How can softball players increase their bat speed without taking a swing?
Thirty seconds of whole-body vibration (WBV) on a special vibration platform has the same effect on bat speed as the standard “dry swings” warm-up, reports a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy. “The results indicate that bat speed was not different after warm-up using WBV alone, dry swings, or WBV with dry swings,” according to the study by Nicole C. Dabbs and colleagues of California State University, Fullerton. Whole-Body Vibration Affects Bat Speed In the study, two groups of trained female softball players—11 collegiate and 11 recreational athletes—performed three different warm-ups in random order. For the WBV warm-up, the women stoo
