What variations of jumps should you be doing as an athlete? It depends on what the athlete may be deficient in. When assessing an athlete’s plyometrics for baseball, here are some things that we look at. How does the athlete decelerate? When looking at an athlete’s ability to decelerate through the lower half, we want …
In-season training for baseball should look different based on the athletes’ training during their off-season. If they have been training all off-season, their in-season training doesn’t need to vary too much. Most people think that their program needs to take a complete 180 from off-season to in-season; however, that is not true. Through a consistent …
When working through an assessment with athletes, one of the most common goals I hear is, “I want to increase mobility.” Then, through conversation, they will say “I’ve tried everything and nothing works” or “I have to do mobility exercises everyday or else I lose it.” When we think about increasing mobility at the shoulder, …
Increasing Mobility in Baseball Through a Different Lens Read More »
Dr. Stuart McGill is a professor at the University of Waterloo and a renowned lecturer in spine function. He’s specifically known in lumbar spine training where he popularized the “McGill Big Three”. The “McGill Big Three” are comprised of the Curl Up, the Side Plank and the Bird Dog. Movement wise they would be listed …
A few years back, I was very against med ball work in-season. I was wrong. It’s a must in-season. The truth is, I was worried about excess stress on the elbow and thought adding additional rotation to an already rotating sport would be a recipe for injury. When we look at the baseball player, pitchers …
No doubt, alcohol is a part of day-to-day life (for athletes of age). This can be wine with dinner, beers after a big game, or margaritas by the pool on a day off. Seems fun at the time, but how are these drinks affecting your athletic performance? According to research, alcohol can negatively affect athletic …
Injuries happen when the body isn’t prepared to take force or absorb force from an external stressor. Often, injuries stem from overuse. When an athlete gets injured, we tend to look at what could have been done to “prevent” that injury. However, we can not “prevent” injury. No matter the approach taken for injury reduction …
What does injury reduction in baseball look like? Read More »
A productive training session should not be determined by how sore you are after, how hard it was to finish, or maxing out. A productive training session is individualized and helps an athlete progress toward specific goals on the field. If you are a baseball player working to get better at your sport in-season, it’s …
What does a productive training session in-season look like? Read More »
You know the quote, “How you do anything is how you do everything?” As baseball season takes place around the country, we want to help our athletes perfect their baseball warmup routines. A proper warmup routine can be the deciding factor between elite or mediocre performance. If done poorly, it can lead to an injury …
The offseason. Where baseball and softball athletes finally have the ability to take a break from the game. After months of competing, it is time to rest and reset. Much of the offseason is allotted to rebuilding the body back up, developing on-field skills, and resetting mentally. However, there are other areas that athletes should …
A common theme when it comes to nutrition for baseball players is how to properly gain weight. Baseball players’ goals typically include the following: throw and hit harder, and run faster. How does gaining weight help with those things? The more lean muscle mass an athlete has, the more force can be generated. However, not …
Every morning and across the country, athletes train in a team setting. From professional baseball teams to youth-level softball teams, players complete similar workouts designed for their specific sport. This sounds great on paper; baseball players train to play baseball, softball players train to play softball. However, the failure in this style of training is …
How to advance team training for baseball and softball Read More »
As a former baseball player, I experienced probably every warm-up drill you could imagine. These drills include your basic static stretches to running football routes. As I got older, I took warm-up time more seriously, not because I battled with injuries, but because I knew my body needed it to perform. Today, many coaches dedicate …
Forming a strong baseball foundation is key on the journey to become an elite player. Simply put, if you skip to the more advanced exercises and rep schemes while missing out on the foundational aspects of training that translate to the field, that athlete, at some point, can fall to injuries from poor base foundation …
How to set up your baseball foundation for success Read More »
It’s common in baseball (especially softball) to have development priorities backward. With athletes and parents chasing scholarships at an earlier age than ever before, making proper development a top concern is crucial. Knowing this, the worst word a scout or school can call an athlete is “projectable”. Projectable describes an athlete who is small, undersized, …
When it comes to the relationship between coaches and their athletes, there is one thing that should never falter. Communication, one of the most important things surrounding an athlete’s program. Basic communication can help you stay healthy. Many times athletes don’t communicate how they are feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally, and this can negatively affect …
Why specific communication will help you hit your baseball goals Read More »
Today, we’ll simply scratch the surface of the concept of differentiating between a stability/motor control issue or a mobility issue during an athlete’s assessment. At PUSH we take pride in how well we conduct our initial assessments; we are thorough and particular on the process that we use with our athletes. Knowing what tests to …
Discerning Between a Stability/Motor Control or Mobility Issue During Assessment Phase Read More »