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Pitch Grading: a Stuff+/CSP+ Case Study

Today, I've got a quick guest video blog from Cressey Sports Performance - Florida Pitching Coordinator Matt Hinkley. Pitch grading is a hot topic at the high levels of baseball right now, and while it can be super helpful for guiding players to best evaluate their pitching arsenal, it can sometimes lead you down confusing rabbit holes. In this video, Matt provides some context:

If you're looking to learn more about a short- or long-term visit to Cressey Sports Performance - Florida, please reach out to cspflorida@gmail.com. And, be sure to check out the CSP Pro Experience, a summer development opportunity we offer to pitchers who are interested in relocating to Palm Beach Gardens, FL to train with us regularly.

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

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Exercise of the Week: Acumobility Ball on Quadratus Lumborum

I posted five years ago about How to Use the Acumobility Ball for Upper Extremity Health and Performance, so it seems long overdue for me to share one of the ways we're using it a bit further down the chain: on quadratus lumborum (QL). Here's a quick tutorial, courtesy of Cressey Sports Performance - Florida coaches Andrew Lysy and Ian Connors:

As a brief follow-up, take a look at the anatomy of QL, which has attachments on the ilium (pelvis), L1-L4 (spine), and 12th rib:

It can contribute to lateral flexion and extension of the spine, and also is a accessory muscle of inhalation. And it can hike the pelvis. In short, it'll often serve as a "fake" glute that substitutes lumbar extension (low back arching) and hip hiking for motion that should be occurring at the hip. It's a common player in extension based low back pain, and can limit thoracic rotation. QL trigger points can refer all over the place, too; it's not uncommon for it to present as a sciatica pain pattern, or even refer to the anterior hip.

It's a slam dunk when you see one hip that's hiked up on static posture assessment, and we'll follow this self-myofascial release drill up with some hip shifting drills based on what we see on our assessment (particularly with respect to hip rotation and straight leg raise). We'll usually integrate some positional breathing drills that emphasize posterior pelvic tilt as well. All that said, two drills that you probably can't go wrong with on this front are a lean away lateral line stretch (5 full exhales) and prone hip extension iso hold off table.

This one is a "keeper" in our daily warm-up series, so give it a shot and see how you like it. Also, just a friendly reminder that the Acumobility team was kind enough to set up a 10% off discount for my readers; you can get it by entering the coupon code CSP10 at checkout at www.Acumobility.com.


Enter Coupon Code CSP10 for 10% off.

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Spring Styles: 2023 CSP T-Shirt Options

We were overdue for a new CSP T-Shirt debut, so we figured we'd celebrate with a bunch of new colors in our classic home plate design! All shirts are $24.99 plus shipping. Just click on the bolded hyperlinks below to add them to your cart.

Indigo: XXL, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small

White: XXL, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small

Red: XXL, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small

Light Blue: XXL, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small

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CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Scott McGough

We're excited to welcome Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Scott McGough to the latest podcast. Scott starts by speaking to his multi-sport, cold-weather upbringing and how it impacted his longer-term development. He also discusses lessons learned during Tommy John Surgery rehabilitation, pitching in Japan, and refining his pitching and training approach as his career progressed. Scott is one of the absolute best people I know in the game of baseball, and this conversation will help you to appreciate why.

A special thanks to this show's sponsor, AG1 by 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 Scott on Twitter at @Scooter_McGough.

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by AG1 by Athletic Greens. AG1 is your daily foundational nutrition; it has 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s foundational nutrition needs across five critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. It is the new and future way of getting a multivitamin, and a whole lot more. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today – 10 FREE travel packs – with your first purchase. I use AG1 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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Combining Physical Assessment with Motion Capture to Optimize Pitching Cues

Today, I've got a great webinar case study from Cressey Sports Performance - Florida pitching coordinator, Matt Hinkley. In this presentation, Matt discusses how we create synergy across departments by integrating our strength and conditioning evaluation with our markerless motion capture technology from Theia in order to individualize coaching interventions with our pitchers.

If you're looking to learn more about a short- or long-term visit to Cressey Sports Performance - Florida, please reach out to cspflorida@gmail.com.

Also, if you'd like to learn a bit more about Theia, you can check out this podcast I did with its founder, Scott Selbie:

 

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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CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: 10 Nutritional Considerations for High School Athletes with Dan Rosen

For this week's podcast, we have a guest host: Cressey Sports Performance - Florida strength and conditioning coach Dan Rosen. Dan heads the nutrition coaching for our athletes at CSP-FL, and I asked if he'd be up for delivering important nutrition messages for the younger athletes (and their parents and coaches) that follow this podcast. He came through with an excellent summary of the basics - and more importantly, some actionable items relating to them.

Before we get to it, though, 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 Dan on Twitter at @DanFromCSP and Instagram at @drhumanperformance.

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by AG1 by Athletic Greens. AG1 is your daily foundational nutrition; it has 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s foundational nutrition needs across five critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. It is the new and future way of getting a multivitamin, and a whole lot more. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today – 10 FREE travel packs – with your first purchase. I use AG1 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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CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Training for Sport Specificity and Individual Specificity with Mike Irr

We’re excited to welcome Atlanta Hawks head strength and conditioning coach Mike Irr to the latest podcast to discuss some lessons he's learned in the NBA realm that have tons of applicability to baseball populations. Mike speaks to the complexities of the load management discussion, the challenges of onboarding new athletes, and key considerations for writing programs for athletes with respect to both sport and individual specificity.

A special thanks to this show’s sponsor, AG1 by Athletic Greens. Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you’ll receive a free 10-pack of AG1 travel packets with your first order.

 

Sponsor Reminder

This episode is brought to you by AG1 by Athletic Greens. AG1 is your daily foundational nutrition; it has 75 whole-food sourced ingredients designed to support your body’s foundational nutrition needs across five critical areas of health: 1) energy, 2) immunity, 3) gut health, 4) hormonal support, and 5) healthy aging. It is the new and future way of getting a multivitamin, and a whole lot more. Head to www.AthleticGreens.com/cressey and claim my special offer today – 10 FREE travel packs – with your first purchase. I use AG1 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: Optimizing Athlete Physiology with Dr. Andy Galpin

We welcome California State University - Fullerton Professor and Human Performance scientist Dr. Andy Galpin to the latest podcast for an in-depth discussion on physiological assessment of athletes. Andy has worked with athletes from the UFC, MLB, NBA, PGA, NFL, Boxing, Olympics, and Military/Special Forces to develop a comprehensive set of research-backed solutions for those seeking peak performance. We touch on the benefits and drawbacks of technology, and where he sees the health and human performance industry going in the decades ahead.

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 Andy on Twitter at @DrAndyGalpin and on Instagram at @DrAndyGalpin.

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!

Name
Email
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CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast – March 2023 Q&A: Tommy John Training, “Clean” MRIs, and Shoulder Surgery Struggles

It's time for another listener Q&A, so I cover three questions from our audience in this week's podcast on the following topics:

  1. Do you have any tentative guidelines for working with post-op Tommy John patients who are trying to maintain a training effect during their rehab?
  2. What do you think when you hear that a MRI is “clean?”
  3. Why do shoulder surgeries in throwers have such a lower success rate than elbow surgeries?

A special thanks to this show’s sponsor, AG1 (formerly Athletic Greens). Head to http://www.athleticgreens.com/cressey and you’ll receive a free 10-pack of 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!

Name
Email
Read more

CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Using Archetypes to Individualize Baseball Training with Rick Franzblau

We welcome Clemson University Director of Olympic Sports Strength and Conditioning Rick Franzblau to the latest podcast for a detailed conversation on innovative ways to assess, program, and coach in a baseball population. Rick's insights related to infrasternal angle, mechanical vs. fascially driven athletes, and the development of college athletes are all outstanding. This conversation will help you to see individualized development through a new lens, and also appreciate how you might have gotten "accidental" positive results in the past.

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 Rick on Twitter at @FranzblauRick.

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!

Name
Email
Read more
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LEARN HOW TO DEADLIFT
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