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Profiling Pitchers and Players… The RPP Assessment

Most often, pitchers and position players associate their pitching velocity or exit velo with their mechanics. As our understanding of the body and technology has improved over the years, it is now more apparent than ever that your velocity ceiling, whether it’s pitching or hitting, is limited by your physical ability more than anything else.  Whether you’re a position player or a pitcher and your velo is stuck… let’s find out why.

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What is a Proper Load for Hitters? The Do’s and Don’ts

Hitting a baseball is a series of sequential and interconnected movements. Many of the issues hitters face at the plate begin early in the hitting / swing process. Today, we’re going to review several components of what we consider to be a proper “Load”.  If you don’t start your swing by loading well, chances are it may not end well either. Losses in bat speed, power, poor sequencing, poor swing metrics and poor “adjustability at the plate” are all examples of issues that can be initiated with a poor load. The way we look at it, there are a few things you should DO well and couple of things you should make sure you’re NOT doing:

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What Do the New College Baseball Recruiting Rules Mean to YOU?

college baseball recruiting

The NCAA recently changed college baseball recruiting rules to slow the recruiting process for prospective student-athletes. Under the new rules, college coaches can’t communicate with a prospect, including inbound calls, until August 1st, prior to their Junior year. Additionally, no verbal offers or commitments will be made before that time. However, communication will be permitted while attending college camps held on campuses, but coaches are not allowed to discuss recruiting or make any verbal offers until the date listed above.  Let’s review what these changes mean to you!

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Baseball Pitches – A Comprehensive Guide

Baseball Pitches

Baseball pitches come in three basic categories: fastballs, breaking balls, and off-speed / changeups.  Each category, and each pitch within the category, are generally identified by their type of grip, velocity and movement profile also known as “break”. Pitchers generally throw many different types of baseball pitches, in addition to a fastball.  Although, there are a few pitchers in the MLB that throw just about every type of pitch, starters generally throw 4-5 different variations, and relievers and closers throw 1-3 different ones. The primary purpose for the variations in pitching is to throw a batter’s timing off and induce an out: as in a strike out, a ground out, or a flyout.

Now, let’s review each category and the various baseball pitches:

    • Fastballs
    • Breaking Balls
    • Off-speed / Changeups

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Baseball Pitch Grips – A Comprehensive Guide

Pitch Grips

Baseball pitch grips are a big part of throwing a baseball. Every pitcher has a unique way of holding and gripping every pitch in his arsenal. Since the size of the baseball is “a given”, success with different pitches and baseball pitch grips can be attributable to many things, including hand size, finger size, finger pressure, finger placement, depth of the hold, hand / finger dexterity and most importantly comfort. In this article we are going to review the eight major pitch types, each with its own distinct baseball pitch grip and movement pattern: Continue reading “Baseball Pitch Grips — A Comprehensive Guide”