Home 2022 December

Elite Baseball Development Podcast: The Problem with Averages

I'm flying solo for this week's podcast, as I wanted to tackle what I believe to be among the most important considerations in player development in baseball. Many training approaches over-value "averages" and undervalue outlier qualities - and, in doing so, really interfere with some athletes' development. 

Before we get to the show, though, a special thanks to this episode'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.

 

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 - 20 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.

Podcast Feedback

If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.

And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

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The Best of 2022: Podcasts

2022 marked year 4 of the Elite Baseball Development Podcast. In all, we released 36 episodes in 2022 - and I learned a ton from some great guests. That said, here are our top five episodes from the year:

1. Navigating Youth Baseball Development and College Recruiting with Walter BeedeBaseball dad, coach, author, and consultant Walter Beede joined us for a multifaceted conversation on a wide variety of topics that are essential for baseball families to understand. I’ve known Walter for over 15 years, and in addition to having more passion for baseball than anyone I’ve ever met, he’s also helped a ton of families navigate the travel ball and college recruiting landscapes.

2. College Baseball Strength and Conditioning Considerations with Zach Dechant - Texas Christian University Assistant Athletic Director of Human Performance Zach Dechant oversees baseball development at TCU. In this discussion with guest host John O’Neil, Zach shared insights on long-term development of college athletes, discussed his offseason work with alumni that have moved on to professional baseball, and outlined the key competencies he looks to develop in the coaches he mentors.

3. Principles of Power Development - I flew solo for this podcast, as I took on a whopper of a topic: power development. My goal here was to take a large, seemingly complex topic and break it down into digestible constituent parts.

4. Multifaceted Pitching Development with Matt Hinkley - Matt Hinkley joined the Cressey Sports Performance - FL staff in late 2021 and has done a phenomenal job with our pitching department. In this podcast, we covered a wide range of pitching topics, including:

  • How to connect the dots between pitching mechanics and strength and conditioning
  • How to employ high-speed cameras for pitch design
  • Why it’s so important to plan the yearly competitive calendar
  • When to use subtle adjustments vs. broad overhauls
  • Why he’s more of a “pitching manager” than a “pitching coach”
  • Why the mental side of pitching can never be overlooked

5. Understanding Anterior Shoulder Pain with Dr. David AltchekDr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Special Surgery and New York Mets shared some outstanding clinical insights on the diagnosis and treatment of anterior shoulder pain in overhead throwing athletes.

Finally, while I've got your attention, be sure to check out our foremost sponsor from the past year, 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 – 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.

We're back to the regular EricCressey.com content this upcoming week. Thanks for all your support in 2022! We've got some great stuff planned for 2023.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

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The Best of 2022: Guest Posts

I've already highlighted the top articles I put out at EricCressey.com in 2022, so now it's time for the top guest posts of the year. Here goes…

1. Exercise of the Week: Barbell Drop Split-Squat - Cressey Sports Performance - MA coach Ethan Dyer introduced a single-leg progression that delivers some extra benefits over classic lunges and split squats.

2. 5 Warm-up Options to Improve Hip Extension - The ability to access hip extension while the opposite hip flexes is crucial in sprinting, throwing, hitting, and a myriad of other athletic endeavors. In this article, Cressey Sports Performance - Florida coach Dylan Lidge outlined a few dynamic ways to challenge hip extension in a warm-up.

3. 5 Drills for Dynamic Trunk Deceleration - Cressey Sports Performance - Florida coach Eduardo Valle shared five deceleration drills that are helpful for just about any type of athletes, but especially in the rotational realm we live in on a daily basis.

4. 4 Training Principles to Make the Most of Your Speed Work - There's a heavy bias toward contralateral pressing and rowing in today's strength and community world, and as Ethan Dyer (again!) shared in this article, we need to give ipsilateral options some love.

5. Wall March Variations for the Win - Wall marches are drills that have been used commonly over the years in the strength and conditioning and track and field communities. Unfortunately, many coaches don’t appreciate how much you can build on the basic wall march to teach a number of different movement competencies. In this article,  Dylan Lidge shared some of our favorite variations on this classic drill.

I'll be back soon with more highlights from 2022.

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The Best of 2022: Strength and Conditioning Articles

With 2022 winding down, I'm using this last week of the year to direct you to some of the most popular content of the past 12 months at EricCressey.com, as this "series" has been quite popular over the past few years. Today, we start with the most popular articles of the year; these are the pieces that received the most traffic, according to my hosting statistics.

1. Why We Shouldn't Compare Kids in Sports - One of the more concerning trends I’m seeing on the youth sports scene is the how often the youngest kids are compared to their peers. In this article, I dug in on the problems with this approach:

2. Positions vs. Pressures- About 15 years ago, I attended a two-day course with Dr. William Brady, a well respected chiropractor and manual therapist in the Boston area. During the event, he said, "Biomechanics is a combination of physics and biology. Put another way, it is the study of load applied to human tissue." It was the most succinct and encompassing definition of biomechanics that I'd heard, so I frantically scribbled it down in my notes - and I've had it in the back of my mind to this day each time I've evaluated movement. This article explains why.

3. Why You Can't Feel Your Serratus Anterior Working - I received an inquiry from a follower who asked why it's so hard to "feel" serratus anterior targeted exercises. There's a fair amount to unpack in this regard, so I recorded this video on the topic.

4. Exercise of the Week: Slideboard Lateral Lunge with Eccentric Band Overload - I picked up this exercise from my buddy, Ben Bruno - and it's clearly not only a hit with me, as it got a lot of traffic when I shared it with a baseball-focused audience.

5. Exercise of the Week: Supported Elbow CARs - This was my New Year's Day 2022 post, and it stood the test of time as one of the most popular pieces of content for the year.

I'll be back soon with another "Best of 2022" feature. Up next, the top guest posts of the year!

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CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Jake Fishman

We welcome Oakland A's pitcher Jake Fishman to the latest podcast. Jake's rise to the big leagues is a tremendous example of persistence; his story touches on just how hard it is to make it to "the show," and how players have to be openminded to reinventing themselves and adjusting as the competition level increases. Jake also holds the distinction of being the only former Cressey Sports Performance intern to make it to the Major Leagues. CSP-MA Director of Performance John O’Neil takes the lead as a guest host as well.

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 Jake on Instagram at @SwedishFishman1.

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. It’s a NSF-certified 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 - 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.

Podcast Feedback

If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.

And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

Name
Email
Read more

CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Peter Strzelecki

We welcome Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Peter Strzelecki to this week’s podcast. Peter shares his journey from junior college, to undrafted free agent sign, to the minor leagues and onto a big league roster. He offers insights on overcoming Tommy John surgery, and also key strategies for embracing a unique delivery and pitch mix.

A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Proteus Motion. They're changing the way we assess and train athletes with their 3D Resistance. Head to www.ProteusMotion.com/elite to learn more about this cutting-edge technology. 

 

You can follow Peter on Instagram at @Strick2118.

Sponsor Reminder

Proteus Motion has a patented technology that allows us to measure power for the overwhelming majority of human movements. Proteus software guides users through 4-minute physical assessments to arm trainers with unprecedented performance data and insights, creating an entirely new standard for personalized fitness and physical rehabilitation. All of this is enabled by a total reinvention of resistance training called 3D Resistance. Training power and acceleration with Proteus’ patented 3D Resistance can be safer, more efficient, and more effective than traditional resistance training tools in many cases. I’ve been a big fan of Proteus for the past few years. We have a unit in both Cressey Sports Performance facilities, and actually helped to develop the Cressey Power test for rotational athletes. The information we’ve gathered from this testing has been an absolute game-changer in helping us to more optimally program for our athletes. Additionally, as a training initiative, work on the Proteus has allowed us to train different points on the force-velocity curve in rotational patterns in ways that medicine ball work never could.

You can learn more about them by listening to Episode 106 of the Elite Baseball Development Podcast, or by heading to www.ProteusMotion.com/elite.

Podcast Feedback

If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.

And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

Name
Email
Read more

CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: David Peterson

We welcome New York Mets pitcher David Peterson to this week’s podcast. David trained at Cressey Sports Performance - FL this past offseason and really impressed me as not only a hard worker, but a pitcher who really understands his identity and what makes him successful. He had a breakout year in 2022, but as you'll learn in this podcast, it was actually the culmination of a good long-term strategy and a willingness to be openminded to new ways of attacking his development.

A special thanks to this show's sponsor, Proteus Motion. They're changing the way we assess and train athletes with their 3D Resistance. Head to www.ProteusMotion.com/elite to learn more about this cutting-edge technology. 

 

You can follow David on Instagram at @David_Peterson_3.

Sponsor Reminder

Proteus Motion has a patented technology that allows us to measure power for the overwhelming majority of human movements. Proteus software guides users through 4-minute physical assessments to arm trainers with unprecedented performance data and insights, creating an entirely new standard for personalized fitness and physical rehabilitation. All of this is enabled by a total reinvention of resistance training called 3D Resistance. Training power and acceleration with Proteus’ patented 3D Resistance can be safer, more efficient, and more effective than traditional resistance training tools in many cases. I’ve been a big fan of Proteus for the past few years. We have a unit in both Cressey Sports Performance facilities, and actually helped to develop the Cressey Power test for rotational athletes. The information we’ve gathered from this testing has been an absolute game-changer in helping us to more optimally program for our athletes. Additionally, as a training initiative, work on the Proteus has allowed us to train different points on the force-velocity curve in rotational patterns in ways that medicine ball work never could.

You can learn more about them by listening to Episode 106 of the Elite Baseball Development Podcast, or by heading to www.ProteusMotion.com/elite.

Podcast Feedback

If you like what you hear, we'd be thrilled if you'd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. You can do so HERE.

And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. Just email elitebaseballpodcast@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

Name
Email
Read more
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