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”

8-Week Baseball Throwing Program – Maintenance

8-Week Throwing Program

The following 8-week baseball 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 Baseball Throwing Program — Maintenance”

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”

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”

How to Analyze Baseball Swing Mechanics in 15 Steps

baseball swing mechanics

Hitting an MLB fastball requires the application of a huge amount of energy in the blink of an eye, roughly 130 ms 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 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 you with the 2 distinct phases (stride and swing) and 15 positions in baseball hitting and baseball swing mechanics that we review when analyzing video. Continue reading “How to Analyze Baseball Swing Mechanics in 15 Steps”

Baseball Hitting Mechanics… How to Address Sway?

baseball hitting mechanics

In this series of short articles and video analyses, as a part of assessing our hitters, I will be going over different components of baseball hitting mechanics, while Nunzio will help highlight potential issues and correctives both inside and outside the nets. Today’s topic on hitting mechanics is Sway, and it starts at with the stance and set up… Continue reading “Baseball Hitting Mechanics… How to Address Sway?”

How We Assess Hitters at RPP Baseball

hitting assessment

As an athlete, you are not able to move efficiently if your body isn’t in a position to do so. Incorporating assessments, strength training and data analytics into how we train players is a bit of an art. Since each and every player is different in every way, the key is to parse through the information and determine which pieces are relevant for each player. Below is a typical assessment for position players at our facility and it’s broken up into several sections:

Let’s review these with some specificity… Continue reading “How We Assess Hitters at RPP Baseball”