baseballstrengthcoaching

Steroids? You Better Think Twice

2012-01-25T17:53:00.000-08:00

School is tough, no matter how you dice it. There is peer pressure at school, parental pressure at home, and social pressure every time you go out. If you’re a young athlete, the pressure to perform at a high level can be even more intense.

The pressure may be crushing, and some teens look to escape through drugs – and not just the usual drugs. Steroids are included in the list of drugs banned by the United States government. Taking steroids is not only illegal, but they will likely leave you in a worse state than many of the other drugs you may try.

The appeal of taking steroids is high; the increase in muscle mass and improvements on the field are strong draws. But, the fallout is huge and the side effects are immense. Whether taken by needle or as oral supplements, steroids shut off the parts of your brain that tell your body to produce hormones. This means that boys could begin to grow breasts, start balding, or even lose the ability to have children.

Even when you put aside the nasty side effects away for a moment, the drawbacks are still bad. Imagine you have an opportunity to play baseball in college. That drug test is going to show that you have used steroids. Your career will end before it begins.

While you may see an increase in muscle mass and endurance, you, and everyone else will see the negative side effects as you break out with a serious and unavoidable case of acne. You may also see testicular shrinkage. Girls are not immune to side effects either and can develop deepened voices.

Even small amounts can start destroying your organs right away. You’ll notice higher cholesterol and blood pressure levels. You may think you can lengthen your career with steroids, but your heart and liver simply don’t work that way. Long term effects will develop even if the steroid use is short term. These include liver failure, heart attacks, stunted growth and the conversion of muscle into fat. Not to mention the paranoia, anxiety and depression that ultimately took the life of local baseball player Taylor Hooton.

Your dreams of making it to the Major Leagues can be crushed by a decision you make as a teenager. There are many stories about the negative effects of steroids. Don’t take our word for it, do some research of your own about the dangers of steroids. Your findings will haunt you. You have the talent, don’t squander it! If you’re struggling with steroids, or just want more information, ask the Taylor Hooton Foundation. They’re dedicated to steroid awareness and ensuring you have a safe and healthy baseball career.

The Taylor Hooton Foundation

Should We Really Be Trying To “Watch the Ball”?

2012-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

“Watch the ball!”

It seems like the most basic and fundamental instruction that we, as parents and coaches, tell our young players. It makes sense right? If you don’t watch the ball, you can’t hit the ball. Did you know that the average collegiate hitter only tracks the ball to within 9 feet of contact? Or, that the most skilled hitters at the highest level of the game only track the ball to within 5 feet of contact? The reason…It is physiologically impossible to “watch the ball” all the way to contact.

When tracking objects, the brain / eyes uses several different scanning mechanisms to follow and intercept a moving target. Imagine looking into the sky and seeing an airplane traveling through the clouds. The plane may be travelling at several hundred miles per hour. However, it is also thousands of feet off the ground giving the illusion that it is moving slowly through the air. We are able to clearly and efficiently visually follow the airplane in the sky because we are using our slow pursuit tracking mechanism. Now imagine standing on an interstate overpass and looking down at the cars whipping underneath. In order to follow these faster moving objects, we use what’s called a saccadic eye movement. When these objects move at speeds faster than 90 degrees per second, they get blurred and we can no longer clearly track them.

In baseball, a hitter that faces a 90mph fastball has 0.4 seconds to see the ball, decide to swing, and then initiate the swing. Unfortunately, a baseball pitch travels at approximately 1000 degrees per second. Obviously, this is significantly greater than the eyes can physiologically track a ball using the saccadic tracking method. So, in order to help prevent blurring and attempt to follow objects at these much higher velocities, the brain / eyes use what is called a jump saccade eye movement. During a jump saccade, the picture input literally “turns off” while the eyes move to the next focal point and then “turn on”. The problem with this is that once the eyes “turn back on”, the ball has moved again. So, in theory, you’re not seeing the ball, you’re seeing where the ball used to be. This explains why even elite level hitters cannot track the ball all the way to contact. They are literally “watching behind the ball”.

In my practice and training of athletes over the years, I’ve developed a teaching method to help hitters learn to track “in front” of the ball. By understanding, the role of the visual system in hitting performance, athletes are able to have a clearer, earlier picture of the baseball giving them better pitch recognition, understanding of the strike zone, and more quality contact.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

More, More, More!!!

2011-12-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Happy everything!

It is that time of year when everyone thinks more is better. The kids need more cookies in the cookie jar. The kids keep asking for more stuff. There needs to be more food around for Christmas dinner. The kids love more gifts around Christmas. I won’t even mention what some people think they need more of on New Year’s Eve.

Athletics is the same way. The college bowl season started December 17th with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and ends January 9th with the BCS National Championship. (They are actually hosting a bowl game in Boise, Idaho –REALLY) Basketball had a 16 team postseason tournament back in the day. Now, 64 for teams were not enough, so we have a play in game. Apparently, they want even more than that.

Although, some country songs will say you can’t get enough of a good thing. It is this guy’s stance that more rehab is not always the best approach. It is one thing when an athlete sprains an ankle and it is the size of a watermelon. You can work on the swelling and ROM as soon as it is tolerated on a very consistent basis. Rest, ice, elevation, and compression. It’s another thing to have an athlete try to do 250 quad sets (contractions) one day after spraining the medial collateral ligament in their knee.

Generally speaking, athletes know what they need to play the game. They are not going to accept a therapist telling them to do something “just because I said so.” The same thing applies in the weight room and working with the strength and conditioning coach, the athlete is not going to load the bar on the back and do sets of 20 squats without any explanation. Training smarter, not harder is the approach that the athletes have now.
I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but it is not for the lack of effort. If you are giving an athlete an ice bag, educate them why. Explain the reasons behind certain exercises when you design a program. Be able to justify what you are doing to help this athlete get better. Training and rehabilitation is not comparable to the Coney Island hot dog eating contest. More, more, more, is not going to the job done, unlike eating way too many hot dogs.

Once again, happy holidays and safe travels.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Track What You're Doing

2011-12-13T13:08:00.000-08:00

The off-season is in full swing, and now is the time to get bigger and stronger. With this being said how are you tracking your progress, how do you know you are getting better and how do you know if your doing enough, or too much?

On the strength and conditioning side of a players development keeping track of progress is pretty easy. The player records the resistance being used and how many reps and sets he completes. If the player has some experience with resistance training, the player may also utilize percentages of maxes. The maxes can be estimated or actual. Determining which to use will usually be determined by the experience the athlete posses in resistance training. A player should be proficient in an exercise before attempting to do a maximum lift. If the player keeps track of the weight being used and challenges himself everyday, he should see progress in strength every few weeks. Not every movement will increase strength but expect some to. Tracking of this progress is also very motivating, getting stronger increases a player's motivation to improve and will increase confidence in his own abilities.

The principle of tracking can also be used for conditioning purposes. Knowing how far and how long it takes to complete drills is just as important for conditioning as resistance training. Knowing these stats can keep the player on track for increasing conditioning and speed of the athlete. We all want to know how fast a player is. But we also want to know how he adapts to conditioning and how much is enough to keep him in peak form before, during, and after the season.

Keeping track of your progress for performance factors is not a new idea. Getting into a routine and making sure you record your progress is a habit that will pay off in confidence as well as increased performance. Recording even your skill sessions will help increase your performance and become more effective in practice sessions. For the last few years I have been working with many players that record everything, and when I say everything I mean everything. They record every swing with a bat, what they were working on, and how successful the session was. They record every ground ball, every throw in practice and special workout sessions. We chart this progress to increase the player’s performance; we know exactly how much work they have done each week. This allows us to increase or decrease special practice time based on the target reps and sets of specific skills. We enter each week knowing what we need to accomplish and then get it done in an organized and effective manner.

To help players and coaches, a few sample record sheets have been posted on the website. These sheets can be printed and used, or serve as a design for your own. Remember if you want to know where you are, you have to know where you have been.

www.baseballstrengthcoaching.com
Go to the Training Resources Page.

Brian Niswender MA,CSCS
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Pay It Forward

2011-12-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it's a little late, but it's worth noting that November was "Inspirational Role Models Month". As I am sitting here contemplating what topic to discuss with you this week, it is no coincidence to me that the Thanksgiving holiday is also in November. In the past couple of months my career has taken another step and of course, I am very thankful for this. But it got me thinking about those who have been very influential to me in my journey and how I attempt and have attempted to pay it forward as I continue.

It goes without saying that my parents have been big influences and role models to me. However, I don't want to turn this article into a mushy dedication. What I would like to do is take you through a somewhat abbreviated tour of how I got to my current place and talk about those who have guided me professionally.

My journey began in high school. I'm not quite sure exactly how I got into it. Perhaps it was because I was a high school athlete who saw the benefits and needs of being in top physical shape to perform my sport and stay healthy. At that time, I worked at a health club which allowed me to trade out my services in exchange for the personal sport coaching that I needed, use of the facility for practice, and eventually personal training and conditioning services. At first, I helped teach group sport lessons and manned the phones and appointment books in the fitness center. Then, I gradually progressed into assisting the fitness professionals and performing personal fitness evaluations. I'm sure it was here that I really began to develop my interest in the fields of sports medicine and sports performance. By my senior year, I had the opportunity to get involved with a personal training and consulting company that, while they made their money on the typical fitness / weight management client, really emphasized the training and conditioning of athletes in the area where I lived. As luck would have it, the company rented a small office at the club and used the fitness center area to train their clients. The owner/president of the company was a man named John Philbin. At the time, he had worked with the Washington Redskins and was currently the Head Coach / Strength and Conditioning Coach for the USA Bobsled Team. He allowed me to shadow him and his staff. They took me completely under their wing and as time went on, I began to be involved much more than just shadowing. It was here that my love for this profession began and grew much more than "What kind of job do I want when I grow up?" It became a passion.

Once I entered college, I was just as determined to learn more about the field. At the time, there were a handful of curriculum education programs. However, the dominant mode of education was the internship or work-study program for athletic trainers. I was relentless. I turned in a resume for application in both the university's athletic weight room and the training room. And for the first month I was on campus, I contacted or visited them almost daily. I was granted a student position in both the weight room and athletic training room. For the remainder of the school year, I proceded to attend class and work. I remember spending an ungodly amount of time at the athletic complex. Needless to say with the stresses of school (obviously there are many adjustments to make your first time away at school) and the stresses of a job, my grades suffered. My superiors in the weight room and athletic training room sent me home for the summer after my freshman year with a decision to make. Having spent the summer returning to my previous mentors from high school, I felt that I had acquired a fairly good background in the strength and conditioning arena. When I returned to school for my second year, I devoted my attention to the sports medicine side. Over the course of the next few years, I was blessed to be taught and mentored by several graduate assistants who came from a variety of backgrounds. As graduate students, they too had very stressful school demands. Yet, they took the time to organize a make shift athletic training curriculum for the student athletic trainers. A couple even went above and beyond to make sure that those of us who were serious about continuing on in the profession received extra attention and mentoring. It was through these young professionals that I really began to see the benefits of a wide range of experiences and began to develop my own philosophy of training.

In the real world (after school), you find mentors everywhere. I've found that the further along I've come to learn that all of my colleagues and co-workers are mentors. Everyone has a different background and set of experiences. It's up to us to take what we can learn from each other, blend what we like and can use, and discard the rest. (Yet, it's important to keep the discarded in the back of your mind - you never know when it might be useful.) This is how we continue to grow, adapt, and mold our professional philosophies. Over the years, I have again been blessed to find individuals and small groups that share my passion. These people have allowed me to continue to enjoy what I do and fuel my desire to get better at it.

How do I pay this type of inspiration forward?

1. Throughout my career I have had the pleasure of corresponding with high school students who are interested in the sports medicine / performance professions. I am always willing to share my story. As an athletic trainer performing high school outreach, I mentored several students and eventually worked with the Health Occupations teacher at the school to develop a pilot High School Sports Medicine Curriculum and team taught this class with the Health Occupations teacher for 2 years.

2. Once I completed my undergraduate degree and became a graduate assistant myself, I made sure that the student athletic trainers that I helped to supervise had the same time of support and learning environment that was provided to me. As the university was looking to maybe one day add an athletic training curriculum and added some of the necessary course work to the catelog, I took it upon myself to help create a clinical learning environment in the athletic training room. We created a clinical competencies program and tried to establish more student oriented learning environment each week when the physicians were around to see injured athletes.

3. Later in my professional career, I have searched for opportunities to present / speak at various conferences and meetings. I try and instigate or spur on informal discussions with individuals / small groups about relevent topics. I have hosted interns. And, it is this desire to "pay it forward" that has led me to co-found BaseballStrengthCoaching.com's web and blog sites.

I know that I have mentioned it before in my blogs, but one mentor of mine in particular - Dr. Jack Hughston - used to say, "If you're green, your still growing. If you're ripe, you're next to rotten." We should never stop trying to learn, grow, and pay it forward.

We should all stop for a moment, take a look at the path we've taken to get to where we are, and remember those who have helped us get there. Then, just as it was important for us to absorb what those mentors taught us, it is important for us to become mentors ourselves and "Pay It Forward". It is only then that we can continue to grow our professions and fuel the fire of those future professionals and leaders.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Using The Off-Season For Professional Growth

2011-11-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

The professional baseball job market has been a focus in the media since the 2011 season ended. Similar to those in the MLB free agent pool, many MiLB strength and conditioning coaches are goal setting in hope of career advancement within a competitive field. Common year-end goals for MiLB strength and conditioning coaches include:

- Obtaining a full-time position with benefits
- Getting promoted in level (i.e. Rookie, Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A, MLB)
- Receiving raises in salary, live-out stipends, and meal money per diem
- Becoming a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator

With career goals in mind, improving your stock within an organization relies upon your ability to perform your job well. The off-season is an ideal time for adding to your skill set. Being proactive towards education and preparation is an effective way to focus on career variables which are in your control.

Continuing Education

The NSCA requires professionals to maintain and report CEU’s every 3 years, which provides added motivation to sign up for a conference or seminar each off-season. Conferences cover a variety of topics, for those wanting to see what has been occurring elsewhere in the field. Whereas, seminars are often focused on a single topic or specialty. Networking can be an added benefit of attending professional meetings.

Learn and apply a new skill or specialty every off-season. Why would anyone ever promote someone who isn’t willing to advance their knowledge?

Program Evaluation

It is important to reflect back on the previous year and determine what went well and what did not. Was there a program or circuit you relied on more heavily than others because it just seemed to work well in the baseball day? Identify that program and use the reasons for its success to develop further tools. Also, did any strength and conditioning coaches in your league use exercises that could be a complement to one of your programs?

Be a good self-evaluator. Make the most of your strengths and resources. Identify and improve upon your weaknesses.

Planning

There is an attitude in professional baseball that because of the rigors of playing every day, the ability to put together a structured strength and conditioning program is limited. Although off-days, rain-outs, day games, fatigue, and injuries can make scheduling in-season training a challenge, the more prepared routines you have ready for the variety of situations that occur, the more comfortable you will be when the situation dictates you need to adjust the schedule on-the-fly. If you have a gym routine you like, ask yourself, what will I do to complete this on the field and/or without equipment available?

Anyone can improvise a routine arbitrarily. The more prepared coach can improvise while remaining goal-oriented, sport-specific, and focused on individual training needs.

Thanks for reading.

Eric McMahon, MEd, RSCC
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Game 6

2011-11-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

If you did not see it, you probably have heard about it. Game 6 of the 2011 World Series was one that will be remembered for a long time. I was one of the fortunate to be there in person.

As a fan of the game, the first seven innings were horrible. The Cardinals had just as many errors as they did hits. They actually looked like little leaguers, dropping fly balls, throwing the ball around everywhere, and lack of communication. After that, everyone decided to show up and play. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions. The air was sucked out of the stadium when the Rangers hit back-to-back homeruns and later demoralized the fans when they tacked on another run an inning later. So much so, the season ticket holders sitting next to me left in the 7th inning (how on earth do you leave a deciding game of the World Series). Personally I was glad. They had nothing positive to say the entire ballgame. They hated the outfielder that dropped the ball. They hated the third baseman that dropped a routine pop fly (who by the way, was electric at the plate the entire postseason) and they swore at the pitcher that didn’t get the lead runner on a bunt play.

How many Cardinal fans were swearing at the outfielder when the ball dropped between he and the shortstop?

Have you ever played the game and yelled at a pitcher to throw a strike? Or scream at the catcher from the outfield to block the ball?

I can go out on a limb and say that the Rangers player did not purposely let that fly ball go over his head and hit the wall. I am pretty confident the Cardinal INF and OF did not miss those balls on purpose. The Cardinal’s catcher did not just let that ball go by him and let a runner move up.

Here is my challenge to you:
Invest in your teammates. I am very fortunate to still get to see this at the level that I work. They are still invested in the outcome of the team just as much as how they perform individually. Your individual success will help the success of your team. If your teammate misses a groundball that could have been a routine double play, but still gets a runner out – tell him nice stop. If your pitcher is struggling to find the strike zone – words of encouragement go much farther than you screaming at him to just throw strikes and kicking the dirt around.
Emotions can get the best of a person in a competitive situation. The really good ones are invested in their teammates and don’t show them up on the field.

Tying into what Brian said last week – watch yourself. Watch yourself, physically and emotionally. I am talking about your body language and your communication.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Watch Yourself

2011-10-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched yourself on video? This can be a very helpful tool in understanding yourself as a baseball player. Video has been used in baseball for decades to break the game and the player down. This tool has been usually used by only professional coaches, but don’t be afraid of taking a look at yourself. When viewing your video go in prepared. Take the instructions that your instructor or coach have been passing on and check yourself out. Be critical, this is the time to do it. Be honest with yourself, and take what you see and transfer it to the field.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder BSC.com

SIMPLE STEPS: HOW TO CHANGE HEALTHY BEHAVIORS INTO NEW HABITS

2011-10-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

People often ask me, “How do I make healthy changes in my diet?” Well, easier said than done, right?

Our daily lives are filled with habits. Your eating and exercise habits determine, to a large degree, how healthy you are and how you perform on any given day. Habits are formed by repetition and some studies suggest you need to do a new habit at least 21 times before the habit becomes automatic.

Changing habits is not that complicated, but the secret is in the simplicity. Focus on changing one habit at a time and write down your plan and what you are going to do to make that happen. Start small. Set your habit change goal and then think through the action steps needed to help you reach it. For instance, if your new habit is to eat more fruit during the off season, then break down the steps you are going to take to achieve that. The devil is in the details. The action steps you might decide on to be successful at eating more fruit are:
1) Buy it at the store;
2) Identify when you are going to eat it; and
3) Decide on how much fruit you are going to aim for in a day and be specific in the amount or daily servings. (Like no less than 2 or 3 1 cup servings each day) And then determine a time frame to practice the new habit and repeat it daily to make it automatic.

Be realistic when setting out to change a habit by considering what is important to you and what is going to help you reach, for instance, your nutrition goals in the off season. Know the benefits you will be gaining from making the change—it helps stay motivated and focused on the prize!

It’s also helpful to think through the barriers you face in making this change or maybe what has stopped you in the past from making the change stick. Decide how you are going to work through these obstacles before you encounter them.

Stay positive and ask for help in forming your new habit. We all need support when doing things differently----maybe a buddy system to hold you accountable. Be patient with the process and you will be successful in making habit changes that last.

In the words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Is there a new eating habit or nutrition goal that you are working on right now?

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Total Health
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Long Toss

2011-10-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

This week, I have decided to post a question and my response from a recent forum post discussion that I was involved in. Feel free to comment and keep the discussion going.

Proposed question / topic: "What is a good way to throw long toss? I've heard many different things. I'm specifically asking whether or not to throw rainbows or line drives once you get to long distances but if anyone has anything to add on the subject, feel free to add in."

My response: "In a nut shell, my philosophy is line drives. Biomechanical research indicates that the rainbow delivery does not mimic the normal delivery and place undue stress on the shoulder and elbow joints. Long toss needs to be viewed as high intensity exercise. When an athlete is in the weight room and working out for power and strength, he will typically perform high weight / low repetition training (i.e. 3-6 reps). I believe that a long toss program should follow this same model. Once the player gets loose, he should gradually progress back performing 3-6 throws at each distance until he can no longer maintain the ball on a line or at the very least 1-hop the ball to his partner. Also, since this is a high intensity activity, care should be taken to monitor the number of times per week this is done. During the off-season a maximum of 3-times per week is appropriate. However, during the pre-season (once bullpen sessions become more frequent) and in-season, a maximum of 2-times per week may be more appropriate depending on the pitcher's outing frequency and workload."

Below is a link to an article at www.BaseballStrengthCoaching.com that addresses throwing programs:

The Throwing Conditioning Program

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Take A Moment

2011-09-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

Why do playoff games take so long? Why to Yankee vs. Red Sox games take so long? The answer is the title of this article…Take A Moment.

The casual baseball fan gets frustrated with the down time during the game, like the time between pitches. For the more intense fan, the time between pitches can be the most interesting. Notice what the players do between pitches. Do they change their routine? Do they take more or less time? In pressure situations, like the playoffs of a Yankee vs. Red Sox game, the time between pitches increases. Why? The pitcher and hitter need to take a moment.

This moment allows the players a chance to process all of the distractions and get down to what matters, the execution of the play. The distractions increase as the pressure increases. Examples include: more crowd noise, colder weather, knowing the importance of each play, and more detailed scouting reports.

What can you learn from this? When pressure comes, take a moment. Use it to take a deep breath or focus on something small. Use a pressure moment to learn how to gather your thoughts when you need them most. No matter what the outcome, if you can gather your thoughts you are on the way to a solid mental approach.

Matt Krug, MA
Sport Psychology Consultant

End of Season Training Strategies

2011-09-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

With the playoffs upon us in the Minor Leagues, our role as strength and conditioning coaches changes from earlier in the season. Just as marathon runners and elite weightlifters taper training volume in preparing for competition, steps should be taken to ensure the optimal performance of baseball players when winning matters most.

Two goals for end-of-the-season training are:

(1) Maintain or improve the team energy level into September; and
(2) Be proactive towards overuse injuries which can cause players to miss time.

Maintaining the Team Energy Level

One misconception is that baseball is not a taxing sport on its athletes. With only 5-10 days off over a 140 game regular season, fatigue is a major factor during August and September. A 6-month in-season period is too long to be a single training phase. Therefore, the traditional model of “in-season vs. off-season” training does not apply in professional baseball.

Using a tapered volume approach allows players to maintain their energy level to perform with high intensity late in the year. The chart below shows some examples of how volume can be tapered as the season progresses.

Examples of Tapered Volume:
Strength Training Frequency
Early Season = 2 Total Body/wk
Mid-Season = 1.5 Total Body/wk
Late Season = 1 Upper & 1 Lower/wk
Core Lift Repetition Volume
Early Season = 4x 8,6,4,4
Mid-Season = 4x 7,5,3,3
Late Season = 4x 6,4,2,2
Assistance Lift Rep Volume
Early Season = 2-3 x 10
Mid-Season = 2-3 x 8
Late Season = 2 x 6-8
Sprint Pole Interval Volume
Early Season = 10x Poles (2000y)
Mid-Season = 8x Poles (1600y)
Late Season = 6x Poles (1200y)
Sprint Workout Volume
Early Season = 10 x 60y (600y)
Mid-Season = 10 x 45y (450y)
Late Season = 10 x 30y (300y)

The psychological stresses of professional baseball’s schedule mimic an endurance sport, consisting of high volume training ‒ fieldwork, batting practice, throwing, strength and conditioning sessions, and games. The limited time for recovery and sleep, due to night games and travel, requires that coaches be tactful in planning workouts around baseball activity, promote restful sleep habits, and encourage adequate nutrition.

Preventing Overuse Injuries

In the final month of the season, breakdown must be avoided at all cost. The focus shifts from encouraging players to challenge themselves with strength and conditioning sessions to maintaining consistency in corrective exercise and tissue maintenance programs (areas players should keep up with all season). Any workouts during this phase should be volume controlled and not for the purpose of being metabolically taxing.

The following are examples of common end-of-the-year ailments and prevention strategies:

• Aches, Pains, and General Tightness occur when the tissues of the body are placed under frequent stress from activity. Using a rolling device should be a daily occurrence to prevent the buildup of adhesions within the muscular and connective tissues and improve mobility. Contrast bathing is another common strategy to regenerate the tissues of the body.

• Hip and Low Back Pain are common late in the season. Ankle band (mini-bands) walks, quadruped hip mobilities, and glute bridging exercises are low intensity enough to incorporate in the daily team warm-up, and, through activating the glutes, will protect the muscles of the low back from being over-stressed during movement. Athletes with hip flexor tightness and an anterior pelvic tilt are more prone to low back pain.

• Oblique and Intercostal injuries in baseball are most often exposed during the rotational movements of throwing or hitting. Performing multi-planar torso rotations in the daily team warm-up and in medicine ball core routines is an effective strategy to prepare the trunk for rotation. Trunk rotations while pivoting the back foot create a similar range of motion to throwing and hitting.

• Shoulder Pain can most often be avoided through strengthening the rotator cuff and improving scapular control. Shoulder tubing routines and prone body weight scapular stability exercises are efficient and can be performed in the weightroom, training room, or team warm-up.

Other aches and pains do arise throughout the year. However, a focus on players’ most mobile joints, the hips, trunk, and shoulders, will provide a solid injury prevention approach for a team program.

Eric McMahon, MEd, RSCC
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Breaking The Body Down

2011-09-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

Working Smarter, NOT harder.

I am not going to lecture on Crossfit Training, mixed martial arts training, or any other kind of training that you can think of that absolutely can leave an athlete hanging on their knees.

Everyone wants to work smarter, not harder. The body is no different. The body will take the path of least resistance or pain. If the body does this too long, it will develop a movement deficiency. I am going to break the body down into segment s. A joint should be either mobile or stable. If a mobile joint acts as if it is stable, the body is not going to move efficiently. As well as a stable joint that becomes mobile, more serious issues will occur.

Joint by joint from the ground up (unless you are gifted enough to walk on your hands):

Ankle – Mobile
Knee – Stable
Hips – Mobile
Low Back (Lumbar Spine) – Stable
Thoracic Spine – Mobile
Scapular – (Stable - relatively)
Shoulder – Mobile
Elbow – Stable
Wrist – Mobile

Just taking a quick look at the list you will notice that over other joint is mobile. Having adequate mobility in these joints will allow for the body to move more efficiently. When it comes to throwing and hitting a baseball, moving efficiently can aid in the longevity of an athlete.

If the scapula is not stable, then the rotator cuff will not function properly (the rotator cuff comes off the scapula). If the shoulder is not mobile, it won’t be able to handle the demands that are placed on it during the late cocking and acceleration phases of throwing. I could go on and on how one joint can have a negative effect on another.

As an athlete you want to get the most out of your body. It is your own responsibility to know what your body is intended to do or not to do. When your body is not in line with its design, there are reasons for concern. Bottom line, know your body and how it should operate. If you know how it works and shouldn’t work, then you will know when to be concerned.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Center of Mass in Hitting

2011-08-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

I continue to hear arguments to where the weight of a player should be when they hit a baseball, is it out front is it back. The problem as I see it is not where it is from a philosophical stand point but from a scientific stand point. Can we determine where the weight should be based on biomechanics? Let’s take a look at a picture.

I made a few dots to look at an approximate location of the center of mass, they are in orange. The first dot is where the COM basically started and just after the point of impact the COM has moved back. So the COM is behind the front foot, but the majority of the player’s weight is being supported by the front foot as seen in the picture. So here is the contradiction that gets a lot of coaches and players. We want our weight back, but want it on our front foot. This is where a biomechanical explanation can help. In human movement the center of mass

ybe outside the players body and just because the weight of the player is supported by an arm or leg does not mean that is where the weight really lies. I hope that didn’t muddy the water. Just look at the picture, and then take a look at a few more pictures and in the majority of players that are at an elite level you will notice a trend. The trend will be that the COM is behind the front foot, no matter the distribution of the weight in the feet. Teaching a hitter how to control their Center of Mass both in the Performance Training Arena as well as while performing skills will increase the player’s awareness in space and increase cross over to the field.
I have included a variation of an exercise that is highly COM demanding that can increase a player’s power for hitting and lateral movement. The variation is a speed skater movement added to a lateral box hop. As you can see from the picture the players COM is probably outside the body, the weight is on one foot and moving in a lateral direction. If the players weight gets over the foot or drifts over the foot the player looses balance, just like in hitting a baseball. If the player drifts the player in most cases cant stay balanced which decreases his chances to hit.

Have fun with the exercise and take a look at those pictures and start looking at it from a scientific position and many times the problem will take care of it self.

Brian Niswender MA
Co-Founder Baseball Strength Coaching .com

Ingredient Caution: What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

2011-08-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

Recently two elite level athletes tested positive for Methylhexaneamine, (Former American 100 Meter champion Michael Rodgers and Robert Kendrick, American tennis player) a stimulant that is now being put in energy drinks and energy pills for its amphetamine-like affects. 1, 2 Dimethylpentylamine or DMAA, is a potentially dangerous supplement ingredient that comes from a well-known flower---the geranium. The active form of geranium is a potent stimulant that can cause serious health effects like heart palpitations, increased blood pressure and possible heart attacks. It acts similar to ephedra, (now banned) another stimulant partly responsible for the sudden death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler in 2003, from heat stroke.

Last year the World Anti Doping Agency added Geranimine to its list of banned substances. Geranimine gives an adrenaline “rush” that lasts 3-5 hours. Next generation energy drinks (one named Clear Shot) and other dietary supplements like “fat burners” (AMP by E-Pharm) that are marketed to increase concentration and performance, contain this stimulant---often listed as geranium seed or stems on the label. Some energy pills and “party pills” also contain the stimulant and added caffeine, as well. Most of the products out there combine it with caffeine to produce a stacking effect that can potentially be lethal in certain situations. In high temperatures or heat indexes, the dehydrating effect of this combination could have serious health effects for an athlete.

The average high school or collegiate athlete, or any consumer for that matter, would have no idea that this ingredient is powerful and dangerous----especially when taken with alcohol or other prescription drugs. Coaches and trainers working with athletes need to ask athletes on a regular basis what supplements they are taking---or considering taking----and caution them on taking anything that advertises more energy, fat burning or better performance. The safest and most effective way to improve health, energy and performance is via whole fresh foods. And more enjoyable, too!

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Total Health
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Minimizing the Risk of Injury in Little League Players

2011-08-15T23:21:00.003-07:00

It’s that special time of the summer again when young players flock to Williamsport, Pennsylvania in search of the Little League World Series Championship. Watching the games on television, you can’t help but notice the young pitchers and pay attention to how many pitches they throw and the types of pitches they throw. At the youth level, it seems that the pitchers who excel are the ones who are able to learn to throw a breaking ball. At that age, it is difficult for the hitter to recognize and hit that pitch. So, often the pitcher uses the curveball or slider frequently. Recently, in the media, there has been a lot of discussion regarding overuse injuries of the youth pitcher. The conventional wisdom was that throwing the curveball at too early an age would lead to injury in the young pitcher. However, research done by several authors in the past couple of years contradicts that idea.

A couple of studies done by The American Sports Medicine Institute (Birmingham, AL) and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (Farmington, CT) were done to evaluate and compare the biomechanical differences between the fastball, curveball, and change-up pitches. Both studies demonstrated that the stresses to the shoulder and elbow joint were greatest when throwing a fastball as compared to the other types of pitches. The authors concluded that throwing the curveball may not be responsible for the rising injury toll in young pitchers.

So, if it’s not the type of pitch, then what is responsible for what seems like an epidemic of shoulder and elbow injuries in the young baseball athlete? The answer, yet again, may come from research done at ASMI in Birmingham, Alabama. Three main risk factors seem to be more responsible for contributing to a young pitcher’s development of pain and injury: Improper Mechanics, Fatigue, and Overuse.

Improper Mechanics

I’ve wrote about this area in many of my articles and blogs, but it bears repeating again. The overhead pitching motion is a fine-tuned sequence of movements in body segments originating from the lower extremities and pelvis, progressing through the trunk, and culminating in the smaller, less powerful upper extremity structures. The better and more efficient the thrower’s mechanics, the better the chances of reducing stresses on the shoulder and elbow. Mechanical faults that alter the timing of the sequencing of events or place the body in an improper position can result in increased upper extremity forces and torques. These increases in joint stresses can lead to an increase in subsequent risk of injury. Even though the curveball, by evidence of research, is less stress full on the elbow and shoulder than the fastball, the pitch should still be taught by a qualified pitching instructor. Too often, a volunteer coach or parent attempts to introduce the breaking ball to a young pitcher. Without proper knowledge of the pitching motion and the specific grips and key teaching points, the athlete may learn incorrect technique which may surely elevate his risk of potential problems.

Fatigue

The ASMI study notes that young athletes who pitch with arm fatigue or throw more than 85 pitches per game are more likely to require elbow surgery. Younger, less experienced pitchers are unable to maintain their accuracy or level of performance as they become fatigued. The fine-tuned chain of events necessary to execute the throwing motion is altered and creates timing delays and compensations in movement and muscle activation patterns which may ultimately result in an increased risk of injury. Fortunately, many youth baseball programs have adopted limits on pitch counts per outing and mandated specific lengths of rest prior to returning to the mound.

Overuse

Along with the number of pitches per outing, the length of a young player’s “season” also impacts his risk of potential shoulder or elbow injury. Adolescents who pitch more than 8 months out of the year are also several more times likely to require arm surgery. 8 months out of the year?! This seems absurd to me. The Major League Regular Season is only 7 months long and these are mature, seasoned, developed, and conditioned pitchers. If you enjoy playing baseball, that is fantastic! It is a great game. But as a youngster, go out and play other sports too. Learn how to move, run, cut, jump. Develop your overall athleticism. As you get older, then you can begin to focus on a sport that best suits your talents. If it’s baseball and pitching, then having a better foundation of athleticism can only help you.

The moral of the story is that if your son is going to throw the curveball, he should learn how to throw it correctly. It is important to learn how to identify when he is beginning to tire and be sure to allow for adequate rest and recovery between outings. Finally, avoid overuse by allowing your young player to become a multi-sport athlete. This will allow the body physically and mentally rest from the repetitive stresses of baseball and help to develop a better physical foundation for athletic performance.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Approaches to Core Training

2011-08-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

As an incoming college freshman, I was sent a manual through the mail with my football team’s workouts for the summer ahead. The manual was about 75 pages of mostly strength routines and information about the testing we would undergo once we arrived for pre-season training camp. The only core routines were hand-jotted at the bottom of the typed lifting program sheets, on a single line reading, “Abs: 250 reps”. Even at 18 years old, with no formal training in exercise, I remember thinking... Gosh, there’s got to be more to it than that!

What Are the Goals of Core Training?

As with every area of strength and conditioning, the common answer, “To Enhance Performance, and Prevent Injury” applies here. A performance goal of core training is to strengthen and support the middle of the body for improved coordination of the body as a whole. Many coaches aim to prevent injury by adding support to the mid-section’s structural beam, the lumbar spine, by using draw-in and bracing techniques, emphasizing stability exercises (i.e. planks), and ensuring that training does not compromise the natural anatomical arch of the low back. Other considerations may include improving hip mobility or scapulothoracic stability, depending upon how broadly the core is defined in your program.

A Movement Balanced Approach

This approach is about being anatomically balanced in all movement planes. Historically, exercise menus of various sit-ups, crunches, and twists have focused on building the endurance of the abdominal and oblique muscles. The erector spine, quadratus lumborum, and transverse abdominis, for example, have been more often neglected by traditional core routines. There are a few ways to create balanced core routines, either by incorporating all movements of the torso into each core program, or by equally dividing the movements throughout the training week. Here is a list of core movements to build exercise menus upon:

o Flexion: (e.g. Sit-Ups)
o Extension: (e.g. Superman)
o Lateral Flexion and Extension: (e.g. Side Plank Hip Lift)
o Rotation: (e.g. Medicine Ball Side Tosses)
o Low Back Support: (e.g. Supine Dead Bug Progressions)
o Hip Mobility: (e.g. Quadruped Hip Abduction)
o Scapulothoracic Stability: (e.g. Front Plank Scapula Pinch)

The goal is to diversify the types of core exercises being performed, as no one method of core training has been deemed most beneficial in scientific literature.

Rotational Core Training:

There are two predominant approaches to rotational core training: (1) Rotational Power-Endurance, and (2) Anti-Rotation. Rotational power-endurance exercises are dynamic in nature and most often include twisting movements using resistance. Some examples include medicine ball (MB) side tosses, MB standing torso rotations, “Russian twists”, and supine “knee-up” low trunk rotations.

Anti-rotation, or rotational stability, exercises include stability movements of the torso against rotational forces created from the momentum of the limbs. Common examples include, Grey Cook’s kneeling chop and lift exercises (from his menu of FMS corrective exercises), Convertaball twists, cable core presses, and Keiser push-pulls combinations.

What’s the difference… Rotation vs. Anti-Rotation? Rotational exercises train the concentric and eccentric nature of the twisting torso, while anti-rotation exercises are focused at stabilizing the rotation of the spine to best maintain the upright posture of the body. For example, there are anti-rotational elements to many functional single limb weightroom exercises (i.e. one-leg squats or deadlifts, lunges, one-arm presses, etc.). While rotational power-endurance exercises (i.e. MB throws) are excellent to develop rotational range of motion and explosiveness, developing anti-rotational stability should first be addressed to ensure the body can handle the force production of repetitive twisting.

Eric McMahon, M.Ed., RSCC
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

It Is Brutal Hot Outside Right Now!

2011-07-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Just a Friendly Reminder. . .

It is brutal hot outside right now.

CNN reports that the “heat index values” – how it feels outside – have been running over 125 degrees Fahrenheit in the worst areas. The heat index scale is designed to describe how intense heat feels, which includes factors such as humidity.

In working multiple camps this summer – the athletes have not been prepared for this heat. Most of you have already heard all of this, but now would be a nice time for a friendly reminder. As the athletic trainer for these camps, I am not nearly as active as the athletes. However, each day I have easily taken down a gallon of water and a few cups of some sports drink.

Here are some examples of stories that I have heard over the camps:

- Have you drank enough today? “I drank a lot of water. Two or three cups.”

- When’s the last time you have used the bathroom? “”First thing this morning.”

- Have you eaten anything? “I had a couple bananas.”

These are never good signs when it is six o’clock in the evening and people start cramping up during activity.

These are just a few symptoms for dehydration:

- Headache
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Decreases bathroom breaks
- Decreased sweating

If your body is telling you it is thirsty, you are already a little behind when it comes to hydration. Another great way to check your hydration levels is to check the color of your urine. Yes, it sounds pretty nasty, but it is an excellent way to take a quick measure of your hydration levels.

If your urine is pale like lemonade, that’s a sign of proper hydration. If it’s dark like apple sauce, you need more fluids. With proper hydration and a sound diet, most of the time, you will be in good shape.
Use a water bottle that you brought to be your guide through the process. For example – I carry around a half gallon container (yes I get made fun of) throughout the day. It serves as my reference for that days H20 intake. Plus, I would not always bank on water being in the dugout for every game in the summer.

This is information that you should have heard before this point in time. However, each year around this time, the athletes tend to struggle and need a little refresher.

Enjoy what is left of your summer and stay cool.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Get out of the way

2011-07-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Are we getting in the way of true baseball performance training? I have read some very interesting commentaries on some exercises lately and have noticed some teams going to a very none aggressive styles of training, which leads to a very detuned baseball player. Why are we going down these roads? I have been in contact with many baseball strength and conditioning coaches that make comments like, most of the program is prehab, and very basic, but the reason is the funny part. As an organization we don’t want to be doing stuff that can potentially hurt a player. I’m sorry, do we need to wrap these men in bubble rap and play on a marshmallow field. I remember one coach that had a player, a very high prospect, which had a bit of a weight issue. As a pitcher he was progressing, but the teams had figured out that he could not get his big butt off the mound to field a ball, and so started bunting every inning. The strength coach involved started working with the player on basic agility drills and for the few weeks the player had lost a few pounds and gained a little quickness. This came to a halt when the field director attended a game and observed the activities. As he put it, we don’t want to risk him spraining an ankle or something, he just needs to do the basic stuff. REALLY, come on, bubble wrap! How about, can we bench, should we bench as baseball players, and again the funny part is the explanation I get every time I hear this comment. If we take the bar to the chest it puts to much strain on the shoulder, and this same coach will take a player put him in an incline and drop the arms and dumbbells past chest level. Do we not understand some basic mechanics? Just because it is a dumbbell doesn’t mean its ok to do anything we want. Come on, can we stop nit picking on little things that might have happened to one player out of a 1000. Lets get to the nuts and bolts, are the players really getting better or are we getting in the way of true progress and record breaking players (with out enhancement). I pose this to every baseball strength coach out there lets make sure we are not in the way!!!!!!

Brian Niswender
Co Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

WARNING: WHAT YOU EAT—OR DRINK---MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

2011-07-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just when you think you have seen everything the food and drink industry comes up with one more over the top angle to sell their products---no matter what the health cost to the consumer.

Recently the market has been flooded with new drinks and dessert products laced with melatonin—a drug used to induce sleep. You can find it in numerous products like drinks with names like, Dream Water, I Chill, Relax Zen and Drank. These are the anti-energy drinks that are touted to help you relax and, yes, lead you to slumber land quickly. Other companies are getting a piece of the action by putting melatonin in brownies and desserts called, Lazy Cakes, Mary J’s Brownies, Lulla Pies and Kush Cakes. Sold on-line and in stores like 7-11, Walgreens and university bookstores these harmless looking products are not harmless at all---they can have serious effects on those who are tempted to eat or drink them.

Melatonin is a drug and it should not be used in foods or drinks. Melatonin, prescribed in controlled, therapeutic doses can aid sleep effectively, but putting a drug (which is also a hormone) in food products crosses the line, in my opinion. These companies are getting away with this right now because they have put it in desserts and drinks and classified them as dietary supplements, which are not regulated by the FDA. Melatonin has not been approved by the FDA as a food additive so it is neither guaranteed safe, nor effective, in this usage. Bad idea!

This is especially concerning because these products tempt kids who may not even realize or know what they are buying or how it might affect them. One story I read on the web reported a young athlete having this brownie and being unable to go to practice after eating it because he became so sleepy and lethargic. Other reports indicate small amounts of Dream Water, 2.5 ounces is so powerful it can knock a person out cold and cause a “hangover” effect when doses are higher. This sleep-inducing effect can be dangerous to those getting behind the wheel of a car or operating machinery, as well as for athletes headed for training, practice and games. The best approach is to steer clear of these products and be aware of what they look like on the store shelves---they are not your grandma’s brownies!

Putting drugs in food and drinks that taste good promotes overconsumption, which may lead to overdosing of the product and serious consequences for those who consume them. Reading the label is not the answer since these products deliberately disguise the ingredients and make label reading difficult for the consumer. In my view, it’s not reasonable or logical to ask the consumer to police every food or drink on the market to make sure they aren’t containing random drugs, like melatonin. What ever happened to food safety?

Kim Larson, RD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Where Bat Speed Comes From

2011-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Major League All-Star Game is approaching and that means HOME RUN DERBY! This brings up a topic that I discuss often with players and coaches: Where does bat speed come from?

Many players and coaches spend a multitude of their training time emphasizing forearm, wrist, and hand strength and endurance in the belief that “strong hands = greater bat speed”. However, a 2004 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that grip strength and bat velocity are not significantly related. So, where does bat swing velocity come from?

If you subscribe to the kinetic chain model of performance, the movement patterns of the baseball swing and the throw are very similar from the ground to the torso. The basic phases of the swing can be divided into the swing, launch, contact, and finish. The stance is highly individualized and emphasizes comfort and confidence for the hitter. The athlete is relaxed and balanced with a slight flex in his knees and elbow and both eyes on the pitcher. The stride and load take place simultaneously creating rhythm and momentum in order to harness potential energy with the weight back, ready to explode and initiate the swing. The back knee “triggers” the swing and the hand patch is down and directly toward the ball. The hips and torso continue to rotate to the contact point while the hands “stay inside the ball” and continue on the downward approach. The contact point is the strongest position of the swing. The body is balanced with the front side firm and closed while the back knee forms an “L”. The hips and shoulders are level with the chest positioned over the hips. From contact the bat head stays level as the hands drive “through the baseball” to get extension. During the finish, balance is the key.

The development of force and motion illustrated in the baseball swing progresses from the ground to the bat (proximal to distal). Through synergistic force production and interactive moments of the legs and hips and abdominal muscles, energy is stored and the Summation of Speeds creates a transmission of the energy through the core to the upper extremity where it is released through the bat. Placing most of the force development in the central core, allows small changes in rotation around the core to effect large changes in the positioning of the arms and hands. This creates higher angular velocities similar to the cracking of a whip and lets the muscles of the forearms, wrists, and hands be more directed toward precision and control rather than power production.

For those who continue to believe that grip and forearm strength is the key. I agree with you but, not for the same reasons. The baseball season is long. During the season, the typical hitter may take an average of 145 swings per day (early cage work, batting practice, pre-at bat swings, and during their in-game at-bat). The bat may weigh anywhere from 32-34 ounces. Over the course of a season, the hands get fatigued. It is important to maintain strength-endurance of the forearm, wrist, and hand muscles in order to prevent and limit fatigue. Particularly, because as discussed, the last link in the chain is the hands. If the precision and control muscles are not doing their job because their “tired”, then the maximum power and force cannot be transmitted through the bat to the ball.

Unfortunately many of the fallacies in baseball training programs continue to be taught to our younger players. It is important to remember that for the purposes of generating bat swing velocity and power, emphasis should be placed on the lower extremity and core rather than an over abundant amount of wasted time strengthening the forearms and grip.

Suggested Reading:

Hughes SS, Lyons BC, Mayo JL. Effect of grip strength and grip strengthening exercises on instantaneous bat velocity of collegiate baseball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2004; 18(2): 298-301.

Kibler WB, Press J, Sciascia A. The role of core stability in athletic function. Sports Medicine. 2006; 36(3): 189-198.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Warming-Up: Too Much vs. Not Enough

2011-06-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

The pre-game warm-up is one of the more contentious issues in high level athletics. A recently published article in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggested that power performance may be best served by a shorter, lower-intensity warm-up routine (Tomaras & MacIntosh, 2011). The researchers compared sprint cyclists performing two warm-up routines: (1) A 50 minute routine, progressing from 60-95% HRmax and ending with four sprints; and (2) A 15 minute routine, ranging from 60-70% HRmax, and ending with a single sprint. The researchers found that the shorter warm-up resulted in significantly less muscle fatigue and a higher peak power output.

Sprint cyclists and baseball players are different in countless ways. However, the researchers were effective in demonstrating that warm-up efficiency and recovery are important consideration for coaches before a game. Here are a few strategies for warming-up your position players, to prevent injuries, optimize performance, and prevent excessive fatigue.

Keep Players Moving:

Warm-up routines are not to be confused with static stretching routines for improving flexibility. Most of the benefits of a good warm-up (i.e. ↑ contraction speeds, ↑ movement economy, ↑ oxygen utilization, ↑ neuromuscular transmission, and ↑ muscle metabolism), derive from increasing the body’s heart rate, blood flow, and temperature of the muscles. The dynamic, or moving, portion of the warm-up (i.e. jogging, shuffling, carioca, squatting, lunging, arm circles, etc.) should make up the majority of the time allotted.

Keep Players On Their Feet:

Unless you are warming up a wrestling team, transitioning the team from standing, to sitting, to prone, and back to standing again takes up valuable time that players could be performing more sport-specific exercises. Baseball-specific exercises, including running mechanics drills, cross-over starts, torso twisting, and throwing, should be performed to facilitate the motor unit recruitment needed for maximal game performance. With the exception of sliding, baseball is always performed on your feet!

Progress Simple to Complex, Slow to Fast:

Warm-up routines should be progressed from smaller and slower, less taxing, movements, to more complex, faster, movements to ensure the safety of each exercise being performed. After a general warm-up, closed-chain dynamic flexibility exercises are most effective in reducing muscle stiffness while requiring the muscles to remain active in supporting the weight and posture of the body. Plyometric exercises (i.e. skipping, bounding, jumping, throwing, and swinging) should be performed towards the end of the warm-up to ensure that the muscles have been activated properly to sustain the eccentric stresses of decelerating the body.

Begin 30 Minutes Before The Game:

This amount of time allows for a general and dynamic warm-up to be completed with a coach in the first 8-10 minutes, throwing and sprint work in the middle 10-12 minutes, and individual preparation (i.e. extra stretching, mental focusing, etc.) in the 10 minutes leading up to the game. Not all athletes have the same weaknesses and imbalances. Nor do all athletes require the same level of muscle activation to perform optimally or injury free. Allowing a few extra minutes for players to mentally focus on the game ahead, get a drink, or relax is often overlooked when putting together the pre-game schedule.

Keep 3 Goals In Mind:

In professional baseball, most players have been active much of the day prior to the game. As long as players (1) Break a sweat by getting their heart rate up, (2) Alleviate any tightness in the hips, torso, and shoulders, and (3) Progress to game speed running, throwing, and swinging, they are likely doing enough to prepare the body.

Quality Not Quantity:

Focusing on dynamic, multi-joint, and baseball-specific movements can improve the quality of a pre-game warm-up. Excessively long or fatiguing warm-up routines should be avoided to promote season-long success.

Cited Source:
Tomaras, E. K. and MacIntosh, B. R. (May 2011). Less is More: Standard Warm-up Causes Fatigue and Less Warm-up Permits Greater Cycling Power Output. Journal of Applied Physiology, Published online ahead of print, link: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00253.2011.

Eric McMahon, M.Ed., CSCS
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Staying In The Moment

2011-06-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a really long baseball season. I hardly remember the first talk coach had at the beginning of the season. I do remember him writing on the board “8/25 - ??.” Those question marks are a symbol of the end of the season.

The nice thing about the beginning of the season is that most everybody has those questions marks that will end of their season. The beginning of the school year means fall baseball, inter squads that seem to never end, six a.m. workouts that make you want to throw up, and what seems to be the endless amount of drills that make you think that the spring season will never arrive.

You take a deep breath and the spring season has finally begins and everyone has a new life. Multiple outings for the bullpen pitchers, high pitch counts for the starters, catchers beaten and bruised, and position players that have legs that feel like lead.

You have put all the work in to make it to this point. The post season has arrived (and probably gone) for some of you. Those endless hours have got you to this point, because not everyone makes it to this point. Although you still have work to be done, stay in the moment. Use those positive experiences of the past (those workouts and endless scrimmages) to guide you through to a positive ending. You might be experiencing some things in the postseason that you have not been through – that’s ok. Guess what – the baseball is still round and the infield is still going to have the same dimensions. You are still going to tie on the cleats and play the game as hard as you can. So sit back for a minute and enjoy the moment. The game is the easy part - dealing with the external activities is what gets everyone.

Sorry to keep this short. My team has a practice to go to in Omaha . Wish me luck.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Dishing Up Dietary Advice With A New Plate

2011-06-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Does your plate look like MyPlate? The new Choose MyPlate graphic officially replaced the Food Guide Pyramid on June 2, 2011 when the United States Department of Agriculture announced that the pyramid was out the door. Many of my colleagues and friends agree that the pyramid concept of showing how to eat healthy was pretty confusing for most consumers.

In my opinion, the new plate showing how each of the food groups should be positioned on a real plate is much more user friendly, since we all eat from a plate. Consumers and families, as well as the athlete, can benefit from seeing the balance needed in our daily meals using healthy foods from fruit, vegetables, grains, protein foods and dairy. The plate shows the ratio of the foods that we should aim for, but does not quantify the portions each person needs to meet their calorie needs. Therein lies what may become an issue for many with this oversimplified approach. How do you feel about the new MyPlate visual? Does it help you make better decisions with your food choices?

The main messages to guide you to a healthier plate are as follows:

Balance Calories
• Enjoy your food, but eat less and avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
• Make at least half your grains whole grains
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk

Foods to Reduce
• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals---and choose the foods with lower numbers
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks

This advice, promoting simple but effective changes, will help direct food choices toward quality, variety and an array of powerful nutrients needed for good health and performance. Compare your plate to MyPlate next time you sit down for a meal! Learn more at www.choosemyplate.gov.

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Recovery from Baseball Activities

2011-06-06T16:46:00.001-07:00

Recovery from a baseball game is easy. Let’s take a look at the facts. How long is the typical baseball game, at the pro level 3 to 3.5 hours, college 3 hours, high school 2 to 2.5 hours, little league 1 to 2 hours. These are just rough estimates but for the most part pretty fair, how much time minus the starting pitcher is there activity? Let’s break that down. Typically a player will get 3 to 4 at bats per game, and let’s say that each player will see on average 7 pitches per at bat. That gives the player 21 pitches to focus, swing and potentially get a hit. If that player gets just one hit in the game they will be batting .333. This player will now only have to run the bases once and the chances the player gets all the way around and scores are slim, considering that most baseball games are in the single digits. The maximum the player will run around the bases is 360 feet or 120 yards, basically the full length of a football field. How about running on defense? In the infield, if the player can cover 5 to 7 yards on either side of the position, the defender is doing good. That means the player covers 40 total feet. In most cases a player will get 7 or fewer balls hit to them per game. So, if they covered the total area just to one side of their position the player may run 140 feet in a game, or about 40 yards. Outfielders, on the other hand, must cover more space so we will go as high as 50 feet either side of the position. Again, if the player makes 7 plays, the player would potentially cover about 350 feet or about 116 yards. Let’s put this in context, on average let’s say the outfielder will be asked to run at 100% 240 yards in a typical game, the infielder will be asked to run 160 yards in a typical game. In most cases not even half of a lap on a track. So is the game really physically grueling, meaning energy expenditure and calories lost from activity high? The truthful answer is no, but why is the game so exhausting.

I’m going to throw something out there that not many coaches that I have been in contact with talk about, mental recovery. What is mental recovery? The ability of the mind to come back to a resting state is the best way I can describe this mechanism. Training a player to calm the mind,rest the thoughts, and allow the body to recover and heal from day to day activities. All the physical recovery is still very, very important. The body needs fuel and hydration and with out them the mind cannot focus. But, there is a lot of information on this type of recovery. I just want to get this concept out in the open and if anyone has been doing any work on this please let me know, we have started to do some work with this concept and so you may be hearing more from us in the future.

Brian Niswender MA, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

The Great Mask Debate

2011-05-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

It doesn’t take much to see the public’s increased awareness about the dangers and long-term effects of concussions in sport. Just read the paper or search the web and you’ll see where a state legislature or local school district has passed a law or approved a new rule regarding testing and return to play guidelines following a mild traumatic brain injury.

Likewise, the sport of baseball has also updated with the times. This season, Major League Baseball implemented the 7-Day Disabled List to be used exclusively with those players diagnosed with a concussion. MLB has also tightened its diagnosis and return to play guidelines. Both a physical exam and neuro-psychological testing that must be submitted to the league’s medical director prior to a player’s clearance to return to play.

With all the increased awareness, one of the first lines of defense in the prevention of these injuries is still the protective equipment. The catcher in baseball is perhaps the most susceptible to repetitive trauma both from foul tips and the hitter’s backswing. There are typically two types of masks that that a catcher uses: the traditional cage and helmet, and the hockey-style.

Currently, there is no published study that distinguishes one mask as better than the other. Students in an Experimental Mechanics Class at Kettering University have been working to find an answer. After testing both mask styles for frontal impact (simulating a foul tip) and side impact (representing a backswing impact), the students concluded “Overall, the testing would support the theory that a traditional style catcher’s mask would protect better against a foul-tip and a hockey style catcher’s mask would protect better against a hitter’s backswing.”

As a sports medicine provider who works with the baseball athlete, it has been my experience that far more foul tips are experienced than backswings. Although the engineering students suggest that the traditional mask system needs to be improved in the area of the helmet, I would still recommend the traditional cage system over the hockey-style mask for the prevention of repetitive trauma to catchers and umpires.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Gaining Early Professional Experience

2011-05-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

In any field of work there is a progression that takes place from learning the trade to operating independently. As strength and conditioning coaches we are very familiar with this process, having navigated our early careers as volunteer and interns before earning any compensation for our work with athletes. I have been very fortunate this season to have an intern working with me and my team for the first time. My goal in taking on an intern has been to make the experience beneficial for both of us. I can accomplish more with an assistant than I can alone. He can learn the duties and responsibilities of the field and gain experience working with high-level athletes. In becoming a mentor, I have realized quickly that mentorship is just as important a part of my career as were the times when I was volunteering to gain early professional experience. Looking back on some of the key points taken from my mentors has helped me in providing further perspective to my intern this season.

Professionalism- First and foremost, professionalism is a given requirement of any coaching position. The media is filled with examples of coaches who have overstepped their bounds or have acted inappropriately and have lost their jobs. However, the basis of professionalism is presentation. As an intern, present yourself as clean, organized, and on-time and you will be viewed as reliable. Your co-workers and athletes will assume you know the plan for the day and that you can assist them. The majority of internships in strength and conditioning will require you to tuck your shirt in. This can be a little strange at first when your work attire is shorts and a t-shirt. Get used to it. You will be the best looking one in the room!

Drills and Skills- Young coaches rely on their education to implement the drills they know, while veteran coaches rely on their experience to determine which drills work best for the team. As an intern, having an open mind is key in the progression from the text book to the field. Remember that not all drills work well in a team setting or are possible (or safe) due to equipment limitations. When given a choice of what drill to implement, ask first, “What skill am I aiming to improve?” and second, “How does this drill fit in the overall training plan?” Transition time and set-up are primary factors in determining which drill fits when.

General Career Advising- I first learned about what it took to become a strength and conditioning coach by searching for job postings in the field that I was interested in. Ultimately, this searching led me towards obtaining CSCS and USA Weightlifting credentials and a graduate degree. As a mentor, I try to look back on my educational experience and remember why I made the decisions I did. The process would seem black and white ‒ I was taking the next step towards my career with each college class, certification, personal training position, internship, and coaching position. At the time, however, there was definitely some grey. I took my first fitness position during my college summers, so that I would get a free gym membership to train for my upcoming football season. I took my first anatomy class because I thought I wanted to go to medical school. I performed an internship in cardiac rehabilitation before I decided that I wanted to work with athletes. Sometimes the professional choices we make are not on a career track, but rather a life track. As I have gotten older this has become more and more true. Focusing on your interests and skills is the best place to begin any career.

Eric McMahon, MEd, CSCS
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Statistically Speaking...

2011-05-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

I am going to go out on a limb and say that there is something wrong with your shoulder. You probably throw a baseball more than 100 times a day for 9 or 10 months out of the year. You have probably been throwing a baseball since you were 5 or six years old.

Check these out if you get a chance – just read the abstracts:

Wright, RW, Steger-May, K, Klein, SE. Radiographic findings in the shoulder and elbow of Major League Baseball pitchers. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2007 Nov; 35(11):1893-43.

Fredericson M, Ho C, Waite B, Jennings F, Peterson J, Williams C, Mathesonn GO. Magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities in the shoulder and wrist joints of asymptomatic elite athletes. PM R 2009 Feb;1(2): 107-16.

Miniaci A, Mascia AT, Salonen DC, Becker EJ. Magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder in asymptomatic professional baseball pitchers. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2002 Jan-Feb;30(1):66-73

The same thing can be said about the knees and backs. It would probably take about one google medical search that takes .000005 seconds to find articles saying the same thing about the knee and back.

I say this because the majority of you have had shoulder trouble at some point in time. If it persists, you need to go talk to an educated individual. When it comes to an overhead athlete – you need to talk to the right kind of physician. Your family physician is really smart – don’t get me wrong. However, he might panic when he sees damage to the rotator cuff and some fraying of the labrum. I would highly recommend talking to a physician that has some experience with the overhead athlete - an orthopeadic/sports medicine physician.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Are you coo-coo for coconut water?

2011-05-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

Coconut water is all the rage right now and everyone, including Hollywood stars and some athletes, are going coo-coo over it. What’s the big draw? After tasting the Zico brand last week while on a road trip in California, I can honestly say it may not be the taste or the mouth feel. I truly am a coconut lover, but the slippery liquid with the off-coconut flavor isn’t something I could enjoy drinking—for pleasure, thirst or during exercise for hydration.

The health and nutrition claims certainly draw you in. The Zico brand label states Zico pure premium coconut water is, “A miracle of hydration and replenishment with 5 essential electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus) and more potassium than a banana (Ok, true: 569mg vs. 560mg---but, really?) Zico assures rapid hydration and replenishment and has zero fat and cholesterol.” Not sure where the fat and cholesterol content factors in to its importance as a drink, other than to tell us that it does not contain any coconut oil.

Coconut water is the liquid inside young coconuts and for the first time, about 10 years ago, it was given the patent to bottle it in a way that preserves its nutrients—although they do vary among the fruit. That said, the calcium, phosphorus, magnesium are in very small amounts (30 mg calcium vs. 300 mg in 8oz of skim milk) and the potassium contained is about the same as in an equivalent amount of skim milk, as well. The high potassium content can lead to diarrhea and other GI issues, so not a great choice for athletes in intensive or endurance sports especially.
Zico is one coconut water that is enriched with sodium so it’s sodium content is about the same as an equivalent amount of skim milk or even Gatorade. From a rehydration standpoint, that is the biggest plus about the the Zico Coconut Water for use during or after exercise. Many of the other coconut waters on the market have too little sodium for them to be an effective rehydrator. Its sugar content is about the same as Gatorade so it’s low in sugar and in the right concentration for use during exercise.

There are no scientific published studies to back up the claims that it is a good sports drink. So don’t believe all you see or hear from Hollywood movie stars about a new drink or food..….it could be someone just going coo-coo for no reason at all.

Kim Larson, RD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Use Video for Performance Skills

2011-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Coaches have been using video for many years to help players work on their skill development, things like hitting and pitching, but what about other skills like squatting, stealing, and agility. Using video to evaluate any skill can help the coach or trainer increase production from the player. The video can also be saved and re-evaluated when needed, and used to demonstrate progress.

In the last 10 years functional movement assessments have moved to the fore front and many trainers and strength coaches have been using these types of evaluations to judge the starting point of some athletes programs. These are great tools for evaluating an athlete’s movement skills and great information for the performance staff, but can the athlete or coach understand what we are looking for in the terms we use as professionals? Video in many instances can bridge the gap in understanding for the athlete and coach. Showing an athlete how he or she moves can help them understand what they are doing in space. This understanding can have great impact on the progression an athlete has. I know that nearly every trainer has been frustrated when correcting an athlete’s form and they reply by saying that’s what I was doing, the video doesn’t lie.

We have been recently using video in all of our new functional assessments and have had great successes with understanding from both coaches and players. In our evaluation procedures we use movements like the deep overhead squat, lunging, broad jump, vertical jump, pro agility, and sprinting just to name and few. In all these evaluations we use video to not only give us another eye, but to demonstrate to the athlete things that we see as potential problems or skills we need to work on.

Using video is not just for specific skills like hitting and pitching, but can be very helpful in helping athletes and coaches understand what an athlete is doing and how we can change it. Get that camera out and see how this tool can help you as a performance staff member as well.

Brian Niswender, MA
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

The art and science of at-bat music - Minor Leaguers give a great deal of though to their tunes

2011-04-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

04/29/2011 10:00 AM ET
By Benjamin Hill / MiLB.com

The increasing prevalence of baseball walk-up songs -- and the public's fascination with them -- isn't difficult to understand. There are very few occupations in which one's introduction is accompanied by the swagger-inducing backbeat of a favorite tune.
"What would your walk-up song be?" has therefore become a common question amongst baseball fans, one that leads to endless thought, debate and consideration (feel free to add your own opinions in the comments section or on MiLB.com's Facebook page). And, not surprisingly, the players themselves usually approach the topic with the same amount of careful consideration.

Music is a powerful thing, after all, and the proper selection could be the difference between a warning track flyout and a game-deciding home run. You never know.

He's the man

When it comes to unique walk-up songs, it would be hard to top the annual selections of Indianapolis Indians third baseman Josh Harrison. Since his freshman year of college, the 23-year-old Pirates prospect has approached the plate while custom-written tunes blast over the stadium PA.

"Other guys might have to figure out what to walk up to, or might want something that someone else has, but I don't have to worry about that," said Harrison. "My brother does mine."

The sibling in question is older brother Shaun, an amateur rapper and producer whose most recent compositions include "I Ball" and "I'm Da Man." Harrison is alternating between the two this season in Indianapolis, with the latter a popular holdover from his 2010 campaign with the Double-A Altoona Curve.
"Looky looky look at me! Ain't I fresh as I can be? Still I prevail when they test and throw the best at me. Cuz I'm the man. I'm the man. You can tell from my stance I'm the man."

The combination of such strut-worthy lyrics with a giddily propulsive beat quickly made "I'm the Man" a Blair County Ballpark favorite as the Curve proceeded through an Eastern League championship season.

"It definitely surprised me," said Harrison of the song's popularity. "Fans were starting to ask me where it came from, and when I would tell them my brother made it, they'd be like 'Well, where can I get it?' But it's just something [Shaun] does in his free time -- he loves to make music. I've never had any teammates ask if he could make a song for them too, but you never know."

And while the insistent repetition of the words "I'm the Man" indicates a somewhat immodest approach, Harrison makes clear that the song helps to establish the proper at-bat mindset.

"There's a lot of confidence and swagger, but you have to have confidence in the way you carry yourself. Otherwise you won't make it in this game," he said. "And I'm very big on family, so to hear something that my brother wrote helps me stay in the right frame of mind. It relaxes me."

Democracy in action

Earlier this season, Altoona starting pitcher Jeff Locke walked to the plate to a team-selected Lil Jon song. He was less than thrilled with the experience.

"I'm a New Hampshire guy, I'm not familiar with rap," said Locke, a proud resident of North Conway. "I decided that if there was going to be music, it was going to be music that I wanted to hear."

So Locke came up with a thoroughly modern-day solution to his walk-up angst: he logged in to Twitter to solicit suggestions from his followers. What resulted was a deluge of recommendations, many of which were from New Hampshire friends, family and former teammates.

"I wanted a song that would mean more to me than a 'rah rah woo woo' kind of thing that gets a guy pumped up. I wanted something that would make me relaxed," he said. "And so many of my friends and family back home knew I was really into Dave Matthews Band -- for my birthday this past November I got tickets to their final show at [TD] Garden. ... I like to play the guitar as well. I'm not that good at it, but it's something I like to have fun with."

A Twitter consensus was eventually reached, and Locke's new song is a live Dave Mathews version of the iconic "All Along the Watchtower." But the work wasn't done yet. After an extensive period of focused listening and a brainstorming session with teammate Jeremy Farrell, Locke determined that the track should start precisely at the 3:48 mark. That's the snippet of music that will be heard at Blair County Ballpark this season, not only when Locke bats but also when he takes the pitcher's mound.

"A lot of starting pitchers want their walk-out music to start at the start of a song. That makes sense, they're starting pitchers," said Locke. "I'm a starting pitcher too, but if I did that there wouldn't be any music. It would just be fans yelling for the first 25 seconds."

Now that Locke has found what seems to be an ideal choice, he plans on keeping it for a long time to come.

Probably.

"It's really nice to have something that no one else has, instead of the same old country, or the same old rap," he said. "I think this is going to stick with me for a while, unless I start getting hit all over the park."

(Almost) Anything goes

Of course, walk-up music presents many opportunities for comedic ballpark moments. A prime example comes from Kevin Huisman, a veteran of Minor League front offices who in 2006 worked in the Stockton Ports control room.

"Tommy Everidge, our first-baseman, decided that he wanted the New Kids On the Block's 'The Right Stuff' as his walkup song," wrote Huisman in an email. "We were all a little surprised, but the first time we ran it, [relief pitcher] Scot Drucker made it his mission to have a good time with it. Our bullpens at Banner Island Ballpark were out behind the left field wall, with chain-link fencing allowing the fans to see in. Well, it started with Scot and one or two other guys waving their arms when the song came on. Then some of the fans caught on. "By shortly after the All-Star Break, the guys in the bullpen would be sitting on the two rows of bleachers in the bullpen, and coordinating synchronized arm waving, with the front row going one way and the back row going the other way. The fans loved it, and I think it fueled Tommy's performance that season, as well."

Drucker, a 2010 Toledo Mud Hen who will soon be suiting up for the independent Grand Prairie Air Hogs, has fond memories of those Stockton days.

"I don't know how fond the coaches and manager were of us doing that, especially if we were losing, but we generally picked the right times to do it," he recalled. "Tommy was a stocky guy, and he looked pretty funny when he ran. So me being a prankster, I would try to get the soundboard guys to play the 'Super Mario Brothers' theme song whenever he drew a walk."

Drucker often takes a similarly light-hearted approach with his own selections. In Toledo last season, he dusted off the New Kids On the Block once again and took the mound to the saccharine sounds of "Step By Step."

"Oh, yeah, I've got to make fun of myself as well," he said. "I've seen it all. Some guys want to take a comical approach, others need something that's going to get them all fired up for 10 seconds. It doesn't matter, really, as long as it's clean."

The final word

John Foreman, the Altoona Curve's Director of Creative Services, is in charge of determining if his player's requests are indeed "clean."

"Even if a clean version of a song exists, that doesn't always mean it's necessarily ballpark appropriate," said Foreman, who handles nearly every aspect of the team's walk-up requests. "If I'm able to, I'll edit out [offending] words myself, or maybe ask the player if we can start at the second verse instead of the first."

Foreman previously worked for the Class A Short-Season State College Spikes, and he notes that players at that level were far more likely to change up their choices throughout the season.

"I think that maybe, at this level, the fans are more likely to identify with a player through what song he's chosen," he said. "A lot of people in the crowd, not to mention gameday employees, know who's coming up before they even hear a guy's name. As soon as they hear the song, they know exactly who it is."

And as for what those songs might be, it really depends on the player's background.

"You definitely see more rap and hip-hop than anything else, but the guys from Texas are more likely to choose country, and the guys from Latin America are going to go with Latin music," said Foreman.

What it all adds up to is an increasingly entrenched part of the ballpark experience, one that Drucker summarized thusly.

"Knowing a song is coming can help you focus, and some guys do think it gives them a little something extra," he said. "It's a nice routine to have, as long as you don't go too crazy with it, and something that the fans can relate to."

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

A New Attitude

2011-04-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

As an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach, my role is to prevent injuries and enhance performance through the improvement of overall and sport-specific athleticism. Since I started my career in the strength and conditioning realm, my tendency is to attack injury prevention and reconditioning from a performance training philosophy. As I entered the athletic training field, I found myself approaching performance enhancement through functional / injury prevention strategies.

I’m old enough that my education seemed to be set against the backdrop of the “old school” tough love approach and the transition into the “new school” evidence-based approach to training / reconditioning. So, I understand when players make comments like, “My goal is to stay out of the training room this year.” Or, when coaches chide a player for being on the treatment table or in the whirlpool tub, I can relate to the coaching philosophy. But, at the same time, I can understand the big picture of the sport-specific dynamics and my role in the sports performance team.

Baseball is primarily a repetitive stress and overuse injury type sport. An athlete who avoids the training room because of pressure or the belief that if he reports a complaint, then the athletic trainer will keep him off the field is backward. The opposite is routinely true. When a player waits to report an injury that began as a nagging little discomfort and has progressed to a more significant pain that hinders or affects his performance on the field, it’s too late. By then, the athletic trainer or medical professional often has no other recourse than to “shut down” the player from activity to allow for rest, healing, and recovery. When in reality, early communication and assessment between the athlete and the athletic trainer could more than likely allowed for continued sports participation while at the same time addressing the physical needs of the injury.

We need a new attitude.

When I meet with my teams and newly arriving players, I feel that it is important to stress my underlying philosophy that the athletic training room should be viewed as an extension of the weight room and ultimately, the field. As I mentioned, my role is to help players stay on the field and perform at their optimal level. When the sports medicine team has a strong understanding of the sport-specific needs of the athlete from an injury prevention and performance standpoint, programs can be adjusted and fine-tuned through specific techniques in the training room. Therefore, the athlete can get the most out of their performance training and this training can hopefully provide greater carryover on the field.

What about “The Training Room Rat”?

Besides the athlete who needs encouragement to approach the medical team and communicate small issues before they become large, there is the other end of the spectrum that consists of the player who is constantly requesting and needing attention. The role of the athletic trainer in this case is to provide education and initial guidance to allow the player to transition to the weight room and become an active participant in his performance training programs.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Developing Our Coaching Language

2011-04-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

As modern day strength and conditioning coaches we seek out our information in many places… Journal articles, colleagues, blogs, magazines, YouTube, Google, and countless others. Our ability to share and acquire new training techniques is greater than it has ever been before. As a result, we must be more critical than ever in planning to ensure that the exercises we choose for our athletes are appropriate, effective, and taught correctly.

Last month, I read a blog post by Vern Gambetta titled, “Pedagogy – The Foundation of Coaching” (www.functionalpathtrainingblog.com; March 8, 2011). In summary, Coach Gambetta believes that coaching and teaching are synonymous, and that his generation of coaches, before ours, benefitted from being trained and assessed as teachers and instructors. For those who don’t know, Coach Gambetta was trained to be a physical education teacher and has published a variety of articles on teaching speed mechanics to athletes. Being taught to teach (i.e. lesson planning, organizing groups, where to stand, speaking effectively, and demonstrating exercises systematically) is an area that many young coaches have scarcely covered in today’s exercise science based curriculums. In any philosophy of coaching, choosing effective language is the key to portraying the importance and goals of the methods we implement.

One challenge we face is that the professional language of the strength and conditioning field (used in journals and text books) is over-scientific for most of the players, hitting coaches, and pitching coaches who we work with on a daily basis. Over-coaching athletes with lengthy scientific exercise descriptions and difficult to read training programs can create confusion among players who are seeking simple solutions to improve their performance and technique.

Every year players bring me programs from their off-season trainers which are difficult to read and implement in any setting other than the facility where they were designed. Sadly, the players who pay for these routines often do not fully understand the programs themselves and are coming to ask what a particular exercise is or why they are performing it. Is this confusion really necessary, or would we all be better served by choosing simpler and more consistent language with our athletes?

My advice for coaches is to use the simplest and most efficient training cues possible. Most coaches can write programs for developing strength, losing body fat, and/or improving speed and agility. However, all effectiveness will be lost if the coaching verbiage does not resonate with the athlete. I would like to conclude this post with a quote.

“How you coach is as important as what you coach.” –Vern Gambetta

Eric McMahon, MEd, CSCS
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Listen – it’s your body, not mine.

2011-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have sat through a number of clinic visits and physician’s visits since becoming an Athletic Trainer. There is one thing that has always entered my mind when I sit in the office with my student athletes.

Where is the communication?

I have listened to copious amounts of talking by the physician and not much by the athlete. After the visit is over the athlete usually starts firing off one question after the other on the way out the physician’s office.

In the past, it was accepted that whatever a physician said was the end all be all. If the physician said, “take two of these and call me in the morning,” that’s what you did and you didn’t question it. For example, I had an athlete that had a visit with a soft tissue specialist. I was not able to go with the athlete, but I have worked with the soft tissue specialist in the past – so I knew I would get details from the visit one way or another. However, when the athlete returned from the visit he could tell me nothing about it. I asked what he did and the athlete could not tell me anything!

I have been an advocate of being an informed patient since I have been an Athletic Trainer. I don’t expect you do be able to recite Gray’s Anatomy or have a detailed Biomechanics lecture after a visit with the physician - but you can’t exit the room and just say “I am not sure what he just did.”

As an athlete, at any level, you need to have an understanding of what the physician is talking about when it comes to your health and well-being. Ask the essential questions. What? Why? How? What can I do? Why did you give me this pill? What’s it going to do? Don’t sit back and just accept what the physician has to say. I am not saying you have to challenge the physician’s recommendations, but get the reasons behind why they recommend it.

Be an informed patient – it will help you out in the long run.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Plyometrics for Baseball

2011-03-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Over the years plyometrics have been named many different things from reactive training, explosive training, to neuromotor reactive training. No matter the name the priciples are the same if it is truly plyometrics, and for the sake of argument we will continue to use plyometrics for this specific training style in this blog. So the question is what is plyometrics?
One of the best explanations I have found explains plyometrics as: the ballistic actions which exploit the stretch-shortening cycle; exercises aimed at improving elastic/ reactive qualities of strength.(Radcliffe) These type of exercises should enable the athlete to achieve maximal rates of force development and increase muscle stiffness regulation in short periods of time.
What is the stretch-shortening cycle? It is the synergistic coupling of the eccentric and concentric actions of the muscle when rapid deceleration of the bodies mass is accompanied by the amortization (pause between changes of directions) and acceleration of the bodies mass in the opposite direction at maximal effort. For training purposes it is broken down into 4 parts or phases, the eccentric action, the amortization phase, the concentric phase and the distinguishing part of plyometrics the maximal effort and speed of the concentric phase. I put great importance on the maximal effort and speed during the concentric phase because without it the training becomes less effective as plyometric. Every exercise an athlete performs has the first 3 phases in some form, but the 4th quality makes the difference. Let me give you and example; I have heard many people call an exercise like jumping rope plyometric, but does it meet the criteria just set forth. No because it does not require maximal effort on the concentric phase as well as the eccentric demands are low in most cases. This does not require the body to recruit nueromuscularly in a maximal explosive manner, and so a plyometric exercise it is not.
In application for baseball I encourage coaches and trainers to see that every exercise can be plyometric if the 4 phases or qualities are met. This type of training should be very high intensity and so planning appropriate times for this training are very important to the baseball player’s performance. In most cases higher volumes of plyometirc training are saved for the off-season, but integration of a few exercises in-season can keep the player fast and powerful.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Where are we going?

2011-03-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Look how smart I am.

This industry seems to be out of control. I see more and more people confused, while the need for our services increases every year. Why are we fighting within our own ranks for who knows more, when we should be looking for ways to help each other out? I really enjoy reading about how so and so came up with some new way to train, but in reality it is just a new name. Why are strength coaches and athletic trainers fighting over what is best for the athlete? Can we not all learn from each other, from doctors to the nutritionist?
This might seem like some kind of rant and in many ways it is, but with a purpose. Where are we going as an industry? Are we really in it for the purpose of increasing human performance, or are we in it for the money? In many ways some of these questions helped spark baseballstrengthcoaching.com and still drives us and our purpose, but the question still stands, are we increasing knowledge of baseball performance?

Brian Niswender
Co Founder Baseball Strength Coaching.com

Energy Drinks: Healthy or Hazardous?

2011-03-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

Energy drinks are the fastest growing segment of the beverage market today and in 2011 sales are expected to top $9 billion. These drinks are being marketed and sold to adolescents and young adults and are now being linked to causing serious health conditions in some people. Thirty to fifty percent of young adults and adolescents consume these wildly popular drinks that contain ingredients that claim to boost energy, performance, stamina, concentration and even weight loss. The big gun of energy drinks is caffeine---a stimulant that raises blood pressure, as well as heart rate. In small doses, around 300 milligrams, it has been shown to be a performance enhancer. In high doses it can cause irritability, increased heart rate, jitteriness, anxiety, insomnia, tremors, heart palpitations, upset stomach and nervousness. More caffeine is added in many of these products from other sources like guarana, kola nut, yerba mate, cocoa and tea. Other common ingredients you might see on the ingredient list are B vitamins, taurine, ginseng, yohimbine, L-Carnitine and tryptophan. Some of these additives may have potentially dangerous health effects and also interfere with prescription, as well as over the counter drugs, like aspirin.

Because energy drinks are classified as a dietary supplement, manufacturers can say just about anything they want about what they claim to do---even if they have no evidence to prove it. They are not regulated for safety, nor do they have any warnings on their labels. Therein lies the primary issue that I have with these drinks. In my opinion, consumers have a right to know exactly what is contained in any product that they choose to eat or drink. Recently, Consumer Lab ran a test on the 5 Hour energy shot that advertises it’s “no caffeine content” and found one shot contained 207 mg. of caffeine—more than an average cup of Joe from Starbucks! Because these drinks are unregulated, anyone choosing to drink them should exercise caution----know what you are putting into your body and think about how it might affect you. On February 14th, msnbc.com reported that an 18 year old high school senior had a seizure and was hospitalized for five days after drinking two large NOS energy drinks. Read the full article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41577256
Most adults can tolerate modest amounts of caffeine (150-300 mg. per day) with no adverse effects, but its effects on children and adolescents, especially in high doses and in conjunction with other stimulants, have not been studied enough. The additive effects of many of these ingredients, along with over consumption, make the synergistic combination even more unpredictable. Simply put: the sum is more dangerous than its parts. Why then are these beverage makers not held to a limit on total caffeine dose like over-the-counter designated caffeine stimulants are (for instance, No Doz) or even soda?

Many countries are reviewing the reported adverse events associated with consuming these drinks and developing labeling regulations and other legal restrictions to protect the public’s health. In Norway, energy drinks can only be sold in pharmacies. Other countries have banned the sale of these drinks altogether……….what do you think the United States should do to regulate these drinks?

If you would like to learn more about the health effects of energy drinks on children, adolescents and young adults, log on to www.pediatrics.org for a recently published and comprehensive review article (February 15, 2011) by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

If Sliding Head First Were Faster, World-Class Sprinters Would Dive Across the Finish Line!

2011-03-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

The 2011 baseball season started with tragedy at Arizona State University. While sliding head-first into second base during an attempted steal, freshman player Cory Hahn collided with the knee of the fielder and suffered a fractured neck and is reportedly paralyzed.

Though there are injury risks with feet-first sliding, it is commonly believed that the more devastating injuries are associated with head-first slides (i.e. cervical spine injuries, shoulder dislocations, and other elbow, wrist, and hand trauma). Yet, coaches continue to teach, and players continue to attempt head-first sliding because they believe it is a faster baserunning technique.

The truth…IT’S NOT. A 2002 study proved once and for all that at all levels, there is no difference in speed between head-first and feet-first sliding. The authors concluded that in fact, feet-first sliding may even be slightly faster.

Kane SM, House HO, Overgaard KA. Head-first versus feet-first sliding: A comparison of speed from base to base. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2002; 30(6): 834-836.

As I mentioned, there is injury potential to the lower body with the feet-first technique (i.e. ankles, knees, hips, and hands), but these are not considered to be in the same class of severity as those associated with the head-first method. It can be argued that when the feet-first slide is taught correctly and practiced, the potential for injury is low – particularly now with breakaway bases, etc.

NEVER SHOULD A PLAYER SLIDE HEAD-FIRST INTO HOME PLATE!

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Avoiding Muscle Soreness: Micro Tears vs Muscle Tears

2011-03-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

For professional baseball players, the majority of training occurs in-season while balancing the physical workload of games, practice, and team travel. Spring Training begins early in the year (February-March) and is followed by a 140-162 game regular season lasting through September or later (The 2010 World Series ended on November 1st). It is also not uncommon for players to participate in Winter Leagues in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or Arizona during the off-season months. So, given the limited time for physical preparation during the off-season and the high baseball workload throughout the year, how should coaches go about avoiding muscle soreness in players from in-season strength and conditioning work? A simple answer is that coaches must use caution towards high-volume types of training while promoting a variety of fatigue-reducing recovery strategies (i.e. SMFR, contrast bathing, massage, nutrition, and rest). Possessing a better understanding of muscle soreness is helpful in providing guidance to players who do not wish to perform resistance training in fear of becoming sore.

The muscle soreness occurring 24-72 hours following unaccustomed training is referred to by exercise professionals as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Symptoms of DOMS may include compromised running mechanics, decreased functional range of motion or stiffness, and reductions in strength and power. Of importance to coaches, baseball performance may be negatively affected by excessive muscle pain, leading to compromised movement patterns in throwing, running, and hitting. A risk of muscle injury in tissues surrounding the prime movers (major muscle groups) is of increased concern from altered baseball mechanics.

It is important to realize that the negative effects of DOMS are temporary, and that the damage to the muscle from training (i.e. overstretching) occurs within the muscle cells (at the level of the myofibril) and not in the muscle tissue as a whole. From a medical perspective, a muscle tearing injury (occurring in an entire muscle) would result in a less pliable, scarring over of the affected tissue (i.e. scar tissue). This is NOT the same tearing of muscle tissue which results in DOMS. The term “micro-tears” is often used to describe the displacement, or tearing, of the myofibril proteins (actin, myosin, troponin, and tropomyosin) which serve as cogs to contract our muscles. Micro-tears are believed to promote muscle growth and gains in strength, leading to the notion that DOMS may be a natural part of the early strength building process.

The most effective method of preventing DOMS is to avoid unaccustomed training through a consistent routine. The complete replacement of myofilament proteins naturally occurs every 7-15 days within muscle cells, allowing for relatively quick recovery and adaptation from exercise induced stress. A consistent training approach which considers the overall workload of professional baseball players (i.e. games, practices, travel, nutrition, and sleep) will allow for the players to gradually improve muscular fitness to achieve a higher training level. A workload of 1-2 strength or power sessions per week in-season is a good starting point to avoid overtraining. Workouts can be divided into lower and upper body days as needed.

Key Points For In-Season Training:

 DOMS is most common with strenuous initial training sessions after prolonged inactivity – Perform a consistent routine and do not add new exercise movements in-season.

 DOMS is caused by the eccentric, or lowering, portion of exercise movements –
Avoid performing “negatives” or exercises with strenuous deceleration components.

 DOMS symptoms temporarily lessen after a warm-up which promotes blood flow –
Recommend that players perform a general cardiovascular warm-up before all activity.

 DOMS can negatively impact players physical and psychological performance –
Be cautious in overloading players too soon to avoid poor performance on the field.

Eric McMahon, MEd, CSCS
Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach
Texas Rangers

Representation

2011-02-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

As I begin this new and wonderful baseball season – there are a couple things that come to mind. Every year that I have been with Vanderbilt Baseball, we have opened the season on the road – west coast style (btw it has rained every year).

This is the first thing that is in the back of my mind when we hit the road for a game or weekend series. I am representing Vanderbilt Baseball and the University (and the Medical Center) – it is very apparent when everyone steps off the bus wearing matching travel shirts.

The players around me are a representation of our head coach. In my experience, there is a direct correlation between how the players are coached and managed and how they act when they are on the road for a baseball trip. I can’t speak for any professional organizations – but every professional athlete still represents their organization.

There have been many occasions when I am heading in to work a baseball game or even heading home from a ballgame wearing my team issued gear (trust me – people know the difference between team issued gear and gear at the store), when someone has asked me if I work for the baseball team.
More times than not, I will be a forgotten face in the line while I am grabbing a soda on the way home. However, if I were making a scene or causing a problem, they would probably remember the guy in the store that was wearing the Vanderbilt baseball gear. This has worked the other way as well – every year the baseball team participates in a charity walk and the people have this positive image of the players and the coaching staff.

The next time that you are on a trip remember what you actually represent. You represent your parents, coaches, teammates, school or university, and baseball as a whole – people do stereotype what kind of athlete you are. Yes, I know it’s a sad generalization, but once people have a bad experience with one particular type of something, they remember it for a long time (similar to a bad experience with food).

I am not saying that you need to be a prude when you are walking around your hometown, but remember that there are people that come to the ballpark to watch you play. You can be a competitor on the field, but a great person off. Remember you are representing a lot of different things.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Lets Warm Up

2011-02-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Warm-up can be one of the most controversial actives for any athlete or team. I want to talk about some of the concepts and maybe give some feedback on what I have seen work.
You open any textbook or training book and they will give you the “text book” answer to warming up. You need to jog or ride a bike for 5-10 minutes then you need to do 15 to 20 minute dynamic warm-up routine. Even though you might not see the dynamic routine in every warm program the point is you need 15-20 minutes to get ready. I believe in the dynamic routine and have been using it for some 12 or more years now, but we will talk about that later.
I have been working with coaches for 15 years and know that 30 minutes to just warm-up is never going to cut it, one, and the coach does not have that much time and two the athletes will not stay that focused to complete. We need to be more practical and accommodating to the situations. If a coach in high school only has 2.5 hours a day to work with his players do you think he is going to spend a half hour getting ready. Do you think pro players want to get to the park 30 minutes early so they can warm-up for drills and then warm-up for the game as well. Any strength coach that says yes is just fooling them selves. I’ve been there and done that from the pro level to the little league level. In reality you might have 15 minutes and on a good day 20 minutes, so how do you get them ready.
Let’s break it down practically:
1) General Warm up:
a. Jog around the field 1 lap. (1.5 min)

2) General Specific: dynamic 15-20 yards
a. Walking side shuffle (45 seconds)
b. Walking carioca (45 seconds)
c. Walking high knee (45 seconds)
d. Walking hurdles (45 seconds)
e. Side shuffle 50% (45 seconds)
f. Carioca 50% (45 seconds)
g. High knees (45 seconds)
h. Butt kicks (45 seconds)

3) General Specific: Stationary dynamic
a. Touch and reach
b. Diagonal touch and reach
c. Windmills
d. Rotation and twist
e. Push-ups
f. Overhead claps
g. 90-90 shoulder rotation

4) General Specific: High Speed
a. 30 Yard sprint 75% (45 seconds)
b. High skip (45 seconds)
c. Secondary steel 75% (45 seconds)
d. Sprint (45 seconds)

5) Sport specific: hitting or throwing
a. This is the time the players go through a throwing program or hitting prep program. This should take the players 10-15 minutes to complete.

This warm-up is complete in 30 minutes but has the players ready to either practice or play in a game. If you only complete the general warm-up in 30 minutes they still need to throw or hit, we are now out 45 minutes that’s 1/3 of the practice time spent on just getting ready. If you cut the whole prep into 30 minutes that’s only 1/5 of practice time.
As strength coaches or athletic trainers if you want to see the warm-up more productive and really get that internal temp up then try some variation of this, it is high paced and makes the players work. They will really be ready to play both mentally and physically. For coaches, the player will be ready and you have given them a true warm-up not the old throw the balls and bats out and let’s play.
As a note, I said try a variation of this. This is not the end all to warm-ups, and changes should be made all the time. Try different exercises and orders, the players will not get bored with the routine and again, will be more productive. Play with the idea and times.

Brian Niswender MA, CSCS
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

A Sweet Look At A Popular Treat - Chocolate

2011-02-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

To celebrate and honor our national love-filled holiday this month, Valentine’s Day, I thought it appropriate to extoll the health benefits of chocolate. Chocolate will be the most popular sweet treat eaten on Valentine’s Day and with good reason: the deep, rich taste of cocoa combined with sugar and fat produce an irresistible, creamy and complex combination of flavor on the tongue. To enjoy this occasional treat even more, you may be interested in knowing its science-backed health benefits.
Chocolate has long been the feel good food and now it is cautiously being placed among the ranks of good-for-you foods, as well. Chocolate contains many naturally occurring chemicals that we have learned more about these past few years so here are a few tidbits of information if you are a chocolate lover!

Cocoa beans are very bitter and pungent by themselves--- that’s why sugar and fat are added to increase the mouth feel and flavor of the beans. This bitterness comes from the flavanols in the chocolate, which also give it its antioxidant power and positive heart health attributes. Antioxidants help reduce inflammation and damage in our cells that we generate from normal body processes like breathing and exercise. Flavanols belong to a larger group of antioxidants called flavonoids, that are found in many plant-based foods and beverages. Research has confirmed that these naturally occurring compounds have other positive effects on vascular health, such as like lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow to the heart and brain, lowering cholesterol and making blood platelets less sticky and able to clot.

The more chocolate is processed through roasting, fermentation and alkalizing to make it more appealing, the more flavanols are lost. Chocolate manufacturers are looking for ways to maintain the strength of the flavonols in their processed chocolates so don’t be duped by current marketing ploys. The most concentrated flavonols are found in those sources with higher amounts of cocoa, like cocoa powder (choose those that are not Dutch processed or treated with an alkali) baking chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate and lastly, chocolate syrup. There are no health benefits to eating white chocolate, not made from the cocoa bean.

How much chocolate can we eat guilt-free? No matter what the health promoting influences are that we reap from the cocoa bean, we still need to be mindful of the other ingredients in chocolate, like sugar and saturated fat, that piggy back onto the virtuous cocoa bean. Both sugar and fat add up to lots of calories in a hurry so a prudent approach to eating chocolate is still the best route to good health. Enjoy an ounce of real chocolate as a once-in-awhile treat and don’t forget to include the other flavonoid rich foods in your diet like apples, grape juice, tea, onions and cranberries.

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

How Can I Increase My Fielding Range?

2011-02-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was involved in a discussion about a player’s fielding range and whether or not this aspect of the game of baseball be improved. Those participating in the discussion had many great points. The general consensus was that, yes, fielding range can be improved. But, how? For the most part, many of the participants discussed improving lower body power, first step explosiveness, and lateral speed and agility. For my part, I agreed that these components were very important. But, I believe equally or even more important is training to improve an athlete’s reaction time.

The time it takes for a player to recognize that a ball has been hit and then initiate his movement to intercept and field it is called his reaction time. When the ball is seen or the crack of the bat is heard, nerve impulses travel to the brain where the information is processed. The brain then formulates a motor response and the player moves to field the ball. Reacting to a visual stimulus takes approximately 16-18 hundredths of a second. Auditory reactions take 14-16 hundredths of a second. However, this does not take into account that the time that it takes for the sound to travel to the player’s ear. For example, an outfielder would respond to the “crack” of the bat later than an infielder, because he is positioned farther away.

Like the other components of lower body power and quickness, reaction time can be trained and improved. The key is to enhance the brain’s processing speed. This is done by attempting to eliminate visual and auditory distracters. One technique that can be utilized immediately and without a great deal of training is the concept of “contrast sensitivity”. This has to do with the ability to pick out an object visually amidst a confusing background. Excellent results can be experienced with the use of different colored eyeglass lenses for a given time of day or stadium background. For example:

Bright, Sunny Day = more traditional darker tint
Cloudy, Grey Conditions = amber tints
Late Evening, Twilight = yellow tints

Another training technique involves emphasizing the visual stimulus. A simple drill that I have used with players is to have them perform their fielding drills while wearing ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones. This will eliminate the auditory distractions and teach them to recognize and react sooner to the visual cues.

Even though reaction time can be improved, there is a definite ceiling. Even elite sprinters cannot physiologically react in less than 0.10 seconds without anticipating the starting gun. That being said, there are ways to anticipate on the baseball field. By understanding the game situation and past performance of the hitters, players and coaches can position themselves on the field to provide a better “jump” on the ball. For example, when a right-handed hitter has been noted to routinely “pull” the ball, fielders can slightly adjust their positioning to their right. Also, in situations where the hitter would attempt to hit toward the right side of the field, the defense can adjust accordingly.

Ultimately, all of these components can help to improve a player’s fielding range. Increasing his explosiveness and lateral speed will improve his overall movement time. While training him to better recognize and process visual cues can improve his reaction and anticipation skills.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Be A Sponge

2011-01-31T07:12:00.000-08:00

I am going to piggy back on David’s topic earlier this month.

Dr. Hughston stated “As long as you’re still green, you’re growing. Once you’re ripe, you’re next to rotten.” Although David was speaking about an educational opportunity for those that are in the profession of bettering the overall performance of athletes, you might want to ponder this statement. Think about it for a minute.

As a professional, I live by this statement. As a quasi-athlete (I use the term lightly when I refer to myself as an athlete) I still live by this statement. As a husband, friend, etc. . . . . well, you get the point.

As an athletic trainer, continuing education is extremely important to our day to day activity. If anyone in the medical profession tells you that they have it all figured out – laugh at them, and then listen to what they have to say. I don’t have all the answers, and never intend to have all the answers, but I bet you I can find someone who has a good idea how to help out. I ask my officemate thousands of questions. That being said, I get asked a lot of different questions – a lot of random questions. Every morning that I come to the office, I make sure that I read something that could benefit me as an athletic trainer. I will read journal articles, blog posts, textbooks, etc. You can sort out the B.S. once you finish reading. If something happened at practice or a game the night before and I need to brush up on something – I grab one of my resources on the bookshelf and dive in. I am not ashamed to say that I go back and look to see what the literature says – physicians do the same thing.

As the quasi-athlete, I am the same way. I have been intrigued by triathlons ever since I can remember watching the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. With the help of a buddy that has completed an ironman himself – yes that is the race that starts with a 2.4 mile swim, 120 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile jog (no big deal) - I am trying to absorb as much information that I can. What kind of training plans do they use? How do they fuel their bodies during their everyday training? How do they fuel their body during a 10 plus hour race? How many days do they train multiple times a day? What do I wear? When do I use the bathroom? When can I re-apply my sunscreen? Alright, it is a little bit of a system overload, but I have enjoyed trying to make myself better. I have a lot to learn when it comes to becoming a triathlete.

The best line that I have heard lately about being a good person - If you surround yourself with dogs, you’re going to end up with fleas.
As an athlete this is easy to do. Ask your coach, ask your teammates, ask those old alumni that come around. Read a book – I know it sounds bad – it’s not the worst thing in the world. I had a professional baseball player tell me that one of the best books he read about hitting was “The Inner Game of Tennis.” Although it was the first couple chapters he was speaking of – they got into more tennis based information later. Write things down – I have worked for the same coaching staff for just about five years now. I carry around a small notebook and take notes when I see fit – always a student. Don Meyer, an NCAA coach amongst the top in his profession before he retired, made his athletes a binder. It contained notes from team meetings, motivational quotes, articles, plays, and anything that Coach Meyer felt they needed to have at their disposal.

There are plenty of people to talk to – don’t be afraid to ask questions and be a sponge to soak up as much information (and double check it) so you can to become better at what you want to do.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

Building a Base.

2011-01-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

When training young athletes, where do we start the training? Sometimes it is easy to try to tackle easiest problem or the easiest part to improve to see results, but if we don’t start with the base we may never get results to really stick. What do I mean by the base, I consider the base to be the athletic stance, or in many marshal arts schools the horse stance. This position is the feet shoulder width or slightly wider, and pointed straight ahead, the knees bent to a partial squatted position. The butt is out and the back is straight to slightly arched. The shoulders are back and the head is in a neutral position. In most cases the weight is balanced in the feet meaning weight is distributed evenly from front to back. In some cases the weight can be on the balls of the feet, but this would be used in only specific drills. This position brings the center of gravity into a power position slightly in front of the belly button. This gives the player better control of their body and balances the body for efficient movement. To see how truly strong a player is put them in this position and see how long they can hold it. You might be surprised to see the compensations made to hold this position. In developing this base we will also start to train the athlete from the feet and move up the body to the head. When looking at the feet, take a look at what the body wants to do and then correct the issues. How do the feet lay, do they pronate, suppinate, how is the arch, is it high, low, no arch. How is the instep, is it high, long, do they have funny wear patterns on their feet. Strengthen the feet and you can strengthen the whole body. From the feet move to the ankles, this is the next link in the chain. Strength in the ankle does not just come from the back side; the front of the ankle has to be addressed as well. Start to think strength in 360 degrees. Take the time to start with the base and results will show themselves. I will continue this progression in future blogs.

Brian Niswender
Co Founder BaseballStregthCoaching.com

Creatine: A Muscle Builder?

2011-01-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

Last night I was talking with a high school baseball player and he asked me several questions about a popular supplement out there called creatine. He told me that many football players he knows use it, as well as other friends who just want to “get ripped.” It is tempting, to be sure, to take something that claims to amp up the size and strength of muscles after training beyond what a hard workout and good recovery nutrition will do.

Fact of the matter is many athletes, no matter what the sport, seek out risky ways to increase muscle and enhance performance, as well as appearance. The increasing pressure in our sports society today to succeed—at a younger age and in more competitive arenas, fuels the interest and drives competitive athletes to throw caution to the wind. Trying to gain that competitive edge encourages athletes of all ages to try anything to stake their place in the sport of their choice. The risks and dangers that come along with this type of attitude in athletics “success at any cost”-- has now become a huge concern. High school use of creatine and supplements that contain performance
enhancing drugs is on the rise." Unfortunately, these products saturate the market today, are easily available and not tested for safety, potency or purity. They also come without clear instructions for safe use, precautions to help in preventing abuse and without any long term studies demonstrating safety. Buyer beware—what you don’t know could hurt you!

So what exactly is creatine? Creatine (creatine monohydrate) is a popular supplement because it has been deemed safe with short term use by many studies, though it is not effective for every athlete. Creatine helps fuel muscles in short duration, high intensity activities like sprinting and strength training by enhancing anaerobic power and anaerobic endurance. This might help some athletes push themselves harder and longer, which may lead to greater gains in muscle size and strength. Once the muscle is saturated with creatine the rest is excreted from the body, so more is not better. And a significant down side to creatine is it causes the muscle cell to hold water. Large amounts of creatine will increase fluid in the cells, resulting in a puffiness that contributes to the over-all muscle “gain” that occurs. The weight gain that happens with creatine use negatively affects speed, agility, and balance needed for peak sports performance. Some athletes also experience digestive distress and stomach upset when taking creatine.

An easy way to stock muscles with creatine and avoid all the nasty side effects is to include foods high in creatine like lamb, beef, pork, veal and fish in the daily diet. Just don’t overcook them—you’ll lose the creatine! Eating just 16 oz. of a variety of these high protein foods throughout the day will help provide the creatine needed to saturate the muscles. Good recovery, with enough carbohydrate and protein, is also a very effective muscle builder. So ditch the supplements! Food works better than supplements, so include these foods as a part of your muscle building routine, along with good recovery nutrition.

Warning: The American Academy of Sports Medicine, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics clearly states that creatine, though a legal supplement today, should not be used by anyone less than 18 years of age. Long term effects have not been studied and are not known. Collegiate teams, trainers and coaches are strictly prohibited from supplying it or any other supplements to their student athletes.

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Total Health
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

"It Ain't Easy Being Green" - Kermit The Frog

2011-01-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

As a student-athlete, it helps to have mentors that can provide you with guidance along your path through developmental milestones and athletic achievements. For me, one of those mentors was Dr. Jack Hughston. Considered by most as a pioneer in the field of sports medicine, he was among the first to provide medical coverage to collegiate athletic programs.

When I arrived for my freshman year of college on the campus of Auburn University, I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship as a student athletic trainer and Dr. Hughston was the university’s Team Physician. As a student, it didn’t take me long to be introduced to his favorite saying:

“As long as you’re green, you’re still growing. Once you’re ripe, you’re next to rotten.”

This saying has stayed with me throughout my entire career as an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach. It has reminded me that once, I think that I know everything that there is to know about my profession, then I’ve missed out on a lot of new information. The sports medicine and sports performance fields are always changing and evolving and it is important to continue to grow a base of knowledge, develop new concepts, and fine tune my training philosophies and programs. It is also important to pass on that knowledge to others.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

WEBINAR PRESENTATION: Functional Training and Progressions of the Shoulder and Upper Extremity in the Overhead Athlete
January 11, 2011 (8:00PM - 9:00PM Central Time)

Featured Speaker: David Yeager, ATC, CSCS Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and professional baseball Athletic Trainer

Course Objectives:
- Define function, functional training, and the components of sport-specific training in baseball.
- Describe the criteria for beginning or advancing exercise / activity progressions.
- Describe the general characteristics and key components of the overhand throwing motion.
- Explain the Kinetic Chain Concept as it relates to exercise training in baseball.
- Define the goal and key components of sport-specific shoulder girdle training.
- Illustrate sample exercise progressions for the overhead throwing athlete.

To Register and receive an email with the link to the presentation, log on to www.baseballstrengthcoaching.com.

Webinar Presentation (January 11, 2011)

2011-01-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

Name: Functional Training and Progressions of the Shoulder and Upper Extremity in the Overhead Athlete

Featured Speaker: David Yeager, ATC, CSCS Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and professional baseball Athletic Trainer

Course Objectives:

- Define function, functional training, and the components of sport-specific training in baseball.
- Describe the criteria for beginning or advancing exercise / activity progressions.
- Describe the general characteristics and key components of the overhand throwing motion.
- Explain the Kinetic Chain Concept as it relates to exercise training in baseball.
- Define the goal and key components of sport-specific shoulder girdle training.
- Illustrate sample exercise progressions for the overhead throwing athlete.

When: 01/11/2011 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Time Zone: (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US and Canada)

Be sure to log on to www.baseballstrengthcoaching.com in order to register and receive an email containing the session link.

Hope to see you there!

BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

New Year’s Resolutions (Recommendations)

2011-01-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome back and happy New Year!

Every year we all make New Year’s resolutions or try to make personal goals leading into the new year or the new season. At this point I am hoping it’s not to start training for the season sooner – because you are getting ready to report back to class much quicker than you think. I will make a couple suggestions if you are looking for a couple goals for the upcoming year and season.

• Have a mental routine prior to your baseball activity – there are very few good athletes that just show up to the ballpark and turn it on. Most of them are preparing hours before they show up to the ballpark – mental preparation can help in many aspects of the game.

• Have a physical routine for your baseball activity – I know most people think runners and track athletes are pretty much crazy, but they have a set routine before they line up for a race.

• Get a massage – most parents are going to kill me for suggesting this, but soft tissue quality has an effect on your overall performance. There is a reason that massage and other soft tissue treatments are so successful and popular. Self-massage can be very beneficial – a golf ball, tennis ball, baseball, PVC pipe, and foam roller can help your legs out in the long run and can be an aid in the recovery process.

• Stretch your arm when you get done throwing – the benefits and effects of stretching have been debated and argued for as long as I have been around this profession. When, How long, mobility work, PNF stretching, etc, etc etc. Studies have documented the range of motion lost during an outing that a pitcher puts together. If you neglect to take care of this before you throw again, you are putting your shoulder in an awful position – a simple way to put it is to take care of your assets.

I can’t say that these things will give you the ability to throw 96 mph with sink, or give you the ability to hit .400 over the course of the season. It will help you feel better in the long run. Good luck this season it’s right around the corner.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

What's your Speed?

2010-12-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

In baseball the 60 yard sprint has been the bench mark of a player's speed for decades. There are few players that will run 60 yards in a straight line, the exception being a center fielder maybe trying to cover a gap. With that said, what does a 60 really tell us in respects to the game? It is the total distance from home to second or second to home, but in a real baseball situation we have a 90 degree bend in the middle. Many professional organizations and colleges are slowly making the switch to the 30 yard sprint and the 10 yard sprint. In functional terms this provides a coach and player with a better baseline evaluation of speed. The 30 shows how fast the player can get from one base to the other and so is a true functional measure of speed. The 10 yard sprint is a function of how fast the player is getting up to speed, which in most cases can make or break a player’s true functional speed. Baseball is a game of reaction and explosion and so the faster a player gets up to maximum speed, the more plays they will make both offensively and defensively. In most cases, even when the 60 is still used the player that has worked on his 10 yard burst and 30 yard sprint will also improve their 60. The real lesson here is to know your true speed, and in the case of baseball maybe quickness trumps true speed.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Are You Hurt or Just Sore?

2010-12-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

When we first begin a training program, we see a lot of improvement early. Things then level off and the rate of improvement slows down. The initial sky-rocket of improvement results from the brain learning how to coordinate the movements and recruit the muscles and energy needed to perform the new activities. This typically happens over the initial 1-2 weeks. The next 3-5 weeks are the slower, more physical adaptations that the body produces as a result of the specific activity (i.e. increased cardiac output, increased oxygen transport and use by the cells, or increased muscle fiber size, etc).

Whether you are a seasoned athlete or a beginner, whenever a new training activity is started, a common body reaction is known as “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness” (DOMS). This is soreness that occurs 24-48 hours after activity and generally resolves within 3-7 days. Many studies have been performed to try and determine a cure for DOMS. Unfortunately, it is a natural response and a typical indication of when you’ve performed something new. The symptoms of DOMS can be decreased by performing a proper warm-up. When the muscles are “warm”, they are more pliable and responsive to activity. The best remedy for this normal muscle reaction, however, is to repeat the exercise activity. This “Repeated Bout Effect” is part of the adaptation process. Too often, we experience soreness and then wait a prolonged period before attempting to resume activity. By that time, the body considers the activity to be “new” again which results in more soreness. We then put off activity again or quit all together.

In order to see results from any training program, you have to challenge the body to a degree of stress that is greater than what it is normally accustomed. Too little, and you will see minimal or no improvement at all. Too much, may result in overtraining or potential injury. But, ultimately how much challenge your body can take, depends on your current fitness status. If you are just beginning a training program or you have had a long break, then you should start slower and with lower intensities to give your body time to adapt to the new stresses. If you are more fit, your body can handle greater challenges.

A couple of questions that I am asked frequently are “How can I tell whether what I am feeling is ‘normal soreness’ or the result of an injury?” and “How can I maintain my fitness when I am injured?”.

First, some typical symptoms that would signify an injury are:

- Swelling
- Numbness, tingling, or loss of joint motion
- Warmth to the touch
- Discoloration or bruising
- A twinge during a workout that becomes worse later
- Limping
- Pain that lasts more that 2-3 days
- Pain that increases over time
- Pain that interferes with normal activities

Second, an injury doesn’t have to sideline you for good. By following a few simple recommendations, it is possible to continue exercising, maintain your fitness level, and heal properly at the same time:

1. Listen to your doctor! - Your physician can provide you with appropriate exercises that can be done to promote healing and fitness. Most importantly, he/she can provide you with advice to avoid further problems.

2. Modify your workouts so that they don’t include the injured area. – For an upper body injury, focus on lower body training. For lower body injuries, focus on the upper body or maybe perform exercises while sitting. High impact activities (i.e. running) can be modified to low or no impact activities (i.e. stationary bike, swimming, etc).

3. If the injury continues to hurt, continue to modify your activities until you find something that doesn’t hurt. – Increased pain or swelling are signs of continued stress and occasionally, activity may need to be discontinued altogether in order to allow some healing first.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Understanding Sports Drinks

2010-12-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Sports drinks are intended and were developed for use during sports, as the
name implies. Many people are confused about the role these drinks should
play in their lives as a beverage choice. Sports drinks should be used only
if an individual is participating in strenuous activity or sport that is
constant and lasts over an hour. For an activity lasting less than hour or
one that is not intense (walking the dog), water will meet hydration needs
just fine and the carbohydrate and electrolytes (sodium, potassium) provided
in the sports drink are not necessary. Sports drinks should not be consumed
unless you need them during exercise or immediately after exercise for
hydration. They are not a good beverage choice outside of that because
then they are just adding extra calories, in the form of sugar, that are not
being used. These extra sugar calories have no valuable nutrition and can
easily be stored as fat, if not burned. With obesity rates in children (as
well as adults) skyrocketing, the appropriate use of these drinks is
essential. If not used properly and judiciously they can promote excessive
calorie consumption, leading to high Body Mass Index numbers, overweight and
obesity.

Sports drinks are a great tool during long, high intensity workouts because
they provide a small amount of carbohydrates to fuel muscles along with
sodium and potassium for fast, effective hydration. The carbohydrates help
replenish the carbohydrate stores in the muscle (called glycogen) that are
being used to fuel the work of exercise. For the serious exerciser, these
carbohydrates help to delay the fatigue that happens when the muscles run
out of fuel, enhancing performance through longer and more effective
training. They also help keep blood glucose levels stable (optimal fuel
for the brain) which enhances mental focus, so that the athlete or fitness
buff are able to concentrate and perform at the highest level possible.

Sports drinks actually hydrate better than regular water even post exercise.
Individuals who sweat a lot or who are "salty" sweaters will benefit from
using a sports drink during and after exercise to replace the sodium and
potassium that are lost in sweat. They also stimulate thirst, as opposed to
water which does not, that encourages more fluid consumption to aid in
rehydration.

Because this is a multi-billion dollar industry today, it's important to
look past the marketing and choose the best sports drink, being armed with
good information. Look for one that is around 50 calories per 8 oz., which
supplies about 6-8 per cent carbohydrate.

Although sports drinks are effective during exercise and for hydration after
exercise, they are not adequate for recovery. Foods or fluids that are high
in carbohydrate, accompanied by a small amount of protein are a better
choice to jumpstart the muscle recovery process, after high intensity
exercise. Wholesome, nutrient rich choices will supply the vitamins,
minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants active children and adults need
for good health. Some examples include: a peanut butter/jelly sandwich, low
fat fruit yogurt and fresh fruit, low fat chocolate milk, fresh fruit
smoothie and a handful of nuts, granola bar & stick of string cheese.

Kim Larson, RD, CD
Total Health
Contributor, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

What's Your Max?

2010-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

This blog has two purposes, one is asking the question do we really know what our athletes maxes are? And second if we don’t know, are we doing our athletes a disservice by not testing them?

I ask the question do we really know what our athletes maxes are because I have been noticing a trend that more and more schools are using estimated maxes. In the past, this technique was used mostly in high school at the freshman and sophomore level but it has been slowly moving to the older athletes and I have been hearing it is being used to a greater extent in the college ranks. I am not saying the technique should not be used. It has many uses and is a great tool. But, when it is the only technique used, I believe we are not giving the athletes a true look at what their maximal strength is. I have been getting more and more athletes through my program both in person and athletes that I plan programs for that give me these estimated maxes but cannot really lift that weight. Many times I have found the athlete to be 20-30 and even 40 pounds off the estimated weight. This can be very significant considering that if the athletes max was say 250lbs and they could really only do 220lbs. This is more then a 10% mistake, and if these maxes are used for calculating workouts through out the week, in most cases the athlete would not be getting the proper stimulus.

This leads into the next question. Is this a disservice to the athlete? In my opinion the answer is yes. If they do not perform true maximal’s at least a few times a year, the athlete may never know where they really stand and when they move onto the next level have to move backwards in order to move forward. This can be very frustrating. In many instances, if we are able to get the athlete on track and work from their true maxes, the athlete sees greater gains in shorter periods of time, as well as, giving the athlete a greater confidence in their lifting ability.

I just want to leave you with one more thought. As coaches, would we be ok if we used estimates of speed or velocity????????

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

A College Christmas

2010-11-29T08:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations – you are just about ready to complete the fall semester of college – hopefully you did not get kicked out in a matter of 16 weeks. You managed to make it through the exams, papers, midterms, more papers, quizzes, social life, and soon enough - finals. Not only that, you managed to make it through the fall ball season – oh boy, spring baseball is right around the corner. That’s right, official team practice will start before you know it.

Let me make a couple recommendations – albeit highly recommended. You have worked extremely hard this past semester – even if it was by default. You had to go through morning running sessions, REALLY long practices, weightlifting sessions, study hall hours, tutor sessions, and many other social events that probably did not aid in fueling the body for baseball:

- Get some rest – for the next month or so, you are a faux “professional athlete.” You might have time to sleep in a little, recover from your training sessions (which you still need to be doing), and refuel your body from the fall semester – I am sure your parents are looking forward to feeding you again, trust me.

- Continue to train – the spring season is about 70 days away. I am not talking about the first practice – that’s the first game of the season. So you need to keep/prepare yourself for the season ahead. You don’t have the luxury of a big league spring training starting up just about 70 days from now.

- Fuel your body – take the time to eat right. I’m not going to go into detail about how much, what, and when you should eat – I will leave that up to Kim, the dietician on staff – but you are now at home and don’t have to stop at the Munchie Mart or the campus sub shop to get your food. Like I said before – most of the time, your parents actually enjoy you being home and will help you out as much as they can.

- Mentally prepare yourself for what is ahead – it’s a long season. You hopefully will be playing baseball games from February 18th until June 29th – and it will be a roller coaster ride. Remember, the game of baseball is laced with failure – getting hits 3 out of 10 times is pretty good. Think about making 3 out of 10 free throws – you won’t be playing too much, unless you happen to be Shaq.

With all that being said – enjoy your time around the holidays and be careful. We all consider baseball a very big part of our lives, but time around the ones you love is crucial for your overall well-being – even if it’s your dog. They tend to be your best fans and your worst critics, but they are why you are where you are and they will try their best to be there when you need. So give your family a hug, thank your mom, dad, and grandparents as much as you can and enjoy your time at home.

Everyone have safe travels and Happy Holidays.

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Contributor, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

My Top 5 Program Progression Mistakes

2010-11-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

The goal of any training program should be the improvement of strength, power, and work capacity. Without an increase in training loads positive adaptations will never occur. However, the training stimulus should be adjusted in a gradual and progressive manner to avoid overtraining which can result in lack of energy, poor performance, fatigue, depression, aching muscles and joints, and injury. This week’s article will attempt to address my top 5 areas of attention to insure improvement and limit the risk for injury.

#5 Perform a Proper Warm-Up

Muscular stiffness and lack of joint mobility result in greater muscle damage after exercise. A dynamic warm-up increases the body’s global core temperature, as well as, the localized tissue temperature for the specific muscles that will be active during sports movements. When the muscle tissue is “warm”, it becomes more elastic, more flexible, and less stiff. This greater elasticity means less tissue damage and less potential for injury. Aside from the overall increase in tissue temperature, an active warm-up prepares the muscles and joints for performance by “turning-on” the neuromuscular (brain-to-muscle) connections that will be utilized during training.

#4 Monitor Technique

Emphasis should be placed on “quality” over “quantity”. Often athletes will sacrifice movement technique for 5-10 pounds of resistance. Improper exercise form can lead to injury when the exercise pattern exceeds the limitations of a joint or muscle. Mechanical errors that create inefficient movement sequencing and timing will lead to a decrease of transferred energy and subsequently an increase in the torques and joint stresses produced. By stressing the importance of proper technique, not only will you limit this potential for harm, but the brain will ingrain and store more accurate movement patterns for future use. Ultimately, the use of proper technique can lead to more accurate programming of motor unit activation and much greater improvements in exercise performance.

#3 Adjust the Training Load

The amount of training load applied is very important. Too little exercise will have no effect on training. Yet, too much may cause injury. The Overload Principle states that the training stimulus must be greater than the normal level of function for the athlete’s body to adapt. The amount of the stimulus will depend on the athlete’s current fitness level. When working with the less experienced a lower intensity should be utilized. However, the more experienced athlete can use a greater stimulus. The training load should be adjusted in a gradual and progressive manner. One technique that can be used is to highlight the “Sets and Reps” scheme. For example, if the session or movement outlines “3 sets of 10 repetitions”, choose a resistance or weight that will allow for the performance of the designated number of repetitions (i.e. 10). If the athlete is unable to perform the 10 reps, then the resistance is too great and needs to be adjusted to a lighter weight on the next set. If he is able to perform more than 10 reps, the load is too light and needs to be adjusted to a greater weight on the next set. When progressing from session to session, begin with the training load used in the second set of the previous workout and adjust accordingly.

#2 Master the Fundamental Pre-Requisites

Choosing the proper initial movement “level of difficulty” is important. Too often, coaches and trainers choose an exercise or movement because it has “sizzle”. When in reality, the athlete may not have the proper functional platform of strength, stabilization, or mobility to perform the activity. An easy illustration is the athlete who cannot perform a Body Weight Squat without significant foot pronation and inward collapse of the knees. Yet, for some reason, his coach has him performing Resistance Band Jump Squats. Training progression should be viewed as an Inverted Pyramid. Without the mastery of the fundamental pre-requisites, the pyramid will topple over and fall. The end-result movement pattern can be broken down into smaller, simpler “building blocks”. Proper movement sequencing should progress from the improvement of isolated muscle strength to the more complex movement. In the Jump Squat example, initial focus should be placed on strengthening of the gluteal and hip abductors muscles. Next, the athlete may perform a Wall Squat exercise progressing to a Body Weight Squat followed by a Free Weight Back Squat. Once the athlete, can perform a proper squatting movement with external load, then he may progress to a Jump Squat and ultimately the Resistance Band Jump Squat.

#1 Allow for Rest and Recovery

Training is the application of stress. The constant exposure to physical stress results in a lack of energy, poor performance, and fatigue leading to eventual tissue breakdown and injury. Repair and regeneration occurs between training sessions. This cycle of stress and recovery progresses the athlete’s fitness level. The more fit the athlete, the greater the training stimulus needed for adaptation. Greater intensity or stress increases the need for rest and recovery. Monitoring the athlete’s training loads, performances, and his physical and mental responses can help to identify the need to adjust daily plans and stresses for maximal training efforts and optimal results.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

The Best Energy Booster - Breakfast

2010-11-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

One of the best decisions an athlete can make is to start the day with breakfast. Why you ask? Because your body is actually in a starvation state when you get up in the morning. Your metabolism has slowed to an almost stand still because it has not been fed in 8 to 12 hours or so, it acts to conserve energy by slowing all metabolic processes down. If you don’t fill your gas tank with some nutrition and energy you won’t be able to run your machine (your body)well. Your body and your brain need fuel to get it revved in the morning and prepare for thinking and the demands of physical activity. Between 10-30 percent of people head out the door in the morning with a low tank of gas because they skip this important meal. Omitting breakfast is a favorite practice of teenagers and gets worse with age. Amost 60% of teens in high school skip breakfast more than 3 times per week! Don’t be a statistic…learn how to eat smart.

There are some tangible health benefits to eating breakfast, according to research, so consider this:

Breakfast eaters...

...Are healthier. They are more likely to get more nutrition and essential vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber, in their diets.

...Tend to have better control of their weight. Studies show that breakfast skippers often overeat the rest of the day because of excessive hunger so they are more prone to being overweight.

...Do better in school because they have improved concentration, longer attention spans and they achieve higher test scores.

...Have better school attendance (and are tardy less).

...Have better hand to eye coordination, which is a critical element of success in sports.

...Fuel their sports training and practices better because they are supplying their muscles and liver with the right fuel (carbohydrates) to perform their best.

I often hear comments like, “I’m not hungry when I get up” or “I don’t have time to eat breakfast” in the morning. To that I reply, do not expect or wait to feel hungry when you get up in the morning. And breakfast doesn’t have to take more than a few minutes. Cereals are a great choice if they are not sugar-laden ones. Choose those with 3 or 4 grams of fiber (bran cereals like Fiber One, Oat Bran, Bran Flakes and Raisin Bran are even higher in fiber) and less than 9-10 grams of sugar per serving. Always look for whole grain on the box and select fortified or enriched cereals that provide iron, an important mineral for athletes. Here are some quick and easy grab and go breakfast ideas along with some others that will combat breakfast boredom at home!

-Bagel with peanut butter, 100% fruit juice
-Dry cereal like bran flakes with a banana and skim milk
-Breakfast burrito (2 eggs scrambled in microwave oven for 1-2 minutes, stirring) made with eggs, sprinkle of shredded low fat cheese and topped with salsa. Roll and go!
-Fresh orange, low fat mozzarella stick, dry cereal in a Ziploc, hard-boiled egg, applesauce, low fat chocolate milk.
-Carnation Instant Breakfast made with low fat milk (I like to throw a banana in and whirl in the blender, with a few ice cubes for a healthy milkshake before a tough workout!)
-Homemade smoothie made with fresh or frozen fruit, low fat yogurt/low fat milk or instant dried nonfat milk powder.
-Low fat cottage cheese with pineapple (no sugar added) with a whole wheat English muffin.
-Omelet with spinach, mushrooms, low fat cheese, tomato juice, and whole wheat toast
-Oatmeal (instant works!) with a handful of craisins and almonds on top, low fat milk
-One of my favorites: Low fat yogurt and fruit (think berries) parfait with a scoop of grape nuts or healthy granola in a plastic cup to go.
-Apple smeared with almond butter and topped with raisins, cereal bar
-Canadian bacon (or lean ham) and low fat swiss cheese on a whole wheat English muffin for a breakfast sandwich
-Clif bar (in a pinch) and 100% orange juice

If you want to be on the fast track to better health and performance, include breakfast in your nutrition game plan. Check out the Eat Right Tips from the American Dietetic Association’s website at www.eatright.org for simple, speedy and good-for-you breakfast ideas and power up with breakfast!

Kim Larson, RD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Do You Know Where You Stand?

2010-11-09T15:49:00.000-08:00

Where do you stand?

Do you know where you stand as far as your talent or potential as player goes? I have been working with baseball players for 13 years as a coach, and have been playing the game for 30 years, and this still seems to be a problem no matter where you go. Understanding where you are in your development can help you as a player set goals and have a realistic sense of what the future holds. Knowing where you are usually comes from experience, you have to get out of your little bubble and see what else is out there. I currently live in a cold weather state, being Colorado, and have found that many players have no idea where there talent really stands and in many cases think of themselves to highly, without real evidence. Let me give you a little personal example. When I was in high school and looking to go to the next level I was setting up tryouts with all sorts of programs and coaches from D1 to NAIA. I had been in my little bubble and had not really got out and tested my talent too much. Some of it had to do with the fact that my family did not have a lot of money, but I worked really hard and wanted to play. On my way to a try out for a D1 school in Kansas I decided to stop at some smaller schools as well. The first school I stopped at was a NAIA school that was very competitive in their league and region. I went through the tryout and felt like I did very well, I was excited to see what the coach would say. The coach started out by saying that I would probably not be playing at his school, I was instantly disappointed, what was I going to do; I was on my way to a D1 school to test my talent. Well before the disappointment set in, I think the coach could read my face and said, you will probably not play here because you are better then any player I have on my team now. Of course he was more then willing to take me, but this is fine example of not knowing where I really stood, so I could make the right choices of schools to visit. The D1 tryout went well and I was offered the chance to go there, but that is another story. As a player you need to get out and play with, or against some players from around the country or at least your region. You have to see how they play, how they look and perform. There are also many so called recruitment tryouts and camps. I use, so called, because you need to look at these with a grain of salt, is the tryout really a way to make money or is it really a talent camp for coaches. As a basic rule of thumb if the tryout camp is really expensive it is probably a fraud. As a player you should look for local camps, or schools that are having camps and tryouts. A program that we have started this year is providing players with a free evaluation camp every summer, the camp is free so no player has an excuse that they could not come. We cover everything from strength and conditioning to fielding, hitting and pitching. Each player receives a full evaluation or there skills as well as some tips on how they can improve. This has evolved into the winter evaluation camp where we bring in other professionals to also evaluate. These camps are more in-depth, and so have a small fee, but the fee is for paying for the professional evaluators and their travel to our location. Finding a good competitive team might also be a great way to help establish your talent and raise it to the next level. The experience of playing with players you have not grown up with and getting to locations you might not have gotten to without this team will help you as a player develop and be ready for the next stage. The challenge of the blog this week is to really evaluate where you are as a player and where you want to go. Be honest with yourself, and you will become a better player then you thought possible.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

Puppy Training: Trusting the Process

2010-11-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Like a majority of American families, I have a dog to take care of and teach some house etiquette in order to keep my sanity. When he was a puppy my wife and I had to potty train him just like any other puppy. Yeah, he had his share of accidents on the floor and we picked up a lot of poop on those days. It was a process teaching him to wait and go outside. We rewarded him and praised him every time that he went outside. My wife and I trusted that process of potty training and things have worked out.

One can say the same thing about resistance training, corrective exercises, rehab, weight loss, golfing, hitting a baseball – well you get the picture. I am an athletic trainer (would rather be called a movement therapist) and I do have some treatments that will have an athlete feeling pretty good going into a competition, but the results of the treatment don’t typically last. Modalities that are listed as “treatments” are really just band-aids on a ruptured aorta. I am talking about oral NSAIDS, cortisone injections, ice, massage, knee straps, physical therapy, and surgery - all reactive modalities. My athletes wait for issues to reach their threshold and its then when they start to perceive it as a problem. To be blunt – there will never be any modality or treatment that will overcome a dysfunctional athlete with a warped sense of reality with a few weeks or even days before their next competition.

When I would brag on my dog as a puppy he would end up whizzing on the carpet – I would be mad for a minute, clean it up , and take him outside. I made the time to help him out with the process of potty training and guess what - he’s a good dog. I know that if we all had the time (and the commitment of the athletes) that we could make some major adjustments in movement patterns. It’s a process – the runner that has been running for years is probably not going to fix an overuse injury in a matter of a few days. The same can be said about a pitcher with a sore shoulder. Trust the process!!

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

No Muscle Memory!

2010-10-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

In this week's installment of BaseballStrengthCoaching.com's blog, I want to take a minute to discuss one of my pet peeves. Recently it seems that I have heard quite a few professionals discuss the concept of "muscle memory". While I understand the concept, as exercise science professionals we should know better. There is no such thing as "muscle memory"! Muscles do not have memory control centers. The actions of our muscle tissue are controlled by conscious and subconscious brain functions.

Sports performance skills such as running, throwing, striking, catching, jumping, landing, and stop and turn activities require coordinated muscle recruitments of multiple joints and planes of movement. During the developmental period of infancy, we learn how to recruit various muscle groups in order to stabilize and balance our bodies (raise the head -> rollover -> sit up -> stand). As we continue to grow and mature, we learn basic loco motor skills such as scooting, crawling, and walking. Still later in our development, we progress to more fundamental movements such as traveling skills (climbing, galloping, jumping, running), object controls skills (kicking, throwing, striking), and balance movements (dodging, rolling). All the while, the brain is programming and saving these movement patterns for future use. With practice the patterns are fine-tuned and enhanced.

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is not programmed for isolated muscle function. When a motor task is necessary, the CNS recalls the pre-programmed patterns of movement that were learned during our developmental years. During sports activities, the body has to compensate for the pre-programmed movement patterns and react to gravity, momentum, and ground reaction forces. This pattern of muscle activation and movement programming has also been seen in recent visualization research.

Rather than referring to this process as "muscle memory", which by definition is not possible, I like to use the phrase "subconscious memory". Subconscious memory more accurately reflects the motor responses.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Snacks….good or bad?

2010-10-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

Trick question, right? Snacks can be good or bad for the athlete---depending on what, when and how much you choose to eat. You can make snacks work for you—no matter what your athletic goals are. With just a little thought and planning, you can improve your energy, health and training in the off season using high nutrition snacks.

Snacking is a great way to add foods during your day that provide your body with immune-boosting nutrients and energy to fuel workouts. Snacks give you the fuel you need before your workouts to train effectively so adding in an energizing snack an hour or two before heading to work out makes good sense for the athlete. It’s hard to make the gains you want, in endurance or strength, if you have an empty tank! After hard workouts, snacks help muscles refuel, repair and rehydrate so you are ready for the next workout/training session---- whenever that might be. Snacks help you to maintain lean muscle, stay focused and improve your energy levels throughout the day.

When opting for snacks, it’s important to remember that they add calories, as well as nutrition. Although planned snacking is beneficial to athletes, it’s not permission to eat a limitless amount of whatever foods you want. Snacks need to be chosen with some thought or they can work against you and cause unwanted body fat and weight gain. The size of your snack should go along with the length and intensity of your workouts. Try to space them out every 3 hours during the day to boost your energy. Set a reminder on your cell phone to fuel up so that the day isn’t over and you are left wondering why you are starving and have no energy for your workout after school or work! Try to include two different food groups in every snack for longer lasting energy and add some fluids for hydration. Choose a high quality (whole grain) carbohydrate source that is low in fat and a small amount of protein from lean meat, nuts or low fat dairy.

Keep emergency stashes in your backpack or out of sight in your car. I keep mine in my trunk in a box designated as my “snack box.” Keeping them in the trunk of my car prevents me from taking a visible cue to eat when I’m not truly hungry or don’t really need those extra calories. It also helps prevent eating foods out somewhere that are just “empty calories” without any nutrition, because you don’t have the right food with you. These are the moments that matter. Your food choices between your meals will make a difference and ultimately affect your health and training----either positively or negatively. It’s your choice.

Try these simple snack ideas that support good health:

• Whole grain cereals or popcorn with 100% fruit juice
• Low fat yogurt or cottage cheese and fresh berries
• Cereal or granola bars and a V-8 juice
• Small bag of nuts (about 15) and handful of grapes
• Whole wheat fig newtons
• Quesadilla with a thin layer of fat-free refried beans and a sprinkle of low fat cheese or half a turkey sandwich
• 5-6 whole wheat baked crackers with a schmear of peanut butter
• Apple and a piece of mozzarella string cheese
• Chocolate milk and an orange
• Carnation instant Breakfast and a banana
• Baked chips and salsa and a fruit cup
• Mini bagel with low fat cream cheese
• Small bag of trail mix
• Baby carrots with hummus for dip

Kim Larson, RD
Sports Nutrition Consultant
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Don't Blow It!

2010-10-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

How important is a first impression? As a baseball player it might be the only time you get to show a coach what you are made of. This is not limited to only your skills on the field but also what you are made of as a person. I have seen and heard many stories of how athletes have blown a great opportunity, and in the last 6 months I have witnessed 3 or 4 missed opportunities because the player doesn’t think it will matter. A word of advice, everything you do matters, from what you eat to how you dress. Let me give you a few stories.

I was at a camp watching a few players. This camp was hosted by a very well known coach at a college is Nebraska, which has a husker as a mascot. During a meeting with the players, the coach was explaining how the recruitment process goes and how it’s hard to see all the players out there. During this meeting the coach explained that while traveling to see players many times they are strapped for time and will only be able to stay a few minutes. During this time everything you do as a player can make or break you. If he saw a player during warm-up messing around, he would pack it up and leave and go to the next game. "Ladies and Gentlemen this is warm-up.", as he said. This might be the only time he has to see a player that day. If that first impression is bad, he may never return. Can you afford to make that impression?

Recently I had a player that had set up a try-out with a college coach. This player had 2 months after the summer season to prepare himself for the try-out. But what did he do instead? He decided to play golf. Don’t get me wrong. Golf is a great game. But, he did not touch a baseball for 2 months. When he returns to me before his try-out we had a week to prepare. Now, he failed to inform me 2 months earlier that he had set up this try-out. So, to my surprise we are trying to get some work done before that try-out. This player went to the try out with a minor sore arm and a weak bat. So how did the try-out go? Not so well. His arm was weak and lacked a lot of power. What will this coach do? We don’t know as of yet. But, did he put his best foot forward?

These are just a few examples and I could go on. But I think I have made the point. Please, if you get nothing else out of this blog this week, know that coaches are always watching. Take the time to prepare. That first impression could be your last impression.

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder Baseball Strength Coaching.com

Athletic Destinies Determined By Age 10

2010-10-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this article. This is something that I really try to preach to young athletes. I'd be interested to hear some other opinions.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

LeBron James was 10 years old once. By that age, he was on his way to becoming the LeBron James we know today, and he was helped by playing football, according to expert trainers who agree that a range of play activities between age six and 10 helps build a broad base of athletic motor and coordination abilities.

Each year hundreds of kids come through Scott Moody’s AthleteFit facility outside Kansas City, and dozens of them finish high school with collegiate sports scholarships.

“If [kids] don’t develop those manipulative motor skills at that age, that 6-10 window, then they don’t have the confidence necessary to participate,” said Moody. As a result, their overall fitness goes down, further dropping confidence. “It’s this downward spiral that most people never come out of.”

Moody joined more than 100 trainers from across the U.S. and Canada at a recent National Strength and Conditioning Association Youth Training Symposium in Chicago (see him presenting on TRX Suspension Training in the photo above). They discussed how in an overweight yet sports-obsessed culture, trainers are making a difference in how kids get started in athletics.

Patrick McHenry, a high school strength coach in Castle Rock, Colorado, talked about a tall, strong basketball player who could shoot and who looked like he might be great, but as a senior he lacked footwork.

“Was it too late? Yes, for him.” McHenry said. “If we had had him during his sophmore or junior year we could have helped him, but would he have been the best? No.”

Rick Howard, director of athletics for the School District of Philadelphia, gets requests from teachers and coaches for lowest-common-denominator training programs to meet the needs of, say, a third-grade physical education class or a girls’ softball team.

“It’s not that easy,” he tells them. “You really have to know everybody on that team, what they’re good at, what they’re not good at.” Mostly he sees sports instruction and training for kids that winds up reinforcing what they’re already good at, “Kids that are fast, keep them running.”

Reinforcement has run amok in cases where young athletes are opting to specialize in one sport at a young age. In the worst cases, according to McHenry, they run the risk of overuse injuries.

“We find they’re missing their window to all of those motor skills that are going to help them athletically later in the game,” said Moody.

“Girls’ soccer players have trouble tracking the ball in the air,” he pointed out, “because they never played volleyball growing up, they never played softball growing up. They didn’t get used to tracking objects out of the air.”

Mike Nitka is an editor for the trainers’ association journal and a Wisconsin high school wrestling coach. Motor skills in older people, he said, “can be developed, but not at the highest level possible because Mother Nature is trying to give us the biggest assist possible, and these are the windows” for that.

“I have a sign in my office,” Nitka said, “Volleyball players play volleyball. Athletes play anything they want.”

Article taken from news.medill.northwestern.edu.

Pull With Your Back

2010-09-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

As coaches, we strive to achieve the maximum benefit for our athletes in the shortest period of time. Often, we see athletes performing an exercise correctly but not receiving the outcomes they should. Perhaps, this lack of outcome stems from the lack of appropriate focus on the performance of the exercise. For me, one of those exercises is the Lat Pulldown / Pull-Up exercise.

The primary muscles that are engaged during this exercise are the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, teres major, and the lower trapezius. Their function is to adduct the arm and draw it closer to the pelvis. During the throwing motion, these muscles act as large decelerators to counteract the distraction forces at the glenohumeral joint. The muscles of the hand /forearm flexors, as well as, the biceps brachii are considered secondary movers during the Lat Pulldown exercise.

One of the common mistakes that I notice when athletes perform this exercise is that they over-emphasize their grip and as a result pull down using the smaller muscles of the arms. As I mentioned, the primary focus should be placed on the larger musculature of the back. Using mental cues can improve the mind-body connection. When coaching these athletes, I find it helpful to use the mental cue, “Pull with your back!” to emphasize the proper performance of the Lat Pulldown exercise. This will make an immediate impact in the technique by locking your “lats” into activation. To check this technique, the coach can place his hands on the athlete’s shoulder blades and feel that the pulldown movement is being initiated by their depression and retraction.

Focusing on the proper muscular activation while performing a movement can help to insure maximum benefits are achieved. “Pull with your back!” can be used for any exercise that requires the large upper back muscles to perform (i.e. seated row, bent-over row, etc).

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Welcome to College!!

2010-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! You were a very successful high school baseball player. Maybe you were lucky enough to garner some baseball scholarship money – good for you. You have packed your bags and maybe some of your high school trophies and highlight films – not recommended – and have made it to wherever your campus might be located.

You are on campus and realize that life is going to be pretty good. Baseball doesn’t start for a couple weeks; the girls are wearing their summer dresses and some are even laying out on the quad; life is good. The first day of class comes, and the first team meeting follows shortly after – man the recruiting process is over, Coach is mean, and these classes are going to be brutal. All in all, after the team meeting, Coach has the majority of the guys ready to run through a wall when he sets the expectations, the fall schedule, and starts talking about playing in Omaha in late June. You walk out of the meeting with chills and thinking that the team will do awesome this season – and no one has even touched a baseball.

Do you think you are ready?

I have had a couple of coaches break it down a couple different ways.

Coach A – “ Academics first (while holding up two fingers) and athletics second (while holding up the number one sign)!”

Coach B – had a more systematic approach and breakdown. “There are 24 hours in a day and it should break down like this. 8-3-6-4-3.”
• 8 hours of sleep – It’s a good solid number to shoot for, and your body will thank you.
• 3 hours to eat – Combining all meals and snacks (unless you eat like I do and try to grab anything as fast as you can between seeing athletes).
• 6 hours of baseball activity – No, this is not all organized activity, it includes early work in the batting cages and extra work spent on your defensive game. I won’t even start (yet) if your shoulder starts to hurt.
• 4 hours of class daily – Ok, I understand that you might be fortunate enough to not have class on Friday.
• 3 hours of free time.

Well, if I have done the math correctly, that is 24 hours. Wow, three hours of free time, that’s it? Those three hours are absolutely crucial. Coach B referred to that as F.A.T (four letter word-around-time). If your free time extends past three hours, where do you typically take the hours from? Sleep. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, then you are falling behind on the other areas. Then you are not performing as well as you would like on the baseball field, so you try to make up time in the cage. Then you are not doing so hot in some of your classes, so you decide to take a look at your buddie’s test sitting next to you in class – also not recommended. It seems to be a vicious cycle.
How will you spend your F.A.T??

Chris Ham, MSA, ATC, CES
Athletic Trainer
Vanderbilt University Baseball

The Importance of Hydration

2010-08-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

With August temperatures soaring into the high 80’s and 90’s around most of the country, staying well hydrated is a full time job for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike. Fluid consumption is especially important if you play sports outside in these hot, humid and sultry dog days of summer.

Being at fall ball tryouts last weekend when the temps hit 98 degrees made me realize how critical daily hydration, as well as rehydration, is to baseball players. Watching preadolescent players wilt as tryouts progressed, brought up a dangerous scenario that parents, coaches and trainers should all be aware of when working with young athletes. Lowered sweating capacity, poorly developed thirst mechanism and a limited ability to transfer heat from their muscles to their skin make this age group particularly vulnerable to dehydration and heat exhaustion. Core temperature rises in children at a faster rate than adults because they produce more metabolic heat than adults and it can cause serious heat-related illnesses. Adolescents also are still developing their body temperature control and are susceptible to these same issues. Special attention should be paid to drink adequate fluids before and during active play, as well as rehydrating properly afterwards, to reduce the risks of dehydration.

Dehydration has many negative, and possibly dangerous, effects on health and performance. Dehydration—even as little as 1-2 percent weight loss from sweating--is enough to diminish energy, accelerate fatigue and impair performance. A 2 percent weight loss is only 3 pounds for a 150 pound athlete. Sweat losses vary between individuals and with different exercise intensity, however, this amount of weight/sweat loss is not uncommon in hot, humid climates with several hours of practice and/or games. Some signs of dehydration include nausea, headache, fatigue, muscle cramps, lightheadedness and lack of urination and sweating.

Players will benefit from weighing before and after practices and games to determine their sweat losses so that rehydration is adequate to replace fluid losses. For every pound lost, replace with 24 oz (3 cups) of fluids, like sports drinks, 100% fruit juices or chocolate milk. Because your body also needs to replace the electrolytes sodium and potassium that you lose along with sweat, these fluid choices that contain electrolytes help to do that. Both fluid and electrolytes need to be taken in to restore a positive water balance in the body after exercising over one hour or in extreme heat, humidity or high altitude. Sports drinks are the preferred drink, over water, during exercise because they provide energy in the form of carbohydrates and electrolytes that provide rapid fluid absorption.

How much should you drink? To make sure you are fully hydrated follow these hydration recommendations:

Pre-practice/Pre-game
• At least 2 hours before drink 16-24 oz of fluids (all fluids count!)
• Follow with an additional 8-12 oz. of fluids 1 hour before (water or sports drinks)

During practice/games
• Drink 6-8oz. of fluids every 15 minutes (Best choice: sports drinks)
• Adolescents need to drink more: 8-12 oz every 15 minutes
• Consume at least 24 oz in one hour

Post game
• Drink 24 oz. of fluid
• Calculate fluids needed to replace those lost in sweat (1 pound =24 oz. of fluid) and continue drinking to meet those needs.

How do you know if you are drinking enough? The easiest, quickest way to know is to check the color of your urine. It should be the color of light lemonade, not apple juice. Monitor daily and adjust your drinking schedule accordingly to get the most out of your training and practices!

Winning Hydration Strategies

Every day drink at least half your body weight in ounces (For example:
A 160 pound athlete should drink 80 fluid ounces per day)

Drink before you are thirsty & keep drinking when you no longer feel thirsty!

Drink early and drink often throughout the day

Plan your fluids and carry a water bottle with you wherever you go

Do regular urine checks

Eat foods high in water, like fruit (at least 2 cups a day) & soups

Drink sports drinks that taste good to you to help you drink more during exercise

Avoid beverages like energy drinks, pop and fruit juice during exercise (they are too high in sugar and will delay gastric emptying & hydration)

Coaches: Develop Hydration Protocols for your teams and implement periodic drink stops every 15 minutes for adequate hydration that supports good performance!

By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Take some time off

2010-08-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hello Again,

Sorry for the late blog this week, plans for the fall are falling into place and the baseball season is quickly coming to an end, which usually means the schedule is full of a lot of busy work. But with the summer season coming to an end it is time to start to think about the fall season for some and an extended off-season for others. Which ever season you are coming into it is time to take some time off, step away from the game and relax. Depending on which season you are coming into will determine the time off. We will just make some general guidelines when it comes to the active recovery time. When a player is getting ready for an off season they need to take at least 2 weeks off and up to 4 weeks of recovery can be needed if the player is healthy and no other problems are going to be addressed. This is a window and each player needs to make the choice of recovery time and some times that is determined by the start of the next season. The total time off needs to be planed so the player can again plan for proper progression into normal play again when the spring comes. I hope you can see where we are going; planning is the key to success. Planning everything down to recovery helps the player perform at their very best every season. If you noticed I used the word active recovery as well, when you are taking this break don’t be a couch potato, get out and do some activities you did not have the chance to do in-season. Some coaches may cringe, but go play some hoops, get on that wake board, go for a hike, and have some fun doing things not related to baseball. Your body and your mind will thank you. We will be addressing some off-season training topics in the next series of article topics. Get out and have some fun!!!!!

The "Sleeper Stretch"

2010-07-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

The very nature of the overhead throwing motion subjects the shoulder joint to extreme positions and forces. When this activity is repeated over time, chronic adaptations will occur. When compared to non-throwers, throwing athletes often exhibit an increase in shoulder external rotation range of motion. However, the cost of this increase in external rotation is that it is often balanced by tightness in shoulder internal rotation. When this internal rotation tightness is 20 degrees greater than the non-throwing arm, it is commonly referred to as GIRD -Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit.

Muscular imbalances in a joint or structure (i.e. tightness, etc) can affect the efficiency of the joint and may force other joints to do more work than they can handle. This creates the potential for injury by over stressing the body. Further, it inhibits performance by isolating the kinetic chain, and not allowing integrated movement. GIRD, or tightness of the posterior shoulder capsule / rotator cuff musculature, has been linked to an increased risk of injury by placing added stress on the shoulder decelerators, the internal static structures of the joint (labrum), and has been linked to medial elbow pain and disfunction.

The first line of defense in the prevention and treatment of posterior shoulder tightness is the “Sleeper Stretch”. This exercise is performed by lying on your throwing arm side with knees bent. Place your bottom arm perpendicular to your body with your elbow bent at 90 degrees. Stay on your side and do not lean backwards. Using your free (top) hand, gently push your arm toward the ground until you feel a light stretch or resistance to the movement. Hold that stretch for 5-10 seconds and repeat for 5-10 repetitions. Just as tightness is an acquired adaptation to repetitive movements, flexibility results from the consistent performance of a stretching routine. The “Sleeper Stretch” may be performed several times per day making sure that the joint is not being forced into a painful position / stretch.

When the muscles around a joint are in the proper length-tension ratios, they undergo less stress and can produce more force. Performing the “Sleeper Stretch” can improve shoulder health and performance in the overhead throwing athlete.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Protein - A Little Goes a Long Way

2010-07-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

The subject of protein for the athlete--- from how much is needed to what kinds are best, is the source of many hot debates. In many athletic circles, its function in building muscle has been extolled as almost magical. True, protein is an important nutrient. It’s found in a wide variety of foods coming from both animals and plants. Protein plays a vital role in repairing and rebuilding muscles, is an essential part of hormones, enzymes and antibodies that support our immune system. It’s not an energy source unless our bodies don’t have enough carbohydrates—the preferred fuel for all sports activities. Let’s explore the physiological basis for how much and what kinds of protein an athlete needs to help put this subject into a practical perspective for baseball.

Is protein more important than fats or carbohydrates?

No. All three of these nutrients, in the right balance and at the right time, provide the nutrition athlete’s need for the best training and performance.
How much protein does an athlete need?
The short answer is: more than a sedentary person who doesn’t play sports. Protein needs in athletes are higher, but exactly how much higher? Protein needs are calculated by weight, what type of athlete you are (endurance or strength & power) your training goals and by where you are in your sports season. See the table below for examples.

Average Protein Requirements for a 70 Kg athlete ( Divide your weight by 2.2 to find kilograms)

Type of athlete Protein Requirements (grams)

Sedentary .9 grms/kg 56 grms/day
Regular exerciser 1.0 grms/kg 70 grms/day
Endurance 1.2-1.4 grms/kg 105 grms/day
Resistance 1.4-1.7 grms/kg 112 grms/day

Protein needs for baseball (in season) are about 15-20% of the total day’s calories and are equal to about 1.2 grams/kg of body weight. To get an idea of what you might need daily take a minute and do the math. In the off season, if training goals change, protein requirements may change as well. We will address that topic (and protein for muscle building) when we discuss nutrition for the off season in September’s sports nutrition journal article.

It’s easy to meet your dietary protein needs through basic, nutritious foods eaten in a well balanced diet. If you eat cereal with milk for breakfast, yogurt and fruit for a snack, followed by a turkey sandwich for lunch, peanut butter & jelly sandwich or chocolate milk after your workout and dinner of a beef vegetable stir fry…. you’ve eaten about 95 grams of protein! You also get extra protein in your between meal snacks. Foods like whole grains and even certain vegetables have a little bit of protein, too, so it all adds up. If you eat enough food to support your training and performance, chances are that you are getting plenty of protein. There is no need to take extra protein in the form of pills or powders—food works! Save your money, choose well and enjoy all the satisfaction and flavor eating good food offers.

Protein from animals (lean meats, fish, eggs, poultry) is the most concentrated source and contains all of the essential amino acids. High quality plant sources include soy products, like tofu and soy milk, nuts and dried beans peas and lentils. Low fat dairy products are also an excellent source of essential amino acids.

Is more protein better?

No. Research confirms that anything over 2 grams/kg of body weight is excessive and does not benefit the athlete in any way. In fact, it might be harmful. Higher amounts of protein stress the kidneys because they have to excrete the nitrogen that is produced from protein breakdown (notice those body builders at the gym with gallons of water in tow?) Also, extra protein that isn’t used is stored as fat in your body. Only small amounts are used to repair and rebuild muscles so keep that in mind when choosing your recovery snack, after workouts and games. Anything more than 20 grams of protein is wasted.

By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Know what you want.

2010-06-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

As a player do you know what you want? If you want to play at the next level, then you need to make sure the boat is heading in the right direction. You can't expect things to just fall in your lap. If you do, you will be very disappointed. As a player you must know where you are going and then make it happen. Your coach is not going to pave the way. The best advice I can give you as a player is to get out and see what the competition is like and how you can get better. Then set those goals and post them so you can see them everyday. If you want to go play at a certain school then you better start communicating to them so they know who you are. If you're not an outgoing person, then you better figure out how to get better at it. Because if you dont speak up, the sports world will pass you by. YOU CAN NOT BE PASSIVE!!!! The journey to the next level is just that, a Journey. Don't just let it pass. As a great little green guy said, "There is no try. Do, or do not."

Brian Niswender
Co-Founder Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

To Supplement or Not to Supplement?

2010-06-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

Last week Consumer Reports magazine issued a press release on a product review they did on protein powders and drinks that included sports nutrition products, like recovery drinks. Because this report received a lot of media attention I thought it might be a good topic of discussion for my first blog. The report indicated that several popular products, like Muscle Milk, had levels of heavy metal contaminants (arsenic, lead and cadmium) that could be potentially dangerous if products were used 2-3 times per day. Using these products once daily in their usual amounts is deemed safe, but the concern was that those using the products could suffer serious health affects if they used them more than once per day, which many individuals do. If you would like to read this report it is in the July issue of Consumer Reports magazine. The companies making the products in question have published remarks refuting these test results and, as usual, this leaves the consumer in a quandary of who and what to believe.

Dietary supplements are a huge industry today and sales top 23 billion dollars annually. Why is this important to you? First, dietary supplements are not regulated at all by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) nor are the claims the supplements make on the label or advertising regulated or monitored. This essentially means that anyone can say anything about a product—and they do. Manufacturers are not required to prove a supplement is safe, contains the ingredients it says it has in the amounts it states on the label, or that it even works before selling it. Only after a product has been shown to be unsafe and in many cases, dangerous to health, can the FDA remove it from the market.

There are several organizations that do random testing of supplements for safety, potency and effectiveness. These companies include Consumer Lab (CL) , the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), and United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Look for their seals of approval on the supplement before taking it to ensure you are getting what they say they deliver. There are many cases of supplements that have been tested and found to contain ingredients not on the label, ingredients in reduced amounts than they are said to have and also contaminants.
Many supplements promise athletes more energy, more muscle, enhanced performance, weight loss, etc. and these claims can be tempting for someone who is trying to achieve their best performance. Buyer beware! Don’t believe the hype these products advertise. How to spot a fraud? Look for these types of claims:

• Quick, easy and works for every athlete!
• Testimonials that it worked for Joe and it will work for you!
• States it has a secret about how to enhance performance
• Claims it uses ingredients that have been proven to work
• Belittles established concepts about nutrition or diet

As a consumer interested in sports performance, it’s critical to ask yourself these questions before considering taking any dietary supplement:

Am I eating a well balanced sports diet?
What improvements can I make in my daily nutrition?
Am I eating the right kinds of nutrient rich foods?
How can I change the timing of my food to enhance my performance and energy level?
Am I practicing consistent recovery to keep energy high and assist with muscle recovery (reduce soreness, and inflammation)
Are my recovery foods and fluids adequate to replace glycogen stores and rebuild muscle tissue damage?
Am I getting enough rest?

Real food works for the athlete in almost every situation and is satisfying and tastes great, too. Wholesome food is always safe, effective and a budget friendly source of nutrients, like protein. Compare low fat chocolate milk with any commercial recovery drink that contains protein and you will see what I mean. For most athletes, especially in the sport of baseball, supplements are not needed unless your diet is deficient.

The risks that come with using sports nutrition supplements on a regular basis are simply put, not worth the money. Grocery store-bought food and fluids can provide all the nutrition a baseball player needs for high performance and good health, if chosen wisely, using sports nutrition guidelines. Going to health food stores or nutrition supplement stores does not guarantee safety or effectiveness when you buy a sports nutrition product. In fact, sales people at these types of stores do not have any background, training or formal education in nutrition that requires them to learn the physiology behind how food and nutrients are used in the body. Remember: First and foremost their goal is to sell you their product!

For information on food and nutrition that you can trust, find a Sports Dietitian in your area by going to www.scandpg.org and follow the links to input your location. A Sports Dietitian, (CSSD) trained, educated and credentialed in sports nutrition, can help you evaluate your diet and any supplements you are considering taking. For more information on sports nutrition go to www.eatright.org and look for that link (sports nutrition) under nutrition for consumers.

Stay tuned for more on protein needs of athletes, what types of protein are best for athletes, when you should eat protein, how protein affects performance, and other facts about this important nutrient for good health and performance.

By Kim Larson, RD, CD
Regular Contributor
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Athleticism or Skill?

2010-06-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

In February when the NFL Combine was in full swing, I discussed the validity of evaluating athleticism and its correlation to the draft and future performance. Here we are in June and it’s time for Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. This makes me want to revisit the idea of “athleticism” and ask the question: Should teams draft athletes and try and make them baseball players? Or, draft baseball players and attempt to improve their athleticism?

The answer: Yes

Let’s make 2 assumptions for the sake of this discussion. First, high school players have the raw athletic abilities needed for sports performance. They lack the sport-specific skill development and experience of the more expert player. In this discussion, the high school player would be considered the “athlete”. Second, the college player possesses greater playing experience and skill development. These athletes would be considered the “baseball player”.

According to Baseball References’ Draft Database, an analysis of the players from the 2000-2005 draft classes provides a couple of interesting points:

1. College position players are better bets to reach the Major League level than high school position players; and
2. High school pitchers are better bets to reach the Major League level than college pitchers.

As mentioned, the college position player has greater sport-specific skill development and possesses a broader base of playing experience to allow him to adjust and adapt to the professional levels. With regard to the pitchers, perhaps the high school athlete has less wear and tear on his throwing arm as a result of a younger age and less cumulative innings / pitches (Although this may be a topic for another time – youth travel baseball). More than likely, the high school player also participates in other sports. The multi-sport performer tends to be a more well-rounded athlete with the many physiological tools and traits needed in each arena.

When working with the high school pitcher, more emphasis should be placed on proper throwing mechanics and delivery efficiency, as well as, teaching the overall knowledge of the game (i.e. fastball command, development of off-speed pitches, pitch selection and sequences, and identifying hitters’ weaknesses, etc). Care should be taken not to neglect the young pitcher’s athletic gifts and continue to enhance and maintain these traits. However, the sport-specific skills take precedence.

The more experienced and developed collegiate position player, can use athletic development to aid and fine tune the performance of his sport-specific skills. Speed and agility drills may be used for balance and footwork enhancement, along with the overall improvement of fielding range and baserunning abilities. Development of lower extremity and core strength / power / stability may provide continued improvement with regard to bat speed and power at ball contact.

So, the answer to my introductory question seems to be “yes”. It just depends on what position the player is being drafted to perform.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

New Journal Issue Coming Soon!

2010-05-31T07:06:00.000-07:00

"If you're green, you're still growing. If you're ripe, you're next to rotten." -Jack Hughston, MD.

Don't forget - BaseballStrengthCoaching.com's new journal issue will be posted in June! Stay tuned for articles on topics such as rotational power, visual search and recognition, mental skills and goal setting, and sports nutrition.

Use It or Lose It!

2010-05-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of my biggest pet peaves and an issue that I spend a lot of time discussing with athletes each year. And, if you've heard this from me on several occasions, I apologize. But, being that we are knee deep into the season, I thought that I would take a minute and review a simple concept.

Deconditioning, also called detraining is simply the effect of losing fitness when you stop training. The Principle of Use / Disuse is one of the main principles of conditioning. The concept is that “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. How quickly you lose fitness depends on how fit you are, how long you have been training, and on how long you stop.

Many people stop exercising at times for many reasons. It is not uncommon for baseball players to train intensely during the winter months and significantly decrease or stop training altogether once the season begins thinking that they will be able to maintain their fitness level throughout the summer. I hear it time and time again, "I really work hard in the off-season so I don't need to now." However, this thought process simply doesn’t work. With the overall length of the baseball season, the day-to-day grind of playing / practicing almost everyday, and the physical stress of throwing / swinging, it is almost impossible to maintain your strength and conditioning levels throughout the entire season without some sort of plan. Studies show that deconditioning begins in about 2 weeks if training is stopped altogether. Once lost, it takes nearly three times as long to recondition as it took to “detrain”. After 3 months following the end of training, researchers have found that athletes lost about ½ of their aerobic condition.

Top Ways to Maintain Your Fitness Level

(1) Don’t quit completely. At a minimum, performing 1-2 high-quality, high-intensity training sessions each week can help maintain your fitness level.

(2) Account for the body’s ability to adapt to training. DO NOT keep doing the same routine over and over. Adjust your training plan to gradually progress the training loads and intensities in order to avoid, detraining, overtraining, and injury.

(3) Using a variety of different exercise techniques, while staying true to the training goals and performance needs, can help to limit overtraining, enhance motivation, and increase training adaptations.

(4) Continue training (well-body conditioning, cross training, etc) through injuries.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Whats wrong with that exercise?

2010-05-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a little surfing in the last few weeks and am astounded by what I see. Baseball is natoriace for banning exercises that “will harm baseball players”, but what is the science behind it, what is the reason for the negativity towards the exercise. In many cases an isolated incident may have contributed to an injury and all of a sudden we can’t use the exercise any more. That is ridiculous and such small thinking that it is no wonder that so many players seek outside help, and in many of those cases find trainers that really don’t know what they are doing. I firmly believe that there are few exercises that athletes should not perform, but is all instances the player must be evaluated and cleared before doing any exercise program or exercise. A great example of an exercise I love but in many cases is done wrong especially in the lower levels of baseball is the Clean. What a great exercise, the player gets work in all parts of the body, in multiple disciplines, (power, strength, balance), but if the exercise is done wrong it can become one of the most dangerous exercise for an athlete to perform.
An exercise that gets a bad name in baseball is the bench press, but why? Iv heard it all, It hurts the rotator cuff, it causes the humerus to compress into the shoulder joint which causes pinching of the bursa, we get enough chest work while playing so we don’t need to do chest work, and this just names a few. What a bunch of hog wash, can these things happen, well yes, but that does not mean it will happen with every player and in most cases will never happen in most players. The question comes back to, just because it happened to one player does not mean it will happen to all players. Let’s free our minds and have the ability to be professionals. In many cases that trainer that says no benching, has his players doing DB bench press, really, yah that’s a lot different, and in some cases can even be more dangerous, but since the DB bench is “open chain” it must be ok. Come on wake up and learn the mechanics of the body.
Enough ranting and raving, I could go on and on with many different exercises, but what’s the point. We need to step away and decide if we are here to increase the players’ performance or sell an idea or program. Realize that not every exercise is right for a player but being able to identify the players’ needs and then prescribing a program that can help them get to the level they want is the goal. Take a minute and look at the exercise you use and realize that there are many ways to reach a goal and the player is the most important part of the equation.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Warrior Sports Training

Let’s Get to the Core of the Problem

2010-04-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been a little while since our last installment on the BaseballStrengthCoaching.com blog site. I apologize for that. With the initiation of the baseball season, I have been striving to settle in to a routine, adapt to the rigors of travel, and adjust to the day-to-day grind that is the game of baseball. But, that’s a topic for another time.

What I want to talk about this week is the dreaded Oblique Muscle Strain. Baseball is a rotational sport. Everything players do from swinging the bat, pitching the ball, or fielding a ball in the hole, involves a rotary movement at the hips, torso, or shoulder complex. The oblique muscles are the responsible for creating this torso rotation pattern. In recent years, many major league players, both position player and pitcher alike, have been sidelined by injury to this muscle.

In my opinion, these injuries occur for several reasons. First, have you ever followed a hitter around for a day and counted exactly how many total swings he performs? Let’s look at an example of a typical day. Player A shows up to the ballpark and goes to the hitting cage for early work. He may perform up to 30-40 repetitions attempting “lock in his swing”. Then, later in the day, Player A participates in the daily team batting practice which consists of up to 15-20 minutes of a group of 4 hitters. Each hitter may perform another 40+ repetitions. During the game, he takes another 5-10 swings while in the on-deck circle. This time, often with an additional weight on the bat. And finally, he averages 5 at-bats per game. And just for argument, let’s say that he takes 4 swings per at-bat for an additional 20 repetitions.

40 + 40 + 10 + 20 = 110 swings per day

110 swings per day. And, that doesn’t even take into account the number of rotational movements that are performed with his throwing activities. Add these numbers up over the course of an entire season and the rotational repetition volume is astounding. High volume can lead to fatigue. With fatigue comes changes in movement patterns. Changes in movement patterns equal abnormal muscle firing patterns.

The second reason I think these injuries occur is a result of a neuromuscular “misfire” and is directly related to the type of core training that we traditionally perform. During the hitting and throwing motions there is a period of loading (potential energy) and unloading (kinetic energy). As the pitch is being delivered the hitter performs a slight countermovement to “load” his swing and harness energy. As the ball gets closer to the plate, he begins to initiate his swing and “unload” his energy through the bat to the ball. It is at the point of switching from loading to unloading that these oblique injuries occur. In terms of plyometric training we call it the “amoritization phase”. And ideally, the switch should be as quick as possible in order to maximize the benefits of the stretch-shortening cycle and create the optimal resulting concentric force. Traditionally, players and coaches emphasize standard crunches, concentric med ball rotations, and possibly even medicine ball throwing exercises to improve overall core / trunk force production. However, when an athlete is not trained to harness energy and quickly change direction to release that energy. He lacks the neuromuscular conditioning to execute the fine-tuned pattern of load-stabilize-unload. When this lack of programming is coupled with the fatigue and abnormal muscular recruitment I mentioned earlier, the potential for injury increases.

Finally, “it’s all in the hips”. Hip mobility is a key factor. Athletes must have adequate flexibility and range of motion in the pelvis and hips to allow for complete torso rotation. When he lacks mobility in the hips, greater stresses are transmitted up through the spine creating greater needs of the abdominal musculature. Greater requirements result again in abnormal muscle recruitment patterns and can potentially lead to injury.

Prevention programs of these oblique and abdominal muscle injuries should emphasize the following points:

1. Monitor swing volume and tailor activities accordingly. Emphasize quality over quantity.

2. Core strengthening programs should focus on stabilization, eccentric loading, and the quick switch from load to unload. (Of course a good baseline strength level should be present before progressing to this type of training.)

3. Attention should be placed on hip mobility.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Why do we do what we do?

2010-04-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Why we do what we do?

Why do you coach, or train? Do you do it for personal glory, or recognition? Do you have something to prove? As a coach or trainer you are a mentor and leader, are you leading your players or are you dictating?
These can be soul searching questions for a coach, and I deal with these questions on an on going bases myself. I usually deal with these questions after one of my players has to deal with a coaching situation.
The first question I always ask is why did I get into coaching? It always brings me back to the coaches I had growing up, the good and the bad. I remember what the good coaches did, and how they acted. The good coaches are always great role models, they are always hard workers and they always put the athlete first. The bad coaches never really lead, there is always only one way and it is there’s, they are closed minded and negative. Then I remember why I love coaching, I remember what it feels like to watch a player succeed, to watch their eyes light up, to watch the way they carry them selves with self confidence and success. This is why I coach; I want to help the young player find his game, to become the best ball player he or she can be. To watch how hard work and focus can change every player. I remember that it’s not about me it about the player and my job is to help them succeed.

A few things we can do to help them succeed:

1) Lead by example.
2) Provide them with current information and techniques.
3) Be able to adjust to every players learning style.
4) Help them find the instruction they need.
5) Help them form good habits.
6) Teach them how to communicate.
7) Teach them how to plan a schedule.
8) Provide a safe place to share.
9) Challenge them in all aspects of life.
10) Teach them to be leaders.

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-founder Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

The Energy Balance Equation

2010-03-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

As a Performance Enhancement Coach, I am frequently fielding questions from athletes who are trying to gain weight. What kind of workout should I do? What supplements should I buy? How much protein should I take? What kind of protein should I take? All of these questions can and should be addressed. But, there is one question that should be asked before all others…How many calories do I need?

The concept of weight management through Energy Balance is not a difficult one to convey. First, if an athlete’s goal is to maintain his weight, then the amount of energy (calories) that he expends through activity and exercise must equal the amount of energy he consumes (food). If his goal is to lose weight, then he must expend more energy than he consumes. And finally, if the athlete’s goal is to gain weight, then he must consume more energy than he burns. This is the most important issue in weight management – even before I begin discussing protein, carbohydrates, supplements, etc. Gater et al. (1992) demonstrated that athletes who participate in a strength training program and consume more calories than they expend show higher muscle mass gains than athletes with a neutral calorie balance.

(+) Energy Balance = Weight Gain
(-) Energy Balance = Weight Loss
(0) Energy Balance = Weight Maintenance

Even though this is not a difficult concept to convey, it definitely is not as easy to put into practice. For me, the first thing that I ask the player to do when dealing with weight management goals is to keep a weekly diary of what he is eating and drinking, so that I have an idea of how many calories that he is consuming. From there, we discuss the player’s daily calorie expense based on his daily practice, training, and performance activities. The biggest thing that I’ve found over the years is that most players do not have a good grasp on how many calories they need during the day or how many calories they actually take in.

23yo Male / 6ft Tall / 200lbs  3,114 Calories

The average professional baseball player requires 3,114 calories just to fuel his normal bodily functions at rest and maintain his current body weight. The need increases to between 3,600 and 4,100 calories per day to fuel the body for the addition of daily baseball activities. It is important to also understand that a player’s calorie needs will change based on the time of year (off-season, pre-season, or in-season), within a given week (5-day Starting Pitcher Rotation), or according to his role on the team (Starter vs. Reliever, or Everyday Player vs. Bench Player). Consuming up to 100-500 more calories per day than you are expending will provide you with the energy needed to gain strength and increase your lean muscle mass.

How do you gain weight? Above all else, make sure that you have a positive calorie balance.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Intensity

2010-03-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

A player’s intensity can be a great asset to his performance, a player that is able to perform at a higher intensity mentally as well as physically will excel at any skill he performs. But, how can we challenge the intensity to increase performance. I continue to explore new ways to challenge my athletes to increase their intensity, and consistency. Many players don’t understand how to keep intensity at a high level. They have been trained over time to just give enough to get by, if they only need to take 10 grounders a day to make the team then that is good enough. This can be very frustrating to me at times; I don’t understand how you can dream of playing a game at a high level and only do what is needed to get by. How can a player not want to be the best, or able to reach their full potential? I am not saying every player will go pro or has the potential to play pro ball, but, I have seen many players that through a lack of focus and intensity let the world pass them by. I have been working on a few aids that have had great success in helping many of my players find the intensity and consistency of intensity to raise their game to new levels. The ideas are simple, but can lay out a plan that can focus a ball players day to day routine.

1ST- We start to track the players practice schedule
-hitting, fielding, throwing.
This allows the player to see how much work is actually being done, the first time the player does this they will usually be surprised at the little they actually did at practice. Many players will say I put in 21/2 hours at practice that should be enough, but how much work did they actually get, 25 swings, 15 grounders, and couple base steeling opportunities.

2nd- Determine a plan of action to increase the players actual individual work time.

Set a day to day schedule on extra tee hitting drills, hitting off the curve ball machine, taking back hands, ect. The key is to start slow, just a few drills every night or every other night. Many times after the practice tracking reveals to the player the lack of work they have been doing they will be highly motivated to do extra work, but if they are overloaded, they set themselves up for failure. If the work load is too great the player will soon be stressed by the extra time commitment and will usually discontinue the activities. Remember to start slow and as progress is made it will be easy for the player to make adjustments and increase work load.

3rd- Keep track of the performance changes.

In many cases the player’s numbers will increase in just a few weeks, but the player will also start to exude more confidence and playing potential. The tracking of these changes can be an extra motivator to the player when tough times come, like a hitting slump. By reminding the player of the time committed to their performance and increased intensity the player can gain confidence and will themselves out of tough times.

Now this is not the only way to increase a player’s intensity, but just one of many. The goal is to increase performance and developing a plan and tracking progress increases the player’s ability to have a hands on experience, which in turn increases the success of the program. The first step is the decision to bring your game to a new level, it is hard work and sacrifice after that, in my opinion the fun part of the development process.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-Founder BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Preparation = Confidence

2010-03-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

I know that the Vancouver Games have been closed for over a week, but one particular athlete’s story stood out in my mind. Immediately after winning the gold medal in the Women’s Moguls event, skier Hannah Kearney was interviewed and she talked about a “special note” that one of her strength coaches had sent her on the morning of the finals. Kearney was known to keep a diary of detailing each of her workouts over the past year. Her coach secretly went through the diary and summed up her work:

- 2,500+ Jumps
- 250 hours on the Bike
- 5,800 stairs climbed in ski boots while jumping into the pool

At the bottom of the note, the coach wrote “You are ready.”

Performance is a test of your training and skills. I know it’s a cliché, but don’t you feel better about taking a test if you’ve studied for it? Preparation for next season begins as soon as this season ends. Preparation for your next outing or game begins as soon as your last one was over. The goal is to maximize recovery, review what went right and what went wrong, develop a game plan, and then execute the plan. Simple right?

Not always. But, Hannah Kearney is on to one trick that can help…keeping a Training Log. Maintaining a log of workouts can help you recognize patterns and better understand when it is time to change movements and adjust the volume and intensities for optimal training benefits. Keeping a diary of previous performances can help you identify successful strategies and prevent falling into predictable patterns.

When you see it on paper, it is easier to recognize that you’ve done everything you can to prepare yourself for. And then you’ll know… “You are ready!”

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Finding Balance

2010-03-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Finding Balance

I have struggled all week with the blog. I wanted to touch on a very important part of the athletes training, that being balance. Some times this very simple concept is overlooked. The transfer of forces from the ground to the hands is based on balance, but where do you start and can it be covered in a blog. As I struggled with the topic I remembered a story I read from a master of kung fu. It explained the importance of a strong foundation as related to a tree. A tree that grows roots deep into the soil will withstand any storm and a tree that’s roots are shallow will fall over. The same is true of the athlete. The athlete that grows and trains his roots deep will be able to perform any task. In this metaphor the soil is the surroundings of the tree and so relates to the surrounding of the athlete. Who and what does the athlete surround himself with will determine how deep the roots can go. If an athlete is jumping from new fad to new fad they can never really lay down roots, because something new is being introduced constantly. The athlete must also surround him self with the right instructors and mentors. These strong influences can help the athlete stay grounded, motivate and support. So to keep it simple this week, really take a look at your program and who you surround yourself with. These things are either helping you or bring you down, and remember the tree, get those roots deep and stay with it. Hard work always pays off.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

MLB Exploring Testing for HGH in Minors

2010-02-26T04:58:00.000-08:00

League consulting with experts concerning immediate next steps
By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com

02/24/10 1:30 AM EST

Major League Baseball plans to explore the possible implementation of blood testing for human growth hormone in the Minor Leagues later this year, an official in baseball with direct knowledge of the matter told The New York Times for a story published on its Web site late Tuesday.

The news comes one day after a British rugby player was suspended for testing positive for HGH, the first time that an athlete had been publicly identified for testing positive for the substance, the report said. In a statement to The New York Times, Major League Baseball said it was "well aware of the important news with respect to" the positive drug test that resulted in the ban of the rugby player. The statement continued: "We are consulting with our experts concerning immediate steps for our minor league drug program and the next steps for our Major League drug program."

Commissioner Bud Selig previously has implemented new steps against the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Minor Leagues during the past decade, doing so without needing the consent of the MLB Players Association because most Minor Leaguers aren't members.

A second baseball official confirmed to The Times on Tuesday that Selig will likely move to get the union's approval to test for HGH on the Major League level.

The players unions in both baseball and the National Football League have accepted the use of urine tests for various performance enhancers. However, they have resisted blood testing, questioning the reliability of any current test for H.G.H.

"We believe we have the best drug-testing policy and there is no reason to forcefully implement any blood-testing at this time," George Atallah, a spokesman for the NFL union, told The Times. A spokesman for the baseball union only told the newspaper "that it was consulting with its medical experts" and declined further comment.

According to the report, MLB and the NFL have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in research financing to Don Catlin, a longtime anti-doping expert, hoping that Catlin could produce a reliable HGH urine test. The Times reported that "Catlin has said he is making progress on the test but is not sure when it might be ready for widespread use."

Selig has publicly supported an HGH test.

"When a valid, commercially available and practical test for HGH becomes reality -- regardless of whether the test is based on blood or urine -- baseball will support the utilization of that test," Selig said in 2008, at a hearing before Congress.

That following November, then-head of the baseball union Donald Fehr said he would consider support for an HGH test "if and when a blood test is available and it can be signed and validated by people other than those that are trying to sell it to you. Then we'd have to take a hard look at it."

The report also said that officials for the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency pointed out privately that athletes often used HGH out of competition and not when events were taking place. It was only in 2008 that kits were developed allowing for wider testing of athletes outside of competition.

Jesse Sanchez is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

How Your Mind is Like Underwear

2010-02-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

How Your Mind is Like Your Underwear
by Tom Hanson, Ph,D

In 1996 I spent 30 straight days as a student at a yoga center.

We did about 5 hours of yoga a day and ate vegetarian food. All that stretching and breathing
not only changed me physically (I felt like a greyhound when I left), it also opened me up to a new
world of learning and personal growth.

I met so many fascinating people and had so many mind-expanding conversations that
I’ve never been the same since. I’m more open to new ideas, I’ve taken more risks (e.g. quit a tenured college professorship to pursue my dream) and as a result my life has been a great adventure.

I attribute much of my growth and current happiness to my choice to put myself through that yoga experience.

Our minds are like our underwear: Once they get stretched passed their current capacity they never go back to their original size.

Those of us who have experienced getting a “snuggy” or a “wedgy” (or whatever you called it when you were a kid) know what I mean.

As I observe successful people, ones I want to be like, I see they pursue life-changing experiences instead of waiting around for them to happen.

We all experience unwanted, powerful, life-changing events: We lose jobs, lose loved ones, get dropped by girlfriends, get injured and get let down by people we trust.

These unwanted events are referred to in my world as AFGOs: Another (Fricking) Growth Opportunity.

But if you pursue great positive, wanted learning experiences you meet them on your own terms rather than waiting until an AFGO hunts you down. The more you do so the better you’ll be able to handle the AFGOs when they do come.

The yoga month I did was by my choice and it gave me skills and experiences that have helped me through some challenging times (like when I quit a tenured college professorship to pursue my dreams…)

Life is going to deal us all lessons, be it on the field or off. That is inevitable. Yet we can choose to live as a learning hunter or a learning hunted.

Rick, a high school player I coached this summer, was experiencing a lot of stress from the way his parents were acting. They wanted him to get a scholarship or get drafted and kept reminding him of what he needed to do. They were well-intentioned and didn’t realize the effect they were having on Rick.

Rick sought my help. I shared with him some ideas on how to be loving yet powerful in communicating his feelings with his parents. After some practice he was ready, and he initiated a tough conversation with his parents.

He could have sat back and not expressed himself, but he chose to do some learning, then take the actions he needed to clear his head. Everything went great and as you might expect, when the relationship with his parents improved, so did his performance, greatly improving his chances of reaching his goals.

Now he has an experience of initiating a difficult conversation with an authority figure. The ability to do that results in a different life from a guy who swallows his feelings.

Rick was a learning hunter.

Thank you,

Dr. Tom Hanson

The power of "Power Talk"

2010-02-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
-William Shakespeare

As I sit here watching the Olympics this week, I can’t help but think about the countless hours of training and practice that these athletes put in for only a handful of competitions a year and this ultimate event only once every four years. With so much time between competitions, they remain motivated and push on to achieve their dreams of Olympic gold.

Yet, how many of us work with athletes, both young and more mature, each day that it is a chore to motivate them for each practice or training session? The Olympians are at the pinnacle of their sport and still find the will and resolve to perform their necessary day-to-day routines. Most of our athletes still have a long way to go before they reach their elite levels. Even some of those who have cracked the professional ranks, still require a significant amount of our energy to nudge and drag them through their training sessions and put in at least enough effort to get something out of their workouts. Why do athletes often view these activities as a necessary evil? A colleague of mine said it this way, “It’s like some of them just don’t want to work.” I usually put it a different way. They just don’t understand the importance of the “behind the scenes” work and day-to-day grind that can have a huge impact on their on-field performance.

Shakespeare asks, “What’s in a name?” Language is a systematic means of communicating ideas and feelings. The words that we use should clearly designate our purpose and direction. The subconscious mind records everything. A person’s experiences provide a context for the emotions and behaviors that result from the words that are expressed. If an athlete has a history of negative experiences related to training or is constantly bombarded with negatives in his environment, then this will ultimately lead to negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors about training and workouts. For example, when a coach uses conditioning as punishment, this serves to frame strength and conditioning as something the athlete should not want to do. Our mission should be to provide an environment both physically and with the language that we use to motivate and encourage our athletes to strive for their best both during competition and during their day-to-day routines.

I read an article several years ago that really got me thinking about the concept of language and positive self-talk. The article described a shipping company that was losing almost a million dollars per year in late, damaged, and wrong shipments. They hired a consultant to analyze their warehouse operations and to recommend changes that they could make in order to maximize their profits. After a couple of months the consultants made only one suggestion…change a word. What the consultants determined was that in the warehouse, the workers were segregated into different roles (packers, loaders, drivers, etc.). These roles isolated the workers and limited their interest in the work they performed. The consultants suggested that the company do away with each of the workers’ designated roles and replace them with a single job description, “craftsmen”. The shipping company took the advice and began referring to each employee as a “craftsman”. They even altered their training and business manuals to refer to “craftsmen”. Over time, the company began noticing big changes. The employees began taking more pride and ownership in their work, warehouse morale improved, and the next year’s analysis showed that the money the company was losing due to poor work and shipping errors was virtually gone.

What are some words that we can change in our business? Since reading the article, I have made the following power changes to my language when I’m communicating with athletes:

Strength and Conditioning >> Performance Enhancement
Practice >> Training Session
Rehabilitation >> Reconditioning
Coaching Staff >> Performance Team

Professional baseball seems to also begun to embrace this concept of “Power Talk”. Many teams shun the negative, second-tier persona of the minor leagues by referring to it as “player development”.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Need for Speed

2010-02-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

The Need for Speed:

Baseball is an interesting game, involving many aspects of an athlete’s ability. Speed is one quality that all sports seem to want, but what is speed? What does speed mean? What does “that player is fast” really mean? I have posed these questions to myself many times, and I continue to evolve the approach I take in attaining “speed”. In this blog I wanted to go through the thought process and address some of the issues that aid the athlete in attaining their full potential.
When planning to increase a player’s speed, what is the goal? Is the player considered slow in the 60, or are they slow from home to first. Are they slow in the field, are they not making plays they should be. The reason this is important, is because a player that runs an excellent 60 time does not mean that player steals a lot of bases. In training, every quality of “speed” should be addressed but if we don’t understand what the goal is then how can we make an effective plan.

What are the qualities of “speed”?
1) Acceleration
2) Maintenance
3) Deceleration
4) Change of Directions

These are the basics, I have seen them broken down with different names and multiple stages, but this gives the basics that are easy to understand. In the first quality, acceleration, we are basically talking about from the point the player starts to the point that they reach top speed. I consider this to be the most important quality is baseball. The faster we can reach top speed the better the player will be at the game. I believe that is true at any position on the field. The reason I believe this is true is because this allows the player to play ahead of the game. They are able to refocus attention after acceleration to the play at hand whether it is fielding a ball or stealing a base. The game is played in short burst usually around 30 yards or 90 feet. Let’s take an example: we have two players they both run the 60 in 6.9sec. But player 1 runs the 30 in 3.0 sec. and player 2 runs it in 3.3 sec. Which player is going to steal more bases, player 1 because they get to their top speed faster? This player will also track down more balls and make more plays because they get to point “a” just a little bit faster then the other, but on paper, with traditional testing they are the same.
In baseball the second quality, maintenance, is not as important as in some other sports, because the player does not have to run very far, again we are looking at around 30 yards, or less, in most plays. Maintained of speed, is a great tool for conditioning in baseball, the more times a player can run that 30 yards in 3.0 sec. the better the player will be able to focus and not fatigue from the game.
The last 2 qualities of speed, deceleration and change of direction really go hand in hand. In many cases this aspect of speed is over looked, but with out these qualities the athlete is not able to be quick, which allows the player to use acceleration. Being able to refocus the players speed in another direction is key to making great plays, on the base paths or when getting deep in the hole. The quality of deceleration is also important in the reduction of injury. In many cases the change of direction or reacceleration is the point that many injuries happen and so by training this quality a player can also decrease the likely hood of injury.
When training for “speed” have a plan. Know what the player needs, and how to get it.

Brian Niswender
Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

Testing Athleticism

2010-02-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

February marks another rite of passage for aspiring athletes. Every year, sports performance “gurus” prepare their athletes for the National Football League’s combine. Professional football prospects and team representatives descend upon Indianapolis, Indiana. There the athletes are put through a battery of physical drills and psychological tests attempting to identify elite players, determine their draft status, and predict eventual success on the field. Yet, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Kuzmits and Adams, 2008), there is no consistent statistical relationship between combine tests and professional football performance. This is consistent with studies in other sports, such as handball (Lidor et al, 2005), rugby (Gabbett et al, 2007), and ice hockey (Vescovi et al, 2006). These studies noted that only the players’ skills, not their physiological characteristics were predictors of their playing ability. In other words, the only true measurement of an athlete’s performance on the field… is his performance on the field.

This is not to say that testing of athleticism does not have its’ place. Vern Gambetta defines athleticism as the ability to execute athletic movements at optimum speed with precision, style, and grace in the context of the sport or activity. These characteristics are all related to movement efficiency. Therefore, athleticism, by its’ very nature, aids and fine-tunes the performance of sports skills.

Analyzing athletic properties can provide a profile of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses. This is particularly true if the results are compared to the player’s performance. For example, let’s say that a right-handed pitcher is tested in the “5-10-5 Agility”. His score is rated as average when compared to other players of his performance level. However, further investigation notes that this pitcher is 0.1 seconds slower when moving to his left compared to the right. In terms of performance, the pitcher’s coach routinely works with him on locating his fastball to the far corner of the plate. One explanation of the pitcher’s poor performance on this task may be a lack of hip mobility when rotating his pelvis and trunk to the left. Decreased hip rotation can disrupt the sequential timing of events needed to place the throwing arm in the correct position to execute the throw. This ultimately results in poor efficiency of the movement and limited precision of the outcome (i.e. the inability to hit the outside corner of the plate).

Although athleticism may not predict future success in sports, it can be a useful tool in the enhancement of the skills needed for successful sports performance.

Find the time

2010-01-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

There is always more you can do, or a better way to do what you are doing. The worse thing we hear from a player or a coach is that I don’t have time to condition, to strength train, to work on speed. Planning is the key and then understanding what are the very basic things we need to do to stay healthy and improve our performance. To gain strength, you don’t need 3 hours in the gym. To gain speed you don’t have to run 20 sprints. To gain conditioning you don’t have to run 20 miles. Strength is gained through continuing to challenge the body to adapt to the stimulus you provide. This can be through weight or a change in position or repetitions just to name a few. Find a few movements that are demanding to the body and you can get great strength gains in only a few minutes a day. Take the walking lunge with a knee drive and MB diagonal chop. Here is a simple exercise that requires dynamic balance/ strength of position/ core movement and stabilization; this is a total body super exercise. Do 20 of these and then let us know if this is not demanding. How can we work on speed, always remember it is the little things that matter with speed, especially in baseball. Work on arm swing, body position or even take off from first, that first step can make or break that steal. Remember intensity is the key to great conditioning in baseball. Do those sprints but make them fast and add a few things like bounding type movements, lateral shuffling movements. This way we can increase conditioning but also increase speed, power, coordination and decrease injury rates. So how does it all work together, let’s put together a sample plan:

Lets get a 8 minute workout:

1) 30 yard sprint there and back- 30 seconds
2) 20 Lunge chops- 2 minutes
3) 30 yard spring there and back- 30 seconds
4) 20 lunge chops- 2 minutes
5) 30 second break
6) 30 yard sprint there and back- 30 seconds
7) 30 yard marching arm swings- 30 seconds
8) 30 yard bounds- 30 seconds
9) 30 yard side shuffle- 30 seconds
10) 30 yard Sprint there and back- 30 seconds

Try it out, it’s fast but effective and many things can be substituted. The time is well worth the effort.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Warrior Sports Training
Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

Warm-Up to Throw! (Don't Throw to Warm-Up)

2010-01-19T18:51:00.000-08:00

It is not uncommon for a coach to call down to the bullpen for a relief pitcher to “get loose”. The pitcher immediately jumps up and begins throwing to the catcher. After a few “warm-up” throws, he tells the catcher to get down and proceeds to pump out a series of pitches at high effort and intensity. Without being aware the coach and the player are inhibiting the player’s performance and potentially increasing his risk for breakdown and injury. While it sometimes may be necessary to perform this routine due to the pace of the game or the slow situational reactions of the coach, the best approach is to perform a dynamic warm-up to prepare the body for the upcoming stresses of pitching.

Current research indicates that carrying out a sport-specific dynamic warm-up, will enhance overall strength and power while performing on the field. An active warm-up prepares the muscles and joints for performance by “turning-on” the neuromuscular (brain-to-muscle) connections that will be utilized during the sports skills.

Muscular stiffness and lack of joint mobility result in greater muscle damage after exercise. A dynamic warm-up increases the body’s global core temperature, as well as, the localized tissue temperature for the specific muscles that will be active during sports movements. When the muscle tissue is “warm”, it becomes more elastic, more flexible, and less stiff. This greater elasticity means less tissue damage and less potential for injury.

Rather than waiting for the coach to react, the pitcher should be paying attention to the game. As the game progresses to the middle innings, the bullpen pitchers should begin preparing for the time that they may be called upon. The following is a sample dynamic warm-up that can be performed in the bullpen during the game. The warm-up progresses from general to more sport-specific activities.

Relief Pitcher Dynamic Warm-Up

Jogging Down and Back in Foul Territory
High Knee Run x 10yd
Side Shuffle x 10yd
Carioca x 10yd
Walking Knee-To-Chest x 3 each
Walking Quad and Reach x 3 each
Walking Shin Grab-Hip Rotation x 3 each
Russian March x 3 each
Lunge and Twist x 3 each
Lunge and Instep Touch x 3 each
Medicine Circle Chops (6lbs) x 5 clockwise / x 5 counterclockwise
Medicine Ball Trunk Twist (6lbs) x 10
Medicine Ball Lunge and Throwers Chop (6lbs) x 5 each
Throwing Arm Tubing – Rows x 10 (stride stance)
Throwing Arm Tubing – External Rotation at the Side x 10 (stride stance)
Throwing Arm Tubing – External Rotation at 90deg Abduction x 10 (stride stance)
Throwing Arm Tubing – Diagonal x 10 (stride stance)

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS

Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com

Burn The Ships!

2010-01-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

This week I wanted to give you guys a story I came across, one that I hope impacts you as much as it has impacted me.

There was a great warrior that had to make a decision to ensure his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first battle, he said “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice---we win or we perish!” They won. Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as "a burning desire to win", essential to success.

As a coach or a player, have you left yourself no way to retreat? Have you made the decision to make whatever your doing a success. Whatever you want, go get it. Cortez used this strategy when he came to the new world.

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Co-Founder, BaseballStrengthCoaching.com
Owner, Warrior Sports Training

Movement Training vs. Muscle Training

2010-01-06T19:00:00.001-08:00

Sports performance skills such as running, throwing, striking, catching, jumping, landing, and stop and turn activities require coordinated muscle recruitments of multiple joints and planes of movement. During the developmental period of infancy, we learn how to recruit various muscle groups in order to stabilize and balance our bodies (raise the head > rollover > sit up > stand). As we continue to grow and mature, we learn basic loco motor skills such as scooting, crawling, and walking. Still later in our development, we progress to more fundamental movements such as traveling skills (climbing, galloping, jumping, running), object controls skills (kicking, throwing, striking), and balance movements (dodging, rolling). All the while, the brain is programming and saving these movement patterns for future use. With practice the patterns are fine-tuned and enhanced.

The body is a sophisticated and marvelous machine. The joints of the body are connected to each other much like the links of a chain or an engineering system. Action at one joint in the chain (i.e. movements, forces, dysfunction, etc.) directly affects the next joint above and below in the sequence and indirectly influences the rest of the body. Activities can be divided into two types:

Open Chain Activities – one end of the chain is fixed to a point while the other is
free to move in space.

Example: hamstring curl, tricep extension, bench press etc.

Closed Chain Activities – both ends of the chain are fixed to a point.

Example: squat, lunge, push-up, etc.

In reality, there is no such thing as a pure open and closed chain. Sports movements involve a constant cycle of opening and closing of the chain (i.e. running, jumping, throwing, kicking, etc.). The Central Nervous System (CNS) is not programmed for isolated muscle function. When a motor task is necessary, the CNS recalls the pre-programmed patterns of movement that were learned during our developmental years. During sports activities, the body has to compensate for the pre-programmed movement patterns and react to gravity, momentum, and ground reaction forces.

Force Production >> Stabilization >>Force Reduction >> Stabilization >> Force Production

Despite the body’s natural tendency to movement pattern activities, many athletes, coaches, and trainers continue to perform sport-specific strength training activities by isolating and developing specific muscle groups. This will succeed in developing muscle size and strength, but will limit the crossover for sports performance and daily life. During athletic and daily life activities, the body must function as an integrated unit rather than isolated segments. Performing exercises which stress multi-joint and sport-specific movement patterns which the athletes encounter while playing strengthens the muscles in the manner in which they are used. This helps to limit abnormal muscle recruitment patterns and stresses on the body by integrating and enhancing the function of the kinetic chain.

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
Co-Founder
baseballstrengthcoaching.com

Pre-Season Preparation

2010-01-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to Baseball Strength Coaching.com’s blog. We hope the New Year will bring new opportunities and new success to everyone. As the New Year starts it is very important that you as a player or a coach puts down what you want to accomplish for the year. A little goal setting never hurt anyone. It allows you to refocus and make sure you start the year out right. What’s nice about Baseball is that the season is about ready to begin so many of the goals will be seen fairly early, and so is very rewarding. I don’t want to get too caught up in the goals and vision of the year; I just want to make a quick reminder to do it.

What I want to get into is getting the body prepared for the up coming season. Every coach and player starts to think about conditioning before the season, and many times they try to get prepared to late in our minds. During tryouts and early pre season is not the time to have your most intense conditioning. Your main goal should be looking at talent or displaying your talent the best way possible. As a coach I know that many of you have workouts before the official season starts and this should be the time to prepare the players with heavy conditioning. They should be prepared to play (or conditioned) before the tryouts start. You will continue to condition through out the season but the main foundation should be laid before the tryouts start. I will give examples later in the blog. As for players if your coach is not getting you a great foundation it is your responsibility to be prepared. You want to step on the field ready to go and if heavy conditioning is part of tryouts then you are one step ahead. What this means is that you are not as sore and fatigued meaning you can put your best foot forward during the tryouts. You will have more fun and perform at your best.

Let me give you some examples of things you need to be doing before tryouts start.

You must lay the foundation:

In conditioning that usually means some long distance type running, but we are going to be really specific for baseball. We believe at this time there is no need to go over 3 miles in a workout. Baseball is a game of short bursts no matter what position you look at. Intensity is king. If you are out jogging you need to push the pace and that is why there is no need to go over 3 miles. Try to keep your miles around 7 minutes or less. That should be your goal. So if you go out for the 3 miles try to keep it around 21-25 minutes. This is also the time to include you longer sprint type workouts, 800’s, 400’s, 200’s. Remember intensity is king; you must push yourself at all times. I have included a basic week of workouts.

Week 1:
-Monday: 1.5 mile jog (shoot for 7 min mile)

-Tuesday: 2x 800’s
2x 400’s
2x 200’s

-Weds: 1.5 mile jog

-Thursday: 2x 800’s
2x 400’s
2x 200’s

-Friday: 1.5 mile jog

Week 2:
-Monday: 2 mile jog (shoot for 7 min mile)

-Tuesday: 3x 800’s
3x 400’s
3x 200’s

-Weds: 2 mile jog

-Thursday: 3x 800’s
3x 400’s
3x 200’s

-Friday: 2 mile jog

Hopefully you can see how the progression goes, this will continue for 4 weeks. After the 4th week the program changes to increase the sprinting, to include shorter and faster sprints. I hope this helps get everyone off on the right foot. Remember to set those goals and go get them this year

Brian Niswender, MA, CSCS
Warrior Sports Training
Baseballstrengthcoaching.com

Mindset For Players

2009-12-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

by Worldwide Baseball Prospects

It’s been a long demanding road in baseball, academics and life up until this point. However, this journey you are on is not a race, not a competition against other players; it is a never ending marathon, a test with yourself.

How much better can I be today, compared to yesterday? What am I thankful for today? What can I do today to help me and my personal journey toward that which I desire tomorrow?

If you want to play baseball at your next level whether it is High School Varsity or College Baseball; it's all in your head, not the other guys! It is not how fast you throw or how hard you hit the ball, whether you are nationally recognized as a blue chip prospect today. It really does not matter how many trophies your buddies got piled up on the shelf for all to see, it doesn't matter if you are the so called "best of the best today" or you made Baseball America’s top 100 High school players list this year.

It doesn't matter today; it just does not matter today because that happened yesterday! That moment is but a “Nic in Time”. Your thoughts are things. How you think right now moving forward will determine your ultimate result! Not how someone else thinks, that determines their results based on their desire.

I would say that you already own the key to your success; after all you were born with it! Rather, the one thing that matters the most in your journey to success and baseball bliss is all that is you, it is in your thoughts!

It takes Vision - this comes from your desire to see your end result, mentally before you arrive there physically,

It takes Passion - the love of the game, the will to learn the game and be a student of the game always, the love of life and the will to always get better,

It takes Specific Knowledge - get better for yourself and your specific situation and lead yourself to your vision,

It takes Persistent Planning - Plan your route, if it fails try again, then if that fails, try again, and again, and again, and again, etc.,

It takes Lessons - in life or in baseball, we learn from that by which we were unsuccessful, or had undesirable results, trying to do better personally the next time,

It takes Commitment - "practice and try again, day in day out" this comes easier when you have passion,

It takes Dedication - the desire to personally get better for the love of the game,

It takes Auto suggestion - you fill your world with positive thoughts and attract what is true to you,

It takes Consistency - the desire to personally get better everyday with everyday learn and growing towards your result,

It takes Self motivation - the voice within in you that says I can so I will,

It takes Time - be patient, remember you’re in a marathon not a sprint, be consistent, relax and enjoy, smell the roses on the way,

It takes Faith – that optimistic voice inside your thoughts that knows it will get better with every lesson learnt, believe and you will achieve,

It takes Gratitude and Appreciation – Be happy and thankful for the gift(s) you have, and those around you. Know that it is a privilege to play the best game in the world and that at any moment; it could be over in a split second! You will have no regrets because you gave all of yourself and your heart, truthfully & honestly everyday.

Believe you can and you will. Can you see that place you want to be? Don't ever question it or deny yourself the chance to grow and be there, it’s your right.

It takes Action - You must start now and have faith in what you believe; the result will be true happiness!

In conclusion, whether it’s life, baseball, academics, or whatever, it may seem like a long road ahead, one huge hurdle, one big bump after another. But inch by inch, one foot in front of the other, it gets a bit easier and you will get a bit closer to your desire. Remember thoughts are things too!

There will always be those people in the world with a personal viewpoint. At the end
of the day, yours is what matters most! So from us to you, listen to the positive voice in your head, “your sixth sense”, that believes you will achieve.

The game thanks you for being thankful of the game, Go for it, and don’t stop believing in yourself!

Warm Regards and Good Luck!

Worldwide Baseball Prospects
www.WorldwideBaseballProspects.com

Worldwide Baseball Prospects (WBP) is a partner with BaseballStrengthCoaching.com. It is a coaching and mentoring company which supports, motivates, and personally coaches prospective high school baseball players and their families across the country with a balanced and customized individual / student / player approach through the college baseball recruiting process.

The New and Improved baseballstrengthcoaching.com

2009-12-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was training a young pitcher. We were performing some agility drills and during a rest break, I was explaining to him the reasons for the drill and how they apply to his performance on the mound. We continued with our workout and during our strength training session, the pitcher said to me "I wish our coach knew some of this stuff."

That got me thinking. I have always emphasized educating the particular athletes that I was directly involved with training regarding total player development strategies and fine-tuning skill training for performance enhancement. But, I was missing a whole other population of coaches, athletes, and sports performance professionals that are also involved with teaching and training athletes. Baseballstrengthcoaching.com is now going through some construction. No longer is my focus purely on providing on-line training programs for baseball athletes. The "New and Improved" baseballstrengthcoaching.com is dedicated to further advancing sports performance enhancement and the functional training concept within the baseball community. This includes, but is not limited to coaches, athletes, sports medicine and strength professionals, scouts, and parents.

The goals of baseballstrengthcoaching.com will be to facilitate the improvement of athletic performance in the game of baseball, promote the sports medicine and performance enhancement professions, and provide up-to-date education programs to both the professional and general sports communities.

When fully up and running, baseballstrengthcoaching.com will provide the following services: a free online journal / newsletter / blog, professional resources and networking, on-line continuing education programs / courses, sports-specific seminars / presentations / courses, sports performance camps / coaching / training programs, and consulting programs.

The journal contributors and partners will be industry professionals with expertise and experience in all facets of the game of baseball. They will be responsible for producing articles and on-line opinion editorials in the areas of Sports Medicine, Athletic Training, Strength and Conditioning, Physical Therapy, Sports Nutrition, Sports Psychology, Sports Vision, and Coaching.

Baseballstrengthcoaching.com's inaugural edition is scheduled to launch in February 2010! It will feature articles about shoulder injury prevention, throwing programs, in-season performance training, and college recruiting.

Be sure to bookmark baseballstrengthcoaching.com!

David Yeager, ATC, CSCS
C0-Founder
baseballstrengthcoaching.com