By Scott Mackar

In a tight ballgame, sometimes the difference can be as simple as turning a stand-up double into a legged-out triple, or working an extra K out of your noodle arm to help the stretched-thin bullpen. Gavin Ozaki, strength and conditioning coach for the nationally ranked Tulane Green Wave, lays out some essential dos and don’ts on being conditioned enough to pull off such moves.

Do

• Condition four days a week in the off-season
• Train two of those days as speed work, performing short shuttles, and cone and change-of-direction drills
• Perform longer shuttle runs and base-stealing drills on the other two days
• Have pitchers run distance twice a week, incorporating some interval work
• Keep your rest time to a 1:1.5 or 1:1 ratio

Don’t

• Begin conditioning workouts without fully stretching
• Work on conditioning more than once a week in-season
• Eliminate change-of-direction conditioning in-season
• Overtrain with running and lifting, and forget about hitting in the cage and throwing