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.
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.
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Much more attention has been paid in recent years to the concept of the front hip pull-back/lead leg blocking in pitchers.
However, what gets overlooked is that there are a lot of athletes who do it well, but still struggle to consistently impart adequate force to the baseball and with the right direction. This can happen because of limitations further up the chain that interfere with transferring force to allow for clean ball release.
Foremost among these issues are adequate thoracic flexion and scapular upward rotation. These two attributes allow you to stay on the baseball longer. Imagine a car that has an extra runway to accelerate. As violent as it appears in still-frame photos, Max Scherzer is one of the best illustrations in the game for this - and it's remarkably well "synced up:
Notice how the distance between his uniform number and belt increases early in the delivery, then decreases just prior to ball release. It isn’t this extreme for most pitchers, but it speaks to the interaction between the anterior core, thoracic spine, and scapular upward rotation. Is it any surprise that most anterior core exercises - rollouts, fallouts, flutters, inchworms, bear crawls, and stir-the-pot - are also great serratus anterior drills?
You can also challenge it in various ways with the chops aspect of your core stability program.
I also like this adjustment to a half-kneeling cable lift...which actually make it into a chop, but whatever!
It also opens up a great discussion on the role of infrasternal angle for another day (although we did delve in on it a bit with this podcast with Bill Hartman:
Have a great week!
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We're excited to welcome physical therapist Bill Hartman to this week's podcast. Bill discusses how his approaches to training and rehabilitation have evolved over the years, and emphasizes the importance of range as a professional rather than early specialization. We converse on the common mistakes made with training rotational sport athletes, and delve into more complex topics like infrasternal angle and sacral positioning.
How Bill became involved in the world of rehabilitation and how have his practices evolved since he first entered the field nearly 30 years ago
What tools have remained consistent throughout Bill’s professional career and how his perspective has changed despite this consistency
Why Bill is still constantly tweaking, adapting, and refining his processes as a physical therapist and how he is working to master his model and find true efficiency in his craft
Why professionals should be wary of specialization and should avoid limiting their perspective to the insights of one profession
Why the common hierarchical perspective of movement rehabilitation doesn’t capture how we truly drive adaptation in individuals
How coaches and rehab professionals alike can start at the ideal outcome and work backwards to create an actionable plan to drive change
Why asymmetry may actually be the recipe for elite athletic performance
What infrasternal angle is and how this measurement is utilized as an assessment tool
What specific insights does infrasternal angle give us for rotational athletes and their capabilities to move efficiently for their sport
What the two types of infrasternal presentations are and what action-based plan Bill has for dealing with each respectively
Why the dynamics of the rib cage are more important than static infrasternal angle presentation and how professionals can observe an individual's capacity for movement at the core of the body
Why the position of the sacrum is an overlooked factor for analyzing optimal movement
What sacral position demonstrates to professionals about an individual’s movement profile
Why quality training isn’t about changing someone but rather about reinforcing what someone was meant to do
Why exercise selection is vital for transforming athletes into the best version of themselves and how professionals can create programs for individuals that match their movement capabilities
How much strength is too much strength for athletes and how the dosage of training can drive adaptations that actually make an individual worse at their sport
Why defining the amount and rate of force production needed for a sport is essential for properly training athletes of the sport and how these insights set the parameters for training strategies
How blind exercise prescription and an overemphasis of strength training are limiting the capabilities of rotational athletes and what Bill’s big rocks for creating elite throwers are
Why more strength training is not always better and what key performance indicators professionals can monitor to maintain progress and limit the negative effects of training
Why strength training is not inherently bad, but professionals should be more particular about its implementation
What Bill’s key competencies for high level learners are and how you can be the best learner possible
What three books all performance professionals should read
What research Bill would like to see done to progress the field
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!
