While Dryden Schroeder, varsity baseball player and junior, is at the batting range during offseason, he relies on both fundamentals—the basic motions of the sport—and repetition to sustain skill and endurance during the winter time.

“I’ve been playing sports since about third grade, and I have noticed that if I don’t practice during the off-season, I go into the baseball season either rusty or not able to compete at a high level,” Schroeder said.

The off-season allows time to dedicate resources to learning to move properly, build muscle and work on mobility and power training, all of which will help them become a better overall athlete.

Both baseball players and golf athletes are also met with the task or rigorous off-season practice to sustain both fundamentals and skill.

“The winter time is the best time to develop your game because you have much more time to practice whereas in the summer and fall there are many tournaments making it difficult to practice on a consistent basis,” Shoji Fujita, varsity golfer and sophomore, said.

Cade Kantz, junior varsity baseball player and junior, says he stresses the use of fundamentals but also adds the importance of technique, a player’s timing and swing, during the off-season.

“Obviously, fundamentals are important but I think timing and working on your swing should be just as important for a baseball player because if you go into the season with bad timing or you are trying to fix your swing, it just messes up your rhythm and doesn’t allow you to work on what is needed,” Kantz said.

Head Baseball Coach Matthew Buczkowski said he agrees with his players in regards to timing, repetition and fundamentals.

“A lot of our players usually have an off-season plan, whether it is going to a facility to work on conditioning or working with a swing coach to address timing and technique, all of this off-season preparation is working towards building a skill set that is dependable during our spring season,” Buczkowski said.

Instead of relying on coaches or parents to provide motivation or map out a structured activity, Buczkowski said players should create their own practice habits to coincide with organized games and team workouts. Buczkowski said he stresses to his players that any activities can help, regardless of how small or how large.

“Much of being a baseball player is within discipline and the will to get better, developing good practice habits and working towards goals makes (our) players successful,” Buczkowski said.

Although fundamentals and technique are a large part of success in both golf and baseball, Schroeder and Fujita both say they believe that working in the gym is a large part of their successes during the season.

“A lot of people don’t think that a golfer need to do work outside of swing work and practice, but golfers nowadays are lifting, running, and doing everything to make sure that they have some sort of advantage,” Fujita said.

Like Fujita, Schroeder also said he realizes the importance of training in the gym and trying to get an advantage over opponents.

“I used to not think a lot about gym training when trying to get better, but since I’ve made it a part of my weekly schedule it has really helped my strength and versatility when I am on the field,” Schroeder said.

While both the baseball and golf season are in full swing, players and coaches have made the necessary changes needed to compete at the highest level.

“As the season starts, you don’t want to be changing your swing or doing anything to mess yourself up, it’s all about trusting the work you have put in and just playing your game,” Kantz said.