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Weighted Baseballs and Strength Training… You Can’t Have One Without the Other

Weighted baseball training

There is tremendous misinformation in the market place about weighted baseball training and I certainly don’t want to create a social media frenzy.  This article isn’t about the pros and cons of weighted ball programs. However, there are many weighted ball programs out there with no regard for the anatomical side of things. This article is about the importance and reasons why you should include and implement a monitored strength and conditioning program alongside a weighted ball program. Continue reading “Weighted Baseballs and Strength Training… You Can’t Have One Without the Other”

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4 Ways to Improve Pitching Command and Control in the Weight Room

Generally, when players start to struggle with throwing strikes, they’ve been conditioned to modify their mechanics.  Many times, this is completely unnecessary. Anatomy often tells us that in order to fix a pitching command and control issue, strength and stability may need to be addressed before looking any deeper. Continue reading “4 Ways to Improve Pitching Command and Control in the Weight Room”

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Improving Speed and Power from the Stretch

The back leg is the initial power source in pitching and when pitching from the stretch, the ability to load and the unload the back leg gives a pitcher the greater advantage with runners on.

Faster more elastic athletes can stretch their tendons quickly and better harness energy while loading without requiring high levels of strength. But for more “strength-based” athletes who like to load slower in order to maximize power mostly from their muscles contracting, the stretch can be a nemesis, especially you have runners on base. So, training to get more elastic can go a long way in putting another essential tool such as getting quicker in the stretch into their toolbox, which brings us to the concept of Reactive Strength and how you test it. Continue reading “Improving Speed and Power from the Stretch”

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How to Increase Pitching Velocity in the Weight Room

In the pitching world the word velocity has become how most pitchers are initially judged. Unfortunately, there is no single thing I could tell you to do to increase velocity as every pitcher is different. What may work for one pitcher may not work for another. Every pitcher is built differently and trying to get there from a different starting point. This leaves no single way to map out a game plan to increase your. However, in this blog I would like to touch briefly on 10 different topics on how to increase pitching velocity in the weight room.

Continue reading “How to Increase Pitching Velocity in the Weight Room”

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Baseball Strength Training at RPP, Why and How it Works

baseball strength training

Every off-season I see dedicated athletes spinning their wheels and settling for ineffective baseball strength training programs, simply because the location is convenient, or they’re feeling pressure from the travel coach.  The reality is that often they’re experiencing mediocre gains or no gains at all when they should be improving dramatically. Bottom line is if your performance has remained the same year-over-year your training probably SUCKS!  A customized baseball strength training program goes a long way towards improving your level of performance. Continue reading “Baseball Strength Training at RPP, Why and How it Works”

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Training Force- vs. Velocity-Deficient Athletes… Giving Them What They Need

Knowing the adaptation that needs to occur and knowing what adaptation will occur are powerful decision-making tools when designing a program for an athlete. You need to first decide what effect you want the body to produce and then match it with an appropriate stimulus.  This is referred to as the “SAID” principle. It stands for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands” and is the blueprint that we build off of when programming for our athletes here at RPP.

The first question that needs to be answered is “what does the athlete need?”.   Continue reading “Training Force- vs. Velocity-Deficient Athletes… Giving Them What They Need”

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5 Things I Would Have Done Differently Raising My Young Ball Player

They say hindsight is 20-20.  Well, it’s true.  There are always things we could have done better.  I wish I knew back then what I know now.  When I look back at some of the mistakes I made raising my son in the world of youth baseball, frankly it bums me out.  Don’t misunderstand me, he did very well and played ball at a relatively high level. But, looking back there are definitely a few things I would have done differently.  Here we go… Continue reading “5 Things I Would Have Done Differently Raising My Young Ball Player”

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Physics of Baseball… Ball-Bat Collision

physics of baseball

With a Rapsodo Hitting camera finally here at RPP, it’s time to start talking physics of baseball on the hitting side.  We’re going to start this series of articles by going over the point of contact, where the bat meets the ball.  We all know that a baseball hit hard at the right place can do a lot of damage.  But the art and skill of doing so can be a difficult process.  So, let’s review what happens at the point of collision, where 90 mph pitches meet 90 mph bat speeds. Continue reading “Physics of Baseball… Ball-Bat Collision”

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Baseball Strength Training Periodization and Continuum

Baseball training periodization

Setting athletes up for success in their respective sports requires not only great programming, but great timing in regard to where a player is in their training year. Let’s face it, everyone wants strength and speed and a well-designed program should deliver on both but at the right times.  Baseball training periodization is not dis-similar from other sports, and a strength-speed continuum is the best way to get from there to there. Continue reading “Baseball Strength Training Periodization and Continuum”