Back in the summer of 2013, a good friend of mine attended the a well-known national showcase with one of his athletes. It was an invitation-only event for the best rising senior baseball players in the country. At the end of the event, he texted me to comment on just how crazy it was that it seemed like dozens of kids were hitting 95mph on the radar gun at this event. And, sure enough, in the post-event write-up, they commented on how over 100 kids topped the 90mph mark.
That is a huge deal.
You see, if you backtracked just 10 years from that time, 90mph was a huge feather in your cap - and it essentially meant that you'd be getting drafted out of high school. Now, on a regular basis, we have dozens of kids nationwide consistently throwing 95mph+ even when there were only 35 major league pitchers in 2011 whose average fastball velocity was higher than 95mph! As I've mentioned before, average fastball velocity is higher in Low-A than it is in the big leagues.
The question, then, becomes, "Where are all these power arms coming from - particularly at the younger levels?" That's a question I'll answer today.
1. More specialization.
It goes without saying that early sports specialization across all sports is, unfortunately, at an all-time high.
However, baseball is particularly interesting because there is an extremely high likelihood of arm injury along the way. In fact, according to a 2008 study from Oullette et al., 57% of pitchers suffer some form of shoulder injury over the course of a season. And, that doesn't even take into account elbow, neck, core, and lower extremity injuries/conditions. It goes without saying that just about every player will have an issue or two (or 30) pop up over his four years of high school - and it's one reason why we don't see any more "clean" MRIs during post-draft physicals for high round picks. They're all damaged; it's just that some are worse than others, and we need to figure out which of the chips in the paint and rust on the hubcabs are clinically significant.
When kids specialize in one sport at an early age and try to play it year-round, it's like betting your life savings on the roulette wheel - except your chances of winning are even smaller. And, even if it works out and the kid manages to be the next star, you dodged a bullet - and he very well may just be waiting for problems down the road, as a lot of the early specialization kids actually have very "old arms" even if they aren't symptomatic.
Not surprisingly, the rise in specialization (as evidenced by the growth in popularity of fall ball teams, showcases, and opportunities to play for multiple teams during the "normal" baseball season) has paralleled the rise in velocity and injuries. Can long-term baseball development be successful without specialization? In my opinion, absolutely - but you have to tie up all the loose ends, and that's what my next few points will all be about.
2. Video analysis
If you want your velocity to increase immediately, there is no quicker avenue to doing so than reviewing pitching mechanics on video. Dating all the way back to 2008, our first CSP pitching coordinator, Matt Blake, used the RightView Pro set-up extensively at Cressey Sports Performance for this very reason. Many pitchers are visual learners, so this approach to coaching helps them to learn what needs to be corrected much more efficiently - and it's also of benefit to the pitching coach, as many movements in the pitching delivery occur so quickly that they really can't be spotted by the naked eye.
Surprisingly, there are still a ton of college and minor league teams who don't have video available to their players. Access to video can be a huge game-changer, and it's one reason that a lot of high school kids are throwing harder and harder.
3. Competition
Ask any coach what one of the best ways to motivate male athletes is, and he'll tell you competition. Most teenage guys thrive on trying to beat their buddies, opponents, or records that are in place. Nowadays, there are more opportunities to compete (and less preparation), and any player in the country can hop online and see how his velocity compared to other guys' at the last showcase. Although commonly overlooked, these competitive opportunities are big motivating factors to players.
4. Strength Training
I often tell athletes that "If you don't run fast, you won't pull your hamstrings." In other words, strength training can be a player's biggest asset, but also his greatest downfall if he doesn't approach it correctly. You see, if strength training isn't approached correctly, it can do a world of harm - both acutely and chronically. Obviously, the likelihood of getting hurt increases if you move with poor technique under external loading. However, taking it a step further, strength training "solidifies" movement patterns. This can be great in a rehabilitation context if you free up some new mobility and then want to create stability within that range of motion (or just maintain what you've got). However, if you lift like a moron, you'll mostly just teach yourself to be better at moving like crap - and that's when chronic injuries kick in.
Unfortunately, casual observers to exercise physiology don't get that there is a huge difference between appropriate and inappropriate strength training for baseball players. And, this is why there are quite a few "old school" folks in the baseball world who attribute some of the high injury rates these days to lifting. What they should be attributing the injury to (in part) is inappropriate strength training exercise selection, volume, and technique. After all, there are just as many guys get hurt late in the season because they cut out lifting and lose strength!
Simply stated, strength training is helping guys throw harder; there's no doubt about it. It's how that strength training is programmed and what's done to complement it that determines if the increased velocity will lead to an injury. Nothing happens in isolation.
5. More aggressive throwing programs
A decade ago, throwing programs were far from what they are today. Nowadays, up-and-coming throwers are using weighted baseballs and long toss more than ever before. No two pitchers are alike in how they respond to these modalities, but having them as tools at our disposal has certainly helped us to increase pitching velocity with countless throwers.
6. Less distance running
One of our minor league pitchers stopped in to check in with me over his all-star break a few weeks ago, and he came bearing great news. He'd hit 98mph on the radar gun four times in a single inning a few nights earlier - after never having been above 94mph before this season.
Sure, we did a lot of things differently with his programming this off-season, from strength training, to throwing programs, to mobility and soft tissue work. However, the single biggest change he made (in my eyes, at least) was that he started sprinting between outings instead of distance running. I have seen this time and time again, and I'm happy to report that more and more coaches at all levels are starting to pick up on it, too.
Everybody ran long distances back in previous decades. Yet, we throw harder nowadays. And, everybody seems to run long distances in baseball in east Asia. Pitchers throw harder in the U.S. Sure, there are a lot more factors that contribute to pitching success than velocity alone, but these observations are impossible to ignore.
7. More objective ways to quantify velocity
Have you ever wondered if pitching velocity has increased simply because technology has improved, and we therefore have more accessible means of measuring it? The price of radar guns isn't as high. Every stadium has a radar gun. They make pocket radar guns, and we've evolved from just pitch velocity to a collection of other pitch tracking metrics via initiatives like Trackman, Rapsodo, and Hawkeye.
Basic accessibility to this technology has likely contributed to kids pushing the envelope of what they would otherwise think they were able to do.
8. More peaks, fewer valleys
Remember when Justin Verlander hit 101mph on the radar gun in the 9th inning of his no-hitter in 2011? You could call that a "peak" velocity moment. In short, it's a lot easier when the stakes are higher, people are watching you, and the adrenaline is pumping. Major League pitchers don't have as many of these because their professional seasons are a long grind: possibly 200 games in 230 days, if you include spring training and playoffs.
Younger pitchers, however, are more "excitable." With shorter seasons, there are more "big games." With showcases and tournaments each weekend, the stakes are higher. Heck, they get excited if a girlfriend comes to watch them pitch. In the lifting world, we call it the difference between a training max and a competition max. A competition max may be as much as 10% higher because a lifter is deloaded from training stress and put into a higher pressure competitive situation. In young pitchers, everything seems to be a competition max. It's great for demonstrating big velocity numbers, but may interfere with long-term health and development.
Wrap-up
Clearly, there are a ton of factors that have contributed to guys throwing harder at younger ages in today's baseball world. They don't all apply to each thrower, as different athletes will generate velocity in different ways. While this increase in average velocity has definitely made pitchers more dominant, it has, unfortunately, been accompanied by a greater frequency of injuries. Understanding the factors that contribute to these velocity increases is the first step in determining how to keep kids performing at a high level while minimizing their risk of injury.
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It's been a while since I updated the free bonus I give to all my baseball-specific newsletter subscribers when they sign up for this free mailing list, so I figure now is as good a time as ever. With that in mind, by entering your name and email in the opt-in below, you'll be emailed access information so that you can watch my 47-minute seminar presentation, Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes. I've given this presentation to more than 10,000 coaches, players, sports medicine professionals in the past 18 months, and it's been a big hit.
In this free presentation, you'll observe a lot of our Cressey Performance athletes training and learn:
Why different athletes need different approaches to power development
Why it’s essential that you learn to train outside the sagittal plane
Which medicine ball and plyometric variations I use with baseball players
Why not all throwers have identical deceleration patterns or training needs
How your arm care programs can be improved to reduce the risk of injury and improve throwing velocity
Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your continued support - and please don't hesitate to share this page to those who you think might be interested in and benefit from the information I present.
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Late Saturday afternoon, the 2013 MLB Draft wrapped up, with a record 15 Cressey Sports Performance athletes having been taken over the three days. It's always a great time of year, as being drafted is a dream come true for just about anyone who has ever picked up a baseball. While I'm proud of all 15 guys, there was one guy in particular whose story is particularly valuable for up-and-coming baseball players to read. Kevin Brown was drafted in the 22nd round by the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, and you can learn a lot from him - but need to hear his story first.
This was the first time I ever saw Kevin play baseball.
No, Kevin wasn't among those celebrating. He was the unfortunate sophomore who struck out looking while down a run in the ninth inning with men on base to end the Massachusetts Division 1 State Championship game. I was there to see a bunch of other guys I trained from the other team, including the pitcher, who was the Massachusetts State Player of the Year in 2007. They celebrated right in front of him.
Two weeks later, Kevin started training at Cressey Sports Performance - right alongside most of the guys from the winning team. It was somewhat of an awkward moment, to say the least (particularly when Kevin recognized the other team's catcher in the middle of a set of push-ups). Our entire staff quickly realized that this kid meant business, though. Whether it was the way he was "wired" or just that he was extra motivated from the tough loss and the way that it ended, Kevin quickly became a "facility favorite" for his outstanding work ethic. He was a kid who would always show up on time with a smile on his face, and then he'd flip a switch and get after it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that even as a 16 year-old, Kevin would have run through a wall for me if I'd asked him to do so.
The next year, as a junior, he led the state in home runs. Still, he didn't get many looks on the college recruiting front. Even some of the bigger name schools in New England alone said that they didn't think he was good enough to play for them. Fortunately, Bryant University - which had just made the move up to Division 1 from the D2 ranks - saw something in him and offered him a scholarship. A few weeks after he accepted it, he went to play down South for the first time. In a fall ball tournament, he went 8-14 against some of the best high school prospects in the country at the World Wood Bat event in Jupiter, FL. Quite a few college coaches came out of the woodwork to ask, "Who is this kid?" Uh, he was the kid you either ignored or overlooked.
At Bryant, Kevin went on to be named Northeast Conference Freshman of the year, and was one of only 15 freshman All-Americans in the country. He started all 56 games and hit .355. He was one of the better hitters in the New England Collegiate Baseball League the following summer, and eventually went on to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League. This year, Kevin hit .367 with a .498 on-base percentage. In the process, he set a bunch of hitting records at Bryant, and this year, he reached base safely in 16-straight at-bats, falling just two short of the NCAA record. The team advanced to their first ever NCAA Regional and won a game in the process. In addition to being named Bryant's Male Athlete of the Year, "Brownie" was awarded the Omar Shareef Spirit Award, which is voted on by student-athletes themselves. In short, Kevin was tremendously successful - and he did it the right way, earning the respect of coaches and teammates/peers.
I also should note that in a game this year against a college that refused to recruit him, Kevin went 3-3 with a 3B, HR, 2BB, 4RBI, a SB, and 2 runs scored. I guess they didn't see what we did.
As an interesting aside, we had another player, Carl Anderson, commit to play baseball at Bryant two years after Kevin did. When he left for school, I told Carl to just follow Brownie around and do everything he did. They trained together at CSP and in the cages all winter. Carl went on to hit .341 with a .405 OBP and stole 20 bases this year. I guess he picked a good training partner.
If you walked in to Cressey Sports Performance, you'd never find a person who could say a bad thing about Kevin. They'd rave about his work ethic and unconditionally positive and polite demeanor. And, they'd tell you that Kevin was a "do-er" and not a "talker."
I see far too many kids that worry about what others think of them. They'll post on Twitter about how they're in "beast mode." And, they'll make sure that all their baseball "eyewash" - flat brims, upside-down sunglasses, silly bracelets, necklaces, and arm sleeves - are all in place before they walk in to the gym...only to take them off to train. And, they'll check their cell phone for text messages between sets. Then, they'll complain when people don't recognize their "talent." It's like they expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter. They'll insist that they have to attend a big-name Division 1 school when they really ought to be picking a school where they can actually play and develop. They'd rather "talk" than "do."
Meanwhile, there is a very small minority of players out there who are busting their butts, appreciating that they need to work to earn what comes their way. They're the Kevin Browns of the world who have experienced failures, been overlooked, and flown under the radar. They don't want to draw attention to themselves because they are too modest and, frankly, they don't want any distractions. It's a lot easier to run through the wall if there isn't anything in the way. They absolutely love the game, so the hours of training feel a lot more like "fun" than "work," as they enjoy the process as much as they covet the destination. In fact, just listen to what Kevin's Dad had to say at the 5:23 mark of our Elite Baseball Development video.
They're guys like Steve Cishek and Tim Collins, who've made it to the big leagues and played for Team USA when nobody even thought they could play D1 college baseball.
And, guys like this are why you can be sure that I just became a little more of a Chicago Cubs fan - and you probably ought to be a little more of one, too. And, it's why you should think long and hard about whether you're more of a "talker" or a "doer." You might just realize that you aren't working quite as hard as you could be.
Congratulations, Kevin, and bust of luck...not that you need it.
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The summer baseball travel season is almost in full swing, and that means more and more of our athletes will start 1-2 week trips to play all over the country. This is a really important experience for the majority of players, as it's when they get in front of the most college coaches for the sake of recruiting, and they often head south to face more talented opponents. There are more college camps taking place, as well as tryouts for the East Coast Pro and Area Code teams. In short, summer ball is important, and you don't want to screw up in how you approach it, as doing so can mean that you'll miss out on both skill development and opportunities to get "seen" by a coach who'll have you playing at the next level.
Unfortunately, though, this is also a time of year when a lot of things change for young baseball players. Instead of five minute drive to school for practice and games, they're hopping on 15-hour bus rides to get to a weekend tournament. Instead sleeping in their own beds and eating Mom's home cooking, they're staying in hotels and stopping for fast food. Instead of having a predictable weekly schedule of MoWeFr games, they might play five in three days. Instead of enjoying moderate Northeast spring weather of 50 degrees in the morning and evening and 75 degrees in the afternoon, they get East Cobb in July, when it's 95 degree weather with 95% humidity. In short, they get a taste of what minor league baseball will be like if they make it that far in their careers!
The end result, unfortunately, is that many players wind up coasting into July and August on fumes because they've lost weight, strength, throwing velocity, bat speed, ninja skills, and overall manliness. They expected their biggest challenge to be "simply" pitching against a 5-tool hitter or hitting a 95mph fastball, but instead, they get absolutely dominated by the lifestyle off the field.
Guys who don't handle the summer season well are the ones who stumble back in to Cressey Performance at the end of August, making their first appearance since February. And, in spite of the great off-season of training they put in before the high school season began, they usually look like they've never trained before, and they're often asking me to help them bounce back from some injury. Sound familiar? If so, read on.
Below, I've listed seven tips for avoiding this common summer baseball deterioriation. You'll notice that many of them are completely to do with maintaining body weight; as I've written before, weight loss is a big reason why performance drops in baseball players both acutely (dehydration) and chronically (loss of muscle mass). Also worthy of note is the fact that the majority of these tips could also apply to professional baseball. Anyway, let's get to it.
1. Make breakfast big.
When traveling, breakfast is the only meal over which you have complete control. You can wake up earlier to make sure that you have a big and complete one, or you can sleep in and grab a stale bagel on the way out the door. When I travel to give seminars, I intentionally pick hotels that have all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets and I absolutely crush them. Basically, I'll eat omelets (with veggies), scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit until I'm so full that I contemplate renting a fork lift to get me back to my room.
This is because things always get hectic at mid-day. Seminar attendees want to ask questions, get assessed, or just "pick my brain" during the lunch hour. So, if I get something, it's usually quick and not really that big. Does this sound similar to how you eat prior to games? You don't want to eat too much, but know you've got to have something or else you'll be dragging by the 7th inning.
If I've packed away a big breakfast, I can power through the day pretty well regardless of what lunch looks like. Traveling baseball players with day games can do the exact same thing.
As an interesting aside to this, I'm always amazed at how many young baseball players talk about how nobody outworks them, and how they're always in "beast mode." Yet, across the board, very few players will be "beastly" enough to wake up a few minutes earlier to eat a quality breakfast, always complaining that they don't like to get up early, or that they aren't hungry at that time of day. Well, just because your stomach doesn't like food at that time of day doesn't mean that it won't benefit from having it. You think your shoulder and elbow like throwing a baseball? Nope...but they do it.
[bctt tweet="Working hard isn't just about the hitting cage or weight room; it's also about the kitchen."]
I'll get off my soap box now.
2. Appreciate convenient calories.
Remember that in the quest to keep your weight up, your body doesn't really care if you're sitting down for an "official" meal. Rather, you might be better off grazing all day. Mixed nuts, shakes, bars, and fruit will be your best friends when it comes to convenience foods out on the field - or on a long bus ride when you have no idea when you'll be stopping for food.
3. Make the most of hotel gyms.
Let's face it: most hotel gyms are woefully under-equipped. You've usually got dumbbells up to 40 pounds and a treadmill, if you're lucky. That should be plenty, though, as you're not trying to make a ton of progress in these training sessions; you're just trying to create a training stimulus to maintain what you already have. Here's an easy example of a hotel gym workout you can use in a pinch:
A1) DB Bulgarian Split Squat from Deficit: 3x8/side
A2) Prone 1-arm Trap Raise: 3x8/side (can do this bent-over if no table is available, or do it off the edge of your hotel room bed)
B1) 1-leg DB RDL: 3x8/side
B2) 1-arm KB (or DB) Turkish Get-up: 3x3/side
C1) Yoga Push-up: 3x10
C1) 1-arm DB Row: 3x10/side
D1) Prone Bridge Arm March: 3x8/side
D2) Standing External Rotation to Wall: 3x5 (five second hold on each rep)
Another option, obviously, is to try to find a gym near your hotel while you're on the road. That can obviously be tough if you don't have a car handy, though, so it's always good to have these "back-up" minimalist equipment options at your fingertips. And, of course, you can always rock body weight only exercises.
4. Have portable training equipment.
You aren't allowed to complain about the lack of equipment in the typical hotel gym if you haven't put any thought into what training implements you can bring on the road with you. Things like bands, a foam roller, a TRX, and a number of other implements can make your life easier. I've brought my TRX on numerous vacations with me and it always proves useful. The scenery usually isn't bad, either.
5. Pack quality training into short bursts.
If you know you're going to be on the road for week-long trips here and there throughout the summer, it's important to get your quality training in when you're at home in your "consistent" environment. Think of it as managing a bank account. You make deposits when you're at home with good equipment and quality nutrition, and you're taking withdrawals when you're on the road and the circumstances are less than stellar.
6. Bring noise-canceling headphones.
There's nothing better than when you're dreading a long flight or bus/train ride, and then you fall asleep the second the trip begins, and you wake up to find out that you're at your destination. That's awesome.
What's not awesome is that every single team in the history of baseball has at least one schmuck who likes to blare music, yell, and dance around at 6AM when everyone else is trying to sleep. Dropping him off and leaving him for dead in the middle of nowhere isn't an option, so you're better off rocking some noise-canceling headphones.
7. Bring a neck pillow.
Falling asleep on a plane or bus and then waking up with a stiff neck is no fun. Doing so and then having to go out and throw 90 pitches the next day will be absolutely miserable. And, this cool article about research at Vanderbilt University on the negative effects of fatigue on strike zone management over the course of a baseball season should get hitters' attention, too! A neck pillow will cost you less than $20. It's an absolute no brainer. Besides, you probably spent double that amount on the 15 silly Power Balance bracelets you own.*
8. Hydrate!
You know the old saying about how if you sense thirst, you're already dehydrated? It's especially true when you're out on the field at 1PM in the middle of July in Florida. So, drink plenty of fluids throughout the day. We know that dehydration reduces strength and power - so you can bet that fastball velocity and bat speed will dip - but did you know that it also negatively affects cognitive performance? In a 2012 review in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Adan wrote,
[bctt tweet="Even 2% dehydration impairs performance in tasks requiring attention, psychomotor and memory skills."]
So, if you're a guy who is always missing signs, ignoring your cutoff man, or forgetting how many outs there are, it might be wise to evaluate your hydration status.
Wrap-up
These are just eight tips to guide you as you approach this important summer season, and there are surely many more strategies athletes have employed to make it as productive a time of year as it should be. That said, I'd encourage you to monitor your body weight on a regular basis to make sure that it's not dropping. If it is, it's time to get in more calories, hydrate better, and hit the gym. Good luck!
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Today, my good friend Joey Wolfe has a great guest post on the topic of training baseball catchers. Joey's a really bright guy with a lot of experience on this front; I think you'll enjoy this. - EC
One of the biggest challenges for young players is being able to make adjustments to their swing, throwing mechanics, running mechanics, etc. Sometimes mental barriers get in the way of making the adjustment, yet often times it is a physical limitation; more specifically a mobility, stability or sequencing issue. As a coach it can be very frustrating trying to get a player to make an adjustment to their mechanics that their body is simply unable to make. A good coach will try to figure out another way to communicate the adjustment to the player. A great coach will figure out where the problem lies. This is where the strength & conditioning coaches come in. Although most of us may not know what it means to beat the ball to the spot, all of us should have a good understanding of how to improve the mobility of our athletes. It is this skill set that will directly affect the performance of our athletes.
The main responsibility of any catcher is to catch the ball. If a catcher cannot consistently catch the ball he will quickly find himself playing in the outfield. A catcher has many responsibilities; handling the pitching staff, calling pitches, receiving, blocking, throwing; the list goes on. In order for a catcher to be successful they must first and foremost be comfortable. Without the proper mobility the catching duties can quickly go from hard to impossible. Here are the three areas that stand out as the limiting factors in regards to mobility for catchers.
1. Limited ankle mobility: It is imperative that a catcher has mobile ankles. Having mobile ankles allows the catcher to comfortably get in a squatting position. With nobody on base (primary stance) a catcher is generally going to sit into a deep, comfortable squat with the ankles slightly everted. Stiff ankles have a tendency to put more stress on the hips. Also, without ankle mobility a catcher’s ankle sway will be limited. Ankle swaying is extremely important for catchers, especially at the lower levels because pitchers tend to lack command of their pitches. Ankle swaying allows the catcher to get their nose and body in front of the ball without moving the receiving arm too much. When there is a lot of movement with the receiving arm the pitch doesn’t look as good from the umpire’s vantage point. Finally, if an ankle is locked up it will limit the catcher’s ability to get in the proper throwing position to deliver the ball to second base. Although the movement may start at the hip, the ankle needs to have the appropriate amount of mobility to allow the ankle to externally rotate so the back foot can get in the correct position. Here are some of our favorite ankle mobility exercises.
Multiplanar Wall Ankle Mobilizations (previously described by EC here)
Ankle Inversion with Band
Sit with the band attached to your inside foot with a pad under calf so heel is off the ground. Use only your ankle, pull toes to stretch the band shin and return to the starting position for prescribed number of repetitions. Do not allow any movement throughout your leg or hip during the exercise. There should be less motion moving your foot out than in. This exercise will work the muscles in your lower leg and challenge the coordination in your ankle.
Ankle Eversion with Band
Sit perpendicular to a band that is attached to the outside of your foot. Place a pad under your calf so the heel is off the ground. Move your ankle away, stretching the band for the prescribed number of repetitions. Do not allow any movement throughout your leg or hip during exercise. There will be less motion moving your foot out than in. Working the muscles in your low leg and challenging the coordination in your ankle.
2. Poor thoracic mobility: It has been pretty well documented that limited shoulder mobility and/or thoracic extension will impede one's ability to get into the correct squatting position. Well imagine trying to catch an Aroldis Chapman fastball or a Tim Collins curveball if you can’t get down in a comfortable squatting position; not fun! Remember, the key to being a successful catcher is being comfortable. The absence of thoracic mobility is highlighted when a catcher has to get down into their secondary stance (two strikes on the batter and/or a runner on base). What you’ll find is a rounded upper back and shoulders that roll forward. This creates three problems.
First, it makes for a smaller target for the pitcher. Pitchers want a big target to throw to, not a small one. Therefore, generally speaking, it is the catcher’s job to make himself look as big as possible.
Second, it limits the catcher’s ability to receive the ball comfortably from the pitcher. Often times the catcher will feel “locked up” when they are unable to move freely through their t-spine. A low and away curveball from a right-handed pitcher will give them fits and you can forget about a good right-handed two-seam fastball or filthy left-handed slider. Basically any pitches that require the catcher to go get the ball will create challenges for a catcher that is tight in their t-spine.
Third, when a mobility issue is present the lengthened muscles will serve to dissipate the force transfer from the ground and lead to slower feet. This will make it near impossible to do anything quickly. Whether it is going down to block a ball, throw a runner out or back up first base, being tight up top will effect what is going on down below. Here are a few great exercises to help improve mobility in the t-spine.
Thoracic Spine Mobility - Double Tennis Ball
Tape two tennis balls together to for a "peanut" shape. Lie on your back with the balls under your spine just above your lower back and your hands behind your head. Perform 5 crunches. Then raise your arms over your chest and alternately reach over your head for 5 repetitions with each arm. Move the balls up your spine 1 to 2 inches and repeat the crunches and arm reaches. Continue moving the balls up your spine until they are just above your shoulder blades and below the base of your neck. During the crunches, try and "hinge" on the ball rather than rolling over it. Think about keeping your ribs pushed down to the ground during the arm reaches, as if you were getting a deep massage in your mid to upper back.
Side-Lying Extension-Rotation
Quadruped Extension-Rotation
3. Bad hip mobility: Last, but certainly not least, on the list of mobility restrictions is bad hip mobility. Of the three limitations I have mentioned, this one may be the biggest culprit in young catchers today. Given the number of hours kids spend sitting in class, watching T.V. and playing video games, it comes as no surprise that their hip mobility is negatively affected. We often find that the catchers we work with lack internal rotation (internal rotation deficit), and are short/tight in their hip flexors and adductors.
Two of our favorite stretches to address an internal rotation deficit are the knee-to-knee stretch and the supine dynamic hip internal rotation stretch. Allowing for more rotation in the hips is going to free the catcher to better perform the ankle sway, which really starts at the head of the femur. That internal hip rotation gives the ankles and the rest of the body a better chance to get in front of the ball when receiving a pitch and also allows the feet to get in the proper position when throwing the ball.
Lying Knee-to-Knee Mobilization
As Eric mentioned a few weeks ago in his epic post 15 Static Stretching Mistakes, the lying knee-to-knee stretch can impose some valgus stress at the knees if it isn't coached/cued properly. So, instead of thinking of letting the knees fall in, tell the athlete to actively internally rotate the femurs. The stretch should occur at the hips, not the knees.
Supine Dynamic Hip Internal Rotation
When addressing the adductors (groin), we are advocates of doing as much soft tissue work as one can stand. It’s not easy to get in to all of these areas with a foam roll, so we'll often we’ll have our clients use a tennis ball or lacrosse ball (if they can handle it). After hammering these areas with some soft tissue work, we’ll have our catchers do a few lengthening exercises. A couple of our favorites are the Split-Stance Kneeling Adductor Mobs and the Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch. When done right, both of these exercises emphasize the importance of hip mobility while maintaining core stability. Here’s a look at some of these exercises.
Split-Stance Kneeling Adductor Mobs
Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch
Simple and easy way to stretch some of the tightest muscles in the body. Squeeze the glutes of the knee that is on the ground, then push the hips forward. To progress, raise your arms overhead.
Typically, catchers are big guys who – for their size – move free and easy, especially in the aforementioned areas. Being a good catcher is more than just being big and strong. It is about being big and strong while maintaining your mobility and flexibility. Anyone can add size and strength, but if your movement is compromised in the process, then it is almost certain that you will see a decrease in performance. Spend some time doing these mobility exercises before, during (preferable) or after your workouts for the next few weeks and see how much better your body feels. Good luck!
About the Author
Joey Wolfe is the owner and founder of Paradigm Sport, a Santa Cruz based training business that specializes in performance training for athletes. Before his career as a strength & conditioning coach, Joey played baseball professionally in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He now works with dozens of youth, high school, college and professional baseball baseball players. Joey's aptitude in the specific skill sets as well as the strength and conditioning aspects of the game provide him with a unique perspective from which to work with his clients on multiple levels. He can be reached at joey@paradigmsport.com.
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Elite Training Mentorship - In this month's update, I contributed an in-service on scapulohumeral rhythm as well as a few articles and exercise demonstrations. There's also some great stuff from Vaughn Bethell and Tyler English, so check it out!
5 Keys to a Productive Bullpen Session - CP athlete Chad Rodgers wrote up this great blog that should be a "must-read" for all up-and-coming pitchers. Chad shares what he learned in the professional ranks after being drafted out of high school.
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At Cressey Sports Performance, we manage a ton of baseball players throughout the year. In doing so, we often notice trends - both good and bad - that emerge in the things they start applying on their own. Here are three warm-up mistakes I commonly see players making before they pick up a ball to throw:
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On March 31, 2011, Cressey Performance athlete Tim Collins made his major league debut on opening day for the Kansas City Royals. As one of the shortest players in Major League Baseball, Tim made for a great story, especially considering he was an undrafted free agent sign who never received interest from any college baseball programs, let alone Division 1 schools. In light of this unlikely ascent to baseball's biggest stage, Tim's story was featured on Yahoo Sports, MLB.com, and Men's Health, and I also wrote up this post, which was among my most popular of all time. By the end of the day, Tim was trending worldwide on Twitter when my business partner and I went out to dinner with Tim and his folks to celebrate his big-league debut - even though nobody in downtown Kansas City recognized him outside of his uniform.
Not surprisingly, Tim's phone was bombarded by text messages and phone calls all that afternoon and evening. However, I never could have imagined that we, too, would get bombarded with requests after Tim got to the show. Since that date, we've received hundreds of emails (in addition to some phone calls to the office, one of whom asked to speak with Tim - in the middle of July while he was in-season) that all essentially go like this (this is copied and pasted):
"Hi, I am a 5-7 lefty pitcher that also weights 170lb but only throws 80 mph. I read the articles about Tim Collins and was wondering if you could send me the workouts that he does in the off-season with you because I'm just like him. What leg exercises/lifts did he perform. Also did he just focus on legs, core and light upper body. If I lifted upper body I get really stiff because I have a similar stature like Collins, so did he basically avoid upper body lifts or did he just perform light lifts on the upper body. Finally after I lift I have been running a mile after that to loosen up my muscle to stay flexible, is that a good or bad idea. Thanks."
Now, don't get me wrong; I think it's absolutely awesome that Tim's story has inspired guys to want to work hard to achieve their goals in spite of their stature - and we've certainly received loads of comments from folks who always put a smile on my face in this regard. However, it frustrates (and entertains) me to think that some guys assume that they are just a program (actually, five year worth of programs) away from throwing 97mph and pitching in the big leagues. Programs are just a bunch of words and numbers typed into Microsoft Excel and printed out; it's how they're carried out that really matters. Additionally, there is a lot more to long-term baseball success than just following a strength and conditioning program; you also have to prepare on the baseball side of things and attain a skill set that differentiates you. To that end, I thought I'd take this time to highlight 21 reasons you're not Tim Collins.
1. You don't have Tim's training partners.
Tim's had some of the same training partners since back in 2007, and in addition to pushing him in the gym, they've also served as a network for him to share ideas and solicit feedback. If you just do "his programs" in a commercial gym by yourself (with obnoxious Nicky Minaj music in the background), you're not going to get the same outcome. True story: in the fall of 2009, Tim trained alongside Paul Bunyan. This experience gave him the size, strength, and courage needed to grow a beard that would become a beacon for humanity in Kansas City and beyond.
2. Your beard is not this good.
Everyone knows that beards improve the likelihood of baseball success, not to mention all-around happiness in the rest of one's life. I can't send you a strength and conditioning program that will make your facial hair grow.
3. You don't put calories in the right place like Tim does.
Tim can eat a ton of food and a LOT more of it goes to muscle than fat. Just because you're 5-7, 150 pounds and left-handed doesn't mean you won't become a fat slob if you crush 8,000 calories a day. Sorry.
4. You don't have Tim's awesome support network.
Tim is fortunate to have a great family, from his parents, to his sisters, to his fiance. This is especially important for an undrafted free agent who didn't get much of a signing bonus. His parents put a roof over his head and fed him while he worked his way through the minor leagues.
More significantly, though, people don't realize that the foundation of becoming a big leaguer doesn't come from a training program; it comes from the values that are instilled in you by those around you when you're young. As a perfect example, Tim's father, Larry, is one of the hardest-working guys you'll ever meet. He teaches, has a painting business, and even just accepted a prestigious award for outstanding community service in the Worcester area. A few sheets of paper with exercises, sets, and reps written on them won't foster the kind of habits that will get you to "the show."
5. You probably don't enjoy the process like Tim does.
Tim likes training. In fact, all of our clients knew Tim well before he made it to the big leagues, as he was always at the gym. He has been putting in eight hour days of hanging around the office (on top of his training) for five years now. If you don't enjoy training, you probably around going to become a gym rat. And, if you don't teach yourself to enjoy the training process, your chance of getting to your ideal destination will surely be diminished. This was taken at 7pm on a Tuesday night, as a frame of reference:
6. You might not have Tim's luck.
Then Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi "discovered" Tim by accident when he was out to scout another player. How many of you have GMs just "pop in" to your Legion games - and conveniently do it on a day when you strike out 12 straight guys?
7. Your name isn't Matt O'Connor.
Meet Matt O'Connor, Cressey Performance athlete and student at Emory University. He is sometimes mistaken for Tim when he's at CP.
If we were going to pick anyone to be "just like Tim Collins," it would be Matt - purely for efficiency's sake.
8. You might not have a switch you can flip on and off.
One of the things most folks don't know about many high level lifters is that they joke around all the time during training sessions. When I was lifting at one of the best powerlifting gyms in the world, guys were always busting each other's chops between sets. However, when the time comes to move weights, they get very serious very quickly. They know how to flip the switch on at will.
However, they also know how to turn the switch off when they don't need it. This is true of a lot of the most successful baseball players I've encountered; they leave work at work. The guys who are constantly "on" and let the game consume their lives often have bad relationships with teammates and stress themselves into bad results.
I think part of what has made Tim successful - especially as a relief pitcher - is that he can turn his brain and his body on at a moment's notice, but knows how to go back to "normal Tim" when the time is right.
9. You probably don't even have a bulldog, and if you do, I guarantee you that his underbite isn't this awesome.
10. You don't have Tim's curveball.
I actually remember reading somewhere that Tim's curveball had more top-to-bottom depth than any other curveball in Major League Baseball, and I spoke to one MLB advanced scout who said he rated it as an 80. Keep in mind that average fastball velocity is higher in Low A than it is in the big leagues. Tim's velocity improvements might have been a big part of him advancing through the minor leagues, but he doesn't even get his first opportunity unless he has a great curveball. And, no, I don't have his "curveball program" to send you.
11. You don't have Tim's change-up.
If Tim's curveball is what got him to the big leagues, it was his change-up that has kept him there. Interesting fact: he threw two change-ups in the 2010 season - and both led to home runs. It took a lot of work to develop the change-up he has now. But you just need his programs. Riiiight.
12. You can't ride a unicycle.
I don't know of the correlation between unicycling ability and pitching success, but there has to be something there.
13. You might not respond to success like Tim has.
I often see one of two things happens when guys are successful in pro sports, and everyone comes out of the woodwork asking for something. They either a) trust everybody or b) trust nobody. I think Tim's done a great job of finding a happy medium. He puts his trust in others and doesn't second guess them, but still guards his network carefully.
14. You might not be as willing to make sacrifices as he is.
This might come as a surprise, but Hudson, MA really isn't that beautiful in the winter. Most pro guys move to Arizona, Florida, or California in the off-season, but Tim sacrifices that lifestyle to train with us and be close to the support network I mentioned earlier. Asking to just have a program (actually, 50+ programs) emailed to you means that you aren't willing to make sacrifices on that level, which leads to...
15. You wouldn't be doing your program in the same training environment.
I know a lot of pro guys who struggle to find a throwing partner in the off-season. If that's an issue, it's a safe assumption that they don't exactly have many (if any) training partners or a good training environment in which to execute the program, either. You don't just need the right people; you need quite a few of them, with the right equipment at your fingertips. At risk of sounding arrogant, I think we've done a great job of creating that at CP.
16. You don't have just the right amount of laxity.
Congenital laxity is a big consideration in training throwing athletes. Some guys have naturally looser joints, while others tend to be very stiff. The really "loose" guys need more stability training and little to not flexibility work, while the tight guys need a hearty dose of mobility drills. Generally speaking, the best place to be (in my opinion, at least) is middle-of-the-road. Tim falls right there, with a small tendency toward being a bit more loose, which favors his aggressive delivery.
17. You don't throw to a left-handed catcher in the off-season.
And, even if you do, your left-handed catcher probably doesn't have a mitt with his name on it. It's definitely a crucial part of the Tim Collins developmental experience.
18. You probably can't score a 21 on the Functional Movement Screen.
Many of you are probably familiar with Gray Cook's Functional Movement Screen, a seven-part assessment approach used in a number of fitness and strength and conditioning settings nowadays. A perfect score is a 21, but you don't see it very often - usually because everyone gets dominated by the rotary stability test, where a perfect score (3) is essentially a same-sided birddog. The first time I saw Tim drop to the floor and do this effortlessly, my jaw just about hit the floor. Luckily, he can repeat it on command like it's nothing, so I snapped a video (this was the first try, with no warm-up).
He's scored a 21 on this two spring trainings in a row - and that implies that he actually moves quite well. Most people don't need his program, as they have a lot more movement quality issues to address.
19. You ice after you throw.
Tim iced after pitching one time, and hated it; he'll never do it again. Not everyone is the same, though; some guys swear by it. You might be one of those guys.
20. You've never personal trained a nine-week old puppy.
21. You "muscle" everything.
One of the traits you'll see in a lot of elite athletes is that they don't get overly tense when they don't have to do so. If you're squatting 500 pounds, you want to establish a lot more rigidity, but if you're participating in the vast majority of athletic endeavors, you want effortless, fluid movement - almost as if you aren't trying. If you just tense up and try to muscle everything, it becomes harder to take advantage of the stretch-shortening cycle. Teaching an athlete to relax is challenging - but I never had to even address it with Tim; it was something he just "had."
There's a saying in the strength and conditioning world that "it's easier to make a fast guy strong than it is to make a strong guy fast." I think this quote applies perfectly to Tim's development. Not everyone has that natural reactive ability from the get-go, so different training approaches are needed for different individuals.
Again, in closing, I should emphasize that it's great that Tim has become an inspiration to shorter pitchers to pursue their dreams. However, as is always the case, young athletes simply following the exact training programs of professional athletes is a bad idea, as these programs may not be appropriate for their bodies or point on the athletic development continuum. To that end, I encourage all young athletes to educate themselves on how they are unique - and find the right people and programs to pursue their dreams in accordance with those findings. And, for the record, Tim agrees!
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This past weekend, I spoke at a baseball conference that featured an outstanding lineup. Sharing the stage were:
Lloyd McClendon (former MLB player and current Detroit Tigers hitting coach)
Jerry Weinstein (Colorado Rockies catching coach)
Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina head Coach)
Rich Maloney (Ball State head coach)
Shaun Cole (University of Arizona pitching coach)
Gary Picone (former Lewis & Clark head coach)
I picked up some great insights over the weekend, but the two themes that seemed to resound with me over and over again were that all of these guys emphasized simplicity and individualization.
On the simplicity side of things, all of these coaches emphasized not making things more elaborate than they needed to be. Paraphrasing Hall-of-Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, Coach Maloney hammered home "making the routine play routinely." This really hit home with me, as many baseball players I encounter are looking for the latest and greatest throwing program, supplement, or training gadget to take them to the next level. Meanwhile, the simple answer is just that they need train a little harder, eat a little better, and be a little more patient and attentive.
On the individualization side of things, McClendon, for instance, emphasized that while all great hitters get to the same important positions, many of them start at different positions. And, they each require different drills to "get right," and different players do better with shorter sessions in the cage than others.
In one way or another, every single speaker touched on - and, in most cases, specifically mentioned - keeping things simple and individualized. To that end, I thought I'd post five random thoughts on both of these factors:
Simplifying Baseball Strength and Conditioning Programs
1. Magical things happen when you get stronger. Learn to put more force into the ground and you will throw harder, swing faster, jump higher, and run faster.
2. Don't miss sessions. The off-season is never as long as you want it to be, and it's your time to "put money in the bank" from a training adaptation standpoint. And, in-season, it's easy to put things off until tomorrow - but that doesn't mean that you should, as there is a tomorrow for tomorrow, too, and that's a slippery slope.
3. Do what you need, not just what you're good at doing. If you throw hard, but can't throw strikes, do more bullpen work. If you throw strikes, but can't throw hard, do more velocity drills: long toss, weighted ball work, etc.
4. Don't add more volume without taking something away. You can't do high volume strength training, high volume medicine ball work, high volume throwing, high volume hitting, and high volume sprint work all at once. If you add something new, take something away.
5. Don't power through bad technique or pain. If you can't do something with good technique, slow it down and practice it at an easier pace. If that still doesn't work, regress the drill/exercise.
Individualizing Baseball Strength and Conditioning Programs
1. Coach the same exercises differently. Different players respond to different cues, but they often mandate different cues as well. For instance, a wall slide with overhead shrug would be cued differently for someone with scapular depression and anterior tilt than in someone with scapular elevation and adduction. The goal is to make the movement look right, but there are different roads to get to this point.
2. Assess for congenital laxity. If someone has crazy loose joints, don't stretch them. If they're stiff as a board, include more mobility drills and static stretching.
3. Inquire about innings pitched. The more innings a pitcher has thrown, the more down-time he'll need and the longer it'll take to get his rotator cuff and scapular control back to a suitable level in the off-season.
4. Master the sagittal plane first. If you can't do a body weight squat or lunge, then you probably aren't going to have the rotary stability necessary to do aggressive rotational medicine ball throws or plyos in the frontal plane.
5. Appreciate each player's injury history and find out where they usually get soreness/pain. Simply asking these questions and reviewing a health history can tell you a lot about where a player might break down moving forward. If you aren't asking or assessing, you're just guessing.
These five thoughts on individualization might seem obvious, but it never ceases to amaze me just how many people in the industry simply throw a one-size-fits-all program up on the dry erase board and expect everyone to do it exactly the same. Some folks might thrive, but others might wind up injured or regressing in their fitness levels in some capacity. This is where we begin to appreciate the incredibly essential interaction between individualization and simplicity. Nothing is more simple than this:
Determine an athlete's unique needs, and then write a program and provide coaching cues to address them.
There is nothing more basic and simple than a needs evaluation. You can't determine that something is too complex if you have no idea where an athlete stands in the first place!
Why then, do we have entire teams doing the same program with the same coaching cues? Usually, it's because it makes someone's job easier, or it allows them to get more athletes through the babysitting service to make more money. That's not how you keep athletes healthy, win games, or educate athletes about how their bodies are unique.
So with all that in mind, remember to keep things simple - and that begins with an assessment so that you can create an individualized training experience.
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Today's guest blog comes to us from Jeff Albert, one of the bright minds in the world of hitting instruction. I've enjoyed Jeff's stuff for years, and I think you'll like it, too.
Hip extension is a getting a lot of attention in the fitness world these days. Eric Cressey was asking us to get our butts in gear back in ’04, ESPN recently made a Call of Booty, and we now have our very own glute guy, Bret Contreras. Kettlebell swings, hip thrusts, deadlifts, and squats are staples of exercise programs for athletes for good reason: they make the posterior chain stronger and more explosive. This, in turn, makes it easier for athletes to do things athletes are supposed to do - like run faster and jump higher.
But how is this going to help with your actual skills? What is the role of hip extension in the baseball swing?
EMG studies in both baseball (Shaffer et al 1993) and golf (Belcher et al 1995) report highest muscle activity of the primary movers of the posterior chain – the hamstrings, glutes and low back – happens during the beginning of the forward swing. The exercises listed above are often programmed because they target the same muscles. Very conveniently, those muscles are also responsible for creating rotation in the swing.
Here’s the key point: good hip rotation has an element of hip extension!
This is what it looks like from the front and side in the swing:
Check out the belt line as the hitter transitions from landing with his stride foot to making contact. This is the actual unloading of the hips during the forward swing. You should be able to see how the hips (belt line) lower into flexion (load) and then actually come up a bit as the hips extend (unload).
Unfortunately, the baseball EMG study only measured muscle activity on the back leg. The golf EMG study, however, measured both legs. An interesting point from this golf study is that in the initial forward swing (from the loaded position to horizontal lag position), activity in the quads (vastus lateralis was measured) of the lead leg was higher than the posterior side (glutes, biceps femoris, semimembranosus). This makes sense because the front side is accepting some shifting weight during this time. But, when the club is being moved from the horizontal lag position to contact, the hip extenders again become more active. Baseball instruction commonly refers to having a “firm front side”, but we haven’t talked much about how that happens. This golf EMG suggests that extension at the hip, rather than knee, is more responsible for creating this effect.
Keep this in mind if and when you are working on the lower half in your swing. Very often players can show a nice, powerful hip rotation and extension pattern in the gym (throwing medicine balls, for example), but look much different when they pick up a bat in the cage. Differences in terminology that you’ll find between the gym and the batting cage can often be a cause of this, and sometimes players just don’t make the connection between their physical conditioning and their actual swing.
If you do struggle with rotation of your lower half, give some thought to the hip extension and rotational work that you do in the weight room and pay attention to the patterns that you’re developing there. First of all, make sure your hip extension and rotation are good in the first place, and then see if you can repeat the movement pattern when swinging the bat. The whole point in creating strong, explosive hip rotation in the weight room is so you can actually use it to create more power when you finally have the bat in your hands.
Happy Hacking!
About the Author
Jeff Albert is a CSCS with a MS in Exercise Science from Louisiana Tech University. Jeff is entering his 6th season as a coach in professional baseball, now serving as a hitting instructor in the Houston Astros organization. He works with players of all ages during the off-season in Palm Beach, Florida and can be contacted through his website, SwingTraining.net, or follow him on twitter (@swingtraining).
References
1. Bechler JR, Jobe FW, Pink M, Perry J, Ruwe PA. Electromyographic analysis of the hip and knee during the golf swing. Clin J Sport Med. 1995 Jul;5(3):162-6.
2. Shaffer B, Jobe FW, Pink M, Perry J. Baseball Batting: An Electromyographic study. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1993 Jul;(292):285-93.
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