6-8
60%
2
Depth
Jumps
6-8
60%
2
Bench Press
6-8
60%
2
Burpee
6-8
60%
2
Lateral
Depth
Jumps
6-8
60%
2
Overhead
Tricep
Extension
6-8
60%
2
Medicine
Ball Chest
Throw
6-8
60%
2
Week 3 & 4
Day 1: Lower Extremities
Day 2: Upper Extremities
Day 3: Full Body
Exercise
Reps
Volume
%
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume %
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume
%
Sets
Box
Jumps
8-10
70%
3
Overhead
Press
8-10
70%
3
Lunges
8-10
70%
3
Goblet
Squats
8-10
70%
3
Hammer
Curls
8-10
70%
3
Deadlift
8-10
70%
3
Depth
Jumps
8-10
70%
3
Bench
Press
8-10
70%
3
Burpee
8-10
70%
3
Lateral
Depth
Jumps
8-10
70%
3
Overhead
Tricep
Extension
8-10
70%
3
Medicine
Ball
Chest
Throw
8-10
70%
3
Week 5 & 6
Day 1: Lower Extremities
Day 2: Upper Extremities
Day 3: Full Body
Program Design Project 8
Exercise
Reps
Volume
%
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume
%
Sets
Exercise
Reps
Volume %
Sets
Box
Jumps
10-12
80%
3
Overhead
Press
10-12
80%
3
Lunges
10-12
80%
3
Goblet
Squats
10-12
80%
3
Hammer
Curls
10-12
80%
3
Deadlift
10-12
80%
3
Depth
Jumps
10-12
80%
3
Bench
Press
10-12
80%
3
Burpee
10-12
80%
3
Lateral
Depth
Jumps
10-12
80%
3
Overhead
Tricep
Extension
10-12
80%
3
Medicine
Ball Chest
Throw
10-12
80%
3
References
Program Design Project 9
Cüre, D., Griffiths, D., & Sterlace, A. (2020). Implementation of plyometric exercises to
improve throwing velocity of male youth baseball players. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Spor
Bilimleri Dergisi,5(3), 310–327. https://doi.org/10.31680/gaunjss.764381
Dawes, J. (2019). Developing Agility and Quickness-2nd Edition. Human Kinetics Publishers.
Kim, S., Rhi, S. Y., Kim, J., & Chung, J. S. (2022). Plyometric training effects on physical
fitness and muscle damage in high school baseball players. Physical Activity and
Nutrition,26(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.20463/pan.2022.0001
Klein, B., Cobian, D., Simmons, G., & Reinold, M. (2021). Offseason Workout
Recommendations for Baseball Players. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine,
14(2), 174–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-021-09700-z
Szymanski, D. J. (n.d.). Resistance Training to Develop Increased Bat Velocity.
https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/50b3-2980113/Training-for-Bat-Spee
d-Report.pdf
