When preparing to get into shape for any sport, such as physical conditioning through drills, repeating the same actions over and over again can become pretty monotonous for any athlete. Baseball practices, for example, are typically jammed with drill after drill in order to improve the skills of the team’s players in various areas.

But like all sports, baseball season can only last so long and players may eventually have more free time than usual to improve their skills. However, rather than continue to perform the same drills, consider the fact that there are many other games and sports that exist that you can apply your baseball skills to as well. Best of all, once it’s time to return to the field, you may even find yourself to be a better baseball player than before.

Learn & Apply Physics to Improve Your Batting Average

Similar to the action of pulling a lever (in terms of an object rotating around a point or axis), when a player swings the bat, the goal is to maximize the force of contact between the bat and the ball by utilizing the power of their body in the most efficient way. While there are several variables that play into this specific motion to make it successful, the force of contact is roughly related to the torque created by swinging the arms and bat, as well as the force of the torso. By determining the distance between the contact point from the axis of rotation, you can then figure out how strong the force of the swing will be.

In simpler terms, as a batter you want to get the biggest bang for your buck. You don’t necessarily need to know any special equations to improve your batting average, but knowing how the force of your swings connects with the force of the ball is certainly a must.

Practice Yoga to Increase the Power of Your Throws

At times, the languid pace of a baseball game can give the impression that its teams’ players are not necessarily fit; however, image can only tell us so much. The fact of the matter is that baseball players need everything from quick and responsive reflexes to exceptional hand-eye coordination.

Though likely one of the last activities one would think to complement baseball well, yoga can be very helpful in strengthening and stretching both the mind and body, as well as giving players the advantage of being more focused in their intention for movement.

Incorporating yoga into your conditioning routine can be very helpful in building your core strength, which is essential to increasing the power of your pitches and your batting potential. Regardless of whether you are an infielder or outfielder, the flexibility gained in yoga will also increase your stride and follow-through when throwing, which is crucial for pitchers.

Play Online Poker to Boost Your Decision Making

In addition to keeping your physical strength and abilities in tip-top condition, it’s crucial to keep your mental reflexes just as tough. Especially in a game like baseball, having the ability to make quick decisions is crucial. For example, having to make the decision whether to steal third base or to wait until the pitcher puts the ball in play, or determining where you should aim to hit the ball based on how loaded the bases are. Regardless of whether you’re playing in the outfield or are at bat, being a great baseball player requires that you always be prepared for any situation.

While certainly not as physically demanding as playing baseball, online poker is widely known to be one of the best activities to improve mental quickness, patience, observation, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence.

In poker, players naturally learn how to continue randomizing their actions when determining when the best time will be to bluff. Most importantly, those who play poker learn about strategic interactions, particularly mixed strategies. A mixed strategy, in game theory, occurs when a player does not make the same move each time. For example, a pitcher will not typically throw the same curveball or fastball each time in order to keep the batter on his toes.

Furthermore, playing poker can also increase your math skills, which in turn can improve the way you understand the physics of baseball.

Play Ball!

At first it may seem as like the above activities wouldn’t complement each other at all. And while they may not be necessarily closely connected with baseball, they still offer many benefits to baseball players.