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,…
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…
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…
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 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…
“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…
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…
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…
The goal of this series is to help coaches at the high school level and beyond expand their coaching “tool box” with practical movements, drills, and exercises – ones that aren’t just for show, but ones that can positively impact a training program. Each week I will post an exercise along with a video demonstration, as…
Ryan J. Faer 