Baseball Strength Training Periodization and Continuum

Baseball training periodization

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”

TJ, Taking a Negative Situation and Running with IT

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”

Baseball Strength Training When Throwing Ramps Up…

baseball strength training

When you get past the on-ramp stage of a combined baseball strength training and throwing program and get into the more high intensity throwing portion, you need to keep a few things in mind. For the few guys that still need to gain muscle/weight, we’ll handle them a bit differently in the weight room but that’s for another blog. For most of our guys that have packed on muscle, this means that weight room work from a volume and intensity perspective can and should be scaled down. Continue reading “Baseball Strength Training When Throwing Ramps Up…”

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Summer Season

Today I am going to address 5 “do’s and don’ts” for those players choosing to play summer ball. These are generally players that are “on the cusp” (1-2 mph) of where they want to be velo-wise and could and should find a local league / team that will allow them to only pitch 3-5 innings per week and play first base on an additional day. Continue reading “5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Summer Season”

Pitcher Development Program… Case Study: Brian Doherty (Class 2020)

The following is a brief review on 15-year old, 6’4”, 205 lbs. RHP Brian Doherty (Class 2020) who has made tremendous progress in our Pitcher Development Program.  Brian trained at RPP this past fall and then rejoined us again recently.  As a part of the development program, he has been working on a variety of topics this spring, including:

Training with VBT… Understanding and Training in the Zones (Part 3)

In Parts 1 (click here) and 2 (click here), we talked about what the Force-Velocity curve is and why it’s important.  We also introduced VBT (velocity-based training), discussing how it’s different from conventional 1RM testing and some of the benefits in using it to train your athletes.  Today, we’ll dive a little deeper and talk about the specific “zones” used to train different traits on the Force-Velo curve as well as how they relate to specific movements on the field. Continue reading “Training with VBT… Understanding and Training in the Zones (Part 3)”