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Travel Baseball… Should it Be about Winning or Player Development?

We often get asked whether our Revolution Travel Baseball program is about “player development” or “winning”? First, let me say that RPP Baseball is operating at full capacity. We didn’t start a travel program to fill up the building. In fact, we are currently seeking additional space. Second, we aren’t looking to build just another travel program. Similar to our player development programs we are looking to build a nationally recognized travel program that can compete with any organization at any level.

As you read this article, please note that the specific approach may vary from team to team and age level.  A “National” team may have completely different objectives than a more “Local / Regional” team.  A Team for 13-year-olds would have generally different objectives than a team for 16-year-olds that have reached recruiting age.

With that said, let’s cover the topic “winning vs. development?”

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How Did Revolution Players Spend the Off-season?

When we set out to form our own travel baseball program, we wanted to make sure that player development plays a significant role.  Player development can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask.  Some consider player development to be skill-based, while others consider it to be physical development.

For us, player development means a holistic approach to developing the athlete. As players and parents look to the next pitch or next at bat or even the next game, we are looking out 2-4 years from a medium to long-term development standpoint.  What do we mean by this?

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Training for Better Force Production in Pitchers and Baseball Players – Part 1

To the untrained eye, most strength programs look the same.  But when it comes to training for elite performance as a pitcher or a player, the difference between good and bad strength programs is like night and day.  Whether it be posting up on the mound, a lead leg block or first step quickness when changing direction, the rate at which a pitcher or a ball player for that matter can develop force (rate of force development) is one of the main qualities to efficiency in all three movement patterns.

Training for Strength, training for Force and training for Power are not the same thing.  But all equally important for elite performance.

So, let’s get into it…

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Workload Management for Pitchers w/ Case Studies

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:

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Is Your Off-season Strength Program Working for YOU?

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:

    • Increase explosive power
    • Create more efficient movers
    • Build more durable athletes

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:

    • Increasing lean body mass
    • Increasing absolute strength

Is your off-season strength program working for you? Let’s get into it…

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Athlete Highlight: Bergen Catholic Junior Bourke Reid is UP 7 mph, Touching 87 mph

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?

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You want to throw harder? Here are 10 things you need to do….

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!

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How to Improve Your Defensive Fielding… The Three Pillars

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?

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How Baseball Players and Pitchers Can Train for Power with Plyometrics

Baseball Plyometrics

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:

    • Improves soft tissue quality
    • Helps reduce the risk of injury
    • Increases throwing velocity

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