Stanford Softball is ready to dominate in 2016

The Stanford Softball program is gearing up for 2016 after completing a new off-season strength and conditioning program.

New performance coach, Steve DiLustro, implemented the new weekly program that includes three days of both weight lifting and conditioning in addition to practice Monday through Saturday. The aim is to improve players’ explosiveness.

The conditioning portion of the new program aims to improve recovery time and limit injuries throughout the year, which is something the Stanford team was plagued with last season.

Haley Snyder, Class of 2018, Women’s softball

Sophomore pitcher Haley Snyder is happy with the results of the off season program, telling us: “Our off season training will help us maintain a high level of play throughout the season, which is something that was challenging towards the end of last season.”

Avoiding injuries will be key for the Cardinal this year since the roster consists of only sixteen players. The team’s recovery ability will be crucial as they have a heavy out-of-conference travel schedule. They will play tournaments in Arizona, Southern California, and Hawaii during the month of February.

The second half of the season consists of weekly conference series against some of the best softball teams in the country.

Head coach Rachel Hanson is excited about the team’s progress this off-season as season is getting ready to start, as she said: “I’m looking forward to seeing this team battle throughout the season. Each member on this team is putting in the work to be a great player and a great teammate, and that’s going to show when we get in the PAC12 games.”

The demanding 50-game season will test the Cardinal softball team mentally and physically over the next four months.

During the most challenging parts of the season the Cardinal will fall back on the results of their off-season training program.