Baseball is a sport of timeless tradition, and while many of the game’s greatest qualities are born out of these traditions, many unfortunate stigmas within the sport have held over today from days gone by. One of the oldest and most misguided pieces of dogma plaguing the sport is that strength training is inherently bad…
As the early stages of the fall and the new school year begins, many high school sport coaches around the country will now take up a pad and pen (or keyboard) to devise a strength training plan for their team. In a perfect world, every high school would have a full-time strength and conditioning professional employed…
One of the most common questions that I field in terms of baseball training programs comes in the form of a high school coach, player, or parent requesting a “pitcher-specific” training program. While it is admirable to try to provide the best and most highly-applicable resources possible for young athletes, oftentimes the perception of “pitcher-specific…
In Part I and Part II of this three-installment series we discussed the importance of nutrition and hydration, respectively, over the course of a hot, busy, and demanding travel-ball summer. Today we will dive into another vital consideration for the summer, this one taking place outside of the foul lines: physical training. Coaches, players, and parents all…
In Part I of this series we discussed the importance of ensuring that the travel baseball player not only gets quality food during the summer, but also intakes enough of it. Oftentimes food consumption and nutritional choices are dictated by the circumstances of travel, as well as monetary considerations of the family that is supporting the…
At first, I believed my deepest passion was baseball, and that this, alone, was what drove me. But, in reflection, I have learned that it is about something different entirely: developing relationships with others. And, at the foundation of every interpersonal relationship is communication. Despite being tasked with coaching athletes my own age (and sometimes…
“Summer Seventeen” has arrived, and with it another travel baseball season begins. The manner in which travel-ball consumes the months of May through August for high school-aged ballplayers is rapidly growing from year to year. Tournaments are proliferating and expanding, families are traveling further, the competition is ratcheting higher, and the scouts flock by the…
In nearly all avenues of sport, work, and life, the basics should precede advanced techniques. This isn’t a novel or profound statement. Yet, sometimes this seemingly simple thought process can get lost in the muddied waters of athletics sport performance. Unfortunately, those who forget the concepts of appropriate progression and regression and chase marginal gains using…
The Push-Up: nearly every strength-training program in existence has incorporated this movement to help build relative upper-body strength. Because it not only poses a challenge to the upper-body initially, but also the core (really, the entire system), the Push-Up and some of its counterpart variations have also been used as a means to assess and…
Many in the field of strength and conditioning would agree that movement quality is or should be the basis for athletic development, especially with the novice trainee or younger athlete in mind. This same premise would be agreeable to many sport coaches as well. Whether you are a sport coach or a performance coach, we…
In early March of 2017 I officially accepted a new position in the field of Strength & Conditioning: a coordinator role in the Cleveland Indians organization. This, of course, now moves me from my most recent position, as the Director of Strength & Conditioning for DeLand High School. For most on the outside, this move…
Efficiency is a vital quality in sports performance. More often than not coaches – both those on the field and those in the weight room – strive for efficiency in training and practice. Of course, this is a commendable goal, and frankly in most circumstances it is a vital quality of any practice or training…
