2023 marked year 5 of the Elite Baseball Development Podcast. In all, we released 36 episodes in 2023 – and I learned a ton from some great guests. That said, here are our top five episodes from the year:

1. Creating a Culture for Sustainable Success with Tim Corbin – Vanderbilt University head baseball coach Tim Corbin discussed transforming cultures in a team environment, and what key standards must be present to provide for sustainable success. Tim also spoke to college recruiting, long-term player development strategies, and the evolution of the student athlete.

2. Optimizing Athlete Physiology with Dr. Andy Galpin – California State University – Fullerton Professor and Human Performance scientist Dr. Andy Galpin shared many great insights on the physiological assessment of athletes. Andy has worked with athletes from across many high levels of sport to develop a comprehensive set of research-backed solutions for those seeking peak performance. We touched on the benefits and drawbacks of technology, and where he sees the health and human performance industry going in the decades ahead.

3. The Broken Business of Baseball Showcases with Dr. Peter Kriz – Sports medicine orthopedist and researcher Dr. Peter Kriz took an in-depth look at how showcase participation relates to injury rates in pitchers. This conversation drew heavily on Dr. Kriz’s two landmark studies on the topic, and yielded some crucial insights to help players, parents, and coaches plan for safe long-term development of pitchers. We also chatted about the diagnosis and treatment spondylolysis (stress fractures) of the lower back in extension/rotation sport athletes.

4. Using Archetypes to Individualize Baseball Training with Rick Franzblau – Clemson University Director of Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning Rick Franzblau covered innovative ways to assess, program, and coach in a baseball population. Rick’s insights related to infrasternal angle, mechanical vs. fascially driven athletes, and the development of college athletes are all outstanding. This conversation will help you to see individualized development through a new lens, and also appreciate how you might have gotten “accidental” positive results in the past.

5. How Pitching Injuries Occur – In this podcast, I discussed some of the causative factors for modern pitching injuries. Everyone wants to heavily scrutinize mechanics, but there are a lot of other considerations we have to take into account.

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We’re back to the regular EricCressey.com content this upcoming week. Thanks for all your support in 2023! We’ve got some great stuff planned for 2024.