It’s playoff time in professional baseball, some will say this is when the real work begins. Emotions are at an all-time high, every play has more pressure than the last. However, as Trevor Bauer said before his start in Game 1, “All the work is done.” For many it takes reaching the highest level before they can really see it in that light. But if you are on a relentless pursuit of anything, particularly baseball, you know the work just has to be done.
I had the privilege of seeing the work that professional pitchers put in last offseason. They have to lift, condition, and throw multiple times a week. These are guys at the highest level showing up and just putting in the work everyday. It is not always pretty, even guys with big-league time make throws that get knocked down by the net that hangs over our infield. But they keep showing up because they know if they don’t put in the work in December they won’t be at the level they need to be in August and the postseason.
This past offseason one of the professionals was coming off an injury, the first one of his career. He had his individualized plan and he was executing it six days a week. He had worked hard to make the changes we felt were necessary, throwing the ball where he wanted to, and was pain free. He went so far as to say it was the best he’d felt at that point in the offseason in his entire career. There was just one problem, he was throwing a flat 84. A guy who the season before had run it up to 96 was sitting in the mid-80s and the ball just wasn’t jumping out of his hand like it usually did. We made some minor changes to his weekly plan and I told him that there was nothing to worry about, that velocity takes time to come back particularly coming off an injury where there are more mental hurdles than physical in terms of cutting it loose.
“I don’t suck anymore!” were the first words out of his mouth after he threw a ball that was just different than any ball he’d thrown all offseason. We didn’t need to know the velocity because you could see the difference, the ball just jumped out of his hand. And then the next one jumped, and the next. Crisis averted, he’s back or at least the life on his fastball was. His next bullpen would be the real test. Two days later he was 88-90 mph (these guys pitch in front of thousands, they are usually a tick or two slower indoors). He got a job in the middle of February and went to minor league spring training ready to dominate. He was 90-93 in his first outing and ran it up to 96 in the playoffs in September. And, immediately following winning a co-championship in AA, he got the call everyone dreams of receiving - he wasn’t going home for the offseason yet, he was going to the big leagues.
It wasn’t easy everyday, he didn’t always want to train, but he was relentless. He didn’t get mad because he didn’t see results overnight, he had a goal and he didn’t stop until he reached it. You just have to keep showing up. There is no road map, but you have to have a plan. Yesterday should have no bearing on the work that you put in today. Some people will have it easier, some people may not even have to work that hard and you will feel like you can never catch up. That doesn’t mean you should stop - keep going until they are forced to catch up to you.
If you are ready to begin your relentless pursuit to become the best thrower you can be, sign up for Healthy Heat today.
- Wes McGuire
Decrease Chances of a Throwing Injury, Improve Performance and Feel Better
Wes McGuire is the leader of our Healthy Heat program which is designed to drastically increase player's velocity no matter their position (which it has!). In our newest blog post, Wes explains simple processes to help improve pitching performance injury free.
What if I told you I could greatly reduce a pitchers chance for injury? What if I told you I could improve your performance and consistency without even watching you throw a pitch? Or that I could reduce your arm pain without even having you throw a baseball? Most guys are all ears, but they don’t want to hear what I have to say next; warm up and recovery.
Warming up is boring. You have to do a bunch of stretches and sometimes it’s long and tedious. You have to stay in line and you get yelled at by the coach or trainer for talking; it’s the worst. Some coaches don’t see the point either, like my coach in college who would tell us to hurry up and get loose so we could get to work. Go to a high school game of any kind and watch the kids before the game starts, it’s awful. They maybe take a jog to center and do some toe touches then play catch.
And it comes right from the top, you hear it all the time “alright guys let’s play some catch and get loose.” If you’re a coach, eliminate that from your pregame routine. Get loose to play catch, no one should be allowed to touch a ball until they are sweating. Establish a routine and stick to it. Learn how to be able to adjust to having 20 minutes to get your team ready to play a two hour game. As a person that is in charge of 14 high school kids, I would rather go into a game with zero BP swings than run out there with a bunch of kids who played catch to 90 feet and jogged to center. At least that way I know their body is prepared to handle the possible stresses that it will endure during the game even if they don’t feel their swing is completely dialed in.
Players, make it a habit now before you suffer an injury. What’s better, your first swing when you get out of the car or your 20th swing? All you need is 15 minutes. start with something fairly simple like light jogging to get your heart rate up and build towards some simple jumping or explosive movements. Find simple arm care routines that you like and stick with it, build your own process.
I start every 30-minute lessons with a real warm up. If I take 10 minutes to get an athlete loose and sweaty they are going to get more out of the 20 minutes that we have left than if we just spent 30 minutes throwing.
The next biggest piece that is often overlooked is recovery. The goal is to feel as good as possible at the beginning of every day. If you feel better when throwing you can try to throw harder, if you can try to throw harder more often you will likely increase velocity. Look at a guy in the big leagues that has battled injuries. It’s not the playing through the injuries that effects their stats; it’s the lost training time.
Again, a real warm up can go a long way to helping you feel good, but optimizing recovery is equally as important. My mom had the same response for anything that was bothering my brother and I growing up. The recovery was to get some food, take Advil, and get some sleep. When you’re working hard, eating and sleep are very important, however she left out some crucial elements of a good recovery. The same way a warm up should be apart of every team event, so should recovery.
Reset the scaps and get them back in place with something simple like band pulls or prone scap holds. The body needs new blood to help repair the micro tears that have been caused. Ice is the enemy because it restricts blood flow. You can use compression because once it releases, blood flows which brings in what your body needs to heal. If you can pinpoint some areas of muscle soreness try to use a foam roller or lax ball. Research is split on its effectiveness, but plenty of people feel better after. See if you’re one of them. Then crush food, water and sleep.
The next day try to go hard on the warm up and do some active recovery. If you have some specific areas that are tight spend some extra time doing a few exercises for them. When pitchers play catch it doesn’t have to be overly aggressive or even connection drills in an Oates Training Sock. There isn’t any research to back it up, but Randy Sullivan, Owner and creator of the Florida Baseball Ranch says his guys feel better if they throw in the sock the next day and everyone that I’ve had do it agrees that the sock makes you feel better.
For my long distance runners that want to run poles to get rid of lactic acid, stop. There’s plenty of research to back this up and pitching doesn’t cause lactic acid. Running poles causes lactic acid through glycolysis and robs pitchers of power, but that’s a different topic.
Now, are there people that go their whole careers without making this stuff a habit? Yes. Are there guys with no injury history that iced and ran poles? Yes. Do some guys in the big leagues just do some arm circles with a ball in their hand and come into the game throwing 100? Yes. Those guys are freaks, you’re not, YET. If you can build a body that is strong, mobile, stable and explosive then maybe you can skimp on the warm up. If you establish a long track record of durability and consistency in performance, maybe you can skimp on recovery. But if you need a few days after a start before you can throw pain free and the consistency of your outings resemble a coin flip, you need to change your routine.
If you need help with a routine, a private lesson or want to sign up for Healthy Heat please contact me at wes@bardosdiamondsports.com.
Top 3 Mechanical Fixes to Improve Velocity & Command
Sean McCourt, our Director of Pitching, explains the top three mechanical issues that can improve your velocity and command.
1.Back Leg Disconnection
One of the most common problems that I encounter watching young pitchers throw is an early disconnection of the back leg. After your back leg loses contact with the ground, you have lost the ability to continue to rotate your hips. If you can’t fully rotate your hips, you have no shot at completing rotation of your shoulders further up the chain. You also lose your base and ability to drive the baseball towards your target. I like to say it’s like shooting a cannon out of a row boat. Without a strong base, you won’t have the power or ability to accurately throw the baseball, throwing solely off of your front leg.
2. Uphill Angle for your Hips and Shoulders
Building a solid base with your hips and shoulders set uphill when moving towards the plate is crucial in order to put yourself in the powerful position at foot strike. Setting this angle helps you build momentum towards the plate and helps you keep your top half back so you can utilize your legs, maximize your hip-shoulder separation, and land with the proper shoulder angle. I see many flat shoulder angles on pitchers here in Colorado due to the fact that players aren’t really throwing off mounds until they reach the high school level. Players can get away with flat shoulders throwing off flat ground, although it’s not ideal and will cost them energy and velocity. But if this is not fixed once they get to a mound, it will cause serious command issues in addition to a loss of velocity.
3. Postural Disconnection
Postural disconnections can be caused by numerous disconnections throughout your mechanics and lead to many more down the kinetic chain. Some come from your weight being unbalanced, some from your glove or other body parts rerouting your energy in different directions. They all generally result in an early release of the baseball, not allowing you to generate your full power and making it near impossible to consistently throw strikes. Pitchers that can stay balanced, connected, and directional will have much more success being able to consistently reach a late launch position resulting in much higher velocity and command.
Now, I want to make one thing clear. There are always exceptions to the rule. Are there players out there who have these “flaws” in their mechanics and are still successful? Of course. If you are one of these people and you are happy with your velocity, can throw the ball where you want to, are pain free, and having success, then I am extremely happy for you and hope that you continue to have success in your career. But if you feel you can or need to improve in one of these areas, take a look at your film and see what you can do better. I hope this helps you become a better pitcher. If you would like any more info or if I can help you in any way, please feel free to contact me at sean@bardosdiamondsports.com.
Book a lesson with Sean.
Training for Pitching or Throwing? What You Need to Know
Wes McGuire is the leader of our Healthy Heat program which is designed to drastically increase player's velocity no matter their position (which it has!). In our newest blog post, Wes explains training for pitching vs. training for throwing. You may be surprised by his answers....
It’s the start that stops most people. It is hard for people to commit particularly when you have to tell them that it may not happen overnight. There are no quick fixes or gimmicks that will suddenly send you on a path to the big leagues. There are guys who can just go to games, practice when the team gets together, and be the best player; however, they are the exceptions, not the rule.
At Bardo’s we are adamantly against the freak theory. You hear guys talk about it all the time, “That guy just has cannon, I can never throw as hard as he does.” Lies. “He’s just so much better than me, I can never be the player he is”. Who says? If you aren’t lucky enough to be born with supreme athletic ability, a lightning quick arm, and the ability to hit baseballs out of big league stadiums at the age of 12, who cares. That doesn’t mean you have to let that stop you.
For years coaches and evaluators played into this theme which made it much worse. “He’ll grow into it” or “maybe he just doesn’t have it”. I’m not sitting here saying a 12 year old can work hard enough to throw 90 mph by the end of the summer. That’s unrealistic, but sitting around doing the minimum and waiting for him to be 6’4” 225lbs and throwing gas is equally as unrealistic. It takes work and doing it the way it’s always been done isn’t going to get it done.
The way baseball trains throwing has not changed much throughout its history. Kids play catch, making sure to only throw it hard enough that their catch partner can catch it. They back up until they feel loose and shut it down or their coach rushes them to finish so they can start practice. There is not a single play in baseball that doesn’t involve at least one throw yet we treat it like the least important part of the game.
Pitchers have it even worse because we want to teach them how to pitch before they are even good at throwing. How many kids pitch at the youth level truly command the ball on a regular basis? How many catchers in youth baseball even adjust their target from pitch to pitch? Not many. The ones that dominate are the ones that throw hard and throw it in the strike zone. Yet your average pitching lesson spends about four minutes throwing to get loose and then work on pitching.
Kids are told what to do, try to do it and then are told how to correct it. They think, but they don’t feel. They repeat, they don’t compete. They go to practice, they don’t train. Baseball has put the cart before the horse. We want to teach a kid who can barely get the ball to home plate how to command a change up. Commanding the ball matters eventually, mixing speeds matter eventually, but it is crazy to spend a majority of our time focusing them.
Our mission at Bardo’s is to commit to training. We want kids to come in and work hard. We are trying to build athletes and constantly challenge them. We don’t just want kids to come in and try to throw strikes at eighty percent with no pressure. We want kids to push themselves, throw it harder than they did last week. Just flat out work harder than last time. We get loose to throw, not throw to get loose. We provide individualized drills for the athlete to learn new movement patterns focusing on feel not cues. We want to lead the athlete through guided discovery not just spew words at them until something sticks.
We don’t have all the answers yet and anyone that says they do is lying to themselves. We ask the same of ourselves that we do our athletes, keep working and learning. Get better everyday. The problem is it’s hard. You don’t win or get a medal at the end of every day. You are going to have terrible days this summer on the diamond and you are going to be in plenty of slumps. But if it were easy everyone would do it.
Book a pitching lesson with Wes.