What is Rice Bucket Training in Baseball? Rice bucket training in baseball is a type of training where a player fills a bucket with rice and performs specific motions while his or her hands are immersed in rice. Rice is used to provide resistance when doing these exercises, allowing players to enhance their forearm and grip strength.
Rice Bucket training is a method of increasing arm strength by allowing the muscles, tendons, bones and ligaments to be conditioned along with the throwing motion.
Who invented Rice Bucket Training?
Rice Bucket training was invented by the Kansas City Royals organization in 2013 to increase their pitchers’ arm strength, according to an interview with Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland who uses it during his workouts. The method has since been used by other MLB teams including the Oakland Athletics, Florida Marlins and San Diego Padres.
Rice Bucket training has also been adopted by European sports teams such as the German national soccer team and the Dutch national field hockey team.
What is Rice Bucket Training in Baseball?
Things needed for Rice Bucket Training
- Use 25-30 Pounds of Rice
- 5 Gallon Bucket
Although rice bucket training is simple, the most frequent question people have is how much rice should be used in a bucket of rice.
Rice bucket training can generally be done with 25-30 pounds of rice. A five-gallon bucket will hold almost 30 pounds of rice, making it an excellent size to utilize for rice bucket training.
You may also use more rice by acquiring a bigger container if you want greater resistance. Some bodybuilders, for example, will fill an entire 44-gallon trash can with rice before warming up their arms or performing forearm exercises.
8 Rice Bucket Training Exercises
1) Deep Grabs
How to do: grab a bucket filled with rice and hold it in both hands as horizontal as possible. Keep the back straight and the legs bent slightly (not more than 15 degrees). Now start to open your arms, stretching them as much as possible while trying to keep them parallel to the floor.
At this stage, it is important that the arms and shoulders should be working together for maximum benefit. When your arms reached their maximum open position – hold it there for a moment at least 5-10 seconds and then slowly return to the starting position. This exercise should be repeated continuously for 2-3 minutes.
2) Hand Shake
- Shake your hand up and down over the bucket. This motion is very similar to what a hitter does when he or she swings and hits the ball and should be done in a fluid motion.
- Place your hand inside the bucket and make a fist around the bat while shaking up and down. You can also do this exercise with two hands at once, but I find it beneficial to only do one at a time.
- Hold a baseball with your fingers and shake up and down. You can also do this exercise with two hands, but I recommend doing it with just one hand for proper form and technique is being used.
- For the last 8-10 reps of every exercise after the first 8-10, hold your hand in place and continue shaking. After you have been doing these exercises for a few weeks or months, you will notice how much better your hands feel when hitting. All players can benefit from Hand Shake Exercises In Rice Bucket Training In Baseball regardless of age, skill level, or experience.
3) Squeeze and Release
- Squeeze and release exercise is said to help pitchers with their pitching form by keeping their legs, hips, back, and shoulders in sync. This is because when you squeeze the ball between your legs it forces everything to be tight, which means that when you release the ball to its target that everything will be coming out at once. So not only does this exercise increase lower body strength, but it also increases flexibility in movement.
- Another reason why pitchers should do the squeeze and release exercise is because it helps with flexibility in pitching mechanics. By having better flexibility, pitchers are able to have better balance on their throws. This means that they will be able to throw more accurately. Also, by having better balance pitchers are able to stay on track of their target which makes them hurl the ball at a more consistent pace.
4) Punch and Finger Spread
Punch and Finger Spread exercises in rice bucket training is a simple drill that teaches hitters to have their hands up early, helps them spread the barrel of the bat out through contact, and feel what a properly struck ball feels like. It also helps clear up misconceptions about where the hands should be throughout the swing.
It does involve placing a baseball in a bucket, having the hitter practice punching it for timing purposes, and then have them spread their fingers on contact to feel what a properly struck ball feels like.
5) Twisting Paddle Hand
Twisting Paddle Hand exercises in rice bucket training in baseball is a very popular way of training for shoulder injury prevention, increased velocity and increased pitching endurance.
- Involves the use of a small rubber ball (the size of a racquetball) or golf ball sitting inside an old nylon pantyhose.
- Then you put your hand inside the old nylon pantyhose and move your arm in a circular motion back and forth. This exercise will take the typical pitcher through a range of motion that is similar to pitching, which allows pitchers to strengthen their muscles without overworking them or causing injury.
6) Pinchers
The pinchers in this game have three distinct movements (one for each set of fingers/thumb combination). Pinch the rice between your fingertips and thumb for each of these efforts:
- Use your pointer finger and thumb to pinch it together.
- Using your middle finger and thumb, pinch it together.
- Pinch with your two outside fingers and thumb.
7) Fist-Circles
Put your right hand into the bucket and form a fist with it, then extend your arm until it’s about halfway inside. Swipe your wrist in a clockwise circle before moving it in a counter-clockwise circle. This motion is intended to be a wrist exercise, so keep your arm still while you move your wrist.
8) Twisting Fist
Twisting Fist in rice bucket training is a warm up exercise used by baseball players before taking the field. It consists of doing an alternating fist motion while holding a rice bucket, usually with both arms extended to either side at shoulder height. This motion is repeated until the player reaches their desired number of reps. Once completed it is likely that the muscles will be warm and ready for the rest of the activities of baseball.
Who benefits from Rice Bucket Training?
Baseball players at any level can benefit from rice bucket training. Any baseball player who is looking to increase their strength, flexibility, and pitching endurance can benefit from rice bucket training. This type of training is especially beneficial for pitchers, as it helps with pitching form and mechanics.
However, hitters and position players can also benefit from doing some of the exercises mentioned above. By increasing strength and flexibility, players will be able to perform better on the field and be less susceptible to injury. Rice bucket training is a great way for players of all ages to improve their game.
Rice Bucket Replacements
Others include sand and pea gravel, both of which are less expensive alternatives to rice. The density of sand and pea gravel is different from that of rice, although they may provide a comparable level of resistance for those who do not want to use rice.
Despite the fact that I haven’t utilized either of these materials, they are some popular alternatives to rice that I’ve read others turn to while looking for alternatives to rice bucket conditioning.
How much time should you spend doing Rice Bucket Training?
The fact is that if you can train yourself to do it daily, even 10 minutes, you’ll have great benefits. But the lucky ones will be those who have time to spend one hour (or more) on it every day. To be able to do this you need to have a strong determination and patience, because even if after 3-4 days of training your body starts feeling the effects, you’ll not get stronger arms in just one week or even a month.
It takes time, but with perseverance you will notice that it’s strengthening not only your arms, but also the rest of your body. You’ll improve your health and you will be able to overcome certain diseases that might attack you in the future because of diminishing performance of your immunity system.
Final Thoughts
Rice Bucket training is a method of conditioning the arm for better strength and throwing motions by increasing muscle, tendon, bone and ligament strength. It can also be used at home or anywhere else as a means to condition your own throwing arm for sports like baseball, football or softball.
Improved muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscle tone, coordination and balance are just some of the benefits attributed to this training method. So if you want to achieve your physical goals faster – don’t underestimate this very simple exercise!
