Rotational power, not just strength

Beyond The Diamond Performance runs softball strength and conditioning at our facility on Robertson Drive in Manassas, coach-led, up to three sessions a week. Every swing and throw she makes is a rotation that starts at the ground and finishes at her hands. Strength that only shows up in a straight line does not transfer to that.

So the work follows the sequence she uses on the field. Medicine ball throws, anti-rotation holds, single-leg work, and loaded carries do more for a hitter's exit velocity than a bench press ever will, and that transfer shows up on HitTrax tracking.

Shoulders and scaps that hold up all weekend

This is where softball differs from baseball. Infielders take reps all weekend, catchers throw down for three games in a day, and a windmill pitcher carries innings a baseball arm never would. Nobody is capping her throws.

That volume lands on the shoulder and scap whether or not she has been prepared for it. We train the small stabilizers, the upper back, and the muscles that decelerate her arm, since deceleration is where most sore shoulders start. This is not rehab. It is the work that keeps her out of rehab.

Hips that move, and a back that stops paying for it

Softball players live in a narrow range of motion. A crouched ready position, long days on a bucket, and a lot of one-directional rotation. That is why the hip work never comes off the program, no matter what block she is in.

A hitter who separates her hips from her shoulders gets more out of the strength she has, and a pitcher who opens and closes her hip cleanly gets speed without asking her arm for it. The low back stops paying for what the hips will not do.

Sixty feet is a sprint, not a jog

The base paths are 60 feet, so almost every close play in her season is decided in the first two or three steps: out of the box, off the bag on a steal, on a read in the outfield. Top-end speed rarely gets a chance to show up at all.

So the work is starts, change of direction, deceleration, and the ability to repeat all of it in the fourth game of a Sunday. Slappers get extra work here, since their approach depends on being at full speed at contact.

How the program runs

Sessions are one hour, up to three times a week. Most athletes pair one or two conditioning sessions with skill work. Fall and winter is when we push volume, because that is when real change actually happens and tryouts are on the other side of it.

Owner and head coach Alonso Ruz Vera designs the programming. He holds a Master's in Exercise Science and Nutrition. Coach Raul Rodriguez, a baseball and softball specialist, runs skill work alongside him. Between them: 10+ years of combined coaching experience, 500+ athletes trained, and 25+ athletes who have gone on to play in college.

Athletes start at age 8 and train through high school and travel ball. The 8 to 11 group works on body control, landing mechanics, and coordination. Load comes later, with supervision. Bring a bat, glove, and cleats. We supply the rest, and parents are welcome to watch. This page goes deeper on the fastpitch side of our strength and conditioning program.

We train girls from Manassas, Gainesville, Haymarket, Centreville, and South Riding at one facility on Robertson Drive. There is no second location. See softball training in Manassas or the drive from South Riding.