1. I haven’t done a “Random Friday Thoughts” blog in a while, so in the spirit of randomness, I thought I’d throw you a curveball and kick off the week with some Tuesday random thoughts.

2. Last week, I booked two plane tickets to Halifax, Nova Scotia for my fiancee and I.  She’s a bridesmaid in a wedding up there in a few weeks, so I’ll be making the trip as well.  As part of being what amounts to a “third wheel” for the weekend (the only people I know other than Anna in the entire wedding are the bride and groom), I’ll have quite a bit of downtime while in the area.  Any readers out there have any suggestions for what to do in Halifax?  It’s not hockey season, and I don’t drink Molson, so I’m at a bit of a loss…

Also, just out of curiosity, when did one have to sell off all his/her internal organs in order to afford a flight to Halifax?  Roundtrip airfare was over $1,500, and Air Canada followed up with an email that said, “We also mandate that you name your first child after us.”

3. I wrote a guest blog for Men’s Health last week; check it out: A Quick Fix for Stiff Shoulders.

4. Also on the writing note, I’ve written a few guest chapters lately.  The first was a strength and conditioning chapter for an upcoming pitching book for young baseball players and their parents.  The second (which is still a work in progress) is a chapter for a new IYCA project.  So far, it’s coming along really well – and I’m really honored to be on-board for this with a group of really talented guys who are trying to do something very special.

5. Tonight (Tuesday), Boston Red Sox Head Athletic Trainer (and Optimal Shoulder Performance co-creator) Mike Reinold is hosting a free webinar: “What’s New for 2010.”  Click here for more information.

6. Speaking of Mike, he had a great post last week about Epicondylitis and Cervical Radiculopathy.  It’s a great adjunct to my “Understanding Elbow Pain” series from back in May.  If you missed it, here’s a link to the sixth (final) installment (and you can link back to the previous five).

7. I realized the other day that there is one big thing I’ve always considered in our training programs for pitchers, but failed to mention on this blog: they need both open- and closed-chain hip mobility, as the right and left hips must rotate independently of one another during the stride to the plate. Here’s a good example:

You can see that Beckett is just short of stride foot contact here – which means that he’s at just about maximal hip external rotation on the lead leg…in open chain motion.  The femur is rotating on the acetabulum.

Meanwhile, he’s riding out his trailing leg…in closed chain motion.  The acetabulum is rotating on the femur.

As such, adequate mobility training for pitchers should include a combination of both open- and closed-chain drills, although I’d say that the majority should be closed-chain.

8. Today’s Mike Robertson’s birthday; head over to RobertsonTrainingSystems.com and show him a little love.

Please enter your email below to sign up for our FREE newsletter.