Eric Cressey Q and A: Part 2

Q: I run into a TON of Fathers who want their son to gain velocity. What are your keys to gaining velocity?
A: To be blunt, Step 1 is getting away from your crazy overbearing father and realizing that if you’re going to throw the ball hard, it’s because YOU want to do it, and are willing to put in the hard work. There are millions of American fathers who want their sons to throw 95+mph, but only about eight guys in the big leagues who consistently throw that hard.

Taking it a step further, the average fastball velocity is actually higher in A-ball than it is in professional baseball, so while throwing hard is important, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. I’d love to hear more fathers talking about learning to command the fastball and master a change-up. And, most importantly, I’d like to see more fathers who are interested first and foremost in keeping their kids healthy so that they can have the continuity necessary to realize their potential.

Next, you have to consider what kind of velocity we’re actually discussing. Is it what the radar gun reads: actual velocity? That’s really just one of three kinds of velocity.

You also have perceived velocity - which is higher in a pitcher who gets down the mound further than his counterparts and therefore gives the hitter less time to react. Chris Young (at 6-11) gets the benefit of perceived velocity in spite of the fact that his average fastball velocity doesn’t even approach 90mph.


Perceived velocity also explains the success of many pitchers with deceptive deliveries where the ball seems to just jump up on hitters. Often, these pitchers stay closed and throw across their bodies. While it may not be healthy, correcting it could take away their effectiveness.

Lastly, back in 2008, Perry Husband introduced me to the concept of effective velocity, which is a bit more complex. The effective velocity a hitter appreciates is actually impacted by:

1. pitch location (high and inside are faster, and low and away are slower)

2. previous pitch location, type, and velocity (coming up and in with a fastball makes it seem harder if it follows a low and away change-up)

3. the count (when behind in the count, the hitter must cover a larger strikezone, and therefore a larger effective velocity range)

If you need any proof of the value of effective velocity, just watch Jamie Moyer or Tom Glavine. They nibble away over and over again, and then they come back inside on a guy and he looks blown away by the velocity even though it may only be low-80s.


That said, getting down to the nuts and bolts of throwing the ball hard (actual velocity) mandates that you understand that there are tons of factors that contribute to velocity, but they aren’t the same for everyone. Very simply, there isn’t just one mechanical model that allows one to throw harder than others.
Some guys have congenital laxity that allows them to contort their bodies all over the place. Others “muscle up” and shotput the ball to the plate. Most pitchers are somewhere in the middle and rely on a balance of elastic energy and mobility to make things happy. With that in mind, having mechanical efficiency and thousands of perfect throwing reps in this efficient model is what every pitcher should strive to achieve - just as a golfer would practice his swing or an Olympic lifter would practice the clean and jerk or snatch.


Second, it’s imperative to prepare young pitchers’ bodies for the rigors of throwing a baseball. I’ve written extensively about the overwhelming extremes the throwing arm faces, and while it’s important to improve arm strength, flexibility, and soft tissue quality, the rest of the body cannot be ignored. Improving function of the scapular stabilizers, core musculature, and lower half is essential for taking stress of the throwing arm. We encourage kids to get started with foam rolling, targeted flexibility work, and resistance training as soon as their attention span allows. As I have written previously, the “stunting growth” argument doesn’t hold water.

Third (and this piggybacks on my last point about resistance training), it’s important to understand how to manage a young pitcher throughout the year. Contrary to popular belief, playing year-round is not a good idea. In fact, it isn’t even good enough to qualify as a “bad” idea; it is an atrocious idea.

If you want my ideal competitive season for a youth baseball player, it’s to pick up a ball and start tossing around Thanksgiving, progressing to bullpen wok in early January after long-tossing distance has been progressed. Then, the athlete throws up through his competitive high school season (late March- early June) and summer ball (through early August). That’s about 8-8.5 months of throwing throughout the course of the year - and it’s plenty.

You’ll see that this competitive year fits quite nicely with participation in a fall sport - whether it’s football, soccer, or something else. And, athletes can still “get away” with playing winter sports as long as they’re willing to commit to a throwing program, even if they have to start playing a bit late. If I had to give my ideal scenario, I’d say play football or soccer, and then play pick-up/intramural basketball in the winter alongside a throwing and lifting program.


Within this year, you have several crucial blocks during which to increase resistance training volume. One, there is the entire winter break, obviously. Two, there is generally a decent break between spring and summer baseball (late May-early June), and another during the month of August. Three, kids can (and should) still train in-season, regardless of the sport.

This, of course, speaks to the high school athletes who have practice/games just about every day. Managing a 10-year-old is a lot easier. His sport practice may only be 2-3 days per week - meaning that he can participate in different activities throughout the week. However, he can’t do that if Dad thinks that playing on four different AAU teams at once is the secret to getting him to the big leagues. He has to play multiple sports at a young age.


So, if I had to give the synopsis of my thoughts on how to get a kid to throw hard, it would go something like this:

1. Appreciate that throwing hard is just one piece of the “being a successful pitcher” puzzle - and that there are different types of velocity (actual, perceived, and effective).

2. Clearly outline his competitive season and stick to that outline. Don’t add showcases, camps, and additional teams.

3. Let him play for two teams: one spring (school) and one summer (AAU, Legion, etc.).

4. Find a skilled pitching instructor to work with him to optimize mechanical efficiency. Before you start working with this instructor, have him explain his approach to managing your son both during a typical lesson and throughout the competitive season. Then, go and observe him as he works with other pitchers. Do they just “show and go,” or do they warm-up before even picking up a ball? Does he ask kids how they feel prior to each session, and does he pace them throughout the session? Or, does he just grunt and spit dip juice all over the place.

5. Get him involved in a comprehensive strength and conditioning program that incorporates resistance training, medicine ball work, flexibility training, and movement training that all take into account the unique demands of baseball. The strength and conditioning coach should provide a thorough evaluation that screens for all the flexibility deficits and stability issues we commonly see in throwers.

6. Make sure that the pitching coach and strength and conditioning specialist communicate and collaborate. The CP staff is fortunate to have this kind of productive collaboration with Matt Blake all the time:


Kidding aside, very rarely will a pitching coach know about strength and conditioning, and very rarely will a strength and conditioning coach know about pitching. It’s unfortunate, but true.

7. Have him play multiple sports. The younger the pitcher, the more sports he should play. Specialization shouldn’t come until age 17 at the earliest.

8. Make sure he continues to take care of his resistance training and flexibility work in-season.

I could go on and on about all the subtle details of what we do with pitchers on a daily basis, but the truth is that I envision this blog as something that will be most popular with the Dads in the crowd who really just want to help their kids realize their potential and remain injury-free. So, I’m keeping it more general - and referring you to the Baseball Content page for the more “geeky” stuff.

I do have one more closing thought, though. We deal with a lot of very talented young pitchers who throw the ball very hard. One anecdotal observation has been that their fathers are the ones who “get it.” These are the guys who are concerned about the important things: staying healthy, enjoying baseball, finding the right college, etc. They don’t boast about how many guys their sons struck out in little league. They are genuinely humble and respect the game - and this carries over to their kids, who work hard and carry themselves the right way.

Conversely, the kids who are always told that they’re the best and get raved about by their fathers are the ones who invariably struggle to succeed long-term. It may be because they’re overworked, over-pressured, or just overrated in the first place. It may be because coaches get frustrated with having to deal with an overbearing father, and the kid gets punished for it. It may be that the kid doesn’t think he needs to work as hard because he’s already the best - because Dad told him so. Or, maybe he misses out on crucial development because he spends all his time playing in baseball games when he should be practicing, training, or participating in other sports - or just having fun and being a normal kid. Worst of all, a kid may just flat-out start to dislike the game because all the fun has been taken out of it because of Dad’s hype and excessive pressure.

Is velocity important? Sure. Can it sometimes be the trees that prevent us from seeing the forest? Absolutely.


For more great content from Cressey Performance, check out ericcressey.com and cresseyperformance.com

In Season Conditioning

For many years, pitcher's have been told "go run poles" by their coaches, with no real science behind it. Distance running for pitcher's has always been described as a way to work the lactic acid out of muscles after a start, or to build endurance in the legs to work deeper into games. As the strength and conditioning climate of baseball continues to move in a positive direction, players and coaches are coming to the realization that, as a pitcher, we are built to perform more like "sprinters" than "long distance runners." Take a second to think about the movements a pitcher will perform in a game situation. When we deliver the ball to home plate, it's an explosive movement. When we hop off the mound to field a ground ball, we're moving in short, quick bursts. When we cover first base, we're sprinting up the line to get to the bag. All the movements we perform during a game situation, are performed within a 60-70 foot radius, at a quick, but short, burst.

Therefore, when we are preparing for those game situations, we should prepare in short, quick bursts. Long distance running during practice is a thing of the past, for present pitchers. Sprint work, as well as some pitcher specific plyometric training (side shuffles, box jumps, lunge hops), should be the focus of in season conditioning during practices. If our players want to do some long distance cardio on their own, we won't stop them, but we don't find it necessary in order to maximize performance on the bump.

Pitchers and Catchers Report in 2 Days!

With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in 2 days, I thought it would be good to talk about what we can learn by watching the Major Leaguers go about their business. First, let's talk mechanics. When pitchers take the hill in the early weeks of spring training, they're out there trying to get themselves into a comfort zone mechanically, first and foremost. Take a look, during the next couple of weeks, at how pitchers will struggle with their mechanics. Are they balanced throughout their motion? Are they keeping good tempo or are they rushing the ball to home plate? Are they finishing towards home plate or peeling off to first base (Right Handers) or third base (Left Handers)? If you're watching a certain pro's mechanics, think of the mechanical adjustments you're trying to make. Look for guys who are struggling with the same things that you are, because these are the guys that can become a form of video study for you to work with, other than your own.

Second, take a look at how pro pitchers set hitters up. A great way to see exactly what a pitcher is trying to accomplish out there is to keep the book. By keeping the book, you can keep tabs on what pitches a pitcher threw in a certain count, and then reflect on why he was throwing that certain pitch. Was he trying to set up the next 2 pitches? Was he working for a ground ball in a double play situation? Remember, we always have a purpose for EVERY SINGLE PITCH WE THROW. You will never throw a "waste" pitch. If a coach tells you to "waste" a pitch, he's not necessarily a guy you want to be taking pitching advice from. My apologies for digressing from the topic at hand...

Third, and finally, take a look at how a pitcher works both sides of the plate, as well as working up and down in the zone. In order to get hitters out, we need to change eye levels, as well as a hitters balance. If we can get the hitter off balance, even in the slightest bit, we can get him to hit the ball where we want in any situation. Take notice to pitchers during spring training, and how they work each hitter. Here is an example of what I'm talking about...



-At :27, Johnson starts Shinjo off with a 0-0 slider, down and in. Shinjo's weight is on his front foot, which means he was reading fastball, telling us that the spin on the slider is really tight, almost impossible to see.
-At :45, Slider down and in again, Shinjo is still reading fastball on the slider. Johnson now owns both sides of the plate. Shinjo still can't pick up Johnson's spin on the slider, and has yet to see the fastball.
-At 1:05, Johnson throws a fastball away. To me, this is the key pitch in the entire sequence. Go back and watch the first two pitches, and see where Shinjo's stride was on the sliders. Now, watch where his stride goes on the 0-2 fastball away...He strides to third base, which means his weight is on his heels. Johnson should go with the fastball away again, he owns him.
-At 1:20, Johnson throws a slider, down and in, repeating his pitch selection from the Little League days. Johnson gets lucky, as Shinjo hooks the slider foul, down the third base line. Let's see what happens next...
-At 1:47, the catcher (Jake Taylor?) calls for a fastball, down and in, but Johnson misses away with it, as Shinjo swings through it, because his weight is still on his heels.

I hope that example gives you an idea of how to battle hitters as the season approches. Again, you will see pitchers during spring training working on their mechanics, pitch location, and pitch selection. As we just saw in the video, Randy Johnson threw an extra pitch in the Shinjo at-bat because of poor pitch selection. Those extra pitches will add up over the course of a game and a season, so it is important for us to be smart, and more importantly, efficient on the hill when we approach hitters.


On a side note, I want to congratulate Andy Messa, on the upcoming birth of his son. Andy is a 6'2, lefty, and if the genes stay strong, his son will be as well. Here at AE, we're prepping to get the little, soon to be southpaw on the draft and follow list ASAP. Congrats to Andy and his wife!

Eric Cressey Q and A: Part 1

I've been following Eric Cressey for almost a year now. In my opinion, he is the top strength and conditioning coach in the United States right now. I recently sent Eric a 10 part Q and A, to give our pitchers in the Tri State area the benefit of understanding what they should be doing in the weight room, when it comes to prepping for the upcoming season...

Q: One of my favorite (insert generic sarcastic look here) things to watch in the weightroom is my pitchers getting under the rack for bench presses. It’s not the fact that they’re benching that upsets me, but the “Beach Body” mindset that is behind it. What’s the most efficient way for a pitcher to work on his bench, and more importantly, what should he be trying to gain by performing the bench press correctly?

A: Okay, let’s get right to opening this can of worms



With any exercise, we look for carryover to the functional demands of our sport. However, we accept that general strength gains transfer in most cases. As an example, we know that we can improve throwing velocity with a variety of training initiatives, but training specificity like this is stupid:




Now that we’ve all gotten a bit dumber, let’s continue…

As it relates to pitching, the fundamental problem with the conventional barbell bench press (as performed correctly, which it normally isn’t) is that it doesn’t really train scapular movement effectively. When we do push-up variations, the scapulae are free to glide - just as they do when we pitch. When we bench, though, we cue athletes to lock the shoulder blades down and back to create a great foundation from which to press. It’s considerably different, as we essentially take away most (if not all) of scapular protraction.

Additionally, the closed-chain nature of push-ups is much more shoulder friendly, even if pitching is an open-chain exercise. In fact, most rehabilitation progressions - regardless of the shoulder issue in question - will begin with push-up variations before any open-chain pressing exercises.





With dumbbell benching, we recognize that we get better range-of-motion, freer movement of the humerus (instead of being locked into internal rotation), and increased core activation - particularly if we’re doing alternating DB presses or 1-arm db presses. There is even a bit more scapular movement in these variations (even if we don’t actually coach it).

With a barbell bench press, you don’t really get any of these benefits - and it’s somewhat inferior from a range-of-motion standpoint. While it may allow you to jack up the weight and potentially put on muscle mass a bit more easily, the truth is that muscle mass here - particularly if it leads to restrictions in shoulder and scapular movement - won’t carry over to throwing the way the muscle mass in the lower half and upper back will. I’ve seen a ton of guys with loads of external rotation and horizontal abduction range-of-motion throw the crap out of the baseball, but can’t say that I’ve ever seen any correlation - in the research or my anecdotal experience - between a good bench press and throwing velocity.





That said, I recognize that there are still a lot of “wannabe meatheads” in the pitching world, so we do our best to meet our athletes halfway and please the bench press gods. Most of the time, dumbbell bench pressing and push-up variations will be sufficient, but we will sometimes us the multipurpose bar with our pitchers because it puts them in a more shoulder-friendly neutral grip.





Add some chains to the bar, and you have a great stabilization challenge that works the true function of the rotator cuff.

That said, if you absolutely feel like you need to do traditional benching, keep the volume down, keep the elbows tucked, and keep the shoulder blades pulled back and down. And, be sure to recognize that your ego probably isn’t doing much for your success on the mound - as there are training initiatives with better returns on investment. Remember that pitchers have loads of competing demands - from throwing, to flexibility training, to soft tissue work, to fielding practice, to movement training - so what you do in the weight room has to highly effective to justify its inclusion. I just struggle to consider bench pressing “highly effective” for pitchers.

Check out more from Cressey Performance at ericcressey.com

Commitment to Excellence

"What this is, I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it." -Alexander Graham Bell

Every single one of us have goals in life. The difference between one man to the next, is the road they decide to take to achieve those goals. To be great on the baseball field, as well as any other goal we choose to chase during our lifetime, takes a one hundred percent commitment to being great. Players do not become great by giving a mediocre effort. In today's high school baseball climate, EVERYONE is competing for college scholarships. Competition is tough and college coaches are cut throat about the players they want on their team. That competition only elevates as you rise through the ranks of college ball, to minor league ball, to pro ball. With each step you take, you have to focus on your craft more and more, in order to reach elite status.

As the high school season approaches, make sure you are working not only harder than anyone in your gym, but harder than anyone in the world. To be an elite player, you have to understand that there is some kid, somewhere on this Earth, that wants to be the best player, just as bad as you do. You have to be willing to outwork the guy at the top in order to be the King of the Mountain. If you procrastinate with your off the field work, the game WILL pass you by. Don't be a good player, with great potential, left behind because you were lazy. Those players are a dime a dozen. Be the needle in the haystack...

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of will." -Vince Lombardi

Overtraining

A common mistake of high school pitchers, is overtraining. Many kids I work with tend to believe that more is better, without any scientific back up, when it comes to training. Unfortunately, this is a huge misconception and you need take note if you are a high school pitcher looking to be healthy for the upcoming spring.

At Hatboro Horsham, we have a lot of guys that play other sports, as well as baseball. Generally, they are playing football or basketball, but the football coaches seem to want a year round commitment to the team. When we're getting ready for the season, as a pitching staff, we have a concrete plan that needs to be executed in order for our guys to be ready to go when March comes around. We specifically build up our arms with a combination of long toss, and stretching out pitch counts every week during our bullpens. What I'm seeing, is guys who are strength training for football, strength training for baseball, long tossing twice a week with us, throwing a bullpen once a week with us, training with a pitching coach on the weekend (generally throwing another bullpen), as well as attending summer league practices once a weekend.

Herein lies the problem. When you are constantly putting your body in a position of breaking down (football training, baseball training, bullpens, long toss, etc.), the body needs a period of time to recover. If you don't give your body the proper rest and nutrition, you will be on the DL before the season ever starts. I understand it's tough to go to your football coach and tell him that you need to be with baseball, but think about your future on the baseball field, if that's what you truly want. During football season, we don't expect our guys to be at baseball, because it's exactly that...Football season. The same goes for baseball. When it's baseball season, it's time to focus on the things that are going to make you a better baseball player and keep you healthy throughout the spring. Football workouts should resume in late summer when it's time for football season.

Some of the best advice I ever recieved was "Work smarter, not harder." Understand what time of year it is, from a sport specific stand point, and work your tail off in that ONE area. If you stick to this piece of advice, you will have a successful, healthy season.

Battling the Cold Air of Winter

Sunny...75 degrees...Not a cloud in the sky...The smell of fresh cut Kentucky Bluegrass...We would all love to pitch or practice in those conditions every day. Unfortunately, most of us aren't fortunate enough to play in those conditions due to our geographic location. Growing up in the Northeast United States, I've had to make an adjustment during the winter months to my throwing program, in order to be ready for the spring season. Anyone reading this, who is from a colder climate, understands what I'm talking about. When battling the cold air of winter, keep a few things in mind...

The goal of throwing long toss is to prepare our arms for solid strength and good health for the upcoming season. If you're going to brave the cold, make sure you go through a thorough warm up. This should include an extended period of distance running/sprints and a Dynamic Warm Up, before you get into throwing the baseball. When the temperature drops below 30 degrees, as it will many times in our winter season, think twice about getting outside to throw. At Hatboro Horsham, we won't go outside for our long toss if it drops below 30 degrees. In the cold weather, it's easy for the body, even when properly warmed up, to ice over, and create stiff ligaments and muscle fibers. Repetitive throwing in these types of conditions will wear out not only the shoulder and elbow, but all other ligaments and muscles in the body, creating an instability among them heading into the spring time. The goal of the off season is to get to the regular season in one piece, healthy and strong, ready to compete. Some believe that it will increase the kids' toughness if they get out in this type of weather. My argument to that is this isn't football. Baseball demands more mental toughness and consistency than football. If you are trying to stick to a strict throwing program, and the temperature drops below 30 degrees, wait until the next day of long toss. You won't win any Championships or Scholarship offers because you threw in 19 degree weather...