Expert: John Madden - 10/19/2009

Question
hi, I'm a freshman in highschool getting ready for try outs. I have played 2nd base all my life and my coaches say I have a tremendous glove. I also play shortstop and all OF position, I put the ball in play almost everytime when I hit, and when I get a hold of one it goes deep. I was wondering what I can do to make myself excel at try outs. So what workouts should I do this off season. Also during the end of the year I got tendinitis, and I was going to ask how to work my arm out so it gets stronger.  
                   thanks, Dan

Answer
Welcome to highschool!

I always thought middle infield was the funnest position to play in baseball.  Take advantage of it!

To make yourself excel the day of tryouts is pretty hard to do.  The main thing is to stay focused and calm.  Play as if it were for fun.

The main way to excel at tryouts is through preparation.  Hard work and dedication to your skill (strengths and weaknesses) up til the day of the tryout.  You need to lift weights, condition, work on some agility and plyometrics, but most of all, just fine tune your skill (2B, SS, Hitting, etc).

As far as the arm strengthening goes you can check out www.yougoprobaseball.com/Pitching365.html for more information.  Just copy and paste that into your browser bar.

Good Luck with tryouts and I hope everything works out the way you plan it to!  Be cool, stay in school, don't do drugs!