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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…”

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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”

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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:

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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)”

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Training the Force-Velocity Curve with VBT… How it Works – Part 2

velocity based training

As far as athletic performance goes, it’s getting clearer and clearer that strength, speed and power are king (click here for Part 1). That’s why maximizing training protocols for a sport with movements as quick and explosive as baseball is paramount. Increasing strength and power involves:

    • Increasing muscle fiber size and structure
    • Increasing the activation and rate of firing time of motor units

Continue reading “Training the Force-Velocity Curve with VBT… How it Works — Part 2”

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Training the Force-Velocity Curve with Velocity Based Training (Part 1)

Baseball is an explosive sport where things happen fast and hard. This requires massive amounts of power and finding the best methods to get our athletes there is our number one priority. Over the next few months, I will be releasing a 5 Part series on what I believe to be a “game changer” in programming to maximize the potential in pitcher and baseball players with velocity based training (VBT). Continue reading “Training the Force-Velocity Curve with Velocity Based Training (Part 1)”

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Summer Velo Program… Are You Ready to Do What it Takes?

When it comes to learning and “buying-in” to a training regimen, most highly motivated and highly skilled athletes are all ears. This is called “athlete education” and nothing can be more rewarding than watching them “do what it takes to be exceptional”, while reaping great results at the same time.

Ramsey High School’s Ryan Vatcher, who is now up at Babson College, is a perfect example. Ryan opted not to play summer ball last year.  Instead, he enrolled in our Summer Velo Program choosing to work on his strength and mobility by living in the gym and working on fixing some mechanical issues through an intensive 5 day / week throwing-lifting program. This helped him create a higher velocity ceiling, as well as give him a better chance to succeed coming down the mound. Continue reading “Summer Velo Program… Are You Ready to Do What it Takes?”