Effects of a Specialized Strength and Conditioning Program on the Fitness and Motor Skill Performance of High School Girls Softball Athletes

Abstract

There is a high demand for strength and conditioning programs for high school athletes. However, the delivery of programs for girls can be inconsistent. Accordingly, many high school athletes have turned to private strength and conditioning coaches. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different private strength and conditioning program training frequencies (1, 2, 3+ sessions per week) on linear speed (0-9.14 m and 0-18.29 m sprint intervals), lower-body power (standing broad jump [SBJ]), hitting velocity, throwing velocity, and lower-body strength (3RM front squat, 3RM hexagonal bar deadlift [HBD]) in high school girls softball players. Retrospective analysis was conducted on 30 high school softball athletes (age=~15 years) from a strength and conditioning facility that specializes in training softball athletes. The athletes came from various high schools and completed an 8-week strength and conditioning program, with different weekly session frequencies (1 [G1W], 2 [G2W], or 3+ [G3+W] sessions per week). Data was analyzed via a 2 (pre-post) by 3 (G1W, G2W, G3+W) mixed factorial ANOVA (p<0.05). Post hoc tests were performed using the Bonferroni adjustment procedure. All groups experienced significant improvements in the 0-9.14 m sprint interval (p=0.021), SBJ (p<0.001), hitting velocity (p=0.006), 3RM front squat (p<0.001), and 3RM HBD (p<0.001). The results showed that an 8-week strength and conditioning program completed by high school girls softball athletes can improve fitness and motor skill performance, regardless of training frequency. These data support providing high school girls with access to properly structured and supervised strength and conditioning programs.

Keywords

• adolescent
• hitting velocity
• lower-body strength
• standing broad jump
• sprint acceleration