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Why Mocap is a Game Changer in Training Pitchers and Ball Players

­By Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS, CPT, NASM, FMS) and Bahram Shirazi (BSEE, MBA)

Until not long ago sports-related motion capture systems (mocap) were primarily available in research labs, rehab facilities or biomechanics departments at universities.  Historically, much of the work in this arena has been performed by biomechanists who specialize in the study of movement in biological systems, including human beings. They generally use the principles of physical mechanics combined with biology to understand:

    • How biological systems move
    • How they can move more effectively and efficiently
    • Why they sometimes get injured and how to reduce the incidence of injury

Two prominent figures in the world of baseball mocap have been Dr. Glenn Fleisig and Dr. James Andrews, dating back to 1985 with their work at the American Sports Medicine Institute (“ASMI”).

But times are changing fast… Continue reading “Why Mocap is a Game Changer in Training Pitchers and Ball Players”

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Zoom #4 – Seminar on College Recruiting

We recently held a College Recruiting Seminar over Zoom with several of the best programs in the country to discuss the current state of recruiting and much more.  Topics included (a detailed list is provided further down):

    • COVID-19 Recruiting Environment
    • Getting Noticed
    • Academic Requirements
    • New Tech Metrics
    • Miscellaneous Other Topics

You can enter your info below to receive email link access to this one-hour discussion and Q&A.

Continue reading “Zoom #4 — Seminar on College Recruiting”

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Reopening Guidelines; Summer Registrations

Hey Everyone,

PLEASE READ ENTIRE POST BELOW!

Yesterday, New Jersey’s Governor Murphy gave us the green light to proceed with our reopening with 2 major limitations:

    • Capacity usage limit of 25%
    • Strength training by appointment only – This means you can’t come to the facility outside your designated appointment / time slot

Given the current environment, we have had to make certain adjustments to how athletes can train at RPP this summer. Continue reading “Reopening Guidelines; Summer Registrations”

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So, Your Velo’s Got the Virus!

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

stress and performance

You are at home doing everything you can to stay athletic. You are working out (the best you can), getting your reps in, throwing/hitting in the backyard, and filming yourself so that you can make sure you’re not developing bad habits. But as the weeks go by, you continue to see lower throwing and exit velos.

If you’re feeling stressed, you’re not alone. Continue reading “So, Your Velo’s Got the Virus!”

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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”

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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)”

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Video Analysis: What is Sway and How Can you Address it?

By Evan Klugerman (BA, Director of Hitting at RPP) and Nunzio Signore (BA, CSCS)

In this series of short articles and video analyses, as a part of assessing our hitters, I will be going over different components of a players’ swing, while Nunzio will help highlight potential issues and correctives both inside and outside the nets. Today’s topic is “Sway” and it starts at stance and set up… Continue reading “Video Analysis: What is Sway and How Can you Address it?”

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Assessing Hitters at RPP on Day One

By Nunzio Signore (BA, CPT, NASM, PES, FMS), Evan Klugerman (BA, Director of Hitting at RPP) and Bahram Shirazi (BSEE, MBA)

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 testing day for position players at our facility and it’s broken up into several sections:

Let’s review these with some specificity… Continue reading “Assessing Hitters at RPP on Day One”

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3 Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Kinematic Sequence

By Evan Klugerman (BA, Director of Hitting at RPP)

HITTING IS HARD! Fortunately, technologies such as K-Motion, Blast and Rapsodo allow us to measure many metrics and movements, thus, giving the hitter a better chance to succeed. Unless you can understand and incorporate data into your training the value of data would be meaningless.  I should also add that it is easy for hitters to get lost in the numbers unless the collective data is properly incorporated into their training.

As an athlete, you are not able to move efficiently if your body isn’t in a position to do so. In terms of timing, if your lower half isn’t in a strong stable position to efficiently transfer energy and allow the upper half to move, then you will have a tough time hitting at any level.

It is important to understand how the lower body is behaving and how it should behave when a player is “on time”.  Here are 3 questions to ask when analyzing timing through the Pelvis of a Kinematic Sequence as measured by the K-Vest: Continue reading “3 Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Kinematic Sequence”