With injuries on the rise in baseball, implementing a workload management system is a great way to help develop pitchers and mitigate injuries. Workload is a general term used to describe how much stress is being placed on a pitcher’s arm during both a throwing session and over a period of time (as in a week or month). Such a system can also be helpful in a variety of other ways, including:
Continue reading “Workload Management for Pitchers w/ Case Studies”
After 15 years of training baseball players of all ages and levels, I can tell you with the highest degree of certainty that the purpose of a great off-season baseball strength training program is to:
While different athletes will always require more of one of these adaptations than the other, when focusing on the youth population (13-18 year olds) the deciding factor is almost always:
Is your off-season strength program working for you? Let’s get into it…
Continue reading “Is Your Off-season Strength Program Working for YOU?”
RHP Bourke Reid joined us last September to get an early start on his off-season training. The 6’3” righty came in weighing 173 lbs. having topped out at 80 mph on July 22nd last summer at a Perfect Game event. Fast forward to the end of the off-season, after packing on nearly 20 lbs. of lean muscle mass, Bourke is now touching 87 mph. And there is much more to come here. How did he do it?
Every off-season athletes come to RPP looking to improve their pitching velocity. Unfortunately, quite often they also believe that throwing harder is only about pitching mechanics. Not sure exactly where this type of thinking started but it points to a complete lack of understanding about where throwing velocity comes from. Wish it was that simple!
Today, I decided to get together with Dr. Ismael Gallo, DPT, the founder of the Baseball Flows™ App. As a former professional baseball player turned Doctor of Physical Therapy, Dr. Gallo specializes in effectively bridging the gap between the movements in-gym to the specific movements essential for on-field excellence.
Many young ball players face a common hurdle. They lack the athleticism to play defense at a high level. In order to field a ground ball or charge a bunt efficiently, movements need to be fluid and this requires what is known as agility. And, when it comes to fielding a ground ball, agility involves making these rapid movements mentioned above in constantly changing, unpredictable environments.
So, what exactly IS agility?
Continue reading “How to Improve Your Defensive Fielding… The Three Pillars”
Pitching is one of the most ballistic movements in all sports. Throw in the shoulder joint, the most mobile and unstable joint on the body, and you have what we call a “high-risk” population. So, how can we make pitchers more durable. Continue reading “How to Make Pitchers More Durable?”
When most of us think of what comprises a great strength training program for baseball players, we think of training force production. While this is crucial to enhance performance, the dissipation (absorption) of force is vital not only to performance, but for reducing the risk of injury as well. We can’t talk about either force production or dissipation without talking about plyometric training. Numerous studies have shown that performing plyometric training for baseball players:
Continue reading “How Baseball Players and Pitchers Can Train for Power with Plyometrics”
With pitch design and pitch data becoming so prevalent in the game of baseball today, pitches like the sweeper and splitter are increasingly popular by pitchers ranging from youth to professional. A question that is always asked by parents and athletes is: “Is this pitch bad for my arm?” In this article we will dive into elbow torque (stress), how it is measured and break down which pitches put more “strain” on the arm/shoulder than others. Essentially exploring the “myths” that come with specific pitches.
Now let’s dive in…
Continue reading “How Different Are Torque Levels Across Various Pitch Types?”
Two pitchers both throwing 90 mph… are they both just as fast? Well, it depends. Just because a pitcher is hitting 90 on the gun does not mean that the batter sees 90, which is what matters most in the game. One of the main factors that affects how fast your pitch looks to the batter is your extension at release, more commonly referred to as release extension. How important is it? and what’s stopping you from maximizing the amount of extension you can get? Let’s dissect it…
Continue reading “Release Extension… Why It’s Important and How to Maximize It?”
Over the last decade, many new pitching stats have been created, including FIP, SIERA, CSW%, and xFIP, all with the single purpose of getting a better understanding of a pitcher’s ability beyond the ERA. Recently, a new pitching stat was created by Eno Sarris which he calls Stuff+.
What is it? and how can it be helpful?
