Often times when someone describes a pitcher that throws hard, you’ll hear things like “he’s got a quick arm action” instead of “he must have a strong lower half”. Since the ball is released by the hand which is linked more closely to the upper body than the lower body, the former of the two gets all the props while the latter becomes the unsung hero. Continue reading “Building a Bigger Engine in Pitchers… The Lower Half”
At this time of the year, after a full off-season of strength training, and with upcoming tryouts and practices, erratic throwing schedules are a few of the variables that can wreak havoc on an athlete’s body and more importantly his arm. The fact is, if you don’t participate in some sort of in-season baseball lifts and quality weight room work trails off, so will power on the mound and/or on the field. It will likely leave an athlete vulnerable to a cavalcade of maladies including a gradual drop in velocity, mobility, and possibly injury as the season moves along.
Continue reading “In-Season Baseball Lifts, Managing a Controlled Fall”
One of the biggest mechanical disconnects I see when analyzing video from many of our pitchers is the ability to increase leverage on the front leg, from the time of first foot-strike to ball-release. Everyone has different opinions of what is an adequate amount of extension. For me, after analyzing hundreds of high school, college and pro pitchers, I’ve come up with what I consider to be an appropriate range of 20-30 degrees of additional knee extension between first foot-strike and ball-release. Continue reading “Half-Kneeling Overhead Med Ball Throw”
How Much Weight Should I Use in My Program?
Please note: If you don’t have at least 6 months of prior lifting experience you shouldn’t be signing up for remote on-line training. You should be training with an experienced coach to make sure that form is taken care of first and foremost.
With that said, we recommend two different methods to help you calculate how much weight to put on the bar: Continue reading “How to Determine Your Weights”
Today I sat here reflecting on what a great year it has been and how thankful I am for everything that has come my way. Continue reading “What Separates Good from Great?”
I heard P.T. Mike Reinhold once say that he was a “much better physical therapist because of his knowledge in the strength and conditioning field”. I feel the same way in regards to the education I’ve received from the physical therapy / rehab community. I can’t overstate how much better of a strength and conditioning coach it has made me. The bottom line is together we make each other better. Continue reading “Strength Training / Physical Therapy… Making Our Athletes and Each Other Better”
Today I want to talk about a method of plyometric training that helps us get a great training effect from a number of angles. Continue reading “Deceleration with Split Squat Depth Drop Holds”
Today my interview is with Justin Kompf, the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cortland College. For those of you that don’t know, Cortland is a powerhouse in athletics having just recently won five conference titles (SUNYAC) in baseball, women’s lacrosse, men’s track and field, softball and men’s lacrosse. I am sure Justin’s work has a great deal to do with this success. Continue reading “Interview with Cortland’s Strength and Conditioning Coach Justin Kompf”
For those athletes that can do certain basic things properly the sky is the limit. However, the reality is that the underlying foundation that enables pitchers to have good pitching mechanics and do basic things well is great strength and mobility (in other words a good movement strategy). Let me first start by saying this, there is no pitching coach on the planet that can get a pitcher into a desired position if the athlete does not physically have the strength or mobility to get into that position. Period. Continue reading “Addressing Pitching Mechanics Issues in the Weight Room”
By Nunzio Signore (BA, CPT, NASM, PES, FMS)
People often ask me what my favorite exercise is for building upper body strength. Well, I love push-ups. They are good for everyone, adults and athletes of all kinds including baseball, softball, lacrosse and hockey players among others. Continue reading “My Favorite Upper Body Strength Exercise… Push-up Progressions”
