REVIVAL TO THE CORE

Kershaw is enjoying a career uptick thanks to a central-body training regimen

- By Jack Harris

VETERAN Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, 37, went 5-0 in August with a 1.88 ERA that ranked third among NL starters.

Eric Yavarone knew where the question was going, before it was even fully asked.

When stopped by a reporter near the dugout recently, in the midst of hauling an assortment of training equipment back to the clubhouse at the end of a Dodgers pregame workout, the team’s athletic development coordinator began to be queried on the evolution of Clayton Kershaw’s training routine — and how, at age 37, it has helped the future Hall of Famer manufacture a renaissance performance in his 18th MLB season.

With a laugh, Yavarone quickly interjected.

“The bowl?” he asked.

Yes.

The bowl.

For the uninitiated, the “bowl” is essentially a player's hip/pelvis/lower-back area. It is not an official medical term. You won't find it in any anatomy or biology textbooks. Yavarone can't even remember exactly when, or how, he first coined the phrase.

But when it came to working with Kershaw, the idea of the “bowl” helped trigger a profound physical breakthrough.

For a player long reluctant to changing his old vigorous training routine, it provided a different way to think about maintaining his body.

“The bowl is like your hip, this stuff right here,” Kershaw said recently while circling his hands around his hips and midsection.

“[The training staff told me], 'Your bowl doesn't move the way it should.' And they were like, 'Hey, we can fix that." " After years of back problems, then surgeries the last two offseasons on his shoulder, foot and knee, Kershaw has produced a resurgent thanks in no 2025 season small part to how well his "bowl" is now moving.