As many of you know, we recently made additional investments in our hitting business by adding a Rapsodo camera system and a Diamond Kinetics SwingTracker. The combination of these pieces of equipment will allow us to substantially improve how we evaluate baseball hitting mechanics and train our players by: Continue reading “Assessing Baseball Hitting Mechanics with New Tech”
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”
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”
There are many factors to consider when putting together a great arm care program. For example:
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”
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”
Training baseball players is a lot like trying to hit a moving target. Baseball is not a symmetrical sport. So, trying to bring these guys back to total symmetry is not only a waste of time, it could be doing more harm than good.
Here is a brief video… Continue reading “Training Specificity for Baseball Players”
Seams and grips matter, so let’s put that to rest. But how is the baseball spin axis generated? Before we begin, let’s cover a relevant but important topic. As it relates to ball movement, there are two different topics that sometimes get thrown in together as simply “movement”. They are… Continue reading “Understanding How the Baseball Spin Axis is Generated”
The first trip to the disabled list can leave a young athlete searching for answers. Any athlete worth his weight loves to compete, so when that part of your life gets affected in a negative way, it’s important to get your head together and keep marching. Unfortunately, the “you should just stay out of the weight room for a while” slogan that some (not all!) doctors deliver doesn’t give the athlete much incentive to keep the rest of his body in shape while the injury is healing. After all, we can still make significant improvements in strength without moving the injured limb. Continue reading “TJ, Taking a Negative Situation and Running with IT”
The following is a series of videos we posted not long ago on social media. They are excerpts out of a presentation I gave on how we train pitchers with an eye towards their Long-Term Athletic Development. I think you will enjoy them… Continue reading “Long Term Athletic Development for Pitchers”
