If something is going to be controversial and potentially elicit a negative response from my readers, I "sit" on the topic for 24 hours. During that time, I weigh the decision of whether me publicly writing about something is for the better good - meaning that it'll help people in the long-term even if it makes them recognize that they've been goofing up in the short-term.
I did some thinking on that front last night (actually, for the past several nights), and decided to go through with this blog, as I feel like it's something that every single baseball player, parent, and especially coach ought to read. So, if you're in one of those categories - or are just a baseball fan who loves the game - please spread the word on what you're about to read, whether it's with a Facebook "recommend," "Tweet," or just a friendly email with the link to this article.
If you've perused my Baseball Content page much in the past, you'll know that I don't try to hide the fact that throwing a baseball is an incredibly unnatural and flat-out dangerous motion. It's the single-fastest motion in all of sports, and every day, physically unprepared athletes go out and essentially play with fire every single time they try to light up a radar gun - or even just play catch.
Not surprisingly, when you mix physically unprepared bodies with arguably the most dangerous sporting challenge on the planet (the folks in Pamplona, Spain might argue with me, but that's a blog for another day), athletes get hurt. Arm injuries (like all youth sports injuries) are rising exponentially thanks to not "less athletic athletes" taking part in high-risk sports, but also this participation taking place at all-time high rates thanks to the proliferation of little league all-star teams, AAU teams, fall ball, private pitching instruction, and the baseball showcase industry. A fantastic study by Olsen et al. in 2006 (must-read for anyone involved in baseball development) clearly demonstrated strong associations between injuries requiring surgery and pitching "more months per year, games per year, innings per game, pitches per game, pitches per year, and warm-up pitches before a game" as well as showcase appearances during adolescence. The message was very clear: throw too much - especially at a young age - and you're going to wind up hurt.
Unfortunately, though, many people glaze over numbers in studies (if they ever read them), and while they may walk away with the "overuse is bad" message, they don't appreciate what true overuse really is - especially since it's age-dependent. Fortunately, a February 2011 study from Fleisig et al. showed in no uncertain terms that, in ages 9-14, throwing more than 100 innings per year was associated with a 3.5 times higher risk of elbow or shoulder surgery - or retirement altogether.
To put this into context, I'll first ask you: do you realize how challenging it is to throw 100 innings in a little league season? Let’s say you start baseball the first week of April (little league) and even manage to play on a summer team that runs through the end of July. That’s a four month season: exactly what I was accustomed to growing up - at the absolute most.
If you look at the Major League Baseball leaders in innings pitched, those at the top of the list generally throw about 35 innings per month (4-5 starts each). In other words, high-performance, skeletally mature pitchers in the most elite baseball league in the world are on pace for roughly 140 innings pitched over the first four months of the year. However, there are parents and coaches out there that actually think it's okay to send an 11-year old out there for a comparable number of innings? It's especially troublesome when you realize that younger kids always throw more pitches per inning than their older counterparts, as they don't have good command and insist on trying to strike everyone out instead of pitching to contact here and there.
Just think about how hard that is to do. Major League pitchers throw on a five-day rotation, and Little league games are, at most, twice a week. If a kid pitches once a week for four months, even if he throws complete games every time out (not something I'd advise, for the record), he'd still struggle to hit 100 innings (16 starts x 7 inning games =112 innings). Rats! It's actually tough to overuse kids when the season is kept in check.
So, instead, they add seasons. Join an AAU team (or seven of them). Play fall ball so that you can rack up another seven innings every weekend. Be sure to hit up a few college camps on Saturdays and throw as hard as you can so that your Sunday outing in 25-degree weather is extra miserable. Make sure you see your pitching coach for bullpens as soon as fall ball ends. Get your registration in early for that showcase that's taking place the first week in January. Just do some band work and a couple of half-ass stretches and you'll be fine. Riiiight....good thinking.
At risk of sounding arrogant, I'm good at what I do. I've devoted my life to keeping baseball players healthy. They comprise 85% of our clientele at Cressey Performance, and I work with millions of dollars of arms every off-season and see players from ages 9 to 50+. I do my best to surround myself with the smartest people in strength and conditioning, rehabilitation, and skill-specific training in and outside of the game. I managed the first subpectoral biceps tenodesis in major league history. I can talk mechanics with the best pitching coaches around, write strength and conditioning and throwing programs, manually stretch guys, you name it. I've got two fantastic therapists in my office to do massage, ART, Graston, chiropractic adjustments, and a host of other manual therapy approaches - not to mention great physical therapists nearby who can handle all our complex cases. You know the only things I, we, or anybody on this planet can't control?
Poor judgment by athletes and their parents and coaches.
And that - no doubt about it - is the primary reason that kids get hurt. We can do all the strength training, mobility work, and soft tissue treatments in the world and it won't matter if they're overused - because I'm just not smart enough to have figured out how to go back in time and change history. Worried about whether they're throwing curveballs, or if their mechanics are perfect? It won't matter if they've already accumulated too many innings.
While athletes might be playing with fire each time they throw, the pain presentation pattern is different. You burn your hand, and you know instantly. Pitching injuries take time to come about. Maybe you do microscopic damage to your ulnar collateral ligament each time you throw - and then come back and pitch again before it's had time to fully regenerate. Or, maybe you ignore the shoulder internal rotation deficit and scapular dyskinesis you've got and it gets worse and worse for years - until you're finally on the surgeon's table for a labral and/or rotator cuff repair. These issues might be managed conservatively if painful during the teenage years (or go undetected if no pain is present) - but once a kid hits age 18 or 19, it seems to automatically become "socially acceptable" to do an elbow or shoulder surgery.
Of course, this isn't just applicable to coaches in the 9-14 age group. You see "criminal" pitch counts in the high school and collegiate ranks as well, and while they may be more physically mature than the 9-14 year-olds, that doesn't mean that they're exempt from the short- and long-term consequences.
This is why we need the best coaches at the youngest levels. It's also why we need pitching coaches that understand "managing pitchers" as much as - if not more than - teaching pitching mechanics. And, it's why coaches need to understand the big picture in terms of what different kids can do at different ages, at different times in the year.
It's also while parents need to be proactive with their young pitchers. If a coach isn't going to track his innings - and a 9-year-old kid certainly can't be expected to do so - the parent needs to step up and do so. I've met a lot of parents of kids who have been injured at ages 17-21, and most of them look back with a lot of anger toward coaches at younger levels for overusing their sons. Hindsight is always 20/20, but foresight is what saves an arm. Don't be afraid to step up and say something, as you aren't telling a coach how to do his job; you're protecting your kid, just as you would be locking the door at night or making sure he brushes his teeth.
In terms of planning the competitive year, I have no problem with a 9-14 year-old kid playing baseball 4-5 months of the year, as the other 7-8 months per year should be devoted to at least two other sports. It's basically the "rule of thirds" for long-term athletic development: three sports, four months apiece. Kids can strength-train year round.
At ages 15-16, I'm fine with kids changing things up and going to only two sports. Baseball might occupy 7-8 months, but a big chunk of that should be focused on preparation. So, a kid might start playing catch in November, start his high school season in March, and then play summer ball through the end of July. August through November would be devoted to a fall sport and fall ball would be altogether omitted, as it was the only idea worse than making Rocky V. Kids would, of course, strength-train year-round.
At ages 17 and up, it's fine with me if you want to specialize in baseball, but that doesn't mean you should play year-round. I actually advocate kids only throw for 8-9 months of the year (at most) - which is right on par with what most professional players do. The only thing that'd be different is that the season would be shifted up a bit in the year, as the high school season usually starts a few weeks before the professional season. Pro guys get half of October, then all November and December off from throwing. "Specialized" high school players get August, September, and October off (again, because fall ball is as useful as a trap door in a lifeboat). Strength training is year-round.
You'll notice that there isn't a single penny spent on off-season baseball showcases. That wasn't an accidental omission (read here why I don't like them). If you insist on going to one, pick one between June and early August.
I'm convinced that the next big thing in Major League Baseball's "scouting revolution" is meticulously analyzing what players did when they were younger. If they are going to draft kids, they want to know that they haven't been overworked for years prior to entering professional baseball. You're already seeing this taking place in collegiate baseball based more on an assumption: pitchers from the North are getting more and more opportunities to play down South because coaches recruit them (beyond just talent) under the assumption that they've accumulated less wear and tear on their arms.
This piece might have ruffled some feathers. Kids want to play year-round. Parents want to make kids happy - and they enjoy watching them play. You know what else? Kids love chocolate, and parents want to see kids happy - but that doesn't mean that kids should get a limitless amount of chocolate to consume, right? You put away the Easter candy this week to stress moderation and look out for their long-term well-being.
Coaches enjoy coaching and want to win - and they may take a commentary like this personally because they're the ones who sent a 9-year-old out for 120 innings one year - and now he's the one having the elbow surgery. Or, maybe it's the college coach who let a kid throw 160 pitches in a game and killed his draft status because teams know he'll have a shoulder surgery in three years. Admitting you're wrong is hard enough, but admitting you're wrong and learning from that mistake to help future kids is even harder - but all the more rewarding.
This post wasn't intended to make anyone feel bad, but bring to light an issue (throwing volume) that I think is the absolute most important consideration when taking care of arms. We can do everything right in terms of physical preparation, but if you throw too much - especially at vulnerable ages - none of it matters.
Again, if you could help spread the word on this, I'd really appreciate it. And, feel free to comment below; I'm here to help.
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Q: I have followed Tim Collins' story on your website and was very impressed with his quick path to the big leagues. Obviously, preparation has been a huge part of success and that’s where my question lies. Like Tim, I am a relief pitcher and often wonder what pro guys and in Tim's case knowledgeable pro guys, do for a warm-up prior to throwing in the pen to get in the game. I was wondering if maybe you can shed some light on what guys at your facility do as far as a warm-up to throwing. It seems like every time I see a pro guy throw, they get up after not moving for seven innings and just throw and come in the game blowing 96mph without their arm tearing in three different spots. Is there a warm-up routine your guys do before they might come in? I appreciate any info.
A: This is actually one of the more common questions that I receive, and I'm kind of surprised at myself for never covering it in a blog post. There are a few important prerequisite considerations to take into account before I tell you what I encourage our guys to do:
1. Sadly, most guys don't do anything. That doesn't make this right; it just means that they are setting the stage for getting hurt further down the line. Just because you throw with sloppy mechanics or muscular weakness doesn't mean that you'll get hurt the second you pick up a ball; you get hurt from the cumulative effect over time. So, just because a guy can go in and throw hard with a short, insufficient warm-up doesn't mean that he'll be doing that a few years from now.
2. You can't compare professional guys to lower level guys for a lot of reasons. First, professional bullpens usually have powerful heaters in place to keep guys' body temperatures up - which makes it easier to warm up when the time is right. Additionally, most professional pitchers (whether they make use of them or not) have plenty of access to massage therapy and manual stretching from team personnel, so their "resting state" is probably more prepared than most college pitchers I see. High school kids tend to be the most "indestructible" of the bunch, as they haven't accumulated as much wear and tear on their bodies.
That said, regardless of experience and what you have at your fingertips for massage and other amenities, warming up to come out of the bullpen can be pretty stressful for guys. On one hand, you kick out some serious stress hormones, which can get you fired up and ready to go, but on the other hand, it's not good to be excited and ready to roll hormonally and psychologically if you aren't there physically just yet.
With that in mind, I encourage guys to do their normal pre-game warm-ups like everyone else and try to sustain that body temperature and transient mobility increase by dressing warmly and trying to move around in the bullpen as much as possible. Then, as it gets closer and closer to the time that they may need to enter the game (I usually just tell guys to start at the end of the fourth), I have guys start doing 2-3 multi-joint dynamic flexibility drills every half-inning. An example would be a walking spiderman with overhead reach, which is going to take you into hip abduction and extension, thoracic spine extension and rotation, glenohumeral horizontal abduction and external rotation, and elbow extension (among other movements).
By doing a few of these each half-inning, you ensure that your body temperature and mobility never drop off transiently. Plus, you ensure that you don't lose mobility over the course of a long season, as you're working on it even if you don't wind up pitching.
As an interesting little aside to all of this, is a reliever that much different than, say, a center fielder when it comes to needing to stay warm throughout the entire game just in case? He might do his pre-game warm-ups and then spend the next few hours alternating standing around and sitting with bursts of 100% effort with swinging, throwing, and sprinting. Have you ever heard of a center fielder complaining that he can't get loose enough to track down a fly ball, crow hop and throw a laser to the plate, or leg out an infield single? Of course not! And, it's simply because he is more active than relievers even when he isn't actively participating in the game. Every inning, he's playing catch and jogging to and from the outfield on top of making a contribution defensively or at the plate every 20-30 minutes.
So, in summary, do a thorough pre-game warm-up, do more "fidgeting" in the bullpen, and then hit 2-3 multi-joint dynamic flexibility drills (check out The High Performance Handbook for dozens of examples) every half-inning starting in the 4th. Then, go to your specific throwing warm-up and head out to start blowing 96mph...safely.
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This is the fourth installment of a series on in-season strength and conditioning for baseball. In case you missed them, here are links to check out the first three parts of this series:
Today, I'll be talking about what I believe to be the optimal set-up for professional baseball players. This might be a minority in the big picture of all the baseball players on the planet, but pro guys' responses to in-season strength and conditioning programs can really tell us a lot.
Professional baseball players are the ones with the most accumulated wear and tear on their bodies, so effective programming is essential. Likewise, they play daily games - often upwards of 200 per year when you combine spring training, the regular season, and post-season play - so you really need to be able to manage competing demands and fatigue if you want to keep pro guys healthy and performing at a high level.
We'll break things down by position.
Position Players
Position players tend to represent the widest range of preferences. On one hand, you have guys who are completely dragging from having to stand on their feet for hours upon end day-after-day.
On the other hand, I've known guys who literally want to do something every single day - whether it's lifting, med ball, sprinting, or a combination of one or more. Don't believe me? Here's an awesome email I got from a big league middle infielder who trained 5x/week (3-4 lifting sessions and 1-2 movement training sessions):
I want to thank you for all that you've done for me, EC. In this my 18th professional season, I can say, without a doubt, this is the best I've felt during any season. By following your program, I was able to stay strong and explosive the whole season. This is the best I've felt after the season too. I don't have any nagging injuries or soreness and I know this is because I followed your programs. I can't express in words how much you contributed to my success this season.
We're talking about a guy in his late 30s with a lot of years of service time under his belt - and he felt better by doing more. Don't be afraid to make guys work in-season; if you don't, they'll eventually break down.
This, of course, is the rarity; most guys will be best off finding the balance between doing nothing and doing what we did in the above example. I tend to give position players the most wiggle room in terms of time and day of their lifts. They can either do it earlier in the day, or after games. We usually shoot for three full-body lifts per week on non-consecutive days - and never with more than 15 sets in a given day. One of those three lifts is almost exclusively upper body and core work. They get in, do their work, and get out.
Some guys, however, prefer to split things up into two upper-body and two lower-body sessions per week. They are shorter sessions, but are good for ensuring that athletes are going through their foam rolling and mobility drills more frequently.
Catchers
In my high school and college examples, I included catchers with position players' programming needs. However, when you catch 4-5 games a week, things change - and we take that into account with our programming.
First off, we don't squat our catchers in-season. Trust me, they squat enough. We use more deadlift variations and single-leg exercises during the season.
Second, I encourage catchers to lift post-game, if they have the opportunity and energy to do so. Training before a game might be okay for a pitcher or position player, but crushing a lower body lift right before getting in the bottom of a squat for three hours isn't particularly appealing. If you can get in the work the night before, you've got a better chance of being fresh.
Third, I think that 2-3 strength training sessions per week is sufficient - and only two of those days have lower body work in them. It takes far less volume than you can possibly imagine to maintain strength, so a couple sets each of a bilateral and unilateral exercise usually does the trick for catchers in-season.
Also of note, I don't like the idea of guys lifting much on their off-days from catching. If you're only getting 1-2 days off from catching per week, you might as well use them for full recovery. In other words, try to consolidate training stress and earn 24-hour "recovery windows" where you can.
Starting Pitchers
Professional baseball starting pitchers might have the coolest job and schedule in professional sports. It's very predictable - and they should be able to get in a good 12 lifts per month on the following schedule:
Day 0: pitch
Day 1: challenging lower body lift, light upper body work
Day 2: movement training only
Day 3: challenging upper body lift, easier lower body work
Day 4: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only, or off altogether
Day 5: next pitching outing
If they wind up with five days between starts, they can split the day 3 training session up into upper body (Day 3) and lower body (Day 4), then take a day off on Day 5.
Life is tough, huh?
Relief Pitchers
Describing what I do with my relief pitchers is a mouthful, but I'll give it a shot.
Every reliever has three strength training "options" and one movement training day in each program that I send them:
Long Option (Full-Body Strength Training: 15-17 sets)
Movement Training
Short Option 1 (Full-Body, but Lower Emphasis: 8-12 sets)
Short Option 2 (Full-Body, but Upper Emphasis: 8-12 sets)
Here's exactly how I describe it to them:
"If you go over 20 pitches in an outing, perform the regular Day 1 and then Day 2 in the subsequent two days, as you can assume you won't throw for 48 hours. Then, progress to Short Option 1, day off, Short Option 2.
"If you make less than 20 pitches, go right to Short Option 1, then Day 2, then Short Option 2, then day off. This is good for when you think you may be going on back to back days. You can do the Short option lifts earlier in the day even if you think you may be throwing a bit that night; the volume will be so low that you'll still be fresh.
"If you are going to be a long/middle reliever, most of your work will be the Day 1, Day 2, Short Option 1, Day off, Short Option 2, etc. option. Listen to your body and take days off when you need to, but at the very least, make sure you're getting in the gym 2-3 times a week.
"If you're going to be a 'face-one-guy' reliever or a closer, you'll be doing more of the short option work."
Hopefully, that makes sense - because our guys have loved it and I know of a few smart pitching coaches "in the know" who have implemented it in their programs with excellent success.
That wraps up this series on in-season strength and conditioning. It's taken a long time to test-drive these programs and tinker with them to make sure that they work. At the same time, though, no two athletes are the same, so be sure to individualize your recommendations whenever possible.
Please help me spread these articles around via Facebook, Twitter, and emailed links, as we need to get the word out that in-season training is a must for baseball players at all levels!
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Written on January 1, 2009 at 2:34 pm, by Eric Cressey
A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2
By: Eric Cressey
In Part 1 of this article series, I discussed everything that was wrong with distance running for pitchers. In Part 2, I’ll outline my thoughts on how to best integrate conditioning for pitchers between throwing sessions. This article will focus on managing starters, but I suspect you’ll find that managing relievers isn’t entirely different aside from the fact that you’ll need to “roll with the punches” a bit more.
I think the best way to introduce this article is to describe a coincidence from the beginning of the year. On January 5, I received an email from one of my pro pitchers asking me if I could outline some thoughts on my between-start strength and conditioning mentality, as his old college pitching coach had asked for his input from him, as he was a student of the game and had tried some non-traditional ideas. In response to that email, I replied with essentially everything I’ll describe in this article – plus everything I outlined in Part 1 with respect to how bad a choice distance running is.
The coincidence didn’t become apparent until a week or two later when I got my hands on the January installment of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, which featured a study entitled “Noncompatibility of power and endurance training among college baseball players.”
These researchers divided a collegiate pitching staff into two groups of eight over the course of a season, and each group did everything identically – except the running portion of their training programs. Three days per week, the “sprint” group did 10-30 sprints of 15-60m with 10-60s rest between bouts. The endurance group performed moderate-to-high intensity jogging or cycling 3-4 days per week for anywhere from 20-60 minutes.
Over the course of the season, the endurance group’s peak power output dropped by an average of 39.5 watts while the sprinting group increased by an average of 210.6 watts (1). So, basically what I’m saying is that I was right all along – and I’m totally going to brag about it. Part 1 of this series simply justified all of my thoughts; now it’s time to put them into a framework.
Some Prerequisite Q&A
As a response to Part 1, I got an email from a college pitching coach looking for some further details, and here were his questions (bold) and my answers:
Q: Is running 1-2 miles once a week considered distance running?
A: I’d call anything over 150m “distance running” in a pitching population, believe it or not. I haven’t had a baseball player run over 60 yards in two years – and even when they go 60, they’re build-ups, so only about 50% of that distance is at or near top speed.
Q: Is running 10 poles in 30s with one minute of rest considered distance?
A: Let’s say it takes 30s to run a pole, and then you rest a minute (1:2 work: rest ratio). Then, you go out and pitch, where you exert effort for one second and rest 20s (1:20 work:rest ratio). This is the equivalent of a 100m sprinter training like a 1500m runner.
Q: Don’t you need some endurance to pitch a complete 9-inning game?
A: If all endurance was created equal, why didn’t Lance Armstrong win the New York or Boston Marathon? Endurance is very skill specific. Additionally, there is a huge difference between exerting maximal power over 20-25 individual efforts with near complete rest (a sample inning) and exerting submaximal efforts repeatedly with no or minimal rest.
Q: What about guys who are overweight? What should they do?
A: Fat guys should be paperweights, bouncers, sumo wrestlers, or eating contest champions. If they want to be successful players at the D1 level or beyond, they’ll sack up and stop eating crap. Several years ago, I promised myself that I would never, ever try to use extra conditioning to make up for poor diet.
Q: What are your thoughts on interval training?
A: We know that interval training is superior to steady state cardio for fat loss, but the important consideration is that it must be specific to the sport in question.
These responses should set the stage for the following points:
1. The secret is to keep any longer duration stuff low-intensity (under 70% HRR) and everything else at or above 90% of max effort (this includes starts, agilities, and sprints up to 60yds). For more background on this, check out the McCarthy et al. study I outlined in Part 1.
2. Ideally, the low-intensity work would involve significant joint ranges-of-motion (more to come on this below).
3. Don’t forget that pitchers rarely run more than 15 yards in a game situation.
4. Strength training and mobility training far outweigh running on the importance scale.
5. If you need to develop pitching specific stamina, the best way to achieve that end is to simply pitch and build pitch counts progressively. If that needs to be supplemented with something to expedite the process a bit, you can add in some medicine ball medleys – which can also be useful for ironing out side-to-side imbalances, if implemented appropriately. However, a good off-season throwing program and appropriate management of a pitcher early in the season should develop all the pitching specific endurance that is required.
The 5-Day Rotation
In a case of a five-day rotation, here is how we typically structure things. Keep in mind that dynamic flexibility and static stretching are performed every day.
Day 0: pitch
Day 1 (or right after pitching, if possible): challenging lower body lift, push-up variation (light), horizontal pulling (light), cuff work
Day 2: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds)
Day 3: bullpen (usually), single-leg work, challenging upper body lift (less vertical pulling in-season), cuff work
Day 4: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only
Day 5: next pitching outing
Notes:
1. When a guy happens to get five days between starts, we’ll typically split the Day 3 lifting session into two sessions and do some movement training on Day 4 as well.
2. I know a lot of guys (myself included) are advocates of throwing more than once between starts. For simplicity’s sake, I haven’t included those sessions.
3. There are definitely exceptions to this rule. For instance, if a guy is having a hard time recovering, we’ll take Day 2 off altogether and just do our sprint work after the bullpen and before lifting on Day 3. That adds a full day of rest to the rotation in addition to the really light Day 4.
The 7-Day Rotation
With a 7-day rotation, we’ve got a lot more wiggle room to get aggressive with things. This is why in-season can still be a time of tremendous improvements in the college game, especially since you can work in a good 2-3 throwing sessions between starts. Again, dynamic flexibility and static stretching are performed every day. To keep this simple, I’m going to assume we’ve got a Saturday starter.
Saturday: pitch
Sunday: challenging lower body lift, light cuff work
Monday: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds); upper body lift
Tuesday: low-Intensity resistance training (<30% of 1RM) circuits, extended dynamic flexibility circuits
Wednesday: full-body lift
Thursday: movement training only, focused on 10-15yd starts, agility work, and some top speed work (50-60 yds);
Friday: low-intensity dynamic flexibility circuits only
Saturday: pitch again
Of course, traveling logistics can throw a wrench in the plans on this front sometimes, but the good news is that collegiate pitchers have six days to roll with the punches to get back on schedule.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, I am a big fan of quality over quantity. Our guys only sprint twice in most weeks – and certainly not more than three times. This certainly isn’t the only way to approach training between starts, but I’ve found it to be the most effective of what our guys have tried.
References
1. Rhea MR, Oliverson JR, Marshall G, Peterson MD, Kenn JG, Ayllón FN. Noncompatibility of power and endurance training among college baseball players. J Strength Cond Res 2008 Jan;22(1):230-4.
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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!
One Response to “A New Model for Training Between Starts: Part 2”
eugene sedita Says: December 27th, 2010 at 12:49 ameditWow, I’ve got nothing to do with pitching and throwing and still read these articles like a mystery novel, (just couldn’t stop ) Thanks, Eric, very interesting.
This is part 3 of my series on in-season baseball strength and conditioning programs. In case you missed them, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Today, we'll be talking about managing the college baseball player in-season.
There are definitely some similarities between how we manage our college and high school guys (described in Part 2) - particularly with respect to position players/catchers and starting pitchers on 7-day rotations. The main difference, though, is that the college baseball schedule is largely based on the weekend (Fri-Sun games) with some mid-week games worked in (usually Tue or Wed), while the high school schedule is a bit more unpredictable. As a result, the days on which guys tend to lift are probably more set in stone for college baseball players. Let's look at things by position.
Position Players/Catchers
I prefer to have our most challenging lift on Monday (after a weekend series), with another lift scheduled for either Wednesday or Thursday. This enables a coach to give players a full day of rest on either a Tuesday or Friday before a game day, but do so without interfering with the overall training effect. I've also known position players who like to go with a full-body lift on Monday, then a lower body lift and upper body lift back-to-back for Wed-Thu or Thu-Fri. It really depends on the player's preferences and how many innings he's getting on the field.
Pitchers
We manage our college starting pitchers exactly the same as our high school once-a-week starters. There's no need to reinvent the wheel here.
Relief pitchers, though, are where many college baseball strength and conditioning coaches want to pull their hair out. Their schedules are very unpredictable; they might throw Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday - or they might only throw on Saturday and then have six days off. What to do?
I say that when there is chaos, you give people structure - and that's exactly how I manage relievers. I've found that most guys appreciate having at least one part of their routine set-in-stone - and scheduling strength training sessions can be just that. So, assume that every reliever lifts Monday and Thursday - even if he may have to pitch Thursday night (you can just pare back volume in the session) in a random mid-week game. As long as you aren't adding in loads of new exercises, you won't make him sore and interfere with performance. We have relievers in pro baseball who lift all the time on days that they wind up throwing - and many actually report that they feel better on the mound when they've already lifted that day. You'll need to do same-day training to get in their movement training, anyway - and nobody has ever complained about sprinting during warm-ups.
Additionally, if a relief pitcher has a particularly long outing and you know he won't be back to throwing for a few days, treat him just like a starting pitcher and lift within 12 hours after the game; you might find that you can squeeze in an extra strength training session for him during that week.
I'll be back tomorrow with the final installment of this series on in-season baseball strength and conditioning: professional baseball.
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In case you missed Part 1 of this series on In-Season Baseball Strength and Conditioning, you can check it out HERE.
Today, I'll be discussing how to attack in-season training for high school baseball players. I'll divide things up between position players (plus catchers) and pitchers.
Position Players/Catchers
With our position players and catchers, we typically opt for two full-body strength training sessions per week. Some players, however, will opt for shorter, more frequent training sessions. This may be the case for "gym rats" who feel better when they lift more often, or those who simply aren't getting much playing time and really want to continue developing.
These players get enough movement training just from taking ground balls and sprinting during warm-ups and practices, so there usually isn't any need to add extra movement training to their programs.
We also keep medicine ball volume down because they're already doing a lot of high volume rotation with their throwing and hitting. They'll do their foam rolling and mobility work daily, though.
Pitchers
High school pitchers are challenging to train because most are two-way players – meaning that they play a position in the field when they aren’t pitching. As a general rule of thumb, I encourage kids to avoid catching and playing SS/3B if they are going to pitch regularly, as the throwing volume really adds up. If a young athlete pitches fewer than three innings per week, though, we just train him like we would a position player, but try to make sure that at least one of these training sessions comes the day after throwing. I like this approach because it not only "consolidates" stress into a 24-hour block to allow for better recovery, but it also forces a kid to go through his mobility drills, soft tissue work, and manual stretching with us to "normalize" his range of motion after a throwing appearance.
If a pitcher throws more than three innings per week, it’s best to try to pin down one particular day of the week when he is a starter. If he starts on Friday, he’d want to lift Saturday and Monday or Tuesday. Moreover, if he strength trains on Monday, he’ll have the option of getting in another good brief, light session on Wednesday. Like the position players, our pitchers take part in daily foam rolling and mobility work.
Sample Schedule for a Position Player/Catcher with games on MoWeFr
Su: off completely
Mo: Game
Tu: Practice and Strength Training (shorter option)
We: Game
Th: Practice, but no strength training
Fr: Game
Sa: Practice, Strength Training (longer option)
I may deviate from this schedule and do a bit more (added Thursday strength training session) with a younger player who needs to develop (usually have fewer practices/games, anyway) or someone who is not getting all that much playing time.
Sample Schedule for a Pitcher with only one start per week (same as college pitchers on 7-day rotations)
Mo: Pitch
Tu: Strength Training (lower body emphasis, core, and light upper body)
We: Movement Training
Th: Low Volume Medicine Ball Work, Strength training (upper emphasis, plus low volume lower)
Fr: Movement Training
Sa: Very light Strength Training (mostly upper and core work)
Su: off completely
If this pitcher was playing the field on non-pitching days, we’d simply drop the movement training and eliminate either the Thursday or Saturday strength training session.
This obviously doesn’t include the throwing program component, which we find it a bit different for everyone. I will say, though, that most of our guys tend to long toss the furthest on Wed/Thu and throw their bullpen on Fri/Sat. They’d be playing catch on some of the other days, too, of course.
Tomorrow, I’ll be back with my approaches to in-season strength and conditioning for college baseball players.
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Over the past few weeks, I’ve received literally dozens of emails, Facebook posts/messages, Tweets, and phone calls on the topic of in-season strength and conditioning for baseball players. While it was a daunting task to try to organize my thoughts on the subject, I was glad to do so, as all these inquiries mean that people are finally starting to “get it:” in-season strength and conditioning is extremely important!
To that end, over the next four days, I’ll outline my general strength and conditioning approach to dealing with position players and pitchers during the season. Every athlete and every schedule is different, so it might take some tinkering to make this work for you.
First, though, I want to throw out a few quick FYIs, as some of what I “omit” will actually surprise you. In terms of my in-season strength and conditioning beliefs, I’m different from many people in that:
1. I’m not big on lots of band stuff at the field – I discussed my thoughts on rotator cuff exercises frequency and overall scheduling in Clearing Up the Rotator Cuff Controversy. In a nutshell, I tend to stick with 2x/week “conventional” rotator cuff exercises (mostly external rotations) and 2x/week rhythmic stabilization drills. In conjunction with the rest of our overall program – which includes compound upper body strength exercises ( horizontal and vertical pulling exercises, in particular), deceleration catches, core stability drills, lower half strength exercises, soft tissue work, mobility work, etc – we cover all our needs for keeping an arm healthy. Why on earth would I add more rotator cuff exercises to my program when I’m already increasing throwing volume, intensity, and frequency? The cuff is already getting abused – so there is no need to crush it any more with daily tubing circuits unless they are incredibly light and just aimed at improving blood flow.
I firmly believe that many pitchers (and position players alike) overuse their arms during a season simply because they add, add, and add more to their program without fully understanding the outrageous eccentric stress that’s placed on the arm during throwing. And, for those who insist that doing lots of in-season rotator cuff exercises has kept them healthy, I’d argue that this is probably the case because they weren’t that prepared at the end of the off-season.
2. I don’t do much medicine ball work in-season – If you haven’t already watched my video, the Absolute Strength to Absolute Speed Continuum, watch it now:
During the season, players are about as far to the “absolute speed” end of the continuum as they can be, as they’re hitting, throwing, and sprinting. With the overwhelming amount of “accidental” power training taking place, I feel that it’s best to stay at the other end of the spectrum. You can spend more time in the middle during the off-season.
That said, we do utilize a small amount of medicine ball work during the season. Usually, it’s predominantly done in the opposite direction of a player’s swing/throw; in other words, a right-handed hitter would perform left handed medicine ball throws. We might also do a small amount of overhead work just to maintain power within this range of motion (as well as the thoracic spine and shoulder flexion mobility that goes with it).
3. I don’t do any distance running for my guys – There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here, as I already barbequed this sacred cow in A New Model for Training Between Starts. So, this time around, I’ll just be abrasive: coaches who have their baseball players run long distances are either lazy or flat-out stupid (or both).
4. I am a big believer in “less is more” and “quality over quantity” for in-season training – Rarely will an in-season strength training program session last more than 35-40 minutes. It’s usually roughly 10-14 sets worth of work. A guy might be in the gym longer than that for foam rolling and targeted mobility drills, though.
5. Volume and intensity should be lower in week 1, but higher for the remaining weeks with in-season strength training programs – I usually keep the volume and intensity lower in the first week of the program to minimize initial soreness. Then, once the familiarity with the exercises is in place, we can load up a bit more in weeks 2-4 (or 2-6, if you opt to extend the program a bit longer).
6. Strength exercise selection changes a bit in-season, but the basics still apply – We’re still using a lot of compound, multi-joint strength exercises, but there are a few modifications.
In-season, I tend to utilize more horizontal pulling (rows) than vertical pulling (pull-ups/chin-ups). We use a lot of vertical pulling throughout the year, but never really go above once a week during the season, as some guys can get a bit cranky in the elbow with the amount of weight it takes to make them challenging. If you want some of the benefits without the elbow issues, you can always plug in the crossover reverse fly.
This doesn’t mean, however, that I think chin-ups and pull-ups are bad for pitchers. Far too many coaches have (unsuccessfully) tried to beat that dead horse; let it go, fellas.
Especially with pitchers, I utilize more push-up variations than dumbbell bench pressing during the season. If we wind up doing three days of horizontal pushing, two will be push-ups and one will be dumbbell pressing. If we do two days, it’s one of each. If it’s only one, it’s a push-up. We have several different variations (as I wrote here and here) from which to choose, so athletes are actually far less likely to get bored with them than with dumbbell pressing, anyway.
7. Don’t overlook maintaining mobility – It’s called “Strength and Conditioning,” but the truth is that we could probably scrap the conditioning part with respect to baseball and replace it with “mobility.” Guys don’t just get hurt in-season because they lose strength; they get hurt because they lose mobility. All the eccentric stress leads to significant losses in mobility, as does all the standing around leads athletes to miss out on basic functional movement patterns like squatting and lunging. Don’t just be a “weights coach;” there are other things to address! This is probably the primary reason why Assess and Correct has gotten such great reviews among baseball coaches; it's one piece that they were missing!
It took me over a thousand words, but it would appear that I’ve gotten all my prerequisites out of the way. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about in-season training for the high school baseball player.
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I've written quite a bit in the past about how diagnostic imaging (x-rays, MRIs, etc) doesn't always tell the entire story, and that incidental findings are very common. This applies to the lower back, shoulders, and knees (and surely several other joints). The scary thing, though, is that we see these crazy structural abnormalities not just in adults, but in kids, too. Last month, I highlighted research that showed that 64% of 14-15 year-old athletes have structural abnormalities in their knees - even without the presence of symptoms. Just a month later, newer research is showing that the knee isn't the only hinge joint affected; young throwers' elbows are usually a structural mess as well. In an American Journal of Sports Medicine study of 23 uninjured, asymptomatic high school pitchers (average age of 16), researchers found the following:
Three participants (13%) had no abnormalities. Fifteen individuals (65%) had asymmetrical anterior band ulnar collateral ligament thickening, including 4 individuals who also had mild sublime tubercle/anteromedial facet edema. Fourteen participants (61%) had posteromedial subchondral sclerosis of the ulnotrochlear articulation, including 8 (35%) with a posteromedial ulnotrochlear osteophyte, and 4 (17%) with mild posteromedial ulnotrochlear chondromalacia. Ten individuals (43%) had multiple abnormal findings in the throwing elbow.
For me, the 35% with the osteophytes (and chondromalacia) are the biggest concern. Thickening of the ulnar collateral ligament isn't surprising at all, but marked osseous (bone) abnormalities is a big concern.
Also, as a brief, but important aside, this study was done at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota - which isn't exactly the hotbed of baseball activity that you get down in the South. Recent research also shows that players in Southern (warm weather) climates have decreased shoulder internal rotation range of motion and external rotation strength compared to their Northern (cold weather) climate counterparts. In other words, I'll be money that the numbers reported in this study are nothing compared to the young pitchers who are constantly abused year-round in the South.
The next time you think to yourself that all young athletes - especially throwers - can be managed the same, think again. Every body is unique - and that's why I'm so adamant about the importance of assessing young athletes. It's one reason why I filmed the Everything Elbow in-service, which would be a great thing to watch if you're someone who manages pitchers.
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It goes without saying that some of the absolute posterior rotator cuff exercises are cable external rotation variations.
Unfortunately - as you may have inferred from the title of this post - not everyone has access to a cable column or functional trainer where exercises like this can be performed. To that end, I thought I'd devote today's post to a few exercises one can substitute to get a very similar training effect without cable access.
Option 1: Elbow-Supported DB External Rotation
This movement parallels that of the cable option, but all you need is a dumbbell and something to prop your upper arm. The only downside is that the resistance just isn't as "continuous" throughout the range of motion - but it's still a good option.
Options 2 and 3: Horizontal Abduction Variations
While the recruitment patterns aren't going to be exactly the same, it's safe to say that you're getting almost all the same benefits when you do horizontal abduction work as with true external rotation work (and likely a bit extra scapular stabilization benefits). Two variations I like:
Prone Horizontal Abduction off Table
Side-Lying Horizontal Abduction (I like to load this one up more eccentrically and focus on really controlling the load on the way down)
Option 4: Side-Lying External Rotations - arm abducted 30 degrees
This movement might not be the most "specific" of all rotator cuff exercises because of the position in which it occurs, but it does give you the best posterior cuff EMG of just about any drill. We use it a ton, especially in those who may have pain with positions requiring more shoulder elevation.
These drills are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the modifications you can use - and, indeed, what should comprise a comprehensive shoulder health program. However, they should be enough to help you work around the lack of a cable in your resistance training arsenal.
I received a few separate emails this week from folks wondering how I plan our guys' off-season throwing programs to include everything from long toss, to weighted baseballs, to mound work.
Most people expect to be handed a simple throwing program - as one might receive with an interval throwing program following rehabilitation. The truth is that there isn't a single throwing program that I give to all our guys; rather, each is designed with the athlete's unique needs and circumstances taken into consideration.
With that in mind, I thought I'd outline some of the factors we consider when creating a throwing program for our professional baseball pitchers (many of these principles can also be applied to younger throwers):
1. Where they struggle on the mound (poor control, poor velocity, lack of athleticism, etc.)
2. Whether I want them using weighted balls in addition to long toss and bullpens or not
3. How many innings they threw the previous year (the more they throw, the later they start)
4. Whether they are going to big league or minor league spring training (we have minor league guys an additional 2-3 weeks)
5. How much "risk" we're willing to take with their throwing program (we'd be more aggressive with a 40th rounder than a big leaguer or first rounder; here is a detailed write-up on that front)
6. Whether they are a starter or reliever (relievers can start earlier because they've had fewer innings in the previous year)
7. What organization they are in (certain teams expect a LOT when guys show up, whereas others assume guys did very little throwing in the off-season and then hold them back when they arrive in spring training)
8. Whether guys play winter ball, Arizona Fall League, Team USA/Pan-American games, or go to instructionals
9. Whether they are big leaguers (season ends the last week in September, at the earliest) or minor leaguers (ends the first week in September)
10. What each guy tells you about his throwing history and how his arm feels. Any pitcher can always tell you more than you can ever accurately assume - so you just have to be willing to listen to him.
Here are a few general rules of thumb:
1. Most throwing programs from professional organizations don't have their pitchers playing catch until January 1 - and I think this is WAY too late to give pitchers adequate time to develop arm speed and durability in the off-season.
2. Relievers start earlier than starters (we are starting our relief pitchers three weeks ahead of our starters this year, on average).
3. Medicine ball volume comes down and throwing volume goes up.
4. Most of our guys who don't go to instructionals, winter ball, the fall league, or Team USA start in November. Starters are generally right around Thanksgiving among minor leaguers, with some relievers a bit earlier. Big league guys don't start throwing until mid- to late-December or even January 1.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, but hopefully it gives you some insight into some of what goes through my mind as we work to increase throwing velocity and arm health.
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Q: I just saw your post about Strasberg and pitching injuries. This may be hopelessly naive, but - do "submarine" throwers face the same perils? I'm old enough to remember Kent Telkulve, so it made me think. It seems as though I see a fair number of throws from SS and 3B positions that appear somewhat submarine-like in motion, so the technique wouldn't be completely unknown. Thoughts?
A: In short, the answer would be "yes," they do face the same perils.
If you actually slow things down and example joint angles, you'll see that the shoulder and elbow positioning most of these guys get to is very similar to what you see in more overhand throwers. The difference is in how much lateral trunk tilt they have; the more trunk tilt, the lower the release point.
The primary difference you'll see is that sidearm/submarine throwers will typically break down at the elbow a lot more than the shoulder. Aguinaldo and Chambers found that sidearm throwers had significantly higher elbow valgus torques than overhand throwers. It's not surprising, given that they do tend to lead with the elbow a bit more.
Position players who throw more sidearm can largely get away with it because a) they don't have anywhere near the volume of throwing in a single outing or a season that pitchers do, and b) they aren't throwing off a mound. We know that just stepping up onto the elevated mound dramatically increases arm stress.
So, what are the practical applications of knowing the demands are, for the most part, very similar?
First, spend a considerable amount more time focusing on core stability and working to iron out excessive right-left asymmetries that arise secondary to all the lateral trunk tilt. In other words, worry as much about the spine as you do about the arm.
Second, I'd put an even greater emphasis on soft tissue work at the medial elbow - particularly on the common flexor tendon (the muscles that join to create this tendon protect the ulnar collateral ligament from excessive valgus stress).
Third, as is usually the case, use these guys as relievers to keep their throwing volume lower while still maximizing their utility.
Other than that, manage them as if you would any other pitcher - which should always be a tremendously individualized process, anyway!
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December 27th, 2010 at 12:49 am editWow, I’ve got nothing to do with pitching and throwing and still read these articles like a mystery novel, (just couldn’t stop ) Thanks, Eric, very interesting.