The Medicine Ball Plate Blocks is a ballistic exercise for beginners to improve neural pathways for explosive shot production, body control and coordination.
Before you engage in ballistics you may want to take a look at Ballistic Training: How To Optimize Explosiveness for maximum results and a sample ballistic training workout for advanced athletes.
Plate Blocks Progression
If you use additional weights…make sure you use appropriate weight so you can control the action throughout the entire range of motion. Otherwise you defeat the purpose of the exercise.
Very often, people use too much resistance and they become sloppy. Especially when it comes to maintaining dynamic stability and hitting in the same spots repetitively.
Also, don’t just progress with adding more weight. First, maximize the speed while maintaining perfect form.
Here are the progression levels:
- Beginner: look down during hitting
- Advanced: look up during hitting and change to lunge position
- Professional: standing on one leg only
Medicine Ball Plate Blocks Description
Coach/partner stands in front of athlete, holds a medicine ball (MB) in both hands and chest passes it towards the athlete.
- Athlete holds the plate in both hands close to the chest
- Athlete takes serving position (trailing foot is in front of leading foot); look forward during exercise
- Coach/partner chest-passes MB towards chest of the athlete
- Athlete explosively extends arms forward, hits MB with the plate, thereby returning MB to coach
- Athlete returns plate toward chest
- Coach holds the MB for 1 second before passing it back to the athlete
Related Ballistic Exercises
Training Zone
We provide you with some more workouts and training tips you may be interested in to optimize your training.
Also, make sure that you warm up properly before and stretch out after your training session.
