Posts Tagged ‘bloomington normal pitching lessons’
November 27, 2010 | 
Author 
“You mean to tell me that there’s a drink that combines the benefits of steroids AND the delicious taste of salty poolwater?!?!”
I was given some ASEA water a few months ago to try – one of the few perks I have received as a result of my baseball career. I was promised that as a pseudo-athlete, my athletic prowess would shoot through the roof with only a few salty ounces a day. Did it work? Read the rest of this entry »
I crack myself up! What a lame rhyming title for this post! I laughed out loud when I thought it up and recited it to my girlfriend, so I figured I would just run with it.
Anyway, I’ve been leaning up since the end of the season (cutting some of the fat that I gained via late-night hot dog benders in visiting clubhouses), and one of the big difference makers is late-night eating. You simply cannot stuff yourself with carbs in the evening if you want to stay lean.
But, if you’re on a quality workout program, you still need to feed your muscles as the day wanes; fasting from 6pm on is NOT the answer.
So, you need to adjust what you’re eating, and I suggest some variation of the 4 Bs: Beef, Bacon, Broccoli and Brie – all low-carb foods that will fill you up and keep your body moving in the direction of muscle recovery and fat loss. Read the rest of this entry »
I just watched a video series from a strength coach in a MLB organization who was selling his programs. He claimed, on his website, that his program was made for and tested on Major Leaguers, and because of that, everyone should be doing it. Major Leaguers are on top, so all of the best training should just trickle down, right? WRONG. Read the rest of this entry »
The trunk, or torso, is an often overlooked contributor to pitching velocity. For those without excellent front side recruitment, an improvement in trunk flexion can make a big difference both in velocity and consistency of release point . The following video is of 14 year-old Andy Winton, one of my students who made a great adjustment to his mechanics this past week. This is him throwing before we made the change.
What do you see? I see that he has great body control and mechanics that are very solid, regardless of age. His tempo is excellent, his hands break evenly, his weight stays back, and he is very in control. Yet, his torso is too tall as he shifts forward, which in turn prevents his release from gaining ground on the plate. His arm is also a tad late getting to the top, likely because his stride isn’t as long as it could be. His follow through stops short; you can see his arm slow down well before the ground. This is all due to a lack of trunk flexion – the forward lean of the torso as it moves toward the plate and the lead knee.
Now here’s Andy after we tweaked his motion… Read the rest of this entry »
*I wrote this back in ’09 as my senior year in college started to wane.*
You’ve seen him. You have probably whispered to your friends about him while he sits across the room, inhaling his food. Three burgers, three slices of pizza, a whole plate of french fries, and an army of cups filled with what combined looks like a gallon of soda. That’s probably just round one, and he is almost certainly going back for dessert.
If this person sounds familiar to you, then you are probably a college student who has witnessed this feeding ritual in your campus dining hall. Sad thing is, in the University setting this kind of eating is fairly common.
This uninhibited way of eating starts when you enter college, at which time you are thrust into an environment where, within the boundaries of the campus food system, what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat is entirely up to you. Haven’t even see a vegetable in months? You’re an adult now, and Mom will never know…
The common result of this new style of grazing? You guessed it! The “Freshman 15.” This is a slow-onset affliction, often going unnoticed until one’s parents look confused into the eyes of a round-faced teenager, wondering if it is really the same child they sent away to school.
But never fear, because eating healthy on campus is manageable if you employ some strategy. With careful attention and a little planning, it is possible to live the dream – getting others to cook the meals that make you leaner and healthier. Read the rest of this entry »
Need to get stretched out and ready to go in a hurry? Don’t have time for a big, full-body stretch? You’re in luck; I have a video for you with 5 great stretches that are ideal for baseball players, and can be done with comprehensive flow in a short time.
I don’t do a lot of videos, partly because I don’t have an omnipresent assistant and partly because I prefer to lay things out in writing. But, my friend and strength coach Nick Tumminello and I made a little how-to before I left the city for my flatter, more opportunistic midwestern town.
So check this out, and hopefully you learn a few things about the sleeper stretch, hip mobility, thoracic mobility and a few things you might have been doing incorrectly.
Every kid growing up playing baseball wants to someday be a pro; a Major Leaguer, really, but I guess being a minor leaguer counts too. Aside from living the dream, playing a fun kid’s game for money, and living devoid of the job responsibilities most of the world endures, there is one other, big perk: All the PB&J your face can handle. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s that time of year when I’m increasing my conditioning to report for the season in top shape. Being in great cardiovascular shape has numerous benefits, but I’m going to share another one that you may not realize: the increased ability to relax. Read the rest of this entry »
Some workouts are hard, if not impossible, to complete without taking strides to keep ourselves motivated and on track. This is the very reason people hire personal trainers – to create additional accountability and ward off their inner-pussality.
Yet, if you’re trying to get in shape, and really want to tackle some tough workouts, here are some tips to keep you with it ’til the end. *PLUS!! As a bonus, read to the end to learn a new word for softness that I just invented!*
A Soft and Delicious Destructor. You're just soft.
If you want to challenge yourself to the most torturous leg workout around, then the following metabolic leg circuit is for you! Read the rest of this entry »
Even the best athletes in the world say “I can’t” much more than they say “I can.” Yet, the elite figure out a way to get it done, even when their body and mind don’t want to.
I was recently running with a friend who quit before I did. I also had a solo workout in which I quit before I completed my intended volume. And last week a client of mine told me that he couldn’t do any more [reps]. All of these situations raised in me the question…
What If you HAD to do more?
What if you were forced, FORCED, to keep going? Could you? Read the rest of this entry »
Today what I have for you is some video of myself and a local high school pitcher, Andrew Connors, throwing with and without the Phantom weight sleeves. Andrew has been using a sleeve for a number of weeks now, but this was the first time we got to compare his mechanics with and without it side-by-side.
Now, don’t be too critical of us, because neither of our mechanics are picture-perfect. Andrew is working on getting his arm up sooner, as his arm reaches way behind and drags. I have numerous kinks that I am working on as well, so be kind to us both. Nonetheless, what is salient here is whether or not our mechanics change when we put on the weighted sleeves. Read the rest of this entry »
Your training should mirror the demands of your sport, but it should also mirror, to some extent, the expectations of your coach or organization.
Let’s take running as an example. Baseball is an anaerobic sport-requiring many short bursts of intense physical movement. Knowledgeable trainers, for this reason, are shifting their baseball players’ training away from the traditional long distance runs to more sprint training. Pitchers, who since the beginning of time have run long distance for conditioning, are also switching to and benefitting from this change in methodology.
So, as a baseball player, we should all run only short sprints all the time, right? I’ve written about this before here and Andrew Sacks has here. This way, we would be maximizing our training by not wasting time on superfluous exercise. Not so fast… Read the rest of this entry »
If you haven’t read my articles titled Do You know Your Throwing Anatomy, now is your chance to catch them! InsidePitching.com is running parts one and two on March 15th and 22nd, respectively, and my third and all new installment is due to premier on their site on March 29th! Check them out!
I’ve been getting some questions about pitchers stretching routines, so I’m gonna share what I use as a pretty straightforward top to bottom stretch. In about 20 minutes you can hit all of your major muscles and joints, and be ready to go. I like to start with the lower body, and move between stretches as fluidly as I can.
First, get some blood flowing. 5 minutes of moving around at a good pace to build some muscle and joint warmth will improve all of the stretches.
I am listing these exercises in the most fluid and logical sequence, so do them in this order and they will flow together nicely.
1. IT Band
IT Band Stretch
The IT band is an aponeurosis, or flat tendon band, that stretches from the lateral hip to the knee. This is tight on many athletes, and can restrict the thigh in multiple planes of movement, as well as cause knee problems.
To stretch, straighten one leg and cross the other in front. Lean into a wall while keeping the stretching leg straight, and you will feel a stretch down the outside of the leg.