Ask almost any pitcher, and he'd tell you that he'd love to increase his stride length on the mound in hopes of increasing pitching velocity. And, this is certainly an association that has been verified by both anecdotal and research evidence for years. Look back to the best pitchers of former generations, and they figured this out even without the benefit of radar guns.
On the anecdotal side of things, hitters often comment on how pitches "get on them faster" with a guy who strides further down the mound. This is a no brainer: a pitcher who releases the ball closer to the plate has a competitive advantage. That's perceived pitching velocity. However, what about actual velocity - meaning what the radar gun says?
The truth is that it's somewhat tricky to prove specifically that a longer stride directly equates to better actual velocity, as it really depends on how the pitcher gets to that point. You see, a pitcher can effectively delay his weight shift to create better "separation;" in fact, keeping the head behind the hips longer correlates highly with pitching velocity. This separation is the name of the game - and he'd throw harder.
Or, that same pitcher could simply jump out - letting his body weight leak forward prematurely - and completely rob himself of separation and, in turn, velocity. So, that's the first asterisk to keep in mind: it's not just where you stride, but also how you stride there.
Additionally, in that second scenario, this modification may cause a pitcher to shift his weight forward excessively and wind up landing too much on his toes. While the point on the foot at which the weight should be centered is certainly a point of debate among pitching coaches, it's safe to say that they all agree that you shouldn't be tip-toeing down the mound!
Lastly, even if the weight shift is delayed perfectly, a pitcher still has to time up the rest of his delivery - when the ball comes out of the glove, how high the leg kick is, etc - to match up with it in "slightly" new mechanics. These adjustments can take time, so the velocity improvements with a long stride may not come right away because other factors are influenced.
Of course, keep in mind that not every hard thrower has a huge stride. Justin Verlander doesn't get too far down the mound, but he's still done okay for himself! Verlander seems to make up the difference with a ridiculously quick arm, great downward plane at ball release, and outstanding hip rotation power. There's no sense screwing with someone who is a reigning Cy Young and MVP - and has two career no-hitters under his belt. However, YOU have to find what works best for YOU.
So, without even getting to my list, you can say that mechanical proficiency is the #1 factor that influences whether a long stride will improve your pitching velocity. Dial in what needs to be dialed in, and it could work wonders for you - if your body is prepared.
To that end, in part 2 of this series, I'll outline five physical factors that will help you improve your stride length and increase pitching velocity.
I thought I'd kick off the week with some recommended strength and conditioning reading:
Michael Mullin on his Postural Restoration Institute Experiences - I thought this was a great "random thoughts" piece from Michael Mullin, who has been a great resource to me as I've learned more and more of the PRI methodology.
Massage and Inflammation Due to Muscular Damage - Patrick Ward looks at some recent research on the benefits of massage - and some of the proposed physiological mechanism through which we benefit from it.
Cueing: Just One Piece of Semi-Private Success - Part 1 and Part 2 - I wrote this two-part series back in 2010 to highlight some of the differences between cueing and coaching - and how appreciating that difference had made me more effective as a coach (on top of helping Cressey Performance grow).
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For this week's exercise of the week, I had some help from Miami Marlins pitcher and Cressey Performance client Steve Cishek, as well as Stack.com and New Balance Baseball. Check it out:
A lot of folks do lower-level single-leg plyos and bilateral jumping/landing variations, but many folks never get around to combining the two. This is a great option for those looking to take things to the next level. Just make sure you're conservative with box height, for safety sake.
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With football season now officially over, loads of sports fans are now turning their attention to the fact that pitchers and catchers "reported" this week, signifying the start of spring training and a new Major League Baseball season. Truth be told, most college programs will have already started their seasons - and many high school programs will be playing official games - before the big leaguers start having regular season contests.
Unfortunately, with the start of a new season comes injuries...and lots of them. In fact, according to researchers who examined MLB injury statistics from 2002 through 2008, professional baseball players are 10.6 times more likely to get injured in April than they are in September. In other words, they are far more likely to get hurt because they haven't prepared adequately for specificity than because they've had too much specificity.
Think about that for a second. By the time September rolls around, most MLB players have logged 150 games between spring training and regular season play. On a regular basis, they've fouled balls off their feet, gotten hit by pitches, made 100 slides, attempted dozens of diving catches, and sprinted full-tilt when they aren't warmed-up thoroughly after standing around doing nothing for a few innings. Pitchers have logged hundreds of innings, in some cases, and catchers are sick of squatting for hours on end. Yet, guys are dropping like flies in April, when they're supposed to be the most fresh.
Huh?
There are four legitimate reasons that this is happening.
First, rosters expand in September, so teams can easily keep a guy with a minor injury on the roster without putting him on the disabled list, which would make him "officially" hurt. However, this doesn't explain why August injury rates are still dramatically higher than April's.
Second, the weather is colder - which means it's tougher for guys to stay warm and loose during early season games. This doesn't explain the high injury rates we see in spring training, though, as all games take place in Arizona and Florida.
Third, guys may be ramped up too quickly. Too many swings or throws in a short period of time may be the problem - but this really isn't something that can be changed, as guys need to become game ready, getting their timing, coordination, and mechanics down cold while they've got proper coaching at hand.
Fourth (and this is the main message of this article), guys simply aren't preparing correctly in the off-season with their baseball strength and conditioning programs. They may not be showing up with the right mobility and stability in the right places, or they may simply be waiting too long to start throwing, hitting, or sprinting. This happens all the time at the high school, college, and professional levels.
In the high school ranks, kids may be winter sports athletes, and not pick up a ball until a week or two before tryouts. Or, they may have just lifted weights all winter, but not done enough sprinting or mobility work.
In the college ranks, some athletes will skip throwing and hitting altogether over winter break - and then wind up with issues when they return to campus and ramp up quickly to prepare for the start of the season.
Finally, in the professional ranks, many players simply wait too long to start baseball activities. You can lift all the weights you want, throw medicine balls, sprint, take yoga classes, and participate in any of a number of other general training modalities, but nothing prepares you for being in baseball cleats and hitting, throwing, taking ground balls, or shagging fly balls for hours on end - and doing so every day of the week. It's why I encourage our professional baseball crew to always get started on these things well in advance. Guys might start playing catch as early as Thanksgiving, start hitting off a tee in early December, and start working on defensive drills when January rolls around. And, we'll do movement training - sprinting, change of direction drills, ploys - throughout the off-season. We don't add everything at once; instead, we gradually introduce a more and more baseball-specific stimulus as the off-season progresses so that nobody gets surprised when they show up to spring training; it should feel like a breeze.
So, with anywhere from a few weeks to a few months of your off-season remaining, make sure you're not just getting bogged down in the weight room. Keep in mind that you lift weights to stay healthy on the field and improve performance, not just for the sake of lifting weights. Look for more and more specificity in your programming with increased participation in baseball activities - but not so much that it becomes a "too much, too soon" scenario. And, keep an eye out for the media reporting on loads of hamstrings, hip flexor, adductor, and oblique strains in the months to come, as it's a sign of the season!
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We're officially one month into 2012 and I suspect there are some people out there feeling a little deprived. Undoubtedly, you've been so good about your diet to kickstart the new year. And without a question, those sweet cravings are starting to nag you (and I bet that has nothing to do with all the pink-and-red-packaged chocolate currently taking over store shelves everywhere.) While I won't argue with a true indulgence here and there, my sweet tooth requires a bit more than the occasional treat. Fortunately, I've developed a handy repertoire of sweet treats that fit in with a clean eating diet.
What exactly is clean eating? One might consider it a detox for life. Cleaning up your diet from processed, unhealthy foods to heal your body and your mind. Focusing on colorful veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats to satisfy your cravings and fuel your daily activities. Trying to eat more ingredients instead of things that have ingredients.
Clean eating is not eating sugar. Specifically, refined sugar (common granulated white sugar and brown sugar) is a big no-no. Same for the artificial alternative. The problem is that both of these are hidden almost everywhere. So what's a guy or gal with a sweet tooth on a clean eating diet to do?
Easy-to-find, more nutritious and all-natural sweeteners include honey, maple syrup, and molasses. Other options becoming increasingly more mainstream are succanat (also referred to as evaporated cane juice) and coconut palm sugar. These sweeteners all have caloric value comparable to "regular" sugar but are less processed and retain higher nutritional value. Each has its pros and cons, including flavor and ease of use, which will help determine which one should be used in place of sugar in a specific recipe. Also becoming increasingly popular is stevia, a zero-calorie all-natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant. In its pure form, stevia is many times sweeter than sugar (1 teaspoon is equivalent to 1 cup of sugar in terms of sweetness) which makes it difficult to use a direct replacement in baking, but not impossible. Stevia is sold in various forms, including concentrated liquid drops (great for sweetening coffee and tea) and bulkier mixes (easier to use in baking or for measuring small amounts.)
Over the past year I've been experimenting with these various sweeteners and put them to use in many recipes. In general I find that these sweeteners work best in combination; I rarely use just one in a recipe. Here are some of my favorite all-naturally sweetened indulgences.
In this Salted Caramel Ice Cream, I started with coconut palm sugar to provide the rich color and caramel flavor. I could have used only coconut sugar to sweeten the ice cream, but to shave some calories, I opted to use about half of what I would have needed to create an adequately sweet ice cream, and added liquid vanilla stevia to provide the rest. (If you just clicked that link and dropped your jaw at the price of a 2oz bottle, relax. It seems like a lot of money but I promise it lasts forever. This stuff is highly concentrated and you only need a few drops to sweeten a cup of coffee or tea.)
Similarly, in these Mint-Cacao Cookie Dough Truffles, I used a combination of powdered steviaalong with maple syrup. In this no-bake recipe, the maple syrup is desirable because it helps to bind the dry ingredients. But just like with the ice cream recipe, I opted to lighten the caloric load by using some stevia in addition.
Now take a look at my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl Brownies (that are not only refined sugar-free, but vegan and gluten-free too!) Here I used a combination of maple syrup and another sweetener I didn't even mention above: dates! Date puree (made from soaking dates in hot water and then pureeing in a food processor) provides not only sweetness and obvious nutrition, but contributes to the soft, chewy texture desirable in brownies and cookies. Also note that instead of oil, I used a combination of applesauce and pumpkin to provide the necessary moisture. These natural fruit and vegetable options provide some sweetness too. Decadently rich and fudgy, these brownies are some of my favorite baked goods to date (no pun intended.)
Lastly, here is an example where stevia did work perfectly well on its own. That chocolate-covered dream you see is a a Chocolate Raspberry Macaroon Tart I created for Clean Eating Magazine. There you have it: another resource to support your new clean eating lifestyle, and one to which I'm proud to be a regular contributor. I served this tart at a big family party last spring, and the only complaint was that I didn't bring a second one as well.
I hope that with these ideas, you're able to stay on track and feel good about what you're eating!
About the AuthorCara Lyons is the author of Cara's Cravings, a food blog dedicated to delicious recipes for healthy living. She is also a regular contributor to Clean Eating Magazine.
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Here's this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:
The Art of Nutrition Coaching - I thought this guest post from Dr. John Berardi at PT on the Net was outstanding. He highlights a counseling approach called Motivational Interviewing. I'm anxious to look into it myself.
Strength Exercise: DB Bulgarian Split Squat from Deficit - Since my "Strength Exercise of the Week" column has been very popular over the past few weeks, I thought I'd highlight an old one that has slipped to the archives.
6 Questions About Tempo Training - Mike Robertson published this at T-Nation recently, and it made me realize this commonly misunderstood strength and conditioning topic has never really gotten the in-depth analysis or explanation it deserves.
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I just wanted to give you a heads-up on two shorter clinics I'll be doing in California in February.
The first, Shoulder Assessment, Corrective Exercise, and Programming, will be geared toward personal trainers, rehabilitation specialists, and fitness enthusiasts alike. It will take place in Palo Alto on Friday afternoon, February 17, from 12-3pm. Here's the agenda:
12-1PM - Inefficiency vs. Pathology
1-2PM - Training the Injured Shoulder During and Post-Rehab
2-3PM- Upper Extremity Assessment and Mobility/Activation Drills
3-3:30PM - Q&A to wrap up
The fee is $79, and registration will close on February 12. However, it is limited to 50 spots, and because it began as a continuing education event for a personal training staff in the area, 30 of those spots are already taken - so please register ASAP if you are interested. You can reserve your spot online HERE.
The second event, Fitness on the Field, will take place in Santa Cruz on Sunday morning, February 19, from 9am-12pm. This clinic is geared toward players (ages 13-18) and coaches, and we'll cover everything from baseball-specific mobility warm-ups, to sprinting progressions, to arm care, to core stability, to rotational power. The fee is $50, and you can get more information or sign up by emailing Joey Wolfe, the event organizers, at joey@paradigmsport.com.
Hope to see you at one of these events!
Anyone who has ever broken or burned a finger will tell you that you just don't appreciate how much you use your hands until you don't have access to one for a bit. Obviously, you partially lose your ability to do things - but what many folks might not appreciate is that you also lose some of your ability to sense things, as the hands contain a tremendously amount of sensory receptors relative to the rest of the body. In fact, the tiny folds in our skin on the fingertips that comprise the fingertip are there because they increase the surface area of the hands - which allows us to get more sensory receptors where we need them. Cool stuff, huh?
Why then, do we not give the hands any love when it comes to soft tissue work? We'll foam roll our hip flexors, lats, and other large muscle groups (which are certainly valuable), but we'll ignore one of the most sensory-rich parts of our body - and one that is constantly active (and overused, in some cases) throughout the day. We grip, type, and flip people the bird - but we never really pay attention to soft tissue quality in this region...until today, that is.
If you look at the structure of the hand, you'll see that it has a large fascial, the palmar aponeurosis (we'll call it the palmar fascia to keep things simple). This structure has an intimate relationship with the muscles/tendons and ligaments of the hand, and serves as a link between the forearm and fingers.
Based on the size alone, you can see that it has plantar-fascia-caliber importance even if it isn't weight bearing. You see, of the five muscles that attach via the common flexor tendon on the medial epicondyle at the elbow, four cross the wrist joint and palmar fascia on the way to the hand, where they work to flex and abduct or adduct the wrist, and flex the fingers.
Loads of people have tendinopathies going on up on the medial elbow (Golfer's Elbow), but they only work on this spot (called a zone of convergence). Meanwhile, the soft tissue quality might be just as bad further down at the wrist and hand, adding tension on an already over-burdended common flexor tendon. Think about it this way: if you had a pulled hamstring up by your glutes, would you only work to improve tissue quality at that spot, or would you work all the way down to the posterior knee to make sure that you'd improved some of the poor tissue quality further down as well?
Below, massage therapist and Cressey Performance coach Chris Howard talks you through two different ways to work out the kinks in the palmar fascia and surrounding regions, but keep in mind that it'll always be more effective to have a qualified manual therapist do the job - and that's certainly someone you should see if you have any symptoms whatsoever.
We've found that quite a few of our pitchers comment on how the ball seems to come out of their hand easier after this work. Usually, they're the guys who have the most stiffness along the forearm, particularly into wrist extension and supination.
Give it a shot at your desk at work and see how it feels.
At Cressey Performance, we're getting to the time of the year when things gradually start to slow down for us. For many business owners, this is a source of frustration, as they worry about paying the bills when things get quieter. I, on the other hand, view it as a source of excitement, as it signifies that the beginning of baseball season is at hand, and our athletes will have an opportunity to put all their off-season hard work into action on the baseball field.
You'd be surprised, however, at how many collegiate and professional players get genuinely worried about how they'll be managed once they get back to school or their organizations. In the private sector, we can individually manage guys with their unique needs in mind, but in collegiate and professional, because of the larger volume of athletes (and fewer coaches per athlete), limited training time, and additional competing demands (i.e., practicing and playing games), player development can be quickly stunted. Believe it or not, 2012 was the first year that Major League Baseball mandated that every minor league affiliate have a strength coach on staff; many teams didn't have anyone (in-person, at least) watching over their highly-touted prospects during critical minor league development periods.
That said, though, there are some colleges and professional organizations who are doing a solid job of managing guys - and I wanted to use today's post to highlight four areas in which they're getting the job done effectively.
1. Synergy - As I outlined in Weight Training Programs: You Can't Just Keep Adding, we have a limited recovery capacity, so if you're going to add something to a program, you have to take something away. Unfortunately, this "give and take" gets overlooked in some team settings. As an example, a strength and conditioning coach, athletic trainer, and pitching coach might all prescribe different rotator cuff exercises for their players without knowing that an overlap is taking place. Or, a strength coach might prescribe a challenging lower body lift, then have a pitching coach send his players to run poles - only to have the head coach tack a very taxing practice on top of an already hefty workload. If you're always adding, but never taking away, it's only a matter of time until athletes break down. As such, communication among coaches, medical and strength and conditioning staffs, and players is absolutely essential for optimal synergy.
2. Individualization - I'm constantly amazed at how - even at the highest levels - players aren't managed on a case-by-case basis. That is, of course, until they get hurt and need unique rehabilitation prescriptions. Just imagine how much less rehabilitation would be needed if players were simply managed more individually on a proactive basis so that injuries didn't occur nearly as often. Additionally, we'd be much more likely to see late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents become MLB superstars if they were managed differently than already-talented players who are just coddled on their way to the big leagues. I think you'd see more stories like Tim Collins'.
I also see this as a huge competitive advantage for college coaches on the recruiting side of things. Not everyone can boast beautiful weather, an amazing baseball complex, a pristine academic reputation, and beautiful girls everywhere when recruiting prospects, but being able to guarantee an individualized approach to development goes a long way in making up the difference.
3. Specificity - You'd be amazed at how many folks in the baseball world have absolutely no knowledge of exercise physiology or the unique demands of baseball - but are still prescribing strength and conditioning programs for baseball players. Some of what I have seen is so atrocious that the players would have been better off doing absolutely nothing. I've seen programs with 10+ mile runs, kipping pull-ups to failure, 1-rep max bench presses, and high rep clean and presses. I seriously can't make this stuff up.
The most common justification for this type of garbage is that coaches want to build mental toughness. Well, I'm here to tell you that there are much better ways of doing that, as your mental toughness won't mean much when your pitchers are having surgeries or throwing 74mph and well on their way to those surgeries.
When we discuss throwing a baseball, we are talking about the single fastest motion in all of sports. General training is absolutely valuable, but if you don't have the specific nature of that throwing motion - and the adaptations it creates - in mind when we implement that general training, you're asking for problems.
4. Effort - The best program on the planet won't do any good if it isn't executed with loads of effort and attention to detail. If you have issues like players skipping warm-ups, athletic trainers refusing to do manual therapy, and coaches showing up late to practice, whatever is written on the paper doesn't matter at all.
At the end of the day, these four factors are just a few of many that will ultimately determine how effective a baseball strength and conditioning program is. Unfortunately, many of these factors are outside of a player's control, so what do you do?
Very simply, control what you can control.
Educate yourself so that you can be your own best coach. Optimize your nutrition and get plenty of sleep. Write down what has and hasn't worked for you so that you can refer back to it down the road and avoid making the same mistakes twice.
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Today's guest post on sodium intake comes from current Cressey Performance intern, Jordan Syatt.
Sodium intake is a highly controversial topic within the fitness industry, mainstream media, and even the medical community. Very simply, everyone wants to know: "Is salt bad for you?" Nobody seems to have a clear-cut answer.
While many are quick to demonize the tasty mineral, I’ve long wondered if the evils associated with salt are the result of poorly constructed and misinterpreted research or actual cause for concern.
In an attempt to settle the debate once and for all, I began to dig up all the research I could find pertaining to sodium intake, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and general health.
To make things as simple as possible, I’ve outlined my findings below. I think the results may surprise you!
Sodium Intake: What Does the Research Say?
First and foremost, high-blood pressure is perhaps the most prevalent risk factor associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Bearing in mind that CVD is currently the world’s leading cause of death, any information we can find to aid in reducing the risk of CVD is of the utmost importance.
Therefore, considering it is well established that diets excessively high in sodium may result in increased blood pressure (BP), it should come as no surprise that doctors and health professionals alike strongly encourage maintaining a low-sodium diet in the long-term. Epidemiological researchsuggests high-salt diets may not only affect blood pressure (BP) and thereby cardiovascular disease (CVD), but could also “increase the risk of stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy and renal disease.”
Perhaps worst of all, great sodium consumption tends to cause water retention, thus giving leaner individuals a noticeably “softer” appearance. In other words, their abs won’t appear to be as cut-up.
What the hell, salt!?!?
Based on the information provided above, it would appear as though high-salt diets are the primary cause of illness, death, and guys making excuses for why they don’t look as lean as they should.
We should probably cut it out of our diet, right?
Not so fast.
While high BP is certainly a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease, recent researchhas clearly shown the ratio of sodium intake to potassium intake within the diet has a much greater effect on BP than sodium (or potassium) alone.Other studies have confirmed this finding and even the USDA recommends individuals place an emphasis on increasing potassium-rich foods and/or lowering sodium intake in order to lower BP.
While excessive sodium consumption can have a negative impact on BP (thus increasing one's risk of various diseases), simply increasing the amount of potassium consumed on a daily basis holds the same benefits as lowering salt intake. As low-sodium diets are rather difficult to maintain in the long-term, placing an emphasis on potassium-rich foods may help individuals keep BP in check without causing undue stress notably in social situations.
In addition to the ratio of salt to potassium within the diet, other factors such as age, gender, genetics, activity level, and body fat are tremendously significant in determining ones risk of high BP, CVD, and other related illnesses. Not surprisingly, exercise and weight losssignificantly reduce the risk of CVD. As such, rather than solely focus on reducing salt intake, beginning an appropriate training routine and maintaining a healthy body weight would most likely be the ideal first step in preventing CVD.
Finally, one need only look at the extremely high amounts of sodium in processed foods to understand why greater sodium consumption is associated with high BP and CVD. I’d venture to guess that those individuals who base their diets largely on processed foods are not only consuming too much salt, but are also not eating enough potassium, neglecting to exercise, failing to get an adequate amount of sleep, not maintaining an appropriate body weight, nor living a healthy lifestyle in general.
Taking the above into consideration, is it really the heavy sodium consumption causing high BP and CVD? Or, could it possibly be the overall sedentary lifestyle, overconsumption of processed foods, being overweight, etc?
I bet it’s the latter.
If otherwise healthy individuals are eating a diet largely consisting of whole/unprocessed foods, consuming adequate potassium, regularly exercising, and maintaining a healthy bodyweight, they can probably stop worrying over the minutia and feel free to add a dash, or two, of the ever-so-tasty mineral.
My General Recommendations:
Individuals should maintain a diet largely consisting of whole/unprocessed foods and make a concerted effort to acquire enough potassium on a daily basis. Examples include, but are not limited to, baked potatoes, cooked spinach, bananas, oranges, and cooked beans. For a detailed list of potassium-rich foods, click HERE. Additionally, I encourage individuals to follow an appropriate strength and conditioning program designed specifically for their individual needs.
Note: those who already have high blood pressure, first and foremost, you must consult with your primary care physician and follow his/her directions, as various anti-hypertensive medications can interact differently with food and exercise. Plus, you want to find out why you are hypertensive in the first place in order to individualize your treatment approach.
I hope you enjoyed this article, and if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
About the Author
Jordan Syatt is a strength training and nutritional consultant out of Boston Massachusetts. He is Westside Barbell Certified, currently interning at Cressey Performance, and studies Health Behavior Science at the University of Delaware. In addition to actively competing in various Powerlifting Federations, Jordan works with a diverse population of clientele, focusing on fat loss, mass gain, and athletic performance. Jordan is the owner and operator of www.syattfitness.com. Feel free to contact him directly at: jsyattfitness@gmail.com.
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to provide the rest. (If you just clicked that link and dropped your jaw at the price of a 2oz bottle, relax. It seems like a lot of money but I promise it lasts forever. This stuff is highly concentrated and you only need a few drops to sweeten a cup of coffee or tea.)
along with maple syrup. In this no-bake recipe, the maple syrup is desirable because it helps to bind the dry ingredients. But just like with the ice cream recipe, I opted to lighten the caloric load by using some stevia in addition.
