Soft Tissue Quality

This topic is one that commonly gets over looked during the course of a season, as well as the off season, and being that we're wrapping up the playoffs around the country, I figured it be a good topic of discussion today. Soft tissue quality is extremely important to not only pitchers, but position players as well.

We've all had the soreness after a workout, pitching, or playing baseball in general. Sometimes, the soreness lasts longer than we'd like, and for years, we've been told to just stretch and run long distance in order to alleviate the pain. The soreness is caused by the breaking down of muscle tissue due to athletic competition or strenuous workouts. Over time, repetitive athletic competition and strenuous workouts cause knots, adhesions, and scar tissue, creating poor soft tissue quality throughout the body. By using the foam roller, we are able to get to those knots, adhesions, and scar tissue, and break them up, creating better soft tissue quality, allowing us to compete at the highest and healthiest level of performance our bodies will allow. Here's a great series of foam rolling stretches that you should perform at least during game/workout days.

To wrap things up...By creating healthier soft tissue, we allow ourselves to get the most out of our bodies when competing on the baseball field, as well as working out in the gym. As Kevin Erminio (Pitching Coach Clemson, MTSU, Miami OH, now at Kennesaw St.) once said when I was a baby faced freshman at Middle Tennessee State University, "Kurtzy, a flexible pitcher is a better pitcher, write that down, Erminio 2001." Well, I listened, and that little bit of advice has helped me throughout my years in baseball, and will help you too if you make it a part of your gameplan.