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What May Have Caused the Noah Syndergaard Injury?

On April 30th in the bottom of the 2nd inning, just 38 pitches into his fifth start of the year, Noah Syndergaard threw a 2-1 pitch to the National’s Bryce Harper then proceeded to clutch under his arm. Something was obviously not right. The latissimus dorsi (lat) is one of the major players for stability and throwing gas, and Syndergaard just tore his.  I would like to go over what may have caused the Noah Syndergaard injury.

(Noah Syndergaard Injury)

Continue reading “What May Have Caused the Noah Syndergaard Injury?”

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Three Big Things That Can Help You Throw a Baseball Harder

Three Big Things Top

Every year we have the privilege of working with a large number of pitchers between October and March. While these athletes come in many different shapes and sizes, all requiring their own individual strength and mobility programming, this wasn’t the case when it came to analyzing mechanics on the mound. Let me explain. Continue reading “Three Big Things That Can Help You Throw a Baseball Harder”

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Losing Your Legs and Your Velocity Early in the Game

Losing Legs and Velo

It’s that time of year when I go out and watch all my guys (with a great sense of pride I might add) play ball and in doing so, get a chance to watch many other young pitchers on the mound as well. A common thread that I see with many of them is the similarities in the breakdown that happens in the later innings.

More often than not, I believe this is fatigue of the lower half. The pre-mature change in lower extremity kinematics and timing can generally be attributed to a lack of strength (or a loss of strength if they have stopped training in-season) bringing on many command problems as well as velocity issues. Today, we’ll touch on three topics. Continue reading “Losing Your Legs and Your Velocity Early in the Game”

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Baseball Launch Angle and Exit Velo, The Good, Bad and Ugly!

Trout Image

It’s no secret that there is an enormous amount of player data coming out of MLB these days.  The Statcast system was installed in all 30 Major League ballparks beginning with the 2015 season and the data coming out of this system is already changing how coaches are preparing and working with players.  It measures and records pretty much every single play from pitch velo, to exit speed, to hit distance and more.  It even calculates the probability that an outfielder will make a specific play at a given distance to the ball.  It’s great stuff.  But, what does it all mean for baseball players? Continue reading “Baseball Launch Angle and Exit Velo, The Good, Bad and Ugly!”

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3 Reasons for Lower Back Pain after Pitching

Lower Back Pain after Pitching

Unfortunately, 90% of the pitcher population cannot handle the amount of lumbar extension Tim Lincecum put his body through. It’s no mystery that low back pain can severely compromise velocity, as well as command, in pitchers. In Part 3 of this series on Pain Site vs. Pain Source, we’ll look at low back pain and some possible “sites” distally that could be causing it. We’ll also look at some things we can do from both the strength and mobility (mechanics) side that may help to relieve unwanted stress in the area. Lower back pain after pitching can be caused by many things, but for the scope of this article, we’re going to concentrate on… Continue reading “3 Reasons for Lower Back Pain after Pitching”

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Top 10 Questions on Weighted Baseball Training

Weighted Baseballs

Weighted baseball training is just one of the tools used in our baseball throwing programs to help athletes achieve a higher velocity ceiling. As with any protocol, the “dosage” (volume and intensity) in weighted baseball training is paramount in order to maximize their effectiveness safely. Below are the top 10 questions we get asked often regarding weighted baseballs, including how they work, and how we integrate them into a total throwing program used to increase size, strength and velocity on the mound. Continue reading “Top 10 Questions on Weighted Baseball Training”

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Building a Bigger Engine in Pitchers… The Lower Half

Bigger Engine Top Image

Often times when someone describes a pitcher that throws hard, you’ll hear things like “he’s got a quick arm action” instead of “he must have a strong lower half”.  Since the ball is released by the hand which is linked more closely to the upper body than the lower body, the former of the two gets all the props while the latter becomes the unsung hero. Continue reading “Building a Bigger Engine in Pitchers… The Lower Half”