Managing an Off-Season Workload: the Relationship Between Training, School Ball, and Travel Ball

Introduction

As baseball season comes to an end, the time for growth and development begins.  Athletes of all ages and skill levels find themselves enjoying time off, playing other sports, or beginning to look forward to the next season or phase in their development.  This time is not only important for giving your body a break and recovering from a long season, but also to prepare to put yourself in the best position possible for success.  This comes by developing skills, building strength, and managing training workloads from potentially many different outlets and teams.  Most intermediate and advanced athletes (middle-high school aged) have to balance their off-season training programs, independent pitching lessons, school ball, and travel ball…all on top of academics and other extracurricular activities.  Balancing these effectively through communication and the understanding of training economy is paramount in the health and development of any athlete.

What is “Training Economy”?

Training economy is a way to think of fuel an athlete has to use at any point in a training or game environment.  Similar to gas in a car’s gas tank, an athlete only has so much energy to expend on a given day before any excess expenditure becomes unhealthy or potentially compromising to the individual.  During the offseason, it is important for the energy stores to be refilled from the season prior to intense growth and development, both strength training and in our case, velocity and pitching development.  This is why we go through our de-load and shut-down phases of training.  During this time, energy expenditure is low on a daily basis, but with proper recovery and nutrition, the energy stores get fully refilled and the total volume can begin to grow.  This leads into our next phases of development. 

During our on-ramp and velocity building phases, we start to have high intensity days where the energy expended is often towards the limit of peak output.  The more energy used on testing days, higher volume throwing days, or heavier lifting days needs more time to be recovered.  This is easy to accomplish if an athlete is just training in house, but for a majority of young athletes this isn’t the case.  There must be a balance between training, school ball, and travel ball. 

The Importance of Off-Season Training

The off-season is a vital time for an athlete to develop multiple facets of their game.  

1. Skill Development: The off season is the best time to develop and refine in-game skills without the pressure of competition.  This includes development and feel of the lower half, rotational patterning, arm path, and throwing itself.  As the off-season progresses, these translate into pitching development through bullpens and pitch design.

2. Strength Building: Vital to off-season development is strength building. A proper strength program helps an athlete increase overall power production and also reduces the risk of injury.  Traditional strength building exercises along with functional movements that translate directly to on-field activities are essential to off-season growth.

3. Injury Prevention: If an athlete has a lingering weakness or pain, the off-season is an ideal time to identify the source of the injury and pattern a way to eliminate it while maximizing efficiency and performance.  This progression often comes as a result of the previous two points, skill and strength development, getting better through the off-season.

Structured off-season training programs include all of these facets and blend them together for an individual athlete’s needs.  In order for a program like ours to be successful, it has to be done in coincidence with other baseball activities.

School Ball and Travel Ball

Navigating the landscape of youth baseball often involves participation in both travel ball and school ball.  As with training, most of these organizations usually start practice and workouts in the off-season and lead into the spring season.  As with off-season training, school ball practices through the fall and winter, leading into the first games at the end of March.  It is our shared goal to have an athlete ready for the first game of the year in peak condition and with a maximized skill set for the season.  The complication comes with school workouts and practices coinciding with training on the same days, usually mixing high intensity days consecutively or on the same day as training.  This is where the massive importance of communication comes in.  

Because school ball is the first season an athlete will compete in, it takes priority to other in-season goals.  In order to maintain the training schedule, it is important to communicate and work with school coaches and their practice schedules due to the limited availability and time schools get to work with athletes in the off-season.  Coaches will often want high-intensity days to be with the school so they can have an idea of where an athlete is developmentally and how they fit into the team.  Through communication, many coaches are lenient and trust the success found through off-campus training programs.  This is beneficial for us because then we can monitor and track development and maintain a proper schedule to maximize the training economy of the athlete.  If circumstance causes an athlete’s high intensity day to be with a school, then it is vital for an athlete to communicate with the trainers about what all occurred during a practice or workout.  With proper communication through the athlete between school ball and training, an athlete’s off-season can be maximized for optimal development.

Travel ball fits into this as well, but to a lesser extent.  Most programs have a much more limited window through the off-season before they have to relinquish practice until the end of the spring season.  Because of this, they are much more hands off through the off-season and more flexible when it comes to off-season workload.  Communication is still important so these coaches have an idea of what all an athlete is doing to develop and what kind of success they are having through the off-season.  With the travel ball season mostly consisting of the summer season and early fall season, athletes are already fully developed for that year by the time they reach these teams.  

Academic Considerations

While the off-season is an opportunity for athletic development, it’s vital not to overlook the importance of academics. Balancing sports and school can be challenging, but it’s essential for a well-rounded young athlete. Here are some strategies to maintain academic success while pursuing baseball goals:

1. Time Management: Creating a structured schedule that includes time for schoolwork, training, and games can help athletes stay organized. Using planners or digital tools can ensure that assignments and projects are prioritized alongside practice sessions.

2. Setting Goals: Athletes should set achievable academic goals for the off-season. This might involve dedicating specific hours each week to study, complete assignments, or seek help in challenging subjects.

3. Communication: Maintaining open communication with teachers and coaches is key. If an athlete anticipates conflicts between their school responsibilities and baseball commitments, discussing these issues proactively can help find solutions, such as adjusting practice times or deadlines.

By fostering a healthy balance between academics and athletics, young players can thrive both on the field and in the classroom, laying the groundwork for future success.

Conclusion

The baseball off-season is pivotal to the success of an athlete during their upcoming competitive season.  Whether it’s just making a team, playing school ball, competing with the highest level travel programs, or just having fun being the best an athlete can be, development all starts the moment a season comes to an end.  

Through proper communication, effective regulation of the training economy, and following an off-season training program, athletes are provided the opportunity to succeed, whatever their goals may be.

Own your rehab process

INTRO

When something physically happens to remove you from your normal every day process of being a baseball player, it feels like a never-ending gut punch. Suddenly, you fill your days of being an athlete grinding both physically and mentally to get that chance just to compete again. It rocks your world. It challenges you in a way no athlete wants. But, you can own it. You can use it to become a better ball player and a better human.

All Injuries are Different

Depending on the diagnosis and medical advise, every rehab program will be different. The same exact injury to two different movers at different parts of their career bring their own individual hurdles. That being said, there are absolutes that every athlete needs to win this process.

1. Buy in.

   • The day to day can suck. But, you can win “rehab” by being all in.

2. Find help.

   • From physical therapists to mental performance coaches. Use them to guide you through.

3. Inch by inch.

   • The best part is the daily process. Win each inch without searching for the goal line until it’s right in front of you.

From working with over 100 rehab cases, the only things guaranteed are it will be hard and there will be bumps in the road. The light at the end of the tunnel will brighten and darken, but it is still there.

All Rehab Processes are Different

Not one return to throw, throwing program, or return to game progression will match another. While this blog is based on the throwing and pitching side, here is some advice:

1. Listen to your body. Do the things that work.

2. Prepping to throw is as important as your throwing program.

3. Throwing program is YOURS. Not the trainers or the pitching coaches. Discuss, communicate, and adjust as needed.

4. If something is not comfortable in throwing, speak. An adjustment is better than a shutdown.

5. Take care of your body. Create a better engine and brakes.

Each week of throwing will be scripted out based on volume, distance, and at times intensity. Research and medical studies go into these progressions to provide a steady increase in “load” on your throwing program. The most important piece that is often missed or undervalued in a prescribed return to mound progression is the intensity and documentation of intensity throughout. For example, every thrower plays catch to 60’ differently. Same goes for 90’-180’. How hard you throw, the mechanics of the throw, the amount of constraint (standing still vs shuffling), and overall body effort are all key components in your progression.

No return to play progression is complete by providing distance and volume. Tracking intensity via velocity readings throughout the program will provide more objective data to use along the way.

Every thrower will have personal preferences within pre-throw work (weighted balls, tubing, drills, etc) as well as within their throwing program. The goal is not to create a handcuffed environment but to allow freedom and personal preference within guardrails of intensity and velocity barriers. Some programs will suggest an RPE (rate of perceived effort) but most will simply have a distance and volume of throws. Putting objective numbers and player feedback with velocity tracking and a progression of intensity will provide important information to the physical therapist and medical team to make necessary adjustments to programming and aid progress.

From seeing countless data points between Catapult and Pulse combined with player feedback, everyone’s 90’ catch play will produce different data on workload and stress.

What velocity readings should you track?

1. Medicine ball shot-puts for weights 4-6LB in a pre-throwing progression.

   • Does the athlete trust and recover from a medicine ball progression before starting a throwing program?

   • Is the velocity in a range that shows comfort in higher intensity plyometrics?

2. Plyo balls / Weighted Baseball Throwing

   • Most throwers have experience with plyo balls in their pre-throw routine. While not forced, the plyo ball progression of differing weight implements can prepare tissue, movement quality, and trust for the thrower before a baseball progression.

   • Each injury and athlete will need an individualized program to meet their needs. In early phases, athletes will stay in a 5-11oz range for plyo throwing program for 4-8 weeks.

   • Programming typically starts 2 weeks prior to prescribed baseball throwing progression and continues with adjustments throughout the return to mound progression.

   • For most, staying in 5-11oz range early in return to throw progression works best.

   • Build in volume and intensity with plyo program. Plyo velocity should increases with added distances and velocities in throwing program.

   • Mound plyo progression should begin by week 6 (90ft range) with specific drills and programming.

3. Throwing Program

   • Every throw should be tracked. This can be difficult throughout the process whether it be on site or remote, private or in groups. Practically, getting velocity ranges at each distance and level of the return to mound progression is incredible helpful to the player and staff.

   • Velocity ranges should be set for plyo programs and throwing program within the given distance and volume each day.

   • Adjustments to the velocity ranges within the throwing program based on how the thrower feels and checks out with medical prior to throwing allow immediate adjustments necessary to progress while allowing the big picture of the rehab progression to monitor individual progressions.

   • A very important part of the velocity tracking is the end of the return to mound progression. Most end at 120’ with higher volume before pitchers are expected to be ready for the mound. Tracking velocities at 120’ along with compression throws on the way in from 120’ can provide important feedback on the pitcher’s ability to progress to onus work.

   • See below for a velocity range chart!

Throwing Programming

Every return to play progression will be different depending on surgical or non-surgical, time missed, and individualized adjustments based on recovery and progress.

A key factor to understand for any return to play is managing progressive workload. Small additions and gains through workload and stress adaptation is the safest and most efficient way back to games. Big jumps in volume, intensity, and/or frequency can put the end goal in jeopardy.

How do we progress efficiently? It begins with adding volume at low intensity. For example, throwing 3 days a week with moderate volume and low intensity is typical for week 1-8 of a throwing arm surgery rehab plan. Through these 8 weeks, the throwing volume and distance will increase to around 90-120’. Intensity will also increase throughout the 8 weeks. The goal is to give more time for recovery with 4 days off a week and adding workload throughout.

Once this phase is “complete”, a new component to the program will be throwing 4 days per week which requires the athlete to throw back to back days with 1 off day in between. The days will be split up into light-medium-heavy days to allow the body to split up the workloads and gradually add stress. For example, 60-75’ throwing on Monday with light-medium intensity and 105’-120’ on Tuesday with medium-heavy intensity before an off day on Wednesday. This is also a great time to begin adding mound plyo throws, low volume off-speed in catch play, and more detailed velocity tracking.

Weeks 9-14 are a crucial phase as the 4 day throwing week begins and intensity continues to climb. Again, steady increases in the intensity tracked with velocity readings will help the athlete manage intensity better than a distance or volume prescription.

Need help managing a velocity based throwing program in your progression? See below:

Example is for a surgical procedure on throwing arm.  Each column is representing pre-injury fastball velocity.

Blending to the Mound

Mound work should begin early and often in the return to play progression. In fact, we have players touching the mound 3-4x a week before they touch a ball. Providing movement drill sets with core velocity belt, PVC pipes, water bags/tubes, medicine balls, 3D straps, and more for each athlete is key to their movement progression. In my experience, we begin these drill work days 3-4 weeks before first day of throwing. They continue through the first 8 weeks of throwing program with minor adjustments as needed.

Once the athlete is in the 4x a week throwing program, we will begin adding more mound work with throwing plyo balls. On medium-heavy days, each thrower will have drill sets for mound throws with plyo balls with velocity tracking.

This phase should be individualized for each thrower depending on objective data from velocity tracking, recovery, grip/shoulder strength, and other areas being monitored. For most throwers, it is best to get moving off the mound by week 12 in small increments. From experience, throwing off 1/2 slope or full slope into a net at controlled intensities (65-80% range) is more beneficial for their mound prep than increasing workload with flat grounds after 120’ throwing program. By combining mound plyo throw and drill work in pre-throw training with a slow mound progression, the athlete is gaining more comfort with the environment he must work in.

Another component of understanding player readiness for a mound progression is the velocity readings at 120’ and in their compressions at 90’. From experience, building up intensity in the compressions when we get to the 120’ phase can show how comfortable the athlete is at higher intensity throws. Most throwers should be able to get to 96-100% of their fastball velocity by the 3rd week (6th session) of compressions. Prescribing 5-8 compression after 120’-135’ and tracking velocity is a good place to start. For example, a player’s average fastball velocity was a 92-95 before injury would expect compression velocity to range between 88-95mph. For some, this will be difficult but is a good way to track their max outputs before tracking velocity on the mound.

Key points that often get discussed and challenged:

There are differing opinions on when to begin mound work, what is “mound work”, are flat grounds “good”, and how much mound work is needed before a live BP progression.

1. Begin mound work early in a controlled setting (radar, prescribed intensity, net as target, low volume)

2. Mound work is throwing off the mound to a target. This can be controlled and progressed from going halfway up the slope to full slope, short box (target in front of plate) to full distance, and net to a human catcher. The longer time the player has to adjust to the game environment with similar skill training the more likely they are going to have trust and conviction in their mound phase.

3. Flat grounds are not good. It is as simple as no data proves a flat ground is safer AND the throwing mechanics are different due to timing of landing down a slope and key positions that create easier ball velocity being optimal on the mound.

4. Minimum of 12 official mound sessions for a surgical repair rehab program building up to 40+ pitches. Ideally, combined with the unofficial mound work completed earlier in the program at lighter intensities, the player should be able to get 20 or more mound sessions in. The level of recovery, fastball velocity, and player’s feedback should help drive this answer.

When do you begin throwing off-speed?

There are several different opinions out there with some research supporting earlier off-speed usage compared to most modern day programs. Typically, change-ups are thrown first as the off-speed progression around week 10 of throwing. Some strongly believe that the earlier the better. We have found success beginning around week 6 (90ft) with change-ups an week 9 for breaking balls. There should be comfort with all spin before maximal output throws as studies show stress is highest in high output, high velocity throws not breaking balls.

In the mound progression, adding change-up in the 3rd bullpen and breaking ball in the 5th has led to success with feeling comfortable and ample time to focus on pitch design in the mound progression.

Conclusion

Rehabbing an injury is hard and there are several challenges along the way. To our first point, buy in is key. Trust the help. Any progress is progress. In time, the trust behind a throw without fear will come back. Put yourself in an environment where you have trusted help and a support system. As always, email us with more questions!

Prescribing Overload and Underload Implements for Pitchers

Intro

Overload and underload throwing implements are a part of the vast majority of pitchers’ daily throwing routines with plyoballs and weighted baseballs. The use of these skyrocketed after Driveline boomed in popularity, boasting that they aid in increasing throwing velocity and arm health. Initially met with lots of criticism and backlash, plyos and weighted balls are now used everywhere. Generally, heavier implements are used for recovery exercises, arm path/timing, and arm strengthening. Lighter implements are used for trying to increase arm speed.

Most programs have players throwing every weight trying to improve all of these aspects, but it can generate very mixed results with throwing velocity. While still having an upward trend across all of these athletes as a whole, I believe it can be more effective to tailor it differently towards some.

Here at PRP, when athletes are looking to throw harder and are appropriately built up enough, they go through a “velo phase”. One of these tests is a plyo velo test, where athletes throw a 225g (7.9oz), 150g (5.3oz), and 100g (3.5oz) balls into a net with a radar recording the velocities. When retested, we then want to see an increase for each ball. Recently, I have been testing a different way to go about this with great success so far, implementing more over/underload balls based off of the athlete’s Force-Velocity Profile.

Why?

I first read about Force-Velocity Profile from Bill Miller’s book “Throw Fast: A Guide to Developing Throwing Power” where he talks about testing his players with medicine ball throws. He would use a 10lb, 6lb, and 2lb medicine ball for his tests and record the velocity of them. If an athlete performed well with the lighter load, but not the heavier loads, then that would indicate a force-deficient profile and needing more heavily loaded training. If the results were switched then that would indicate a velocity-deficient profile and needing more lighter loaded training for speed.

Although Bill was talking more about taking this to better train athletes in the weight room, and seeing this mentioned by Dodgers Integrated Performance Coach Clayton Thompson, I believe it can be used for throwing as well. Throwing a ball is no different than exercises in the weight room, and can be trained similarly. Taking their numbers from the plyo velo testing they did (can also use weighted baseballs for this as well), you can then learn more about the athlete’s Force-Velocity Profile and use it to your advantage.

If they have a deficiency on one side of the spectrum or the other, then exercises in the weight room and medicine ball throws should be tailored to what they need more of. Their throwing can then be tailored to them too.

For example, if an athlete has a velocity-deficient profile and their normal plyo routine involves two throws with each a 225g and 150g ball for every drill they have, replace it instead with two throws with each a 150g and 100g ball. You could also have all four throws be with only the 100g plyo ball for a greater stimulus. Taking that same athlete in a plyo velo test, you can replace their rep with the 225g ball for an extra rep with the100g ball to replicate and test the same stimulus again. You can help with force-deficient athletes by using an overload setup like the underload example.

Weighted baseballs can also substitute the place of the plyoballs in these examples, utilizing 5oz (regulation baseball), 4oz, and 3oz baseballs for the athletes needing an underload stimulus, and 5oz, 6oz, and 7oz baseballs for the overload stimulus. 

These set ups and examples will not be necessary for every athlete, as some players profiles are balanced and would be best using the original programming. If their training is becoming too monotonous, you can also cycle in periods of the more overload and underload style throwing training.

One example of training becoming too monotonous can include an athlete hitting a hard plateau with their velocity training. Usually all that’s needed to get over/through the plateau is to change the stimulus as the body has become too accustomed to the normal training. Another example is an athlete becoming bored with their normal training. This is more common in athletes than people realize. They get to a point where their mental arousal level is too low, which will cause subpar performances. Keeping their arousal level up (but not to the point of over-arousal) can help athletes stay “dialed in” for successful performances. 

You can even cycle it to match their strength and power/speed phases of their weight training, or just program it similarly. Using the plyoball and weighted baseball set ups mentioned above for overload first while they’re in their strength phase of weight training. This phase would typically last roughly 4 weeks for both the throwing and weight training. Once the athlete moves to the speed/power phase then you would use the underload setups for roughly 4 weeks as well. Test their mound velocity with a “plyo velo” or “weighted ball velo” once a week to monitor the progress during these phases. If unable to match up the throwing cycles to their program in the weight room, it would still be an overload cycle first for 2-4 weeks before then moving to an underload cycle.

Conclusion

Throwing programs can always be customized to meet the needs of each individual athlete. While primarily using drills, constraints, and the weight room to improve on an athlete's weaknesses, using a Force-Velocity Profile can help with more on the throwing side as well and has already shown great initial success with athletes so far. While everyone is using plyoballs and weighted baseballs now, this can be a way to give players an advantage over everyone else.

Mental and Physical Cues to Help with Adjustments & Command

INTRO

Baseball is a physical game, and to play at the next level, a player needs physical tools to continue a high-level playing career. On the other hand, this is just as much if not more a mental game as well.

As a pitcher, our main goal is to collect outs, and be consistently inside the strike zone, as well as develop pitches to generate weak contact, and get strikeouts. There are days when pitchers will struggle to find the strike zone, and that is when consistent adjustments need to be made in order to find success during the day the body feels out of sync.

A coach once told me, “Below-average pitchers adjust in 4-5 pitches, average pitchers adjust in 3-4 pitches, above average pitchers adjust between 2 pitches, but the great pitchers make their adjustments right after a bad pitch and correct it right away.”

Physical Cues for Command

Inside of a game, or any high intensity situation, our body reacts differently in terms of adrenaline, and moving faster than a training/bullpen environment. The best pitchers know how to harvest that adrenaline whether they need to control it and slow their heart rate or use that adrenaline to get the blood flowing and the heart pumping.

For example, in a game when a pitcher is trying to get to the glove side and rush out of the delivery and either miss more glove side, or miss in the middle of the plate, that could be several issues. One is the energy and adrenaline inside during a high leverage situation. A good physical cue to make the adjustment to nail the glove side fastball is whatever a pitcher would best succeed at. In this example, if the pitcher misses middle, or yanks more to the glove side, some simple adjustments could be:

• Keep the front hip in line with the target longer

• Let the arm path work naturally

• Drive your direction energy with more intent to the spot

• Strong glove side hold into the throw

• Adjust eye sights

• Remain athletic throughout the delivery

These are a few fastball physical cues to let a pitcher get a mental reset. The easiest way to be successful during a game-like situation is to make things simpler throughout the adjustments. When making physical adjustments, keep it to one or two feels through your process of deciding what the adjustment that needs to be made. The more our brain and body can process a simple task in an already difficult situation, the more chances we have for success. Another simple physical adjustment to the fastball having command could be to throw another pitch! There is no need to continue going fastball heavy, but a good physical and mental reset is trying another offering to the hitter. As we know, breaking balls and changeups are entirely grip and hand based physical cues to get the movement profile and command that we are searching for. However, if someone is struggling to command those pitches, a couple good physical adjustments are:

• Spin it don’t place it

• Trust the grip through the zone

• Have catcher set up middle

• Adjust eye sights at all time

• Pick the spot to throw the pitch through, not placing it in the zone

• Firm wrist or loose wrist

• Letting the arm path work

Physical adjustments can be always made during any situation, and it is vital to make sure in drill work, bullpens or catch play, that we find our physical cues for adjusting with our command.

Mental Cues for Command

The mental side of baseball can make or break a career. As pitcher’s, we are always active in the game, and a lot of the outcome for the team falls on us. Having a strong mental side for in game adjustments is just as important as physical adjustments. I learned from a friend of mine, “our brains cannot process contractions in a negative situation.” This means that in a high leverage situation, if someone says “I can’t throw a ball here,” what our brain really processes is, “I will throw a ball here.” Having confidence on and off the field is what helps a pitcher make that next step in development. A few great mental cues to increase command are:

• “So what, next pitch”

• “I feel great”

• “Get this breaking ball down”

• “I am better than the hitter”

• “My defense has my back”

Some of these mental cues are just examples of what could work for anyone. But the most important thing when establishing a mental cue for command, is picking out the one that builds the most confidence. A good idea when trying to find the right mental cue is to journal it. Establishing confidence in yourself and processing positive thoughts in the brain ultimately is the difference in throwing quality pitches every outing. Of course, pitchers will give up hits, and are not perfect all the time, but bouncing back after those rough at-bats is what makes a pitcher strong and confident.

As pitchers in tight situations, we go back to what we have trained and developed for in our long process of playing. During practice, training, and journaling, make sure to process every single outcome that can happen, therefore in a game we do not have to think so much as to what we are trying to achieve in the game. Make the adjustments right away, and focus on allowing our physical and mental side to take over when we play.

Movement Screens Affecting Pitchers

INTRO

The movement screening is one of the first things all high school, college and professional pitchers go through here at PRP Baseball. This movement screening has become very useful for all of our trainers and athletes to know and use on a daily basis, but why is it so important?

These seventeen tests every athlete goes through gives us a multitude of information:

• Are there parts of the body that do not move well and can lead to potential future injuries?

• What are the athlete’s natural biases and does their delivery properly use these biases?

• If we want to change a certain part of their delivery, do they have the physical capacity to actually make that change?

We do not run a movement screening just to say we have one. It supplements every athlete’s planning and goals to make sure they are on the right path to success when it comes to changes we potentially want to make.

So, how can we use these results to answer the earlier questions?

ACTION

Injury Prevention

For the most part, injuries are an almost unpredictable event that occurs as there are a multitude of factors that come into play to cause an injury. For pitchers, it’s a combination of mobility, strength, throwing mechanics, velocity, etc. Trying to predict an injury while looking at just one of these variables is nearly impossible without looking at how every variable affects each other, but you can see things that may lead to future issues.

With the movement screening, you can see deficits in the body that could lead to one and need to be adjusted. This can come in one of two ways: muscles/joints that either do not have a good range of motion, or do not have adequate stability in the range of motion they have access to. 

Take, for example, a hamstring that is extremely tight and has little range is generally more at risk to a muscle strain than one that has more length already. Or if an ankle has a lot of range in inversion/eversion then it can move around easier and hold ground better at different angles, but if it lacks in stability or strength then it is more susceptible to ankle sprains.

The movement screening can show you where these imbalances are, so we can attack specific prep work with the athlete to try to mitigate any potential risk they have.

Natural Movements and Biases

At this point most training facilities and their trainers recognize that not only does every player throw and hit differently, but their bodies are built and naturally move in their own ways. This requires athletes to be treated individually instead of placed into a cookie cutter program. That includes a mobility/movement prep program that we have.

Since players already have their own natural movement and biases, it’s important to keep note of them to let the athlete know of their goals in the prep work. Some players need more of a focus on developing better end range stability during their exercises, some need more range in the movement overall, and others need a combination of the two. These should be set to help achieve the ultimate end goal – moving better in their sport-specific movements.

Pitchers should be using their own natural movements to their advantage during the delivery. Doing so helps keep athleticism, fluidity, and authenticity while striving to increase overall efficiency throughout. Keep in mind that most players will have compensations that occur during their movement, but are these compensations making them more or less efficient?

Hip internal and external rotation are one of the biggest tests we take into consideration during this. Both IR and ER need range and strength in both hips. The rear hip needs ER to be able to hold tension longer and prevent early rotation and it needs IR to be able to effectively fire and rotate the hips through. The lead hip needs ER to properly let the rear hip clear all the way through, but needs IR to fully decelerate the pelvis so that the energy created can be transferred up the chain to the spine and torso. 

Each athlete has a certain range of internal and external rotation in each hip socket that influences their movements.

If they pass both IR tests and fail both ER tests, then we can classify this athlete as a hip IR dominant mover. This means the athlete will most likely have more success trying to hold more IR tension in the pelvis during the stride move down the mound and at landing.

They tend to do better at trying to coil their hips, front foot might land more closed off than normal, and can potentially thrive with a cross-body stride.

Now let’s flip to an athlete that fails both IR tests and passes both ER tests, they are going to be classified as a hip ER dominant mover. Their move down the mound and into landing will probably be more successful holding more ER tension in the pelvis.

They may struggle with trying to hold any sort of coil into the back hip, front foot will likely land with the toes facing almost directly at their target, and their stride will be more in-line or slightly open down the mound. There are always exceptions to these trends, and never any absolutes.

Changes to the Delivery

Whenever people talk about some of the best pitchers of all time they usually have one thing in common: they all use the absolute most of what their body allows them to. There are no forced actions, or trying to create movements that their body is physically unable to perform.

Taking a holistic point of view to understand the goals each athlete needs to achieve in their delivery can also help with your decisions. This is where cross checking their movement screening during the mechanical breakdown comes in handy. The player can also understand what their biggest energy leaks are and whether it is a learning skill issue (using a natural bias more and improving energy flow), or a physical limitation issue (lacking range or stability to perform a movement that helps the delivery).

Once the leaks are identified, all that is left is setting up the plan of attack to make these changes. Every athlete has specific prep work that they go through at the beginning of each session to improve any physical limitations they may have. After they finish the prep work and their warm up, players will then start their drill work to help with the actual mechanical and output side of the delivery. Between their attack plans and athlete buy-in every day, improvements and success are quick to follow.

WRITTEN BY NICK SLONE

Three Principles of Pitching

B y : Joey Romence

Three Principals of Pitching

This concept was introduced last year by a great friend and mentor: Jeff Opalewski, and it is something that I truly believe can help every pitcher going forward.  The three key principles are Knowing your stuff, Trusting your stuff, and Protecting your stuff.  A good activity for any pitcher who is starting to figure these things out, would be to write them down at the beginning of an off-season and understand the true meaning behind each one.  Following an off-season of pitch design, mechanical overhaul, etc. it would be good to revisit the three principles to understand if any changes have been made to any of the principals.

Principal 1: Know Your Stuff:

What does it mean to know your stuff?

On the surface level we may think it is about naming each pitch that we throw, but let's dive deeper into that.  When you mention that you throw a 4 seam fastball: where can we throw that pitch and have the most command?

What counts can you throw each pitch in? What type of movement do each of your pitches have? The reason that this particular principle is so important is because of the fact we are going to be attacking hitters with this arsenal. So, this has to be an honest question that each pitcher needs to answer with themselves. 

If we are unable to consistently land pitches in the zone, we are unable to use that in the game plan.  

When we start to look at a trackman report after an initial bullpen, one of the things that we will work off of is what does our fastball do when it leaves our hand? Fastball shaping is one of the hardest things to do when in a pitch design session. There are two types of fastballs:

• Soft Contact Induced 

• Swinging Strike

When looking at these fastball profiles, the contact induced fastball will be a profile that shows a little cut or sink.  The swinging strike (whiff) will be a profile with high vertical break on the fastball, or will also be a cutter.

As you can see in the image above, the green plot represents the fastballs.  The more vertical break on your fastball, the more likely you will generate whiffs.  As the green plot starts to trickle down into the the red, that is where you will start to see the weak contact.

As soon as we figure out what the consistent fastball shape looks like, we can now start to develop the arsenal, as we are looking to build it around our fastball shape.  The reason that we build the arsenal around our fastball is because while a certain pitch that someone may want to add may look good in a vacuum, it may not necessarily perform well with their current arsenal.  

It is important for a pitcher to master his arsenal.  Mastering one pitch to one location at a time may be the best way to go about this.  Continuing to master that one pitch to multiple locations, followed by multiple pitches to many different locations will just continue to help grow the pitch plan and allow you to attack hitters in different ways.

Principal 2: Trust Your Stuff

What does it mean to trust your stuff? You may hear coaches all the time tell guys, “Just trust it!!”. There are many things that can go into trusting your stuff.  The first thing for a pitcher to understand is: control what you can control.  As soon as the baseball leaves your hand, you are out of control of what the outcome will be.  There is really only one thing that we are consistently in control of when we are on the mound and that is our mindset.   Because of the fact that we have put in the work to master each of our pitches to multiple locations, means we need to have the utmost confidence and trust that we are going to execute the pitch that is called.

The next thing that we have to make sure that we do is stay within ourselves and stay within the plan of attack.  Whatever our plan against the opposing hitters is, it's unique to you.  So we have to understand, we can not try to do more than what is asked.  Even though it is completely normal to try and do more, we have to learn to stay within ourselves and stay within the plan of attack.

Principal 3: Protect Your Stuff

The final principal of the three is protecting your stuff.  After completing the first two principals, how can we continue to protect our stuff in other ways? Some of the other ways we will look to protect our stuff is by mastering our delivery, building deception through our delivery, protecting the run game, fielding our position, etc.  

Controlling the run game is a very important aspect of the game and it is unique to the individual.   Some of the most effective ways to control the run game include: varying times to the plate, pickoff moves, how many times you may step off the rubber.

PFP’s is another very important aspect to the game and protecting your stuff.  When working on this in practice, it's very important to understand that these reps need to be done at game speed.  As you continue to progress in your career, the runners will continue to get faster and faster.  So training at game speed will ultimately prepare you for this.

Conclusion:

As a pitcher, understanding and completing these three principles is important and can help build confidence going forward.  Understanding who you are as a baseball player and pitcher, will only help you as your career continues to grow.  Here is the difference between “knowing your stuff” vs. “protecting your stuff”:

• Knowing your Stuff

• Knowing what pitches you can consistently throw for strikes

• What pitch do we have the most command with?

• Understanding what the baseball does on each pitch when it leaves your hand (including metrically)

• Knowing what your fastball is intended to do. 

• Generate whiffs

• Generate weak contact on the ground

• Protecting your Stuff

• Controlling the run game

• PFP’s

• Deception with our delivery

At PRP, every single bullpen that a pitcher throws will be on a trackman unit along with a edgertronic camera behind the pitcher to capture the moment when the baseball is released from the hand.  The trackman unit will allow us to understand what the baseball does from the moment it leaves the hand to when it crosses home plate.

Written by: Joey Romence

References

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Break-distance-of-VBGMM-pitch-type-of-Pitcher-A_fig2_34095917

Managing your Off-Season: Deload, Shutdown, On Ramp Part 2

Intro

As explained in the first part of this blog (https://www.prpbaseball.com/blog/managing-your-shutdown), the goal of the off-season is to develop and set yourself up in a position to be prepared for the expected workload when the season starts.   Several questions and factors come into play when trying to set your off-season throwing plans as everyone enters 

The challenges are knowing when to be ready, what is “ready”, and how much time it will take to be ready.  There are several strategies that can work to get your arm and body prepared, but ensuring that every program has the flexibility of adjusting throw volumes, intensities, and frequencies.

Part two of this blog is to provide updated on-ramp throwing programming, plyo recommendations, and self-checks to see if you are ready.

As mentioned in part 1, managing your shutdown length and on ramp program needs to be evaluated with the following factors:

Factors to weigh:

1. Age

2. Workload

3. Length of “in-season”

4. Other sports

5. Injuries, injury history

When deciding on the length and type of program, you need to solve for the following:

1. When do I shut down?

2. How long do I shut down?

3. How long do I need to build back up (on ramp, bullpen volume, Live ABs)?

4. How many innings is projected for upcoming year

In short, it all depends. If a player ages 13-18 threw more innings in 2023 than years past, we recommend deloading for 2-3 weeks then taking no more than a month off. For 18+ athletes, this process shortens due to the length of off-season, importance for development and build up in volume to season, and to best prepare for higher intensity throwing leading up to season. We explain this process below.

PRP supports continued arm and shoulder activity.  We always understand the 1-2 week break for both physical and mental purposes.  For most cases, a 2-4 week shutdown is most we would prescribe.  We typically deload from fall season for 2-3 weeks, short shutdown, then begin on ramp by mid-late November.

One of the most difficult components is the timeline.  We want to be moving the arm 16 weeks or more before the season.  The first 5 weeks are built for the on-ramp program..  The next 3-5 are for intensity and velocity development.  The next 4-6 weeks are for mound development, pitch design, and volume build up in bullpens and Live BPs.  Every player will get different programs and mound skill work throughout, but the timeline of the prep for the season is often built with this structure.

The key questions to answer early off-season time frame for an amateur baseball player are:

1. What are my goals for next year?

2. Where is my body weight and do I need to set weight goal by spring?

3. How are my strength and speed numbers compared to other top players?

4. What current body soreness, minor injuries, or fatigue levels in season can we get ahead of for next season.  Examples – Extended soreness in forearm flexors, hamstring tightness, low back pain, rotator cuff soreness.

5. Do I throw hard enough?  If not, what are my biggest areas to focus on to improve velocity

6. Do I have a high-level putaway pitch?  If not, how can I improve my pitch arsenal?

The following provides some context and answers for the most frequently asked questions:

1.  How many weeks do I take off?  

A:  0-4 weeks.  Some prefer light catch for 2-4 weeks instead of complete shutdown which can allow you do flow into on ramp program easier.  For some, taking 2 weeks off for both mental and physical break is great.  4 weeks is the longest of no-throw or “3x a week light catch” phase before building up.  If an athlete needs more time, we would recommend shutting down earlier (early fall) so you have ample time to build back up.

1. Why no 4-12 week shut down as what used to be recommended?  

A:  Shutting down for 4+ week creates physical adaptations for the shoulder, arm that require more time to build back into throwing to build arm fitness, endurance.  For athletes 13u, sure this makes sense to take 4-12 weeks.  For those trying to improve their baseball skills, especially arm strength and throwing mechanics, we need to throw to make changes.

1. What is an active shutdown?

A:  An active shutdown is simply throwing at very low intensities, volumes, and frequencies.  Three times a week at 60-75ft at low intensity is a good “base” of an active shutdown.  Plyos, football catch, and increased volume in drill work is in our recommendations during this time.

1. How long should my on ramp program be?

A:  We recommend a 5 week on ramp that concludes with baseline velocity assessments in shuffle step and mount throws.  This build up includes plyos, drill work, and a steady build up of volume, intensity, and frequency.

1. Is the on ramp program adjustable?

A:  Of course.  It should have adjustments throughout.  These adjustments can be within a day’s work depending how you feel, or adjusting the amount of off days depending on your recovery from the previous throwing day.  We recommend either repeating previous day before increasing, adding a “light or off day” in between if still sore, and even repeating a week if throwing didn’t feel good throughout previous week.  This comes down to listening to your body, emphasizing your arm care, and avoiding the “power through it” phase when trying to build adaptations with your shoulder and body stresses throughout the program.

Shut Down Phase

Our shutdown or deload phase shifts the focus and time spent to drill work, prep work, and the weight room.  A complete break away for a week is completely acceptable.  However, this phase should prioritize spending time on mobility, prep work, and getting stronger.  

In reality, we spend very little time in shutdown phase as we believe in keeping the arm moving lightly.  We recommend all players get 1-2 weeks of at least mental/physical break.  Some have reasons for longer shutdown such as injury and  increased soreness.

On Ramp Phase

Our On Program totals 5 weeks and 18 total days of throwing.  It begins at 3 days a week then progresses to 4 days of throwing each week with varying distances and intensities.   The program includes a build up into long toss, pulldowns, and assessments at the end of program to check where each athlete is at to determine the next phase.

The build up is a steady progression of overall workload that provides the body and arm increased workload throughout the program.  By the end, every thrower will be prepared for the next phase of higher intensity and mound work.

PRP’s On Ramp Program on-site includes pre-throw prep work, water bag drills, med balls, individualized plyo drills, then scripted throwing volume and distance for each day.   Our online version includes all of the throwing prescriptions, arm care, and plyo drills.

The goal of this program is to prepare the body and arm for high intensity throwing and bullpens.   In this 5 week program, each pitcher will be prepared for an 80-90% shuffle step velocity assessment and 15 pitch 80-90% bullpen.  

Based on how these assessments go and the player’s recovery, the next phase will be created.  Some pitchers will split more into a pitch design and mound volume phase while most will go into an intensity phase for velocity development..

For position players, the program stays very close to the same with adjustments in plyo programs and baseline assessments at the end of the throwing program.

We have had success with on ramp programs for ages 10 to big league pitchers over the last 4 years.  Professional athletes, top HS players in the country, and college programs trust our programs to prepare them for spring training, spring season, and more.   Over the past 4 years, several MiLB and College players have had breakout campaigns after following our off-season build ups.  Many players miss out on key developmental opportunities and being fully prepared for season due to lack of a proper throwing program.  

The reason for our on ramp program’s success is creating the proper foundation of throwing fitness and proper movement patterns to prepare for a long and healthy season.  The proof is right in front us as the Toronto Blue Jays and several professional players are using very similar  on-ramp programs. 

To purchase this document in PDF version, email us at prpbaseball101@gmail.com.  The full 5 week program costs $49.

Following the On Ramp Phase

Once you’ve completed the PRP On Ramp Program, the next step is building for the intensity phase.  Our intensity phase includes assessments on plyo ball velocities, shuffle step throws, and mound velocity.  First, a shuffle step and mound velocity assessment at 80-90% to get a gauge on where the athlete is. What was the former velocity, 80-90% velocity, and how did we recover?  What were the expectations and goals for velocity?

These answers can prepare your program for the upcoming weeks.  If a player needs more velocity, then the intensity phase becomes a key part of the programming where we are assessing different velocities twice a week.  Our intensity phase lasts 3-5 weeks depending on the age, skill, and time until season.  This phase includes plyo velocity testing, pulldowns and shuffle step pulldowns, mound velocity testing, and at times weighted ball mound velocity testing.

For those looking to improve command, add a new pitch, and/or get ready for a starting pitcher workload in early spring, then we go to more of a mound phase where there are bullpen focuses along with velocity assessments on the mound.  

For more information about our programming, remote PRP options, or more about the on ramp program email us at prpbaseball101@gmail.com!

How to Train the Lead Leg Block

What is a lead leg block?

The lead leg block is the entity in the delivery that redirects the force generated from the back leg, up the kinetic chain to the upper body. The “block” happens when the lead foot has contacted the ground and sends the lead knee from a flexed position to an extended position.  To do this, the pelvis rotating into the lead hip requires lead leg to stabilize and extend to a certain degree. Ideally, a good lead leg block is timed up before and into ball release, not after.

Flexion to extension is a big contributor to throwing velocity, thus is why we will be discussing topics on how to identify, and how to prescribe based on what tools you have to fix the lead leg block.

Can a good lead leg block improve command? Yes. The ability to stop forward and rotational energy in the lead leg sends more energy to the trunk, shoulder, hand. The more efficient the lead leg, the increased ability for the thrower to maintain direction of the trunk and the hand to deliver the ball where it’s intended to be.

HOW TO KNOW IF A LEAD LEG BLOCK IS “GOOD”

Although not all lead leg blocks are created equal there are ways to tell if a block is great versus poor. We realize not everyone has a pitching lab to identify precisely what velocity your knee is moving to extension at, however looking at side video of the delivery and provide decent context to if you are timing up the lead leg block well or not.

For most hard throwers, the lead leg is stable and extending before ball release. Stability in the lead leg may be visually different when evaluating pitchers but the keys to look for are:

1. Foot/ankle stability — The foot lands and stays glued to the ground without changing direction or rolling over during the throw. (ex: lead foot lands then turns more to glove side as throw is being made (bad).

2. Lead knee stability — The foot lands and the lead knee stacks on top of the foot and stays there. Lacking lead knee stability would show the lead knee gets outside of the foot or continues moving forward as the throw is being made. A good lead knee would visually show the knee stop moving forward or east-west after lead foot hits the ground.

3. Lead hip stability — When the left foot and knee have began stabilizing after foot plant, the lead hip should also stop moving laterally and stack over the front foot during lead leg extension.

Below is an Ohtani video from side view to show the amount of force and quickness in his lead leg bracing. Does your lead leg do this? If it does, we ultimately want to reach max extension as fast as possible once our foot gets in the ground. The ability to send energy up the trunk into the arm requires a quality lead leg block prior to to ball release.

HOW TO KNOW A LEAD LEG IS BAD

On the opposite side of this discussion is how to determine if a lead leg block is bad. If your knee flexion stays the same at foot plant, or even continues to gain flexion (you sink even more into your leg as you move down the mound), this move typically does not correlate to strong velocity numbers, due to the negative correlation to redirect force at all, let alone with any sort of speed.

If you continue to go into flexion after foot plant, there is an opportunity for improvement. There are several factors that lead to a poor lead leg. The lowest hanging opportunities lie within prep work on the hips, mobility, single leg strength, rotational power, and ground force production.

Where does the energy go after the throw? Are the spinning off glove side? Typically, lead leg needs to improve if so.

Is the rear leg folding underneath? Typically, lead leg is falling more into flexion and needs improved.

Is the lead foot spinning while the throw is still being made? Typically, lead leg needs to improved by attacking foot and ankle stability.

Correlation of lead leg block to velocity

Here is where we dive into the math side of this discussion. Driveline Baseball has done many studies with their motion capture lab, both to prove and disprove how the lead leg block correlates to velocity. 

When comparing lead leg reaction forces at the arm cocking stage, and arm acceleration stage, they found that the r^2 was strongly correlated with ball velocity at values from .45-.61. They had concluded that peak lead leg ground reaction force during the arm cocking phase was the best predictor of ball velocity.

This study was done for comparing the strongest correlator to velocity between the lead leg and drive leg, but that is a discussion for another day. 

How we approach fixing issue

Now since we know the data is on our side, how do we go about fixing the issue here at PRP? From a mobility standpoint, we help you achieve those end ranges of motion by prescribing a movement assessment to find out why you move the way you move, and how we can make it better. 

From there, our strength director will see how the athlete moves and produces force in the weight room (testing with Hawkin Dynamics). These numbers are an indicator of how much force the athlete may create on the mound.  Then, we include patterning, single leg, and rotational work in the weight room.

The rest of our typical day plan is where all of the patterning of the delivery gets done, with the Core Velocity Belt, medicine balls, plyo ball drills, and actual throwing, which I will go into detail there. All drills being discussed will be linked at the end of this article.

How we prescribe with the Core Velocity Belt

For the lead leg, we have many different drills to offer that can be worked on with the Core Velocity Belt (CVB). One of the many great things that this tool has to offer, it can challenge and assist an athlete to get in virtually any position within the delivery. 

Using another stimulus to challenge the athlete’s upper half (A PVC pipe, water bag, water ball), we will set up with the band on our lead hip, band behind, working away from the tension. Allowing the CVB pull the lead hip, creating an exaggerated amount of extension, over time with different variations of these drills will create a more natural lead leg block.

How we prescribe with Medicine Balls

The medicine ball is a tool that allows us again to pattern our lower half, without stressing the arm with throws, so we utilize them as often as we see fit. 

A great way to challenge the lead leg block with med balls is actually by throwing up the mound instead of down the mound.  An over the shoulder uphill slam with a medicine ball is one great drill we utilize in order to effectively pattern a better lead leg block.

How we prescribe with plyo drills 

At this stage of the patterning workout is where we truly incorporate the upper half with the timing of the blocking that we have been working on in pre-throw skill work.

An example of one of our exercises that we utilize to get an easy feeling with arm timing and the lead leg would be a rocker throw. This drill focuses strictly on the lead leg plant. Making an emphasis on solely the lead leg creates a more controlled output when trying to pattern arm timing to the block. 

Another variation for plyo throws in more constrained position in the split stance throw. This challenges lead leg stability and trunk rotation in prep work.

Higher level throws are often prescribed drop steps with med balls and plyo throws to improve the lead leg.

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Summary

Ultimately, the lead leg is the stabilizer for the lower body to send energy to the upper body to rotate quickly. There is a strong correlation to ball velocity from lead leg flexion to extension velocity.  It also improves strike throwing. The more force you can put in the ground, stabilize, and efficiently redirect the flow of energy from the ground up, likely will create a higher ball velocity. 

The drills and methods outlined are only a few that we have to offer an athlete. There are several drills and weight room exercises that you can provide athletes to improve their lead leg patterns. There is no one singular way in how to train a certain movement pattern. At PRP, we challenge the athlete accordingly to receive the output we want. 

Written by Max McKee

References
Boddy, K. (2022, August 30). Efficient front leg mechanics that lead to high velocity. Driveline Baseball. https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2015/12/efficient-front-leg-mechanics-that-lead-to-high-velocity/

Shuffle Pulldowns & Velocity programming: What and Why?

What are shuffle-step pulldowns?

Shuffle-step pulldowns have become popular across training facilities and organizations for high intensity velocity programming and tracking. These are a blend of “pulldowns” and crow hop throws. The shuffle-step allows the athlete to gain momentum but much less than the standard pulldown. See video below for demonstrations.

The shuffle-step pulldown typically ranges at 0-3mph harder than their mound velocity when executing these at 100% intensity.

The footwork looks like a lateral crow hop where the athlete steps forward with lead foot and shuffle steps behind to build momentum into the throw.

When should you do Shuffle-Step Pulldowns?

Programming the shuffle-step pulldowns can depend on several factors but in our experience we program them as follows:

1. Following a steady on-ramp program (3-5 weeks of throwing build up depending on age, time of year, and athlete needs)

2. On high intent days blending into mound progressions

3. In replace of pulldowns on velocity testing days

4. Following long toss progressions in catch play on high intent days

5. Before bullpens to ensure the arm and body are prepared for peak stresses on the mound

6. In a velocity program with overload and underload implements

The shuffle-step progression can begin at an 80% effort level to gage where the body and intensity are currently in their build up. We will typically assess athletes at this 80% effort to provide them feedback both on where they currently stand and also to get an understanding of what 80% feels like. Most advanced movers are able to control their intensities while maintaining quality movement. Those that struggle with the 80-90% effort throws use this period to gain feel with their movements. We like to say “throw hard, easy”.

We typically program shuffle-step pulldowns on a long toss day which gives the athlete time to build up and stretch it out. Most assessment days are planned to have 6-8 shuffle-step throws. We average the throws and note the top velocity. Each day we test, we want to see the average increase. Bring the floor higher and watch the ceiling get bigger.

These can also be completed with overload/underload weighted balls depending on the programming, athlete’s needs, and time of year. Programming these implements should come after initial testing and controlled in volume. For example, adding 2-3 throws at 6oz and 4oz following 3-5 of the 5oz can provide a new stimulus to increase velocity.

Why Shuffle-Step Pulldowns?

The belief behind shuffle-step pulldowns is to blend high intensity throwing to the mound. The difference between shuffle-step pulldowns and mound velocity is much closer than the standard ‘run n gun’ pulldown. Our standard mound velocity average is about 1-3mph less than shuffle-step pulldowns. Pulldowns can average over 3-5mph more than mound velocity.

Most athletes have enjoyed the shuffle-step pulldowns as a bridge to the mound progression. They are used to this footwork in their compressions following long toss programs which allows for less skill learning of pulldowns and more athleticism in the testing.

Where most programs struggle to blend is the on-ramp phase to velocity phase. Everyone has different beliefs in types of testings and velocity improvement programming.

We strongly believe in assessing at varying levels at intensity as a part of the bridge from on-ramping. Each athlete will go through assessments in weeks 4-5 of our on-ramp program that include 80%-90% shuffle pulldowns to gage where they are at.

Goal is to see athletes get to previous mound velocity PRs in shuffle step pulldowns before clearing our on-ramp program. For example, if an athlete hit 85 in the fall then he should shuffle pulldown 85 before clearing the on-ramp program.

Velocity Programming:

As athletes clear on-ramp programming they will proceed into the velocity development phase or high intent phase, we will track shuffle-step pulldowns as a part of their weekly training schedule. This is one assessment and training tool we use along with plyo velocity testing, mound velocity, and pulldowns.

A typical high school pitcher velocity program could look as follows:

• Last week of On-Ramp: Two High Intensity Days — Shuffle steps at 90%, 15 pitch touch and feel bullpen at 80-90%

• Week 1: Shuffle-Step Pulldowns 100% & 20 Pitch Bullpen - 90-95%

• Week 2: Plyo Velocity Testing & Shuffle-Step Pulldowns

• Week 3; Mound Velocity & 20 Pitch Bullpen

• Week 4: Shuffle Step Pulldowns & Mound Velocity

• Week 5: Plyo Velocity & 25 Pitch Bullpen

• Week 6: Shuffle-Step Pulldowns & Mound Velocity

From here, you can add time to the velocity program for more focus on building the engine and adding velocity.. If the athlete is progressing well, then begin focusing more on the mound progression, pitch design, pitch execution, and volume in bullpens.

There are several ways to handle a velocity program based on athlete age, training level, results of testings, and feedback from athlete. Providing different stimuli in high intensity settings will provide valuable feedback on what areas to attack the most to improve movement quality and velocity.

Posture and Position: A Key Component of Elite Performance

Posture and Position: A Key Component of Elite Performance

by Bram Wood

What is a common trait that most athletes have that often goes unnoticed? Professional athletes take the stage in many different arenas where they put their skills and abilities to the test to beat their competition. But, one component that separates the best from the rest is their ability to maintain posture and position throughout the dynamically changing environment of their sport.

What does posture and position look like in professional sports? It’s Usain Bolt running a 9.58 second in the 100m dash, O'Dell Becham Jr. making an insane one handed catch, and in the realm of our focus, Bo Bichette keeping his hands back to pepper a line drive to the right side with two strikes. Their elite level to maintain control over their trunk and execute proper posture and position allows them to do the unthinkable in their chosen arena. The next time you're watching professional sports, watch the athletes as they move through space. You will see the trunk acting as this bridge of power between the upper and lower body. 

Strong Like A Tree

I started using the term trunk after hearing NFL 10 year veteran and Power Athlete CEO, John Welbourn, refer to the core in this manner. He said his goal was always to create a trunk like that of a sequoia tree that would bend but not break, and was robust to the demands he placed on it. That is one analogy I can get behind. 

What muscles make up a strong trunk? The trunk includes the muscles that work to move the pelvis and ribcage. Some of these muscles include the hamstrings, the three muscles of the glutes, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique. Some people may disagree with regards to the hamstrings and glutes being muscles included in the trunk, but the reason I include them is because of their important role they play in dictating the position of the pelvis. Without strong hamstrings and glutes, it is difficult for athletes to create true posterior pelvic tilt. For the sake of this blog, I am going to focus on the muscles surrounding the abdominal region. 

It’s More Than Having a Six Pack

Often, most people get caught up on the abdominals that make a six pack, but a strong trunk does not come down to whether you have a six back or not. It’s about having a trunk that’s robust, stable, and can display your athleticism effortlessly. Maintaining proper posture and position is about understanding the specific demands of the task. Then, when the environment begins to dynamically change due to different disruptors, you have the capacity to maintain the correct posture and position for the task. This applies to sport, the weight room, and any field base activities. Those who do not have the ability to uphold this standard experience performance detriment because they cannot transfer force throughout the body. Instead, they look more like Gumby or one of the noodle people you see moving in the wind at a used-car lot.  

Muscle Function

After identifying the necessary tissue and musculature that needs to be focused on, a coach can strategize to create a program to ensure proper progress. Training the trunk can happen in many different ways. I divide training the trunk into exercises focusing either on muscle function or muscle action. The function of the trunk is anti-rotation, anti-lateral flexion, and anti-extension. These different functions can then be trained either quite simply with a dead bug (anti-rotation), side plank (anti-lateral flexion), and front plank (anti-extension). 

These exercises are simple to start with because it’s necessary for all individuals to master both motor and sensory competencies before progressing to the next movement. The progressions then becomes the fun part for both the coach and the athlete because it forces them to challenge their perspective of all exercises and see what type of perturbation they cause to the trunk. Progressions of training these different functions include 1-arm landmine press (anti-rotation), 1-arm farmer’s carry (anti-lateral flexion) and barbell rollout (anti-extension). There are many more exercises that can be included in the function bucket, and luckily so because it helps remove monotony from training. 

Muscle Action
The focus now moves to training muscle action. The movements that make up muscle action of the trunk include rotation, flexion, and lateral flexion. Rotation can be trained in a variety of ways including medicine balls, cable stacks and body weight. A rotational exercise movement involves both the pelvis and thorax. Exercises that target flexion focus on bringing the thorax and the pelvis closer to one another. Some of my favorite exercises include GHD sit-ups and reverse crunches. Some of the best ways to progress flexion exercises is to bring in external load or increase volume, but make sure to keep the load appropriate for the exercise. Lateral flexion exercises are often forgotten about, but when used effectively they do a great job of targeting the obliques. Different exercises we use for implementing lateral flexion include teapots, 45 degree back extension side bends, and side plank hip drops. Just like the flexion exercises the best way to progress these movements is either with greater load or volume. 

Wrapping it All Up

Training the trunk is one of the most important pieces of a training program. Making sure to include a wide array of exercises that train both function and action to create a robust trunk will lead to an increased performance output in a variety of skills . This can be implemented easily in the warm-up, in supersets with core movements and at the end of training session. Make sure that when including trunk targeted exercises in the warm-up or in supersets to not choose too taxing of a movement that will impact output throughout the rest of the training session. As stated earlier, the goal is not to have a six pack, but to have a trunk as strong as a sequoia. The next time you are writing a program or planning your training session, make sure to evaluate whether or not you have implemented trunk training correctly and effectively. 

Written by Bram Wood

General vs. Specific

“I really like that you guys do baseball lifts here.”

In the time that I have worked at PRP I have heard this phrase a few times from our athletes. Each time I hear it makes my wheels turn thinking what do baseball lifts really look like?

When I dig into what our athletes mean when they say baseball lifts, they often say at school we only do football lifts. As many of you know our athletes are referring to the back squat, power clean, and bench press. I find it interesting that our athletes have made the decision to classify these lifts outside the realm of their sport, though there may be better movements if executed technically well these movements can provide strong transfer to all sporting environments. 

That’s why they have lasted the test of time, but gains in load in these movements is probably not because of technical execution. But the fact 15-18 years old are the ultimate hot bed of increases in performance because of their physiological biomarkers. Which makes you ask the question: as a coach am I really helping?

Defining Specificity

A fight strength and conditioning coaches battle in all industries is the understanding of specificity in the weightroom. Many coaches are yelling from the rafters saying I do functional or sport specific training. I think personally we do the industry and injustice by not asking these coaches to define what that means to them. It’s one thing to say it and it’s another to be able to supply the principle behind these words. 

Sport specific training or special training was first made popular by former Soviet Union research that found itself in books like Supertraining and Transfer of Training. Dr. Verkhoshansky and Dr. Siff who wrote about means of special strength in Supertraining as means of training or movements that provided the greatest transfer from weight room to sport.

Dr. Bondarchuk then came along to write Transfer of Training, where he provided a multitude of correlation tables between different athletes in track and field that ranged from  the elite to the average. He looked at the correlation between different exercises that include  sprints, throws and olympic lifts in an effort to see which exercise has the greatest transfer. This allowed him to create his own system that eventually built his performance pyramid, and categorizing different exercises into different buckets. His work was tremendously influential and informative to many, but with all this information came paralysis by analysis by those who do not fully understand his work and systems. Which is admittedly most of us in the industry. 

Specificity is a varying definition depending on what sport we are talking about. Dr. Bondarchuck was fortunate enough to work with track and field athletes, and it is easy to find specific movements or exercises that mimic the main components of the sport. If you look into Transfer of Training, you will see that the movements that were most specific to the event had the highest correlations with the best athletes. For example, I am talking about a specific distance of a sprint and its correlation with a high achiever who participates in a sprint event. We’re not talking about how specific a split squat is to sprint performance. In fact, in Transfer of Training when the power clean, back squat, or snatch were included in the tables they often had the lowest correlation amongst the best athletes. 

Specificity for Baseball

When it comes to the weightroom it is hard to identify lifts that have specificity in relation to baseball. The beauty in this for strength and conditioning coaches is the involvement of companies like Driveline who have created a wide variety of tools that can be used that are highly specific for baseball. Why are these specific? Because they allow the athlete to do the exact same movements that are required in the sport. In baseball, athletes are either hitting, throwing, or occasionally sprinting. I never want to see an athlete doing dumbbell or kettlebell throws in the weight room because there's a high likelihood that we will be dealing with an injury pretty soon.

This is why in my opinion the job of the weight room is to create generalists in a world of specialists. Athletes need exposure to a wide variety of athletic traits that their sport does not give them. This exposure allows them to become robust, and deal with a multitude of chaotic situations that arise in their sport. Athletes should never be fragile, but rather antifragile. Antifragile individuals succeed when the fragile individuals bend to the demands of their sport. 

General Physical Preparedness

This is a keyword or tagline that is universally known and leveraged by some to increase traction. Ultimately, GPP is what is needed to create a well rounded training program/ system that ensures athletes leave the program better than when they started. General comes from the multitude of qualities that are needed to compete at a high level in sport. This includes strength (all sub categories), speed, change of direction, agility, jumping, endurance, and many other qualities. It is also the ability to blend all of these categories together to display athleticism within the constraints of the sport. 

How do we structure this in the weightroom? Through a well thought program we can create training programs that strategically expose athletes to these stressors to make sure optimal and accelerated adaptations take place. Accelerated adaptation is a key component of our programming at PRP because unfortunately we don’t always get long periods of time with athletes. Therefore we need to derive results and gains quickly. 

At PRP, we use a high variety of exercise selection for our athletes because we want them to be prepared. We don’t categorize lifts as baseball lifts, we choose exercises that we believe deliver our athletes the biggest bang for their buck. We also consider and have conversations with our athletes to learn about what movements they are doing at school so we make sure they are not doing the same thing every day twice a day. This process is an ongoing conversation, and we often individualize lifts for athletes when  the time is appropriate. 

Creating effective training programs for the majority of athletes does not come down to how specific the program is, but rather does the program target the general qualities needed in order to succeed in sport. Now there does come a time and place when specificity is important in the weightroom, but this highly depends on the sport and training age of the athlete. When it comes to young athletes focusing on general physical preparation gives them a range of abilities that eventually one day can become highly specific, but without a robust foundation the pyramid of peak performance can only be built so high. 

Pitcher In-Season Management

Introduction

The off-season is a key part of developing a strong, durable arm that is prepared for the upcoming season.  This includes evaluating your shutdown or deload period, on-ramping, velocity development, and bullpen progressions.   There are several different strategies for managing the off-season but they all should include an evaluation of athlete’s goals, previous workload, projected workload, projected role, and long term development.

As season approaches, the shift in throwing focus and training should adjust to managing heavy and low workload days.  With more in-game stressors, high volume days, and all of the in-season variables that come into play, it is key to have structured routines in place to best manage your body and arm.

We will explain this more in detail below:

1. Adjust focus in pre-throw routine

2. Increase volume of pre-throw mobility and activations.  

3. Plyocare routines adjusted to an in-season focus.

4. Drills can maintain focus on arm swing and upper trunk movement patterns while adding 1-2 drills with full delivery on medium-heavy throwing days.

5. Weight Training and Nutrition

6. Side Bullpens

Examples of Managing Plyo Workload in Season

Example 1: Heavy Day

1. Reverse Throws 1x10 4LB, 2LB

2. Upward Toss 1x10 2LB

3. Pivot Picks 1x5 2LB, 1x5-10 1LB

4. Walk Aways 1x3 1LB, 1x3 7oz

5. Step Backs 1x3 7oz, 1x3 5oz

Example 2: Medium Day

1. Reverse Throws 1x10 4LB, 2LB

2. Upward Toss 1x10 2LB

3. Pivot Picks 1x10 1LB

4. Split Stance Throws 1x3 1LB, 1x3 7oz

5. Walking Wind-Ups 1x3 7oz, 1x3 5oz

Example 3: Heavy Day

1. Reverse Throws 1x10 4LB, 2LB

2. Upward Toss 1x10 2LB

3. Pivot Picks 1x10 1LB

4. Walk Aways 1x3 1LB, 1x3 7oz

5. Quick Picks 1x2 7oz, 1x2 5oz

6. Normal Mound Delivery 1x2 7oz, 1x2 5oz

Example 4:  Light Day

1. Reverse Throws 2x10 4LB, 2LB

2. Upward Toss 2x10 2LB

3. Pivot Picks 2x10 1LB
   

   Manage your workload around heavy days

Athletes will have their highest demand days during the season with pitching in games, bullpens, higher stress due to game factors, and those that manage playing multiple positions and pitching.

It is key to manage your recovery days around your heavy days.  Rest and Active Rest are key.  This means moving your body around but managing stress and adding more dynamic mobility and arm care based routines to improve recovery.

Do not ignore soreness and tightness.  Take care of the things that need to be taken care of before it gets worse.  This requires creating routines and communicating with staff to manage workloads. 

It can be hard to manage the spring schedule with games, practices, playing multiple positions, role flexibility, and playing time. The aspects that you can control include communication with staff, sleep, nutrition, attention to detail in your craft, and being proactive with your throwing program routines.

Weight Room Focus

The weight room modalities can go in several different directions depending on time, what is available, and your workload.  

Some of the key points we want to hit on are as follows:

1. Continue to train in the weight room 2-4x a week.

2. Do not add new lifts or make big adjustments to your plan.

3. Limit extra grip and rotator cuff exercises around the main lifts.

4. Lower volume of workload in the weight room.

5. Keep movement quality the focus. Technique, as always, is key.

6. Proper nutrition around your training.

Depending on your factors mentioned above, the important piece is you should continue to train with an adjusted focus on volume/intensity but keeping quality movement and stress management to continue building strength and functional movements.

You can get stronger in season. The focus should continue to be building strength through quality movements and controlled workloads.

Arm Care and Mobility Focus

Arm care exercises in-season are important but need to be managed with the volume of throwing and recovery time.  Let the body recover through stress management and rest.  The point of arm care is not to add more stress to the arm but to help the arm recover without losing strength and mobility.  During the off-season, we are building workload and arm conditioning which typically has more post-throwing arm care than in-season. 

The takeaway here is to continue challenge upper trunk and shoulder mobility without overdosing the workload via more “arm care”.   At times, athletes can be doing too much arm care which doesn’t allow the body to naturally recover in the areas being most stressed in season. More “arm care” exercises on heavy days, less on light days.

Some key exercises we keep in our in-season arm care programming are jaeger bands, rebounders, pullaparts, and thoracic and t-spine mobility.

Overall, continuing to do your mobility drills is more important than adding more mobility drills during the season.  With added stress, we must continue to execute proper mobility exercises.  This doesn’t mean you should add more just to add more.  Focal points will be different based on the athlete but for most we want to attack hip, low back, shoulder, and upper back mobility in your daily work.  You can find several exercises on our free youtube channel. 

Importance of Sleep and Nutrition

There isn’t a better way to attack your recovery than to get enough rest and nutrition.  You can find all of the information that you need online about its importance or strategies to improve it.  The easiest way to put it is make sure you get enough sleep, hydrate, and eat well.  If you want to improve it, track it.   

This isn’t the flashy or informational part of the blog that most come to PRP for but is the easiest to manage if you commit to it.  Those that truly want to impact performance, be prepared and minimize risk for injury will do their best to let their bodies recover.

While simple, this component of managing your body cannot be overlooked.

Side Bullpens

For pitchers, managing your pitch workload and weekly preparation is key.  One of these kep aspects is throwing your “side” bullpen in between starts or relief outings.  The main point of a side bullpen is to get back on the slope and spend time on your craft. 

These are going to be a “heavy” day so making sure you map these out in between outings is key. Typically, day 3 (day 1 being day after outing) is a good time to throw your side as you prepare for next start.

In-Season Side Bullpens:

1.  Side bullpens should be 20-25 pitches at a submaximal intensity.  Having a radar gun or technology for these is a good idea to gage your intensity and provide feedback.  These should be below in-game velocities if you are able to track.

2. Take advantage of every opportunity on the mound to focus on something you need to improve upon.  This could be certain pitches or mechanical adjustments.

3. Sides should be thrown 2 days before your next outing if possible.  Three days works as well if you are on a 6-7 day rotation.

4. Strike percentage should be very high in your side bullpens.  Get confident pounding the zone.  If you want to be good at throwing strikes, you must practice doing so.

Manage your Pitch Counts

All pitches count.  Plain and simple.  The best way to be available, healthy, and reliable is to manage your workloads by monitoring your high intent days with those in between.

Every single pitcher prepares differently for the season.  Teams, facilities, and programs all use different protocols for off-season prep.  As you approach the season, pitch counts in bullpens and throwing intensities should have you ready to compete in games.  Games add a stress factor due to game management, time spent hot and cold, and adrenaline.  We strongly recommend that all, no matter the off-season prep, follow a gradual build up in pitch counts per outing.

Again, all schools and programs will be different based on schedules, weather, roster construction, and competition.  

We will base our example below on a 16y/o athlete who sits 82-84 and has built up to 60 pitches in bullpens prior to season.

1. Outing #1 = 50 pitches, 6 days rest, side on day #3

2. Outing #2 = 60-70 pitches, 6 days rest, side on day #3

3. Outing #3 = 80-90 pitches, 6 days rest, side on day #3

4. Outing #4 = 90-100 pitches, 6 days rest, side on day #3

Outing #5 and further can continue to follow pitch count guidelines of max 120.  Personally, we recommend HS athletes not break 110 pitches at any point.  Given the amount of extra stress factors with classes, playing multiple positions, daily practices, lack of recovery protocols for most schools, and developing physical frames, this is a recommendation that comes from a belief that has the long-term picture being most valued.

Important factors for pitch count should include:

1. Age

2. Physical make up

3. Quality of delivery

4. Velocity and velocity fluctuation

5. Recovery time between outings

6. Amount of “stressful” pitches (long ABs, RISP, runners on base)

7. The understanding that their best and most important baseball is ahead of them.

Why lower volume in game than what you have prepared for in bullpens? 

Game stresses are higher and time in between innings is an uncontrollable variable.   Long wait times, colder temperatures, and higher stress innings can tax all systems more than in bullpen settings.  We strongly recommend building up in bullpens to a higher volume than your first outing. 

Relief Pitchers and/or Short Outings

Pitch counts are 1 way to monitor workload and stress management.  Relief outings or those changing roles within their rotation need to be monitored closely.  Shorter outings don’t necessarily mean less overall stress.  The pre-outing preparation may not be as organized or lengthened for relievers, most of these outings require high stress situations in game, and often on short rest.

Relief pitchers should have at least 1 off day if they get hot twice.  This could be hot in the bullpen then hot for 1 inning in a game on the same day.  If they throw 2 innings or more, they should have 1-2 off days.  

Position players who also pitch must be closely monitored.  Daily throwing workloads are always higher, high stress throws can come with minimal warm-up, and these players seldomly get off days after they pitch.  While difficult to put specifics on given every case is different, we must value the importance of rest days for two-way players.  The body needs time to recover.  There will always be more stress on two-way players with focus on the offensive and defensive side without even pitching. 

While the short term may feel easy to grind through, the long term is often affected when these players don’t get into a normal routine of high intent and recovery days.

Closing

Every season, game, inning, and pitch is important. The goal is not to create policies or restrictions on what athletes are allowed to do. The goal is to create a system that allows athletes to consistently progress in their skill sets and maintain health.

Player development is built off gaining experience and keeping health. These must be the priorities with all training goals and in-season workloads.

Players who are committed to their training between outings, recovery protocols, and managing their workloads will be the most likely to maintain health throughout the season.

Managing Throwing Shutdown and On-Ramping

Managing a Throwing Shutdown and On-Ramping Phase

Introduction

One of the most valuable components of yearly management and development is creating a calendar to manage your throwing workload.  This can be viewed in 4 main phases

1. On-Ramping

2. Blending to Season

3. In-Season

4. Shutdown/Deload

The goal of this blog is to help explain and draw up potential avenues of managing each phase.  The shutdown, time off, or no throwing period has several different potential routes that can and should be individualized based on the information at hand.  

Factors to weigh:

1. Age

2. Workload

3. Length of “in-season”

4. Other sports

5. Injury history, end of year soreness

All athletes need breaks both mentally and physically.  Designing a plan to strategically place your breaks and build up phases are key to long-term health and development.  

Yearly Calendar

WIth the increased demand of summer and fall baseball, the throwing calendar has been extended for amateur baseball players.  This often brings up the following questions:

1. When do I shut down? Do I even need to shut down?

2. How long do I shut down?

3. How long do I need to build back up?

4. How many innings is too much?

There is no clear answer to these important questions given everyone has different schedules, workloads, recovery times, and days between outings.

A standard schedule for amatuer players often look like this:

December-March = Build Up Phase

March-October (8 months) = In-Season / Managing Innings, Games

End of October-November = Shut Down / Deload / Low Volume Throwing

Some key components that need to be followed during the calendar year include adequate time between outings, consistent training in and out of season, steady build up during on-ramping, and listening to the arm throughout season. 

The standard recommendation is 8-12 weeks off from throwing.  This is not a bad place to start, however, being proactive during this time can be beneficial to keep conditioning valuable muscle tissue, scapular movement, and decelerators.   From experience, a complete shutdown can lead to challenges during the on-ramping phase following a shut down.

Younger athletes should look to utilize longer periods of low volume and intensity throwing.  A general guide can be as follows:

Ages 8-12: 16 weeks of low stress throwing or shutdown per year

Ages 12-15: 12-16 weeks of low stress throwing or shutdown per year

Ages 15-18: 8-12 weeks of low stress throwing or shutdown per year 

Ages 18-22: 6-10 weeks of low stress throwing or shutdown per year

**Key variables mentioned before such as inning workload, rest time between outings, injuries, and physical maturity can easily change these suggestions!

Deload Phase

We strongly believe in a proactive shutdown phase for throwers.  This means we will deload the arm with less throwing volume and intent before shutting down.  This helps avoid “shocking” the system and blends us into the actual no throw period.   

What does a deload mean?

A deload phase should include 2-3 light throwing days a week.  This could be about 5-10 minutes of throwing up to 60-90 feet with low intensity. Distance can just but intensity should remain low. Bigger focus on pre-throw drill work, mobility, and post-throw arm care.  

Plyocare or weighted balls can be implemented during this phase with lower intensities.  This is a good time to work on patterning with weighted implements.  Footballs should be a key part of the throwing volume throughout the deload.  

Players can make up for low intensity throwing work with added stress in the weight room and medicine balls.  This can help condition and build areas often undervalued during the season.

After a few weeks of deload, you can enter a “no throw” phase or maintain this deload phase of light throwing 2-3 days a week.

How do you decide if you should shut down?

This can be answered with several different answers. Ultimately, our opinion is if you think you need a break from moving your arm lightly then take it. Just be productive during this time. Keeping the arm “active” without pushing intensity or volume won’t hurt. For some athletes, it can be better to keep the arm actives so that the on-ramp phase can be an easier build up.

The specifics within programming WILL VARY based on the athlete’s needs.  Some athletes will lower plyocare use, add more football or weighted ball catch, and/or change intensity during throwing in the deload.

Shutdown Phase

The deload phase has prepared us for a no-throw period. This can vary in time or if at all for different levels of throwers and workloads. To get good at throwing, we must throw. This shutdown can be used for a mental and physical break from throwing stresses.

Our shutdown phase with “no throw” still has key training programming with core velocity belt and medicine balls to improve movement quality and maintain some rotational power output.  

We recommend still including pre/post throwing arm care modalities such as j-bands, rebounders, wrist weights, plyocare warm-ups, football catch, and shoulder tubing.

The weight room is KEY to this phase.  Athletes should be getting multiple main lifts per week to really build strength and conditioning during this phase. Most have had a lesser workload in the weight room during season so this time becomes very valuable to build muscle tissue and physical traits.

On Ramping Phase

Our 18 day (4-5 weeks) on-ramp phase is a structured approach to increasing workload and intensity of throwing.   The plan that our athletes will follow include a steadily increasing amount of plyocare pre-throw along with medicine balls and core velocity belt.  

This will increase from light first day to full long toss and high intent plyo throwing before our baseline testing.   There should be 1 day in between all throwing days.  

General On Ramp Guide:

Week 1: 4 Throwing days with light to moderate intensity 60-90 feet for 8-12 minutes

Week 2:  3 Throwing days with moderate intensity and added volume.  Around 120-150 feet

Week 3:  4 Throwing days with moderate intensity and more volume.  Extension phase of long toss begins at end of week. Schedule looks like light, medium, off, light, heavy, off, light

Week 4: 4-5 throwing days with 2 long toss days and added compressions (pulldowns) at the end of throwing program.

If an athlete has soreness lasting at least 24 hours from an “On Ramp Day” then they should repeat it once they are not sore.  Do this without lingering soreness before moving on to the next day.

The goal of an on-ramp phase is to prepare tissue and stressors for higher velocities and volumes of the velocity stage coming up next.  Whether you are heading into a velocity phase or directly into season, a proper on-ramp is key for a healthy season.

Once this phase is complete, we will enter our baseline high-intent/velocity phase.  All throwers will complete the on-ramp program all the way through before entering the next phase.

Here is an example of managing your deload, shutdown, and on-ramping phases:

Deload, Shutdown, On-Ramping Phases

Conclusion

This critical part of every thrower’s calendar year can be managed in different ways.  The most important things are that you draw up the potential outlook of it, discuss it with coaches invested in your development, and listen to your arm.

Throwing for too long, through pain, and/or not giving your body a proper break can stall your development and potentially lead to injury.  At PRP, we want to individualize everyone’s plan as much as possible for this time period.  You can do so too by getting ahead of things and trusting the right people.

As always, email us with any questions!

Training Organization: The Intro

by Bram Wood

Training Organization: The Introduction

A familiar struggle coaches and athletes face is creating and planning training programs that coincide with their tactical training (the practice of the sport). Am I doing too much? Am I doing too little? How many days a week should I train? What should I do on those days? With that said, the goal of this blog series is to provide training suggestions based upon how many days you want to train and how to balance that load with practice.

 Luckily for us, plenty of brilliant coaches and scientists have come before us to work through the details to ensure that we can create a program that breeds success. Before we take a deep dive, no program is perfect, and nothing trumps hard work. If you show up day in and day out and put in the work, you will get better. It does not matter how many days you train or what you do because believing in what you do can provide more significant results than a program where an athlete doubts its impact.

The Charlie Francis Training System

First, let us look at the classification of stressors in a training program.

The late Charlie Francis, Canadian Track Coach, most known for coaching Ben Johnson, created this table to identify different training stimuli and their impact on the Central Nervous System. It is essential to recognize these activities as stressors and their impact because the Central Nervous System is the software that guides the hardware. If the software is overworked, it is going to directly impact how the hardware can function.

Charlie had a great analogy of comparing the CNS to a cup, and as stressors occur, they begin to fill up the cup. As we can see from the chart above, different stressors fill up the cup more or less, so coaches must plan accordingly to make sure they do not cause the athlete's cup to overflow. Also, understand that other life stressors impact how quickly this cup fills up. This is why it is essential always to understand what athletes are going through outside of sport and training.

The Consolidation of Stressors

This chart serves as a great tool and can help guide coaches in planning their physical and tactical preparation for a week, but please also understand that it is best served to write it in pencil and not pen when writing a program. Be flexible to best serve your athletes and how they feel that day. 

Different researchers have evaluated the Acute/Chronic Work Ratio and its impact on performance in past and current research. Derived from this research is the concept of consolidation of stressors. Consolidation of stressors is the pairing of a high-intensity tactical session (practice) with a high-intensity physical preparation session (workout). Then vice versa of pairing low with low. This way, when athletes practice with light intensity, they do not walk into the weight room and get destroyed. This helps both coaches and athletes make sure they are recovering correctly between sessions. 

Is it High or Low?

For some coaches, it may be hard to recognize if a practice is high or low intensity. An easy question is how game-like is the practice to the actual sporting event, and what is the emotional and physical intensity required to complete the tasks? This is individual-dependent, but when working with a team, it is okay to generalize to gain a better understanding. 

That intensity is then paired with volume. For example, did this practice take place for 1 hour? 2 hours? How much of the practice were the athletes actually working and or competing? Being able to answer these questions allows a coach to understand what the volume of the practice was. 

Coaches can then take this information on intensity and volume and classify their practice as either High/High, High/Low, Low/High, and Low/Low. This model determines the stress that should then be attacked in the weight room. This idea was derived from Daniel Bove's book, The Quadrant System: Navigating Stress in Team Sport. 

An example of what a High/High day in the weight room would look like is we're going to be lifting heavy weights with high volumes, relatively speaking. High/Low day would look like lifting heavier loads with lighter volume. An excellent example of this would be using Velocity Based Training if a coach has the tools and has the athletes operating in the strength-speed zone of the spectrum suggested by Dr. Bryan Mann (.75 m/s - 1.00 m/s). Low/High day would be lifting submaximal weights for repeated efforts or what Charlie Francis calls accumulation weights. A Low/Low day is a full rest day in the weight room for athletes to have the ability to recover fully. 

Wrap it Up

I took this blog all over the place, and some of the information felt like drinking water from a firehose. However, I am going to wrap it up and explain what the blog series will look like. 

I presented all of this information in this first blog because these are some of the necessary items that need consideration when writing a training program. A loose understanding of these concepts allows coaches to create informed plans focused on what they deem essential for their athlete or team.

Moving forward, I am going to present a training program and weekly layouts of what a week with 2, 3, 4, or 5 training sessions will look like and what can be included in those workouts. These templates are only meant to invoke thought and are not being presented as the only way or best way to do things. I recognize each training program is context-dependent, but the more a training plan is grounded in principles, the more manageable the creation process. To all of the coaches out there working hard, cheers to you; let's keep pushing the field forward. Till next time, work hard and enjoy the process. 

Developing A Change-Up

Learn How To Develop The Change-up Using Trackman And Rapsodo:

Below you will see some key aspects on change-up pitch design, assessing spin metrics, and how to develop it.

Designing Your Change-Up

The change-up is a crucial pitch in the arsenal of pitchers at all levels.  Players should learn grips and practice it at an early age to improve feel and trust with it as they develop.  It is often underused and misunderstood by amatuer pitchers.  It will continue to develop the more you use and practice.

Change-ups are lethal due to their difference in velocity but similar appearance of spin/release.  The best change-ups maximize movement along with speed differential and slot/release similarities. 

A quality change-up is a great tool to have in your arsenal to get hitters off hunting your fastball.   When used correctly, the change-up will impact hitters timing to improve your fastball success as well.

It can be misunderstood that change-ups should be slowed down intentionally to create deception. The goal is to be consistent with arm speed, slot, and finish.  

Let the grip and spin direction create the movement, not changes in your delivery!

Spin Rate:

Spin rate for a change-up varies based on grip, spin orientation, and slot.  

The goal is to create less vertical break and more horizontal break with the change-up.  This can be achieved in several ways but more spin does not mean better movement.

Most change-ups have about 500-800 less true spin (rpms) than the player’s fastball.  While this varies, lowering the true spin will ultimately create less vertical break due to less spin induced movement.  For example, if a pitcher has about 2200 true spin on his fastball then getting to around 1500-1700 is a good start to killing vertical break.

A change-up can have a similar spin profile to the fastball but you will want to see the axis be tilted to the arm side to kill vertical break and add horizontal break.  

We will discuss more about the spin direction/axis below, but the spin rate is going to vary between pitchers and is not as important as the axis it spins on.

Spin Axis:

The best way to create less vertical but more horizontal movement profile on the change-up is by tilting the direction/axis it spins on.  Notice the difference between these two images at “spin direction”. 

The fastball has a 00:20 axis (almost directly over-top) while the change-up is tilted over two hours.  This creates a huge differential between 4-seam and change-up movement profiles.  The 4-seam has 20.2V/3.6V and change-up has 5.1V/14.2H.  While have above 90% spin efficiency, one creates almost no vertical break due to coming out of a much more tilted axis.  You can also see that the release angle, release height, horizontal angle, and release side numbers are almost exact same.  This shows they should tunnel well out of his hand.  

While this is a drastic example of a professional pitcher who specializes with the change-up, it gives a good presentation of what the differences between FB/CH should show.  

When looking for valuable data on change-ups with Rapsodo, begin with the movement profile and spin axis.

Spin Efficiency:

The goal is still to create a high spin efficiency on the change-up.  There are times that change-ups  can have lower spin efficiencies and be successful because of their ability to kill vertical break.  Lower efficiency means less true spin which creates less vertical break.  However, this hurts the amount of horizontal break (run) it would create.  If we can keep the efficiency high and tilt the axis, then the horizontal break will be high.

Most high-level change-ups will have about 95% spin efficiency.

Spin Metrics

As mentioned above, overall metrics will vary from all different types of pitchers and levels.  The important data comes from the metrics shown in differences of spin axis, vertical and horizontal break profiles.  Messing with different grips, seam orientations, and cueing the finish in different ways can improve metrics.  

Shown above -- This Change Up has about 8 inches more horizontal and 8 inches less vertical break from the fastbal due to a tilted axis (from 1:00 FB to 1:54 on CH), less spin rate, high efficiency and more release side.

Coaching the Change-Up:

Grips will vary between ages, arm slots, hand sizes, and more.  The circle change is most commonly used, but can also be used in different ways.  We recommend starting with these grips below and seeing which ones feel comfortable.  

A common cue is “throwing the inner half” or “throw the thumb down” at the finish can but every pitcher receives those cues differently.  Personally, I encourage players to emphasize maintaining fastball arm speed and throwing through the middle finger.    Another cue we use is to “keep the palm inside the fingers”.  This can help create a more angled spin direction.

Pressure on middle finger and thumb is a good place to start with those learning the change-up.

High-speed video and review can really advance the process on what is happening compared to what the pitcher feels happening.  You can also use an iPhone slow motion zoomed in to release point.  

Achieving more horizontal break than vertical break consistently with the change-up is a good goal to have when assessing movement with Rapsodo and Trackman.   The main ways this can be achieved are:

1. Tilt the axis to arm side 

2. Kill spin rate

3. Less release height, more release side (may lose tunnelling).

As previously stated, look for 5-8 inches less vertical than your fastball and 5-8 inches more horizontal than your fastball.  Every pitcher will be different in achieving this due to arm slot, fastball spin axis, and overall spin rates.

Training the Change-Up:

Throw it!  Use it daily in your catch play.  We recommend 10-25 change-ups on all hybrid or higher intent throw days regardless of bullpen.  

You can get these reps in after you’ve extended your catch play to distance.  At about 150-120 feet for HS/College aged arms, do shuffle step throws with your change-up on a line.  Add 2-3 throws every 15-20ft on the the way back in.  Younger athletes can do this at 75-60 feet.  

If working on the spin, throw it into a net about 50-60 feet away to see the angle and movement on it.  The more you work on maintaining arm speed and throwing it downhill, the better!

For more information email us at gvogt@prpbaseball.com!

2020-2021 Off-Season Training Review

2020-2021 Off-Season Training Review

Well, it was a roller coaster off-season for people all across the country. Different from any other year, we all had to deal with interrupted shut downs, stay at homes, and rely more on communication than ever.

This short blog is to wrap up some of our training from this off-season with athletes ages 13-18 which ran from December until mid-March!

Goals:

• Get every athlete an assessment and intro to training

• Explain reasoning for specific drills (belt, weighted balls, med balls, long toss, etc.)

• Set a plan, discuss each player goals

• Build better movers from the ground up

• Follow a structured weight training plan during throwing shut down and progress into more specific training during on-ramp and velocity stages

• Follow a 5 week on-ramping for all throwers

• 3-4 week velocity stage depending on level of athlete, results, attendance.

• 3-4 week blending stage - mound, bullpens, etc.

On Ramping:

Our 5 week on-ramping program consists of a steady increase of volume and intensity in throwing throughout each week. By the end of the 5 weeks, they will have 6 long toss (or similar) throw days and build up to 100% intensity with plyocare throws. Early on there are more days off and lower intensities. By week 3, we are throwing 4 to 5 days a week with 1-2 of those being light/recovery days.

We begin with overload training in the first week and low volume in catch play. We use Driveline plyocare balls for some specific drills including Reverse Throws, Upward Toss, Pivot Picks, Walk Aways, Closed 45’s, Catch to Throw, and more.

We add volume in plyocare and catch play throughout the 5 weeks. Each athlete is to communicate arm readiness, soreness, and how each day feels in our Daily Readiness Questionnaire.

By the end of on-ramping, throwers should not be “sore” from a long toss day. Following the on-ramp we progress to baseline velocity testing.

Athletic/Strength Baseline testing

We test the following things within the first 4 weeks of training to get a baseline breakdown for each athlete.

1. Grip Test

2. Body Weight

3. Lateral Bounds

4. Broad Jump

5. Vertical Jump

6. Trap Bar Deadlift OR Sumo Deadlift (3 rep)

7. Reverse Lunge (3 rep)

8. Medicine Ball Run N Gun (6LB)

9. Medicine Ball Positional (6LB)

These testings gave us a base foundation of power output, strength, rotational power, and more. Once we knew what each athlete’s “engine” was, we could create programming and attack deficiencies over the next several weeks. The goal was to re-test in the middle and end of the program to see growth in each aspect.

Velocity Baseline Testing:

After the on-ramping program, the first two things we test are pulldowns and plyocare velocities. How much and types of plyocare velocities depend on age and skill set.

Pulldowns are an advanced move with a running start that challenge the athlete to self-organize and “pull the ball down”. Day 1 is 5 throws at 100% after warm-ups. We take average and peak. From here, we want to see the average climb and be mindful of each day’s peak. Pulldown testing is only 1 day a week followed by recovery days.

Plyocare Velocity testing is on mound for pitchers and with positional footwork specific to their position. Pitchers will test step backs, walking wind-ups, inward turns, quick picks, and normal delivery. On plyocare velocity days, the catch play is done prior to testing. We have athletes go through our plyo warm-up series prior to catch play.

We typically see that plyocare velocities begin a little lower than expected due to getting comfortable with grip and intent. The yellow Plyocare ball (5.3oz) is typically 1-4mph below normal baseball velocity. We push guys to try and beat mound velocity with the gray (3.5oz).

From here, we progress to positional testing in the 3rd velocity day for baseline mound or defensive position velocity. Depending on how the three testings go, soreness after, and movement quality in each we set a plan moving forward to attack any specific deficiencies.

Velocity Training:

The velocity training component is about 3-8 weeks depending on the athlete, priorities within the training plan, movement quality and adaptations within training. Our older (16-18) athletes will typically continue pulldowns with overload/underload training for 1-3 weeks.

Advanced movers in pulldowns that struggle to transfer to the mound will go directly into mound blending. This can include more drill work, overload/underload, and/or extended bullpens.

Our intermediate (12-14) athletes will continue pulldowns for 2-4 weeks so they can focus on building up intent, control of body, and adapt to the advanced movement within a pulldown.

Blending to Season:

For the last 3-6 weeks, we shift focus from “velocity training” to in-game execution. Depending on the athlete’s needs, this can include more volume within velocity tracking, pitch design, and/or live at bats. Most finish the program with structured bullpens using Edgertronic and Rapsodo for some data and video feedback. Those that are stuck will revert back to velocity based training and/or a deload (lower volume and intensity).

Once we get to mid-February, we are losing most of our “varsity” players to bullpens at their schools for off-season workouts. This adjusts our training protocols around ensuring recovery days, proper lifting structure, and patterning work. While not ideal, we understand that HS/Travel coaches want to see their guys on high-intent days as well. We adjust training and make sure that communication his consistent so we are not overdosing throwing/lifting protocols.

Weight Training:

Each athlete goes through a similar process as our throwing protocols within our weight training. Now, we are often dealing with our athletes weight training in school for class or at practice. This requires us to make certain adjustments while also emphasizing the importance of matching your throwing and lifting schedules.

Our base process is as follows:

1. 2 Week On-Ramping

2. 4-6 Week Strength Phase

3. 4-6 Week Power Phase

4. 1-3 Week Blend to Season Phase

All depends on where each athlete stands with their baseline testings, deficiencies, outside training (school/practice), and how we can best fill in the gaps.

Some of our main lifts for our throwing athletes:

1. Reverse Lunge/Split Squats

2. Sumo Deadlift / Trap Bar Deadlift

3. Box Squats

4. Bench Press / DB Press / Landmine Press

5. Row Variations

6. KB Windmills / Turkish Get Ups

7. RDL Variations

8. Plank Variations

9. Palof Press Variations

10. Pullover Varations

While constantly evolving, we want to see our athletes be challenged often with the following:

1. Creating ground force

2. Overhead stabilization

3. Anti-Rotation

4. Rotation

5. Horizontal Pressing and Pulling

6. Variations of Split Stance Lunging, Pressing, Rowing

For more details on our lifting plans, e-mail us!

Review:

Not every athlete got to follow the “plan”, mainly due to time frame, outside baseball training (HS/travel/instructors) but we managed to hold to our plan of progressing in workload, detailed training, and building the engine for spring season.

We worked around several interruptions throughout training from contract tracings, illness, changes in schedules both at school and baseball practices, while trying to maximize time and efficiency on site.

The overall growth of the program with all types of athletes and plans provided us with real feedback on how our assessments and training transferred to the program as a whole and each individual athlete.

We then created graphs and overall program improvements for each test to show where athletes stood in each category. They were all based on how the numbers in the test compared to velocities throughout the program. For example, seeing how a medicine ball run n gun and pulldown velocity correlated (shown right).

The biggest correlation was our pulldown to positional velocity (shown below). This helps us validate the importance of the pulldown and how we blend and transfer that to the mound or defensive position.

For more on these charts, email us!

We have blogs for most of these training protocols and testings compared to velocity. See more on our other blogs at prpbaseball.com/blog!

Below is the overall program review with each individual testing growth throughout the program. We look to continue growing in our teachings, assessments, and how we handle each individual athlete!

Structuring In-Season Training

By Christian Sullivan

It is almost that time of year when training cycles shift from off-season to in-season.  The countless hours spend bettering the ability to perform on the field at the highest level will finally be put to the test. For baseball players, structuring an in-season program is vital to remain healthy throughout the entirety of the season, and for those lucky enough, the post-season.  Now, there are many different variables to consider when building out a program. In this blog, I attempt to paint the picture that is a road map on how to remain healthy and optimize performance. 

First, I feel it necessary to explain a few fundamental principles/models and terms that will be referenced regularly in this blog.

Understanding Allostatic Load

The first model I deem essential to understanding is allostatic load.  There are a few micro components of the model of allostatic load. These terms include homeostasis, allostasis, and stress. Homeostasis is our body's tendency to move towards a relatively stable equilibrium. In layman's terms, homeostasis is our body's attempt to maintain balance through biological means when stress is introduced. Allostasis is the way our body responds to a stressor to reach homeostasis again. Allostatic load is the dynamic of raising enough stress to have a positive adaptation of homeostasis without overloading the body, causing a negative adaptation and a reduced homeostasis level.

Skill Acquisition and its Role

The second model necessary to consider when creating an in-season program is Fitts and Posner's Skill Acquisition model. This model introduces the three stages of motor pattern learning.

              Stage 1: Cognitive

              Stage 2: Associative

              Stage 3: Autonomous

The cognitive stage focuses on a given task and how we organize ourselves to complete said task. An example of this is the initial learning process of throwing a baseball. At some point in our youth, we first learned how to throw a baseball. Initially, we watched either a parent, an older sibling, or a ball game on TV. We understood the fundamental movement patterns based on what we saw and then arrange our own bodies to throw a ball.

Generally, the first throws were not significant. As we practiced more, we got better at throwing a baseball. We have now entered the associative stage.  The associative stage is the increase in efficiency in throwing a baseball due to the adaptation of the proprioception of our body and consistency of practice. The more we throw a ball, the more feedback we receive. We then begin to associate the actions required to throw a ball well or what happens when we throw a ball poorly. The more practice we have, the more efficient we become until we can pick a ball up off the ground and throw with relative accuracy without thinking about it. This is the autonomous phase.

The final stage of skill acquisition is the autonomous stage. This can be described as automatic or pure output. The neurological cost to throw a baseball is now at its lowest point. This means we do not have to think about throwing; we can do it on command.

Now how does this fit in with the model of allostatic load? Well, let us consider the stages of skill acquisition as stress. As we work from the cognitive stage through associate and to autonomous, neurological stress levels, become less as the body's physiological stress becomes more significant.  We know that to have a positive adaptation in the body, the stress levels cannot exceed a certain threshold (varies per individual).  Understanding the demands of neurological and physiological stress and how they affect the body plays a huge role in the organization of workouts daily to weekly, and even into a monthly standpoint.

The Variables

Understanding how stress plays a role in the body and our ability to adapt, we can finally start to piece together a framework for an in-season training plan.

The first variable to consider is the demands of your role on the field. If you are in a starting rotation, your highest point of physical demand one outing every 4-7 days.  If you are a reliever, you may be asked to throw for shorter bouts every day to every other day. If you are a position player, the frequency in which you are playing is higher than a pitcher, but the body's physiological demands would be less. The neurological needs may be higher (unless you are a catcher, both neurological and physiological demands remain high).

The second variable to consider is the workload of practice. This will vary on the position as well as on the structure of practice. Since I was a starting pitcher, my workload during practice usually consisted of a weekly throwing progression leading into a start, followed by some PFPs, coach mandated running and shagging baseballs during batting practice. The practice workload (physiological stress) tapered off while the week progressed as we prepared for a weekend series. Because of the first variable, the workload of practice will vary per individual, and it is up to them to determine their workload.

There are countless other variables that one would need to consider. Still, for the sake of this being a blog and not a book, I will touch on a few other crucial variables that will play a massive role in stress accumulation and our ability to manage it while in-season.

Variables Continued…

There are hundreds of other variables that we can consider when creating this model for in-season training, but we want to focus on the big rocks.

Recovery is one of the most significant variables to continually consider. Recovery is a blanket term that encompasses several variables such as sleep, hydration, and nutrition, to name a few. How quickly you recover is contingent on your ability to nail the few variables listed above, as well as the groundwork you have already done.

Sleep is one of the most critical variables, yet the least prioritized, especially in college. Making it a priority to get around 8-10 hours of sleep a night will allow the body to conduct the self-regulated recovery. 8-10 hours of sleep may seem challenging to achieve each night, but if you strive for perfection and fall short, you are still in a relatively great spot.

Hydration is another evident low hanging fruit of recovery.  Staying hydrated throughout the day allows for proper functions of the body to take place. Dehydration may cause increased fatigue, muscle spasms, and a decrease in blood volume, which would increase heart strain during activity. So, drink up!

Nutrition, in my opinion, is the hardest to nail because it requires the most discipline. Throughout my experience of competing in collegiate athletics, I missed the boat on this. There is a difference when eating for performance and eating for aesthetics. Eating for "clean" is often thrown around and typically accompanied by the standard chicken and rice meal. Do not get me wrong, chicken and white rice are clean, but consider eating greens as a vital part of the diet.

The Framework: Putting the Pieces Together

Now you are probably asking yourself how all this fits together in a week’s timeframe. Well, once you understand allostatic load (accumulation of stress) and skill acquisition, along with knowing your role and the demands that practice throughout the week, we can begin to piece this together.

The best way to explain this is to do so by picking a specific position and providing a framework example. For there, hopefully, I will have clarified enough for whoever has made it this far to create their own framework for their position.

For the sake of an easy example, we will use a Friday night starting pitcher. We are also going to piece this together backward.

Johnny makes his start Friday night, and his line looks like this: 6.0IP 7ks 1BB 4H 0ER 83P.  So as stated earlier, pitching in-game is considered pure output. There are some cognitive aspects involved, but for the most part, this is autonomous. The 83 pitches thrown equals 83 reps.  This would be peak physiological stress for the week. Johnny has a week to get ready for his next start. Saturday’s throwing would be exceptionally low, if any, throwing followed by a lower volume output day in the weight room. This would most likely be a lower output lift where physiological intensity is around a rate of the perceived effort of 8, and his lifts are programmed to have an inferior cognitive aspect, meaning he would not have to think much about form; he can just move the weight. I would probably have Johnny incorporate a machine, when possible, to allow for external stability. The reason is that his volume/intensity was maxed out, and he was having to stabilize internally.

Sunday’s throwing intensity will be higher than Saturday's but generally low overall. This may be a good day to address any mechanical issues from Friday's start. Training in the weight room would be an upper-body lift, the intensity around a 6.5-7 RPE, and a mix of output with some movements considered in the cognitive/associative stage. The movements should be something that will challenge the isolation of muscles involved in the stabilization of the shoulder. We push output in isolation of muscles like the serratus anterior, delts, rotator cuff, lower/ upper traps, pecs, and lats, so collectively, they increase the shoulder's overall function.

Monday’s throwing intensity starts to pick back up. We are beginning to move from cognitive to more associative in our skills. We are starting to add more volume to our drills. Training for Monday is at the same point, only moving in opposite directions. We have had our high output days, so we start to look at more difficult movements at light intensities and higher volumes. We can perform these movements at higher volumes because the body's physiological tax is less than or equal to the body's neurological tax. Again, our focus is throwing, so our weight room movements should begin to lay a functional foundation for movement patterns on the mound.

Tuesday's throwing intensity is high. Other than Friday's start, Tuesday should be the next highest throwing intensity day. Training intensity is at its lowest, the volume is relatively high. Exercise selection should aim to complement the training on the mound. For example, we will be focusing on isometrics in the hips, shoulder, and spine. Since the focus of throwing is force output, our goal in the weight room should be to resist force (stability). Although exercises are not going to be complicated, our goal should be to challenge our ability to maintain form. This requires a significant neurological component.

Wednesday’s throwing intensity is low, volume in drill work might be the same as Monday. The idea is that we are fine-tuning our drill work in preparation for Friday. Training is transitioning from cognitive to associative. We add some volume and intensity to the fine-tuned movements we have to spend the last day or two working on.

Thursday’s throwing volume and intensity are low. We are making final touch-ups to anything we have been working to improve on from the previous outing. Training intensity is relatively low, and the volume is medium. We are mirroring mechanics that we would see on the mound in a “preparation” lift for our start the following day. Some exercises may include upper body movements that focus on external rotation and scapula stability at the shoulder. We are in a split stance for the lower body working on controlled rotation and lateral stability of the pelvis during rotation.

Friday, we shove. Plain and simple. Today is the day where you throw the focus on mechanics out of the window and complete. Our goal was to lay that foundation of mechanics, then build on it so when the day we have a start, it is purely output.

Progression

This is a snapshot of a one-week example. The idea is that we push our boundaries each week to progress. I talked earlier about homeostasis and allostasis and the dynamic of the two being allostatic load. Each week, we should aim to set a new floor that our body returns to. In doing so, we are setting ourselves up to peak towards the end of the season, when it really matters. All of this is contingent on our ability to manage our stress loads to adapt and progress, not negatively adapting.

Closing

I hope this provided some guidance to navigating in-season training, but even more so the stress management that comes with playing a sport, managing school/ all the external variables that life inevitably throws at us. As always, you can reach out to us at PRP Baseball for help in managing all these stresses.

Pitch Grading, Spin Profiles, and Coaching Cues

Pitch Grading, Spin Profiles, and Coaching Cues

This short blog is intended to take a step further from our Blog on Pitch Design with Rapsodo. The following information will provide some insight on current pitching data and metrics, coaching cues, video examples, and ways to track progress. As always, these cues and tips work with some but not all. The communication and feedback from each individual pitcher is always going to be the most important factor in their development.

Pitch Grading:

Short version: Does it play?

Long version: What spin metrics make it stand out attached with the in-game performance metrics?

Assessing a pitch has a million different avenues. Currently, we are most accustomed to the pitch design portion of the process that we use Rapsodo for. Pitch metrics and grading profiles can be created and assessed with the data that Rapsodo provides. We are able to compare and contrast with current MLB data, test in live at bats, and collect feedback from players on in-game performance.

Data Assessment:

Looking at data with modern technology such as Rapsodo and Trackman has become much more common at training facilities, colleges, professional baseball, and even high schools. Most pitching coaches are exposed to spin metrics, high-speed video cameras, and need to be able to understand it’s meaning.

Pitching is about getting outs. Assessing and developing pitches is just one component to pitching but it is not going away. More young players are getting exposure to the technology and are able to use it to improve their game. Below has more information on current data, understanding it, and using it to help pitchers get guys out.

2020 MLB Spin Rates (via Trackman):

*shortened season, smaller sample size

RHP FB 93.8mph. 2308rpm 1:03dir 15.8V 8.0H

LHP FB 92.2mph 2291rpm 10:51dir 16.2V -7.1H

RHP CB 79.3mph 2550rpm 7:21dir -8.9V -9H

LHP CB 77.6mph 2470rpm 4:44dir -8.2V, 8.1H

RHP SL 84.9mph 2451rpm 9:29dir 1.4V -5.8H

LHP SL 83.1mph 2390rpm 2:46dir 1.5V 5.7H

RHP CH 85.0mph 1751rpm 1:53dir 6.4V 13.5H

LHP CH 83.3mph 1780rpm 10:10dir 7.0V, -13.1H

RHP Cutter 88.6mph 2430rpm 11:55dir, 7.8V, -3H

LHP Cutter 86.7mph 2289rpm 11:31dir 7.1V 1.7H

Creating an Arsenal:

We want to create a big movement plot with our pitch profiles. Meaning, a pitcher who has big differences in spin profiles with his pitches will create more difficulty for hitters to make swing decisions.

Above is an example of Rapsodo charts showing movement plots for an amatuer RHP’s FB, CH, SL, CB. The focus after having a baseline breakdown is to create more Vertical break on FB, less on CH. After that, create more horizontal break (left) on Slider and vertical break (lower) on curveball.

Pitch Profiling:

4-Seam Fastballs should have bigger spin induced movement profiles. Higher spin and spin efficiencies will promote bigger movement profiles. A fastball or curveball getting to 25in or more of total (vertical + horizontal) induced movement can be a goal for advanced throwers. For example, Trevor Bauer led the MLB in FB spin rate which helped him create a bigger movement plot off his two best whiff% pitches being Slider and Curveball. The tunnels and sequencing can be more difficult for hitters when pitchers have more vertical and horizontal break on fastballs.

If you are naturally lower spin, we want to find ways to create less vertical break than the average. This could be going to 2-seam, no seam, 1-seam, or trying to tilt the axis to kill vertical and add horizontal. For example, Blake Treinen and Zach Britton were top 5 in vertical break (less) in sinkers due to tilted axis and lower spin rates.

Curveballs, as mentioned above, should have bigger movement profiles and higher spin efficiencies. The higher spin rate curveballs tend to have more success at higher levels. MLB average was 2550 for RHP and 2470 for LHP. Ryan Pressly, Walker Buehler, Tyler Glasnow had some of the highest spin rates on Curveballs in the MLB in 2019-2020 at an average of over 2900rpms. Spin direction and efficiency depends on the pitcher’s slot. More overtop slot should create higher efficiencies (80+%). Lower slots will typically range between 50-80% on Rapsodo. A good comparison would be Shane Bieber or Justin Verlander (high spin % with overtop slot) to Jose Berrios or Drew Pomeranz (more sweepy).

Sliders will often have smaller movement profiles due to more gyro spin and lower spin efficiency. For most, vertical break should be closer to zero. Depending on spin direction and spin efficiency, you will see some horizontal break towards the glove side. Lower slot sliders will produce more negative vertical break and bigger movement profiles due to higher spin efficiency. Think about Chris Sale’s slider (lower slot) compared to Jacob DeGrom’s in movement profiles.

Change-ups should create more horizontal break and less vertical break than the fastball. Most change-ups have less spin rate due to grip orientation and a more tilted spin direction. For example, a RHP spins a 4S fastball at 1:15 and a change-up at 1:50. This will induce more horizontal break and less vertical due to the tilted spin.

Interested in more pitch breakdowns? Email us at prpbaseball101@gmail.com.

Examples of Spin Data and Results:

Knowing this data, the goal isn’t to “be the MLB average”. This data shows a representation of what you are going to see at the highest levels.

For example, Trevor Bauer had 3.9in more than the average vertical break and led the big leagues in run value and top 25 in BA, SLG, K%, and wOBA.

Another example, Shane Bieber is tied for 1st in run value with his curveball and top 6 in whiff % while being top 20 in vertical movement vs the average. His curveball also averaged the fastest mph in the top 20.

Last one, Devin Williams had the best Change-Up in the MLB. His horizontal break is top 3 vs the average and vertical break is top 4 (lower vertical break to create drop). His whiff% was 61.2%, which was 19% better than anyone else. His spin rate on changeup was much lower than the average. Again, creating a different movement plot than the average while maintaining similar throwing slot and tunneling with the fastball.

Data via baseballsavant.com. Highly recommend you take a look here if interested in more MLB data.

Tracking Data and Progress in Pitch Design Progress

Shown above is an amateur pitcher’s data via Rapsodo in 2020 fall. By tracking the data from each session we can see progress on the specific things we are attacking. The goals were to increase spin % on FB and CB while lowering the slider spin efficiency. By doing this, his movement plot gets bigger and hitters will have a more difficult time tracking in all 4 pitches.

We recommend downloading data via Rapsodo charts and using spreadsheets with pitchers to track progress over time. Throughout the off-season, you can see if the pitch arsenal is getting more towards where you want it to be with a sheet like shown above.

Pitch Adjustments and Cues:

This can go a million different directions but we wanted to provide some cues for making adjustments with spin on the mound. Feel free to email us to have a more in depth conversation about what is mentioned below!

More vertical break on Fastball:

• Add spin rate (legally, of course)

• Focus on fastballs up in the zone. Script bullpens with fastballs at catcher’s mask or at arm side hands of hitter. This can help feel more backspin and elevating the pitch.

• Move pointer and middle finger closer together

• Tuck the thumb

Fastballs that cut:

• Move fingers closer together

• Tuck the thumb

• Put horseshoe on pointer finger side (4-seam)

• See if spin efficiency is low on 2-seam

Create more horizontal on Fastballs:

• Cue to “Tilt the axis” (more diagonal spin)

• Keep the palm inside the ball

• “Lower your slot” - Be careful here, can help change spin axis but monitor actual slot dropping

• Move to more 2-seam fastballs

More depth on Change-Up:

Personally, we do not promote the cue “pronate” or turn it inside. Some of these examples below are simply in strategy but coached differently.

• Keep the palm inside the ball through release

• Widen grip (try to lower spin rate)

• Pressure on thumb and middle finger

• Throw the inner half of baseball

• Let it roll off the middle finger (can also cue roll off ring finger, but much more difficult)

• Try a Split Grip

• Tilt the axis more on Rapsodo/Trackman (example: take it from 1:15 to 1:45 on Rapsodo)

• Lower spin % on Rapsodo (less backspin)

• Different grip, Fastball intent

• Hit your catcher’s feet (promoting intent and getting out in front)

Higher Spin Efficiency on Curveball:

• Throw the front of it

• Turn it late

• Hit your catcher’s feet

• Think 0-2 curveball

• Adjust grip to get middle finger on a seam. Drive through the seam at release.

• Spike your grip. Pointer finger tip on a seam

• Break it from catcher’s mask to dirt

Lower Spin Efficiency on Slider:

• Turn the door knob, steering wheel

• Throw the side of it

• Think fastball longer, fall off side of it

• Drive pointer finger through the edge

• Think bullet, football spin

• Think more velocity, less movement

Cutter:

• Throw the arm side of the baseball. Ex: RHP - Throw the right 1/3 of ball

• Backspin a slider

• Hit the glove side shoulder of your catcher. Ex: RHP hit catcher’s right shoulder

• Spin it at 40-60% Rapsodo, 7-10in of vertical break

• Pointer finger through the side of baseball

Questions? Email us at prpbaseball101@gmail.com

See below for more details on our Pitch Design Graph using Rapsodo. It is broken down in the first part of our blog here —> https://www.prpbaseball.com/blog/2018/6/29/pitch-identity-and-design-with-rapsodo

Highly recommend you check out the Pitching Ninja’s DropBox Folder of Pitch Grips —> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qw77db1loclcm0v/AADbEm4Po_fSzJ_XCK8mnNxQa?dl=0. Follow him at @PitchingNinja on Twitter!

Bicep’s Role in Throwing and How to Minimize Pain

By Christian Sullivan

During the off-season arm conditioning period, many of our athletes have started to increase throwing intensity during their progressions. With this, few are experiencing bicep pain, but are unsure what the cause of this may be. I wanted to take some time to dive into the anatomy and mechanics of the throwing arm, particularly the role of the bicep.  

In order to determine what causes bicep pain in a high-intent throw, some background anatomy must be given to see the whole picture. 

The bicep consists of two heads that separate into the long head and the short head. The short head of the bicep runs up the inner arm (medially, towards the midline of the body) and connects to the scapula, particularly the coracoid process (small, boney structure at the front of the scapula). The long head of the bicep runs laterally up the humerus through a groove, eventually inserting into the superior labrum. 

The bicep main role is a flexor of the elbow, as well as a supinator of the forearm. Understanding the bicep’s function will aid in the understanding of its role in throwing mechanics. 

During a high-intent throw, the bicep plays a role in the deceleration of the arm. Due to the extension of the elbow at a high velocity, the bicep, along with the posterior shoulder, act as the brakes.  With the hand pronating and shoulder getting into extension, the bicep acts as a key piece to deceleration post-release.

There are some opposing opinions on the role of the bicep during the deceleration phase of a throw. Most popular is Driveline’s Blog post (How Muscles Work to Protect a Pitcher) talking about the importance of training the eccentric contraction of the bicep, which is what is happening the bicep during deceleration. Another recent article (Eccentric Biceps Is The Devil For A Throwing Athlete) from Florida Baseball Ranch’s owner Randy Sullivan talks about why eccentric bicep exercises are the “devil” in a blog post back in March 2019. 

In my opinion, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

It is important to have a strong posterior shoulder in order to aid in the process of deceleration, but the bicep does play a role. My stance on the subject is that having muscle surrounding the elbow to aid in absorbing force through a throw is going to be best when trying to prevent injury. Mobility and stability through the full range of motion through the throwing action are both key.

With that being said, having a healthy arm path is going to be the biggest preventer of injury.  Without proper shoulder health and thoracic extension/rotation, none of this is really going to matter.  The timing of rotation, acceleration, and layback all play into the amount of stress put on the arm during throwing.

Prioritizing thoracic extension and rotation, as well as shoulder strength and stability through a full range of motion (mobility), especially overhead (shoulders most unstable position) is going to be key. 

At PRP, we are always assessing mechanics during drill work and mobility. Specifically a drill such as the pivot pick, we have to make sure the athlete can properly get the arm into external rotation to avoid a “pushy” feel to a throw. The torso rotates, allowing the arm to work in more of an “unraveling” motion instead of a “catapult.” This allows for more of a smooth arm path, and much cleaner arm action. I believe having a scapula that upwardly rotates properly, stabilizing the humerus in the socket, aids in the ability of an athlete to get into proper positions.  We also use other drills such as walk aways, opposite knee throws, and catch to throws in our plyocare programming to clean up patterning.

Prone Cuban Press - Arm Care Exercise

Strengthening the rotator cuff is the obvious focus of every thrower. At PRP, we focus on movements such as the prone cuban press (shown right) on an incline bench. Our focus with this is the retraction of the scapulas during the row and external rotation of the arms. As the athlete begins to press up over head, the focus is allowing the scapulas upwardly rotate keeping the arms on the same plane of the body. 

When it comes to Thoracic mobility, movements such as the bridge with rotation is going to be a staple. This movement is very dynamic because it causes the extension and rotation of the thoracic spine, all while taking the scapula through a dynamic range of motion and working stability of the shoulder. Another movement that we use at PRP is a half-kneeling kettlebell windmill. This movement has similar features to the bridge with rotation or a phase of the Turkish get-up. The thoracic spine is extending and rotating all while the scapula moves along the rib cage and the shoulder works to stabilize the kettlebell overhead. 

After addressing arm mechanics, posterior cuff strength and thoracic mobility, if bicep pain is still prevalent, then we can look at adding in eccentric bicep work. This may include eccentric bicep curls in all variations, as well as pulling exercises with a focus on the eccentric contraction.

PRP Arm Care Exercises for Bicep & Shoulder Care:

• Prone Cuban Press

• KB Windmills (Standing, 1/2 Kneeling - Shown above)

• TRX Overhead Raise

• Prone ITYs

• Prone Handcuffs

• Prone Reach Over/Under

• KB Turkish Get Up

• Bridge with Rotation

• Wall Presses

• Wall Windmills

• TRX External Rotations

• Plank Bodysaw’s

How to Get Recruited in 2020

by Greg Vogt

Modern Day Recruiting:

Short version: Get good enough and they will find you.

Old version: Get in front of scouts by playing on select teams (still works)

New version: Get good enough and tag @flatgroundapp on Twitter and/or share video’s directly to college coaches.

It isn't this simple, but the process of getting “exposure" is no where close to what it used to be.

Yes, tagging @flatgroundapp is a great way to get people to see your skill sets, but it doesn’t mean you will get recruited. If the content doesn’t appeal to the college coaches, it will only do more harm than good.

Read below for some important information on the recruiting process and some things to consider while going through it!

Reality:

There are very few hidden talents in 2020. With the power of social media and major tournament companies, any coach can find players they believe have enough talent to play on their roster. Coaches are able to get their eyes on your abilities much easier than 10 years ago. You can get exposure wherever you play.

The tournaments, showcases, recruiting websites, and competition level of your team will still always have an impact on your ability to get recruited. That being said, it is not as needed as it was 2010 as coaches can find you much easier and data more readily available. Playing with high-level travel organizations and high school teams will also get you in front of more recruiters because of the talent around you. They may come for one player and recognize you having a great game.

Modern scouting:

• Giving more first opinions on player skill sets via video before live

• Pursuing athlete’s in-game abilities after seeing showcase abilities (or video highlights)

• Evaluating quality of character and assessing the person via social media sources

• Finding players throughout all of the new travel organizations playing all across the country with tournaments and showcases everywhere.

• Recruiting players at younger ages and projecting what they will end up being by time they end up on campus

• More quality options for players to choose for school. More programs across the country at all levels have ways to gain player interest.

Modern player recruitment:

• Earlier start to the recruiting process, pressure to commit early for top prospects

• Wanting the “D1 Dream” because what they see on social media, TV, etc.

• Constantly being evaluated with all of the sources of information given to recruiters

• Ranking systems that help/hurt their process

• Tons of facilities and organizations to play and train with

• Recruiting services that are constantly advertising players to schools

• Longer seasons - 5-day tournaments throughout summer, fall baseball, tryout for teams being 5 months apart

Personal opinion —

Players are “competing” too often and not training enough. There is a big difference between working on your craft in game setting (practice/structured/controlled games) to playing in a 3 game guarantee tournament that costs $1,000 in October on a Saturday/Sunday. During the summer, players are playing 5 days a week (Wed-Sun) and staying in hotels half the summer with little opportunities to keep the body in shape. While the baseball calendar year for high school player is not going to get any lighter, I would strongly push that you find ways to keep developing in-season. Lift consistently, rest, take care of your arm.

If you are not able to be in high-level playing shape, then stop playing. Get the focus back to developing your skill set and body stronger instead of trying to compete at 80% (or less). Fully understand the need to get in front of different coaches throughout the year, but if you are underperforming because the body is not in shape then are you doing yourself a disservice? Injuries peak, performance suffers when then body is not prepared. Be careful!

This will be touched on more below, but please consider counting the hours you spend training compared to playing. Competing is a must for growth and real feedback on preparation. But, because you are competing doesn’t mean you stop developing!

Be Careful:

Talent requirements continue to rise to play collegiate baseball. College Baseball is at an all time high when it comes to followers, views, and interest from younger generations. More players are training harder now than ever. So please read below:

This should be understood by every single parent/athlete…

Paying for exposure via showcases, competition, and recruiting services will not get you to collegiate baseball.

Being good enough to play college baseball will get you to collegiate baseball.

Sure, these services can help expedite the process once you are good enough, but they do not single handedly make a college coaching staff interest in you. You need to get your abilities in front of coaches by playing, showcasing, sending video, etc. But, if that video does not show the coach you have the skill set and personality they want then they will find someone else who does.

The talent is going to keep getting better every year at the college and professional level due to the player development companies and organizations. If you show average qualities to a college coach it is going to get you crossed off, not circled, on their list. Getting experience both on the field and at showcases has benefits, even if the talent is not there. Get to understand what a showcase atmosphere is like, see other players show their skills, and learn what you can do to improve. Same with games. Learn from the best players evaluate your performance compared to the best players. The biggest takeaways should be that you should commit more time to the practicing and development than you should playing.

Coach Hobbs (Arkansas Pitching Coach) said it best on Eric Cressey’s Elite Baseball Podcast (Episode 10) - “Spend your money on training. If you’re not able to go out there and show the best version of yourself, I think you’d be better off training.”

Guidance:

Sit down with family and set realistic goals both for college and your development.

• Find your likes and dislikes

• Watch college baseball at all levels to get a realistic opinion on where you can play

• Train hard, assess yourself constantly

• Find a place to play that focuses on development, not just winning

• Find a training facility that can help — and commit to it!

• Research for yourself — both for training and colleges

• Visit different schools for multiple reasons - evaluates campuses, athletic facilities, baseball programs, and more.

• Attend camps of schools that you really like. Getting an “invite” to a camp is not a reason to go. Go because you like that school and you can impress them with your performance.

Do not worry about showcases and major tournaments until you are ready. Everybody develops at different paces and times. Prioritize your training over games.

Attend showcases once you are ready!

Showcase write ups are built to please the consumer, not college coaches. This doesn’t mean they have no value. Write ups can give you a breakdown of strengths and areas to improve, but they are always going to be built upon the model of getting customers to return. Telling an athlete they have no chance of playing college baseball because they throw 75mph is not a good way to get that person back to another showcase!

Player Example:

Player sits 80-82, T84 in Winter 2019. Big, lanky frame with plenty of room to fill in. Invested in training. Got an assessment and a plan. Worked hard, consistently, and committed to putting on weight. Winter 2020 sits 90-91, T94 and is the #1 rated RHP in the state. Received multiple scholarship offers and chose a competitive division 1 school to attend in fall 2020. He gained 25LBs and 10MPH in 1 year of training while playing a long competitive season (spring-fall).

Training can be done during season, but most neglect the development side in trade for “conserving” for games. This is sacrificing development for performance. Not a bright idea for your long-term success!

Have what it takes?

The average fastball for right-handed pitchers in division 1 who used Trackman in 2019-2020 (200,000 pitches) was 89.08mph. For left-handed pitchers (96,000 pitches), the average was 87.60mph. Again, these are averages across division 1 baseball. The majority of pitchers in the power 5 conference schools will be above these numbers.

Velocity is not the only thing that college recruiters look for in pitchers. I am not a college recruiter, nor have I been one, but with enough conversations between recruiters and athletes they are interested in I feel comfortable saying that velocity gets you invited to the table. Whether or not you can stay at the table comes down to your make-up, command, breaking ball, then the other pitches.

Top priorities for recruiting HS pitchers:

• Velocity

• Command

• Make-Up

• Frame

• Breaking Ball

• Other off-speed

This is not intended to speak for college coaches and their recruiting process, but to provide parents with some important information that needs to be understood to have realistic expectations of the recruiting process.

I have yet to come across a college recruiter ask for a pitcher’s stats (innings, era, etc.). They may be in contact with HS and Travel coaches on in-game performance and consistency, but they want to evaluate skill, movement quality (swing, throw), and project to how they could perform at their level with their abilities. Predicting how a kid can hit a Friday starter at Michigan isn’t real fair when he’s currently facing 78 from the left-side on a Thursday night pool play game.

Just about every single case begins with “What does he sit (velo) in game?” then trickles to “Can he spin it?” and “What kind of kid is he?”.

Here is a list of common questions I see:

• What has his velocity been up to?

• What type of kid is he?

• How is his breaking ball? Know his spin rates?

• How well does he command it?

• What’s he like on the mound? Is he a bulldog?

• Is he a worker?

• How are his grades and test scores?

• What is his family like?

• Does he love the game?

• Good teammate?

How do you answer these questions for yourself? Would it make you stand out in a good or bad way to your dream school?

The Process:

Recruiting begins with an interest from the college. You cannot change that. You can show them what you are, what you can do, and your progress but it doesn’t mean anything until their interest has them contacting or responding to you.

There are specific rules for when you can talk to coaches directly, visit campus, etc. Nowadays, camps are a great way for colleges to get kids on campus and talk with you. I’ve attached some important links with key dates and rules at the bottom.

Recruiting is starting earlier and earlier for high-level prospects. This does not mean others should panic. The top prospects in the country will most likely verbally commit first. Division 1 schools are often recruiting HS prospects well into their junior seasons. Some late bloomers can find division one scholarships or preferred walk-on spots in their senior season. Division 2 and 3 schools often start their process later than division 1 schools. They usually begin their true process during the junior season.

Phone calls from Divsion 1 coaches begin your junior year (September 1st). There are other ways to get in touch with them via phone calls but they cannot call you directly until this date.

Verbal commitments are non-binding but often gives away all power from the athlete to the college. Until you sign a NLI (National Letter of Intent), this offer is a verbal. Both sides can retract, but it is often the school who will either change or remove their offer if things change. Other schools will not be recruiting you anymore.

Every level besides Division 3 can offer you athletic scholarship money. There are several differences between the levels and how each school manages it so I won’t go into detail here. Division 3 can find ways to get different academic scholarships and grants to offset costs.

One piece of advise — Be sold on more than the coaching staff and baseball program. Coaches leave. Programs change. You need to like much more than just the staff and program. Could you attend this school if baseball didn’t exist? If the coaches were gone, would you still go? Be sure to answer that truthfully before announcing any commitments!

All levels can be good or bad!

While most don’t like to admit this.. but there are SEVERAL JuCo/D3/D2/NAIA schools that can beat D1’s on any given day. There are also several D1 programs who would demolish other levels most days. Each level has a top level of schools that can compete with just about anybody. Each level also has a bottom level who would struggle vs the level “below” them.

Do not be turned away or sold on the level of baseball you are committing to play at. Yes, certain schools and levels get more benefits than others.

College World Series 2019

Do your research on program history, expected competition and opponent types, and the depth chart.

Key questions I would ask (baseball side):

• How many commitments at your position do they have?

• How many returners at your position?

• How do they develop players?

• How many players have been drafted or played professionally after?

• What separates them from other schools?

• What academic help do they provide to players?

• What is their graduation rate? Do players transfer out often? Why?

Also, talk to the players. They know the ins/outs of how program truly operates. Do they like it? If so, why? Get a read on what they say and what specifics about the program they like!

Junior College World Series

Need more time to develop? Junior college is probably your best route. Again, there are different levels of JuCo, but the best JuCo’s can give you a great opportunity to get to a better school than what you had interest from in HS.

Personally, I went to a Divison 3. There were several positives and some negatives just like at all schools. What was important to me was that I would play for a competitive program, had the academics that I wanted, and still close to home. I was able to play all 4 years with a big role and enjoyed my opportunity to consistently put on the cleats and give the program a chance to win on the mound. That’s what mattered to me at the time.

What is important is that you find out what is important to you and you find the best fit for you!

In summary

While PRP believes in running showcases, getting our players exposure through social media, and evaluating players on a constant basis… we want our families and athletes to understand the importance of skill development and being the best athlete they can be.

To get exposure, you do need to partake in some of the avenues mentioned above (showcases, tournaments, etc). Just understand that the best players on the field and overall athletes will get the most recruitment out of these events!

Just to be clear…. this is not meant to speak for specific colleges or the coaches recruiting you. This is a run down of basic information and experiences that I have had throughout the years. The goal of this is to give parents and families a view on recruiting from an outside source with no play for any specific schools or levels.

As always, email us with any questions on your recruiting process!

Valuable Links

2020 Baseball Recruiting Calendar -https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/recruiting/calendar/2019-20D1REC_MBARecruitingCalendar.pdf

D1 Baseball - Top prospects - https://d1baseball.com/prospects/2020-high-school-top-100-prospects/

PBR - Recruiting Essentials - https://www.prepbaseballreport.com/recruiting-essentials