Archive for category Training
How High-Speed Pitching Video Can Alter an Athlete’s Training Program: External/Internal Rotation
It’s no secret that Driveline Baseball is a pioneering force when it comes to high-speed video and its application to training pitchers and analyzing pitching mechanics here in the Pacific Northwest, but an underappreciated consequence of analyzing our pitchers using video that shoots at seven times the rate of the competitors’ video analysis systems are the training-related modifications to their workout programs.
External Rotation – Two Factors That Matter
Pitchers who have more Maximum External Rotation (MER) during the end of the arm cocking phase and the beginning of the ball acceleration phase of the pitching delivery will tend to have more laxity in static external rotation and a tighter posterior capsule when stretching the shoulder into internal rotation (IR). This isn’t anything new, of course – for years, trainers have been telling their baseball athletes to stretch their shoulder into IR using the sleeper stretch or a variant of that stretch.
Sleeper Stretch
However, the absolute value of MER is only one factor that we pick out using high-speed video (tough to tell on standard video due to motion blur). The other factor is the rate of external rotation during the pitching delivery. If a pitcher has a more internally rotated humerus at stride foot contact (SFC) compared to a pitcher with a less internally rotated humerus, all things being equal (primarily shoulder and hip rotation angular velocities), the pitcher with the more internally rotated humerus at SFC will experience a higher rate of the forearm entering maximum external rotation (rMER). Pitchers with this mechanical marker are often described in research papers as having more stress on the bones (Werner et al) and ligaments (Fleisig et al) of the pitching arm. This mechanical “flaw” is generally described as the Inverted Wor Inverted L by various gurus out there. While the discussion of the Inverted W / Inverted L is a series of blog posts I have planned in the future, let’s stay focused on how this would affect a client of ours. While we might suggest mechanical changes that lower the amount of rMER without compromising the amount of MER the pitcher gets to (since higher rates of MER are positively correlated with ball velocity – Fleisig et al), we can address the muscular issues this flaw may cause in the trainer’s room.
Corrective Exercise for the Pitcher with High rMER
The sleeper stretch above is a great posterior capsule stretch that we might use for pitchers with higher-than-normal rMER, but isometrically working the external rotators at the specific degree of IR can be very helpful. Isometric strength training is fairly controversial in the exercise science community, but most will agree that isometric training works within a small range of motion where the training is being used (some say as high as 15-30 degrees). Consider this: When the pitcher releases the baseball, the humerus is very close to its maximum internal rotation angular velocity – after which it rapidly decelerates, putting a lot of stress on the decelerators of the shoulder. By putting an athlete in a position where he releases the baseball (another marker you can generally only see with high-speed video) and having him isometrically work his external rotators (not internal – he’s already getting a lot of work by throwing baseballs), he can strengthen the muscles responsible for safe deceleration where it’s most important!
How to do this: Imagine the sleeper stretch above. Have an assistant place their hand on the distal wrist of the pitcher and position the forearm and hand where the pitcher approximately releases the baseball in relation to his shoulder. Instead of pushing down to stretch out the posterior capsule into IR, have the athlete press against you into ER for 5-15 seconds for multiple reps. Give him a rest and repeat this every so often. Try it on his glove arm – I bet you see a major difference in perceived strength!
Appropriate Exercises to Pair
Pair passive ER strengthening techniques like backwards medicine ball throws with this for maximum benefit:
As well as shoulder perturbations and/or manual therapy as necessary. High-speed video can help in multiple ways – while it’s incredibly useful for mechanical analysis and review, don’t forget it has a huge place in the weight room and trainer’s office for strength and durability.
Never Say “I Could Have Done More”
The lack of blog posts lately has been due to a very busy schedule on multiple fronts. I hope to post at least twice per week going forward.
When training for any competitive event, there will be times when you want to give up and take an unscheduled break. This is only natural, because the very thing that makes a competitor great is also the same thing that is tedious, boring, and often hopeless: Deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice, as I’ve said countless times before, is paying precise attention to what you are doing on a daily basis to improve. You must compare yourself to your former self, others you are trying to beat, the greatest in the world at your sport/activity, and figure out how to move forward. Progress isn’t a straight path from beginner to expert; every great competitor spent days, weeks, months, even years maintaining or even regressing in their skills – sometimes due to injury, sometimes just due to the impossible difficulty of the task at hand. It is precisely at these times when the temptation is so great to want to give up that it seems impossible to continue on.
But if you do, in 5, 10, or 15 years, you’ll eventually look back and say “I could have done more.”
Real Life Examples
One of my clients is playing baseball at a college where the program’s coaches are short on understanding pitching mechanics and exercise science, and the majority of his teammates don’t see the value in things like throwing weighted baseballs, frequent long toss, or squatting heavy two or three times per week. He’s made big strides from his high school junior year to his freshman year of college, so he’s behind the development curve a bit, but he has an outside chance of playing professional baseball if he keeps up the hard work that gave him the chance to play college baseball. The environment that he’s in keeps him down because the coaches are constantly harping on him about his weight room activities (he does extra work on top of their high-rep bodybuilding regimen) or thoughts about pitching mechanics, but he knows that he has to keep his head down and simply bust his butt. One of his responses to someone harping on him about his heavy deadlifts was: “You do you, I’ll do me, and we’ll see who starts on the field in the spring.” You have to turn around the negativity and turn it into a positive motivator to keep yourself going.
Another one of my clients is throwing the shot put for only his second year. As a high school senior, he’s very far behind in experience. However, a relative of his is a well-known high school throws coach in the Midwest, and he’s a big proponent of working hard, lifting hard, and eating big. This client went from 165 pounds to 250 pounds in just about 16 months by eating tons of food, drinking lots of milk, and lifting frequently. Now that he’s developed a decent level of strength, he’s cut back the lifting and has been throwing every day on his relative’s workout plan. His high school does not have a throwing ring, so he has to take the bus to another school a few miles away, but their ring is fenced off and locked. No one is ever practicing there, naturally, so he has to hop the fence with his 12 and 16 pound shot puts in his backpack. While there, he sets up his camera and makes 50-70 throws with varying techniques (some standing, some halfs, some full motion throws). Three times a week after he’s done, he hops the fence and catches the bus to Driveline Athletics, where he’ll lift heavy stuff.
I’m rehabbing herniated discs in L4-L5 due to a lifetime of terrible posture while sitting down (I firmly believe schools ingrain this terrible posture by forcing kids to sit for hours at a time in class). Last year I had it nearly painfree with regular visits to the chiropractor and doing my own rehab protocol, but after my son was born, I reaggravated it due to sitting with a flexed spine. I couldn’t properly rehab it while playing baseball and pitching twice per week, so it continued to be a chronic issue – especially bad in the mornings. However, the offseason is here, and I’ve taken control of my rehab so I can compete as best I can in 2012. I’m doing over 250 reps/day of back extensions, reverse hypers, yoga posture poses, tire flips, deadlifts, pull-ups, Pallof presses, and other back work to regain full function and start squatting heavy again. By February of 2012, I need to be at 100% to head into my baseball season, and I don’t want to look back with sciatic pain in my right leg and wish “I could have done more.”
Deliberate practice is really boring, painful, and soul-eating. But the alternative is a life full of regret. Don’t wish you could have done more.
A Few Words About the 2011 Baseball Offseason
Well, the 2011 baseball offseason has officially arrived at Driveline Baseball / Driveline Athletics. My last fall ball game was over the weekend, and all of our clients have finished their fall ball, tennis, or are training for the 2012 season anyway (a former pro and Olympic pitcher trying to get a 2012 Spring Training invite as well as our shot put / discus / javelin throwers who have spring-only seasons). To be honest, I’m really looking forward to it – the baseball season lasts way too long, and I while I play fall ball myself, I’m in it for recreation. Nothing’s on the line. Comparatively, you have youth athletes throwing 100+ innings going into the fall season who are already really beat up from a grueling spring and summer program with their high schools, colleges, and select teams.
Fall ball is one of the worst things to happen to competitive youth baseball by a long shot. I completely agree with Eric Cressey, who decries fall baseball, showcases, and the like. However, we differ in a pretty big area – time off of throwing. He (and most other organizations, to be fair) prescribes at least 3 months of total rest from throwing. Comparatively, we recommend pitchers never take an extended break from throwing! (Exceptions: Pre-pubescent athletes, professional pitchers.)
Throwing Year-Round: Our Theory
I want to get one thing straight: Driveline Baseball is completely against the concept of pitching year-round. Let me make that very clear: We do not endorse pitching year-round for anyone. However, our athletes will generally finish up their fall ball seasons (sigh) and come into the facility more often for workouts. They might take a week completely off of throwing at the most, then they throw batting practice, weighted baseballs, and long toss on a schedule.
It’s important to separate pitching from throwing. We endorse throwing year-round for athletes trying to improve. There’s simply no skill you get better at by not doing it, and our theory is that you need to learn how to throw before you can pitch. (Not a single one of our athletes is at the point where they have their throwing mechanics down pat and can instead focus entirely on pitching.)
Now, athletes that throw year-round need to carefully manage IR/ER balance in their shoulders and have training in their program to mitigate too much rapid elbow extension outside of their throwing program – so we’ll scale back medicine ball work where the elbow is rapidly extending (chest pass variants) and add in a lot of IR stretching to balance out GIRD-related issues many pitchers tend to have. Pitchers naturally gain shoulder external rotation (ER) as they throw more – and they tend to lose internal rotation (IR) as well. Post-throwing stretching, IR stretches with The Rotator, and soft tissue manipulation can all help to mitigate muscular and movement imbalances in the pitcher’s shoulder.
The Offseason is For Gains – The Season is For Displaying Them
In any responsible training program, the athlete will be busting his rear in the offseason and taking it relatively easy during the competitive season. This fall/winter will be no different in our baseball training program as athletes will be challenged across multiple domains of fitness – strength, speed, agility, endurance, and sport-specific skills. They can expect to move around some heavy weights, throw some medicine balls against concrete walls, perform their sprint drills with a weighted sled, and all sorts of throwing and hitting drills.
Come join us this offseason! Spots are limited for the 2011-2012 training season.
Training the Throwing Shoulder Eccentrically to Reduce Injuries and Increase Velocity
Last year I spoke with Dr. Murray Maitland at the University of Washington about all things baseball, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. My primary interest in a meeting with Dr. Maitland was to talk about his study that he performed while at Florida State University – comparing FSU varsity pitchers against Dr. Marshall’s clients. (I never did get a copy of his unpublished study, as neither Dr. Marshall nor Dr. Maitland’s old assistant could dig it up.)
However, Dr. Maitland and I spoke at length about pitching mechanics as well as training the shoulder to withstand the immense stress placed on it during the baseball throwing motion. He said that he really loved Dr. Marshall’s concepts of training eccentrically, referring to Dr. Marshall’s use of wrist weights:
(That’s Tyler Matzek performing the drop-out windup wrist weight exercises at Lon Fullmer’s training facility. Lon and I don’t get along personally, but I respect his work all the same.)
One of the more popular topics on my website are the use of weighted baseballs at the Driveline Baseball training facility, as well as our training theories on throwing year-round without much of a break. However, it’s equally important to train the shoulder girdle to decelerate the arm safely and to get the larger muscles to take over the force, rather than beating up the small posterior muscles of the rotator cuff. It’s not just for injury prevention and reduction – it’s also for performance and fastball velocity.
Consider this analogy: Assume you have two identical cars on a quarter-mile drag strip. Driver reaction time/skill, chassis, suspension, transmission, tires, frame – everything is the same, except for the engine block. If you’re racing these cars against one another, what do you want more than anything to win the race? Torque and horsepower, of course – a more powerful engine. Of course brakes aren’t vitally important, since after the quarter-mile strip, you usually have quite a bit of distance to roll to a stop without taxing the pads of the brakes that much.
Let’s modify the situation a bit. Again, we have two identical cars located on a quarter-mile drag strip. But 200 feet after the strip, there’s a cliff that plunges into the Grand Canyon! Now what do you care the most about if you want to win this race? You care very much about the stopping power of the car – the quicker and more reliably you can stop, the faster you can go before needing to apply the brakes.
Gotta have these to throw hard (Coke can optional)
Another situation where this comes up is in the barbell deadlift: Your back, legs, and core may all be strong enough to pick up 600 pounds from the floor, but your forearm muscles and grip can’t hold on to it. When this occurs, you would think that you could pick up the bar and it would slip out halfway up. But in reality, your brain can sense that you don’t have the grip strength to hold on to the bar and doesn’t even let you get it off the ground!
Kinesthetic Sense
We call this “kinesthetic sense” – often used interchangeably with proprioception, even though it’s not exactly the same thing.
The pitching arm works in much the same way: If the brakes are not sufficient for the job, your arm may be holding back velocity in the tank. So training the decelerator muscles of the shoulder can not only help to decrease the possibility of injury (further reading: Isokinetic Eccentric-to-Concentric Strength Ratios of the Shoulder Rotator Muscles in Throwers and Nonthrowers), but can also aid in velocity development.
How We Train Eccentrically
Our pitchers do a lot of common bilateral and unilateral posterior shoulder strength exercises – pull-ups, chin-ups, single-arm DB rows, resistance band work, and the like. However, a unique small medicine ball exercise we do is the external rotation backwards toss:
This movement helps to train the posterior shoulder eccentrically without concomitantly loading it concentrically – making it extremely desirable.
We’re looking to not only build strength in the posterior shoulder, but also muscular endurance and joint stability. So weighted pull-ups and heavy single-arm rows help, but you also have to balance it out with medicine ball tosses, wrist weight circuits (something we’ll integrate more now that the off-season is here), and resistance band work.
Bally 3 lb. Fitness Ball
Remember: It’s not just the size of the engine in the car, but how effectively it can stop!
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Kyle’s Hardball Times Articles- Chris Sale and his faulty elbow May 14, 2012
- Ubaldo Jimenez: A quick mechanics review May 7, 2012
- Ubaldo Jimenez and his missing 96 mph heater: A mechanical look May 4, 2012
- Scouting Mark Appel: the possible first pick overall in 2012 April 11, 2012
- The 39-year-old who won’t give up on his dream February 21, 2012
