Posted on

Maintaining Speed and Power during the COVID-19 Outbreak

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CPT, NASM, PES, FMS)

No one could have ever imagined the position that college, high school and even pro baseball would be in at this time. Well with RPP having to close temporarily, I have been quarantined (much like everyone else in the northeast) in the house with my daughter and my wife, trying to figure out 50 new ways to reinvent the wheel. In that time, I keep working on our business, trying to use this downtime to find ways to hit the ground running once we’re all up and around again. Through it all, it’s been great to see the baseball community come together and help young athletes, with “less than optimal” equipment, maintain and continue to build their athleticism. Continue reading “Maintaining Speed and Power during the COVID-19 Outbreak”

Posted on

8-Week Throwing Program – Maintenance

8-Week Throwing Program

The following 8-week throwing programs are intended for pitchers who are physically mature, physically healthy and pain free with a good base foundation of strength:

    • Ages 17 and older
    • Ages 14-16

Please note, this is NOT a ramp-up, on-ramping or customized program.  Assuming that you were already prepared after a full off-season for spring, the programs are for maintaining your arm health and capacity. Continue reading “8-Week Throwing Program — Maintenance”

Posted on

4-Day Full Body Program (w/ equipment) – Phase 1

4-Day Full Body (equipment needed)

PHASE 1

With gyms closing all over due to COVID-19, and athletes not having training facilities at their disposal, we are providing the following 4-day program to those with access to gym equipment.  The workout addresses Speed and Power, the two training residuals that dissipate the quickest (7-14 days).

FYI, don’t get too crazy worrying about max strength losses at this time, you’ve got approximately 30 days before they start to fall off. Hopefully this will help manage training residuals until all systems are “go” again. Continue reading “4-Day Full Body Program (w/ equipment) — Phase 1”

Posted on

3-Day Full Body Program (minimal equipment) – Phase 1

3-day Full Body Program

PHASE 1

With gyms closing all over due to COVID-19, and athletes not having training facilities at their disposal, we are providing the following 3-day program for those with access to little or no equipment.  The workout addresses Speed and Power, the two training residuals that dissipate the quickest (7-14 days).

FYI, don’t get too crazy worrying about max strength losses at this time, you’ve got approximately 30 days before they start to fall off. Hopefully this will help manage training residuals until all systems are “go” again. Continue reading “3-Day Full Body Program (minimal equipment) — Phase 1”

Posted on

RPP Baseball Investing in Qualisys Motion Capture System

By Nunzio Signore and Bahram Shirazi

mocap baseball
(Images: Courtesy of Qualisys Motion Capture)

We are very excited to announce that after many months of research and study we are taking another big step forward in providing the best for our pitchers and ball players.  Beginning in late spring, we will be installing a Qualisys biomechanics motion capture system at RPP. Continue reading “RPP Baseball Investing in Qualisys Motion Capture System”

Posted on

Why Athletes Need to Continue with Strength Training In-season

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS, NASM, PES, FMS)

In-Season Strength Training

We’re coming to the end of our off-season training and it’s great to watch most of our athletes hitting personal records this week, both on the mound and in the hitting cage. It’s also equally great to see the “aha” moments in many of their eyes when they realize a big part of their new-found confidence and all-around athleticism are directly related to being introduced to strength training and getting stronger in the weight room. Continue reading “Why Athletes Need to Continue with Strength Training In-season”

Posted on

12 Steps to Analyzing Hitting Mechanics

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS, CPT, NASM, FMS)

baseball swing

Hitting an MLB fastball requires the application of a huge amount of energy in the blink of an eye- roughly 130ms to be exact. That’s about a 1/8th of a second. Only through a coordinated series of contractions involving not only muscles but joints and connective tissue traveling up the kinetic chain into the hands and ultimately the bat/ball can we achieve adequate bat speed and quickness to hit a baseball traveling at speeds north of 90 mph.

This article is meant to familiarize many of you with the 12 positions in hitting mechanics that we look at when analyzing video at RPP (it’s not a “how-to” blog on analyzing mechanics). 

Hitting mechanics (much like pitching), can be broken down into 2 distinct Phases. Continue reading “12 Steps to Analyzing Hitting Mechanics”

Posted on

The Swing Cycle… The Rotational Phase (Part 3)

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS, CPT, NASM, FMS)

In review, the swing cycle is broken down into 2 phases:

    • The Stride Phase (linear)
    • The Swing Phase (rotational)

In Parts 1 and 2 we broke down the linear phase into 7 patterns/positions that I use as a point of reference when looking at mechanics.  Today, we’ll finish up this 3-part series by taking a look at the Swing Phase (rotational).

Continue reading “The Swing Cycle… The Rotational Phase (Part 3)”