Yoga training for baseball pitching

Yoga and pitching? What the ... ?

More and more pitching instructors are encouraging their players to take yoga classes. On the cover of today's New York Times sports section, click here for the article, California-based pitching guru Alan Jaeger (who's worked with major league pitchers Barry Zito and Joel Zumaya) gives us an inside look at his off-season yoga classes for pitchers.

He says that, in addition to developing balance and flexibility (which, of course, are great physical attributes for pitchers), yoga teaches players "be calm" in pressure situations. It teaches pitchers how to breathe correctly.

I never did yoga in college or professional baseball. I suspect it works from this "calming" standpoint. But I was a closer. My mentality was simple: kick a** and take names. I didn't like to be "calm." I liked to get the heart rate going in the bullpen and keep it going until I chalked up that save and was back in the clubhouse shower. Only then did I "calm down."

Yoga may be beneficial in training for pitching. But I think it's beneficial only to those pitchers whose "pitching mentality" or on-field personality matches it -- calm, soothing, laid back. Mine didn't. Does yours?