Dear anoopbal,
1. As a matter of fact. is there any benefit to weight training at all other than injury prevention. Can there be a carry over or transfer of strength?
>>>> Yes, there can be a transfer of strength. This does not mean that if you increase your bench press by 100lbs, you can hit a baseball with 100lbs more force, or throw a punch with 100lbs more force. Strength is perhaps learning to rev the engine - recruiting fibres and using certain tricks of efficiency to have a greater output of power, whereas a sport-specific activity is akin to revving the engine but with control of the car - this could mean the amateur with the V8 engine losing the race to the professional with the V6 engine because the pro not only has skill in output of power, she/he also has skill in the specific sporting activity. Skill in strength plus skill in sporting activity is obviously superior that skill in strength alone.
2. By transfer I meant, can weight training be beneficial for athletes
>>>> In the past, coaches felt that weight-training would make their athletes "muscle-bound" - slow, and stiff. But it is now realized that stronger muscles plus same degree of skill in a sport is way superior than weaker muscles plus same degree in a sport. Skill in a sport gives rise to a sporting efficiency no doubt, but add more available power to that from stronger muscles and you'd have even greater sporting capability. Think of it as a power to skill ratio. When buying a car, the power to weight ratio is an indication of how the car is tuned and for what purpose. A low power to weight ratio despite having a high overall power output indicates that this vehicle is used for carrying heavy loads but will not be good for racing. On the other hand, a high power to weight ratio despite a lower power output can give a vehicle an impressive 0-100km/h or 0-60mph... and we'd know this car was not meant to carry heavy loads but instead, built to race.
If it helps, think of strength training only as making the athlete into a truck - ample power but quite different from a sports car. Learning to use that strength in a skillful way improves the power to skill ratio of that athlete and the higher this ratio, the more ferrari that athlete becomes. This is of course useful only if the event calls for a fast 0-100.... if the event was about carrying heavy loads then it's pointless training to be a ferrari
This really begs the question - we should not expect any carryover of skill per se since skill in strength and skill in a specific sporting activity (I am assuming you aren't talking about weight-lifting for a weight-lifting competition.....) is very different. But increase a muscle's power output, and at the same time learning to apply such newfound power by practicing a particular movement required for the sport is the only real way for any "transfer".
By all means, take out the 3.0 twin-cam engine and whack in the 6.0 V8 Twin Turbo, but such upgrade is to the engine only. The rest of the car needs to be further retuned and modified so that the rest of the car also is V8 level. Also, take a course in professional racing to better apply the intricacies of racing, if not, a skillful driver with a 3.0 can beat the bull in a china shop of a V8.
Enough car talk
Godspeed, and happy HSTing
