Fastball | Eric Cressey | High Performance Training, Personal Training

CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: What Makes a Fastball Elite with Matt Ellmyer

We’re excited to welcome Cressey Sports Performance - Florida associate pitching coordinator Matt Ellmyer to this week’s podcast for an in-depth discussion on how we evaluate the most important pitch in baseball: the fastball. Matt discusses the evolution of fastball usage in the game today, and highlights key metrics utilized to measure its effectiveness. Finally, he covers what pitch characteristics beyond just velocity that pitchers can develop to optimize their fastballs.

A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you'll receive a free 10-pack of Athletic Greens travel packets with your first order.

You can follow Matt on Twitter at @MattEllmyer and on Instagram at @CSPFL_Pitching.

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s an all-in-one superfood supplement with 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s nutrition needs across 5 critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today - 10 FREE travel packs (valued at $79) - with your first purchase. I use this product daily myself and highly recommend it to our athletes as well. I'd encourage you to give it a shot, too - especially with this great offer.

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Random Friday Thoughts: 9/26/08

1. We finally got our act together and put up the Elite Baseball Development Program page up on the Cressey Performance website. We’ve already got more than a dozen pro ball players committed for the off-season with several more just confirming schedules and accommodations. It should be a great time. We’ll be making this blog pretty interactive with videos as the guys get after it this winter in scenic Hudson, MA, the vacation destination of choice for guys who like to lift heavy stuff, run fast, dominate medicine ball walls, and throw wicked pissah fastballs. 2. Word’s gotten out that I’ve made myself a guinea pig for the Warpspeed Fat Loss program along with Kevin and Danny at CP. It’s the truth. Honestly, I took my before pictures and they weren’t nearly as bad as I expected to be, but I’m still going to go through with it. I won’t be doing the programming to a T, but in terms of diet, I’m 100% on board. We’ll see where it takes me; I’m not really worried about making it Warpspeed, to be honest; I just want to see some subtle changes and not lose strength. 3. Eric Chessen is doing a seminar in Hanover, MA on exercise for children with developmental disabilities. Eric specializes in autism and has some awesome ideas. Check it out HERE. 4. Also on the seminar front, Dr. Mike Maxwell has Dr. Stuart McGill presenting on October 25 in New Brunswick, Canada. Dr. McGill is absolutely fantastic in seminar and I’d highly recommend you check it out if you’re in that neck of the woods. 5. I got asked this week why strengthening the external rotators of the humerus drives the bench press up. The truth is that I don't know that the external rotators have a huge direct effect on the bench aside from stabilizing the humeral head in the glenoid fossa. However, if you don't have humeral head and scapular stability, it's like trying to shoot a cannon from a canoe when you bench. Probably more significantly, though, strengthening the external rotators is valuable because it indirectly helps you build strength by keeping your shoulders health for the long haul. I'll take a guy who can train continuously for a year over a guy who trains nine months out of the year and nurses a bum shoulder the rest of the year. That said, in the grand scheme of things, I’d put more emphasis on a number of other factors with respect to improving the bench press independent of actually benching. 6. Thought for the weekend: hindsight is definitely 20/20. Doh!

Back Squats and Overhead Throwers

Q: You don't like back squats for overhead throwers, is this because of anterior instability or some other reason? A: In a word, yes; anterior stability is so crucial for a pitcher that I’m not tempted to push it. Then again, that’s the short version – and it also assumes that the lifter is using a closer-grip, which mandates more external rotation. So, to the casual observer, the solution to this would be to simply bring the hands out and squat with a wider grip, which requires less external rotation. Unfortunately, this logic is flawed, too, as you have to abduct (elevate) your humerus another 15-20 degrees to get to that position. In the process, you bring it further into the “classic” impingement zone. This not only compromises the rotator cuff, but perhaps more significantly, the long head of the biceps, which is an extremely common nuisance in both powerlifters and overhead throwing athletes. All that said, while I’d never do it with a pitcher, you can probably get away with it with position players because they have better upward rotation. I wouldn’t go near it if thoracic spine range of motion is subpar – or the athlete had a history of shoulder or elbow issues. Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!

Cressey Performance in the Boston Globe

Training for On-Field Rewards: Local Ballplayers Flock to Hudson Gym EDIT: It was actually a double-dip on publicity on Sunday, as it turns out: On Campus: Ostrander, Scanlan get northern exposure

Athletes aren’t as smart as we think….

It never ceases to amaze me when we have an athlete do a 30-second isometric hold (such as a side bridge), and then they'll finish the set at 12 or 13 seconds and think that they're good to go. Apparently, I'm not the only one that noticed this phenomenon - and athletes will unintentionally go overboard as often as they'll underachieve. According to Wilk, Meister, and Andrews, when professional pitchers were asked to throw at 50% effort, the radar guns showed that they were actually throwing at 83% of peak velocity. And, at a requested 75%, they were popping 90% fastballs. Perhaps we should stop worrying about ascending oscillatory conjugated inverted periodization, and instead teach athletes how to count and follow the perceived exertion chart.

Labral Tears and Pitchers

Q: I've developed some issues with my right shoulder due mostly to pitching in baseball. I've had an MRI done recently and I've been working with an ART specialist as well. So here's the email I just received from my chiropractor: I just got your MRI results in, it shows tendonitis of the supraspinatus tendon and a small "hot spot" on the anterior/superior aspect of the glenoid labrum, which might represent a small tear. The radiologist has recommended an arthrogram, which is an MRI with contrast injected directly into the joint capsule instead of intravenously. You have two options: We could try some more ART and more laser treatments. If your pain decreased after one treatment, than I think it would definitely help. Option two is referral to an orthopedist. He would in turn probably refer you for 4-6 weeks of physical therapy. In any event, the possibility of a major labral tear is slim as a large tear should have been visible on the MRI. Based on the MRI results what do you recommend as far as the options he layed out for me? The ART has helped some but it is still very painful to throw hard. I have no clue what to do and I'm afraid of getting in over my head with medical bills and still having a hurt shoulder. A: Congratulations! You have the same MRI that every pitcher I've ever seen has ever had! I can pretty much tell you that your labrum is frayed regardless of whether or not you get the MRI. According to the research, the main difference between those in pain and those not in pain is internal rotation ROM. Get the PT - and bring this list with you: 1. Scapular stability 2. Thoracic spine range of motion 3. Glenohumeral (ball-and-socket joint) range of motion 4. Overall soft tissue quality (especially posterior capsule) 5. Rotator cuff strength 6. Cervical spine function 7. Mobility of the opposite hip 8. Mobility of the opposite ankle. 9. Core stability/force transfer 10. Breathing patterns Tell them that you want to address each of these 10 factors (in this order) in your rehab. In particular, tell them to check internal rotation ROM, and even print this out for them, if need be: http://www.jaaos.org/cgi/content/full/14/5/265/JA0008404FIG9

Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance - From Rehabilitation to High Performance.

I try to be a nice guy…

and help one of my athletes get an up-front angle on his bullpen session, and this is what I get.

Take your own damn videos from now on, Steve.

SB: 10 Plates + Tony Sled Push

Step 1: Train hard and eat big, putting on 16 pounds in ten weeks while adding four inches to your vertical jump. Step 2: Load ten plates on a sled. Step 3: Load a 210-pound Gentilcore on that sled. Step 4: Push!

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