5 Drills For The Kneeling Power Ball Toss

With the demise of the bench press as one of the SPARQ testing protocols, I am sure there are many athletes who are disappointed and I am sure there are just as many athletes who are glad to see it go. Either way, it is gone as a testing protocol in 2008 at the Nike Combines. Now you must train for the new Kneeling Power Ball Toss.

 

The Power Ball Toss is a test of upper body and core strength and a display of explosive power. (Once again, the key phrase being explosive power.)  Some of the main muscle groups working in this exercise are the shoulders, upper back, triceps, abs and erectors hips.  While these are the main muscle groups you’ll be working, in order to maximize the toss your entire upper body must be strong. Your core must be solid as well. I will outline a few of my favorite drills that you can do to help improve your showing at the combines in the Kneeling Power Ball Toss.

 

So here are my Top 5 Favorites:

 

1) Bench – Close Grip Pause Speed Presses

That’s right, the bench press is a great drill to use to increase your Power Ball Toss.  It is ironic the one of the best exercises you can do for the Power Ball Toss is the same one they are replacing - the old favorite, the Bench Press. The only exception is you must train it explosively. Do not just do slow moving reps for power. Do some close grip pause speed presses. These are done by lowering the bar down to your chest just above your sternum (where your ribs begin to separate), pausing for a one count, then blasting off and driving the bar straight up to a lockout-position. Quickly yet controlled, lower the bar and again pause and blast off. Do sets of 3 reps. Do roughly 5-7 sets total. Use a lighter weight then normal and focus on bar speed.

 

2) Power Ball Push-Ups

Place both hands on a Power Ball, with the ball directly under your chest. Keep your feet and legs together and your knees locked. Lower your body down until your chest touches the ball and push back up into the locked-out starting position. This is just as the name says: Power Ball Push-Ups are basically a push up on the ball. Focus on keeping your elbows in tight close to your body - try not to get them flared out to the sides. This will help with your tricep strength, which is a major force when doing the Kneeling Toss.

 

3) Standing Explosive Power Ball Chest Launches.

Doing this drill is very good because it teaches you to explode while launching the ball. It is done in the same fashion as the kneeling except you are standing, and so you incorporate your lower body into the launch. Holding the ball at your chest, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bend at your knees, driving your hips slightly backwards. Bend down until your hips and knees are parallel, and then explode into your launch. Try and explode so powerfully that your feet leave the ground at the completion of your launch. This is a great drill. The further you can get this the further your Kneeling Toss will be, as there is a direct carryover from the standing toss to the kneeling toss. Be sure and use your hips. This will help you learn how incorporate your hips into the Kneeling Toss.

 

4) Pull Ups

Another simple yet very effective drill. When doing pull ups, the most common question I receive is, ‘Should I do wide grip or close grip or overhand or underhand?’ The answer is to do all of the above each time. The second most common question is, ‘How high should I go?’ Again, the answer is simple; pull up as high as you can. If you can only go to your forehead, OK. Keep trying to go higher, and soon you should be able to do some on your own. This is a great upper back strength builder, (the upper back is involved in the Toss as well.) All athletes should try and do some sort of pull up regardless of sport. The same way you should use different grips, use different reps as well; sometimes do 10 reps 3 sets, and sometimes do 3 reps 10 sets. Mix it up. 

 

5) One Hand Kneeling Power Ball Toss

That’s right; the same exercise but this is a unilateral (one side at a time) exercise. Just use one hand instead of two hands.  Do a few tosses with the right hand, then switch and do some with the left. You will probably find that you have one side that is stronger than the other. That is called muscle imbalance. Both sides should be equal or at least close to it to maximize the two-handed Toss. In your overall training you should try and incorporate several unilateral exercises and drills. When you are on the field, you must use both legs and both arms and not always at the same time - so it makes sense to train them separately as well.

 

These are just a few favorites of mine to help improve your Power Ball Toss. There are plenty others but these will help you get a better SPARQ Rating in the new Kneeling Power Ball Toss coming up at this year’s Nike Combines.

 

Remember; athletes are built in the off-season they just perform in-season. Check back to find out some other tips you can use to help your SPARQ Ratings, including more Power Ball Toss-specific drills in the future. Train Hard Good Luck.

 

 

About Rick Scarpulla:
Rick Scarpulla is a highly sought-after and hugely successful coach and trainer, having worked with both male and female top athletes on a daily basis for over 15 years. He is the head Strength and Conditioning coach at West Point, in charge of Army Powerlifting since 2002, and is also a top NIKE Coach, traveling the nation working with top athletes at numerous Div.1-A schools. He is a top certified SPARQ Speed Trainer and certified SPARQ Ratings Coach. He is the founder and head trainer at Ultimate Advantage Training Facility in New York. Coach Scarpulla has worked directly with many top high school, college and pro athletes, and is currently a consultant and speaker to numerous top high school and college programs throughout the nation.

Visit his website at MyUltimateAdvantage.com
Email: Rick@myultimateadvantage