As baseball player development continues to steamroll into the twenty-first century, what has always been a complex process of improving athletes’ output capability on the field has become more and more highly specialized and interdisciplinary.
In our case at PUSH Performance, this is most obvious in the interplay between strength and conditioning, skill-specific coaching, and our in-house physical therapy partners at Next Era Physical Therapy.
The trends in modern baseball have been well documented.
- Fastball velocity has increased year-over-year in Major League Baseball and down the line, as have home runs and exit velocity.
- Modern baseball players are pushing the limits of human performance, and athletes from the professional ranks all the way down to youth players can benefit immensely from access to experts in their respective fields.
At Push, each member of the staff looks for distinct movement capacity depending on their discipline. When we each get to see an athlete move and play the game, we come up with a holistic picture of what may take that person to the next level.
It’s important that your throwing director can talk to your strength coach, who can also talk to your physical therapist to really add value for the athlete getting to their peak.
Working together
Owner and Strength Coach, DJ Edwards, and I have regular conversations about the kinds of adaptations we look for from our players.
As the Director of Pitching, I tell him what I see on the mound or in the movement profiles of a given pitch type, and he will add what he saw in the athlete on the table or in the weight room.
This dialogue allows us to generate a more fully-formed understanding of where the individual is at and where he or she needs to go.
Another case we see regularly is an athlete who comes to us with some significant injury history, for whom that experience was the impetus to invest in their development.
Our partners at Next Era Physical Therapy are invaluable in providing support and return-to-play programming for those players. Additionally, they are crucial in providing preventative and maintenance treatment to all athletes, healthy or injured.
Baseball and softball are physically demanding sports when played at a high level and Dr. Nick Thurlow, Dr. Austin Ryf, and the rest of the team at Next Era are able to provide their expertise to the kinds of conversations that happen between strength and sport coaches on the gym floor.
Their guidance and involvement drastically increases our ability and confidence to be aggressive in the pursuit of the ever-increasing demands of the modern game.
How does the PUSH summer program build off this?
In both our Colorado and Arizona locations, our summer program is a chance for athletes to truly develop and aim for peak performance.
Development in a controlled environment matters.
This includes:
– Live at-bats weekly with other collegiate players.
– Custom strength development/mobility/agility programs – built for their unique bodies, positions, and goals.
– Options available onsite for hitting instruction by JP3 Baseball, run by J.P. Sportman.
– Options available onsite for Next Era Physical Therapy for preventive care or injury rehab.
– Custom nutrition programs available to hit goals, whether that’s gaining healthy weight or slimming down to get to the best healthy state for unique bodies.
This program starts immediately after the college season ends and includes unlimited access to the gym (except Sundays).
It’s time to get strong and have it transfer to the field.
Message us to reserve your spot today. Limited spots available.
Dive deeper into baseball performance rehab here.
Learn more about managing proper loads in the weight room here.