I’m big on the “why”. If there’s one thing that really irks me personally, it’s eye wash — that is, doing things with no purpose, just for the sake of doing them. Sometimes in life you have to participate in eyewash, of course. But, when it comes to what I do in my own time,…
Recently I spent some time with a few great high school coaches —one a performance coach, another a fundamental coach. Over the course of many discussions, the fundamental coach, a head football coach, asked me the following question: Of all the new things you’ve learned and come across lately in this industry, is there anything…
As most high school coaches have probably noticed, each year travel baseball has taken a greater foothold on the high school baseball landscape. Travel-ball has become a staple for nearly all ballplayers — what was once a summer-only tour for most, for many it is now a nearly year-round endeavor. While the travel circuit has many inherent advantages ,…
In my coaching career thus far, I’ve been fortunate to collect diverse, yet highly concentrated experience in athletics; I’ve spent the better part of 8 years coaching a single population of athletes — baseball players — yet, have done so at various age and competition levels. Between the high school level, the travel-ball circuit, collegiate…
Read enough of my writing and you will notice a couple of recurring theme: at the high school level of the game, general training should always precede advanced methods, foundational strength should trump specialization. While this is a vital concept to understand, something that cannot be refuted is that individualization — or the accommodation of a…
This piece was originally written for one of my science writing courses. I enjoy writing and sharing, so I figured why not share this one. I have made some minor edits before posting here. Enjoy! *** For those working in the game of baseball (at every level), these should be exciting times: youth participation rates…
In Part I of this series we discussed some of the initial considerations that must be made by sport coaches before designing a strength training program for their high school team (that is, without the help of a certified strength coach). To reiterate some of the main points from Part I here are some important questions…
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…
