So, what kind of athletes come to me with questions?
Football-players are the usually the one who have realized the benefit of regular weight training the most, I think, which is only natural with such a physical contact sport. But a baseball-player can hit the ball harder if he works out, building arm and chest strength. Basketball players can jump higher. Soccer players can kick the ball further and more accurately. Heck, even a bowler could get better control of his game for all I know - the bottom line is that a strong, coordinated physique, pretty much without exception, will result in better control and power in every sport.
Getting equal
Make note though, that brute strength shouldn't take the front seat in every sport. The priorities should lie in coordination, flexibility (that means stretching, people), and most important of all: Equal development!
Tennis players are extreme examples. They practice, sometimes daily, using ONE arm and ONE side of the body to swing the racquet. Hard. And repeatedly. After a couple of years, a singles tennis-player will find that one arm is considerably stronger, that one leg is slightly thicker than the other, and possibly a slight discomfort in the back as they walk for any length of time. You'd be a fool to not realize that the working side of your body has grown stronger, and that this imbalance plays a certain role in your back pain.
The cure is simple: Train with weights to equalize your body. This does not mean going crazy with some one-arm exercises, but more put the focus on training in a way that will put equal demand on both sides of the body. For example, chest presses with dumbbells make sure the stronger pectoral muscle can't pull a little extra weight for the weaker muscle, as it would during a barbell bench press. There's a ton of really good machines that work this way, particularly the Hammer Strength-series. You get the idea.
Avoiding shortened muscles
I mentioned stretching. This is essential to make sure that there's actual benefit to the weight training. I mean, what use is extra power to a golfer, if the training has made him unflexible so that his swing is compromised? For sports that involve a lot of running, especially football and soccer, I want to point out that there's one muscle you want to be sure to keep flexible - the hip flexor. A shortened hip flexor will pull your spine in an awkward position for every step you take, and send a shockwave of bad news up your entire structure. I covered this rather extensively in an earlier article,
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