Oates Specialties is now on Facebook! For those of you who are also members of the Facebook community please search for us and like our page. Our page will feature new products, interesting articles, and comments/feedback from many of the coaches and players who use our equipment. We’d also love to hear from any of you about the experiences you’ve had in training, baseball, or anything else you would like to share! We look forward to seeing you online.

We are also on twitter as @Oatesspecialty, so please follow us if you are also a tweeter!

Posture positions while throwing a baseball is a commonly discussed topic among those in the baseball world. Poor posture can result in a decrease in velocity and command while increasing a pitcher’s chance of injury. But what is proper posture for a pitcher? Should the shoulders be level and the head centered over the landing foot/knee at release? Is it okay for a pitcher to have his shoulders slightly tilted and the head to be slightly outside of his landing foot at release? What about a pitcher who is so tilted over that his shoulders are almost vertical with the ground and his head is nearly sideways at release?

Now I’m sure if I asked most baseball coaches to pick which of the previous descriptions of pitching postures they want their pitchers to have it would be a nearly unanimous choice for the first description. The “perfect posture” to most coaches has some common theme of shoulders level and head vertical over the landing leg/knee at foot plant to release. This normally entails a pitcher’s chin staying over or in front of his belt throughout the entire delivery.

Well, as a disclaimer, the title to this blog is somewhat of a misnomer. I do not believe there is any such thing as “proper posture” when pitching. Let me explain why I believe this is the case. Each individual athlete has their own set of constraints. For example, some pitchers might have poor hip flexibility, or thoracic spine mobility, or perhaps tight groins or hamstrings. Additionally, each athlete will have his own set of strengths. Perhaps he has no flexibility issues, or he is tremendously strong. The individual pluses and minus that a pitcher has is going to affect his movement patterns and the way he innately generates momentum, force and power. As we should all know by now, no two individuals perform the same movement the exact same way. Most people find out how they are able to accomplish a movement or exercise and it is slightly different than others performing the same movement.

With that being said, we cannot expect every pitcher to look identical when trying to generate velocity. Some pitchers are able to generate velocity simply because of their size and brute strength, while others may generate the same velocity through momentum and tremendous flexibility. One only needs to think of Roger Clemens (above) and Tim Lincecum for that illustration. Both can throw 95+, yet generated that velocity in different ways.

 

Unfortunately however, many pitching coaches either don’t realize this or don’t buy into it. They believe that every pitcher should look like Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens through the delivery – specifically at release. Now don’t get me wrong, these are two of the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen and there is certainly nothing wrong with a young player emulating their delivery. But coaches like to teach every player the same way – or as it is sometimes called, taking the cookie cutter approach. As Trevor Bauer likes to say, the only thing a cookie cutter is good for is cutting cookies – not developing pitchers.I have had numerous discussions with pitching coaches over the years and many believe in their heart of hearts that there is one perfect way to throw a baseball. And they will often show you a picture of who their “model pitcher” is and say that is the way they want their guys to look. And usually it is a shoulders level, head over the front foot kind of model. My response to that is usually by asking about a big league pitcher who looks nothing like their model – usually Tim Lincecum works to accomplish that.

Many of these pitching coaches respond to Tim Lincecum’s mechanics in a single word – “FREAK.” Coaches want to bracket a guy with mechanics like Lincecum into a separate, set-aside column with the title of freak. This is really just taking the easy way out – they can’t justify their position so they claim that somebody doesn’t fit into any paradigm at all because he is different and therefore doesn’t count. This is not a good argument, never has been and never will be. But I won’t belabor this issue – it in and of itself has enough substance for a blog.

But I do think it is important for coaches all around the nation at all levels to realize they are harming, not helping pitchers, when they try and place them into a specified movement pattern that may not work for them. I wrote a blog almost two years ago discussing the issues that are associated with over coaching. There is a reason why the professional game is being dominated by Latin players. These players don’t have coaches who are trying to change their innate movement patterns and fit them into some mold. Instead, they are constantly trying to figure out how they can throw harder, without any notion of “right” or “wrong” mechanics. American baseball players and coaches should take note of this method of training/coaching – let athletes figure out things more on their own based on feel and results.

However, there are benefits that can be realized from grouping pitchers into categories with other successful pitchers who have similar movement patterns. This can help athletes see how their movements can become more efficient, thereby generating more velocity and power. Further, by grouping pitchers into categories, you are not cookie cutting, but helping pitchers become the most efficient and best model of their own unique pitching style.

Next week, I will discuss the 3 categories of pitchers that have been identified by Coach Ron Wolforth at the Texas Baseball Ranch to help his athletes improve their movement patterns.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

In my post last week I discussed the arm positions that all pitchers should travel through during their delivery if they want to maximize the efficiency of their movement patterns and minimize the stress put on their arm. For the purposes of a quick recap, the 3 key positions that a pitcher should work to make sure he is in are:

1) At foot strike the elbow should be slightly below the shoulder.
2) At foot strike the forearm should be at or inside of 90 degrees with the arm.
3) As the pitcher rotates toward the plate and begins to square his chest up with the catcher his glove side should firm up to provide something stable to rotate into.

These key positions were identified by Coach Ron Wolforth of the Texas Baseball Ranch after looking at thousands of pictures and hours of film of Major League pitchers – both those who stayed healthy throughout their careers and those who constantly battled injuries. It’s one thing, however, to simply identify the positions that pitchers should travel through, but a completely different animal to try and teach pitchers how to change their movement patterns.

I know from personal experience that baseball coaches like to try and teach things by simply orally telling their players how things should be done, or what a movement should look like, but this is a very difficult way to actually have an athlete do what the coach is instructing. It is best if there is some way for the athlete to feel the movement he is supposed to make, or to simply be able to make the movement with the help of some training device.

Knowing this, Coach Wolforth found what I believe to be a perfect device to help teach these positions – the Connection Ball. We named the product this because its purpose is to help link up the body to become more efficient. The TAP Connection Ball is a 12 inch inflatable ball that has a unique texture to it – it has a rough and sticky feeling which helps athletes keep it in place no matter the conditions outside or the amount the athletes are sweating.

The Connection Ball is just the right size to help athletes preset themselves in the proper arm positions. For example, the ball can be put under the arm pit area and held by the athlete to ensure that his elbow is slightly below the shoulder. The ball can also be put between the bicep and forearm so that the forearm is at a less than 90 degree angle. Lastly, the ball can be put between the bicep and forearm on the glove side so that when the athlete rotates he squeezes the ball which helps to firm up his front side.

With the Connection Ball in any of these positions the athlete can take a baseball and perform whatever type of throwing drill he desires. As the athlete goes to throw the baseball, the Connection Ball will fall out of its position and to the ground. There are a couple of good things about using connection balls while performing actual throws. First, the athlete is not losing his ability to be dynamic. It doesn’t involve any type of stopping mid throw in a position. Second, it allows the athlete to still be himself. Each pitcher has a different arm action and movements, and while using the Connection Ball does require all athletes to start in the same position, as soon as they go to throw they will become their unique selves again.

Here are some pictures of the Connection Ball used during pronation drills that I described in detail two articles ago. As you can see, the ball presets the pitcher in the correct arm positions.

Of course, the goal of using the Connection Ball is to recreate the movement patterns that an athlete makes so that he travels through these positions. To make the Connection Ball drills most effective so that pitchers will see the results even when they are not using the ball, blending is the best way to achieve that. Blending requires the athlete to alternate between throws with the Connection Ball and throws without it so that the body innately blurs the distinction between whether the ball is being used or not, and over time this will help the regular throws look more like those with the Connection Ball.

I showed some pictures above of the Connection Ball being used in pronation drills, but you can use them in any number of throwing exercises. They can be used in torque drills, step into’s, step behinds, turn and burns, etc.  Here are some more pictures of guys throwing with the Connection Balls.

 
Using the Connection Balls have been one of the most important additions for the athletes at the Baseball Ranch in a very long time, and it can quickly impact you or your pitchers as well.

If you have any questions about the Connection Ball, the drills that should be done with it, or any thing else please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

There are several phrases that most of us who have been around the game of baseball have heard over the years:

“Get your elbow up.”

“Reach back to get more velocity.”

“Pull/tuck your glove side to help speed up and get your arm through the zone.”

I know I have heard some variety of these common sayings too many times to count during my playing days, yet, unfortunately, they are all incorrect instructions. In fact, if a pitcher were to follow these instructions he would be increasing the chance of injury while decreasing his velocity.

As for the first saying regarding getting your elbow up, this might be one of the most common phrases I heard throughout little league, because it was thought that if your elbow was below your shoulder you were vulnerable to injury. The opposite actually turns out to be true. In reality, your elbow SHOULD be slightly below your shoulder at foot strike. For those of you doubting this proposition, I encourage you to put your arm up beside your body in a 90 degree angle and move it up and down until you find the spot that feels most comfortable for your shoulder. As you move your arm up with the elbow rising above the shoulder you can feel the tightness and uncomfortableness as the shoulder muscles are impinged into that range of motion. Similarly, as your elbow is moved too far below the shoulder the same type of uncomfortableness is felt. For most people, if they were told to stop at the position that felt the best on the shoulder their elbow would be just slightly below the shoulder (or perhaps parallel). This is due to the fact that this position is the most natural on your arm and causes the least amount of stress – which is what we are looking for.

The reason the elbow is below the shoulder at foot strike is because this is the moment that you are in your maximum scap load or energy building phase. The stress on your arm can be enormous when pinned back into an unnatural position. As you unwind around your plant leg during torque to release and your chest turns from 3rd base (for right handers) to the catcher the elbow will begin to rise naturally as it lays back into external rotation. The key, therefore, is for your elbow to be slightly below the shoulder at foot strike to minimize the stress of the throwing motion.

Next, the adage that reaching the arm back can generate more power or velocity is completely false as well. In fact, the forearm should be inside a 90 degree angle of the arm. This means that the ball should never be extended out past the elbow. The more extended your arm gets outside of the 90 degree window, the more movement that is required in order for the arm to get into external rotation, and this additional movement along with the force that is generated in getting into the movement can cause a banging effect on the arm. This repeated banging is what can cause a rotator cuff injury as the rotator cuff muscles are the ones taking the brunt of this stress.

However, when the forearm is inside the 90 degree angle there is little to no movement required in order to reach external rotation. As the athlete rotates the arm is already in position and is able to lay back naturally and smoothly.

Last, I want to discuss the saying that the glove side should be pulled through in order to speed up the arm. This theory has been dispelled for years, in part thanks to Tom House, who recognized early on the importance of having a firm front side to rotate into. The more stable the front side (glove side) is during rotation the more power and energy can be exerted through and out of the arm that is being rotated. An example of this is to look at a boxer. As he throws a punch his left hand doesn’t move backward, instead it firms up so that his right hand can be more explosive.  The picture below is of Mike Tyson – he looks pretty similar to a pitcher who has just released a pitch.  Notice how firm his glove side is.

Now, some of you might not agree with the propositions I have stated and that is understandable as they have been the common teach in baseball for many years. I therefore included numerous pictures of durable major league pitchers to give you examples of what I am talking about.

 

Even Roy Halladay, who is known for his longer arm action when he breaks from his glove is right at a 90 degree angle with his forearm.   And notice that his elbow is slightly below the shoulder as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do want to mention that there are good major league pitchers who don’t have their elbows slightly below the shoulder, or their forearm inside of 90 degrees, and they still have great stuff. All that this means is that they do not have the most efficient movement patterns and are more susceptible to stress and injuries. Tommy Hanson of the Braves and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals are good examples of pitchers with their elbows above the shoulder.

 

Jake Peavy is a guy who has a tendency to get long with his arm at foot strike, as it is outside of 90 degrees - this puts a lot of stress on the shoulder as he rotates and his arm is still far out behind his body.

My next post will address a phenomenal drill created by Ron Wolforth of the Texas Baseball Ranch to teach athletes to get more connected and travel through these efficient positions.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

As I have mentioned in those previous blogs, pronation is a naturally occurring process, but because a baseball is so light and the arm is traveling at such a high speed, the body needs to be trained so that it can pronate as early as possible. Pronation should begin to occur the moment that the baseball is released from the hand. Many pitchers don’t pronate until well after the ball has left the hand, and in fact, there are some who don’t pronate at all. By pronating as early as possible, the arm will not straighten out at the elbow, preventing the banging that often occurs, especially after breaking balls.

But pronating with the arm is not the only movement an athlete should be focused on. Once the pitcher releases the ball and begins to pronate, he must also continue rotating over his front side. The pitcher’s trunk must keep rotating both forward over the landing leg knee and also around it so that the arm has more of an opportunity to decelerate while tension free. If the trunk stops rotating then the arm, which is still traveling at a high rate of speed, will be forced to slow down on its own, and the only way it can accomplish this is by straightening out across the body causing a banging to occur at both the elbow and shoulder.

With these two thoughts in mind: pronation as early as possible at release and continued trunk rotation, Coach Wolforth created the pronation drills. The equipment needed for this drill is a pronation bench, a set of extreme duty weighted balls, and an oval balance pad.

The athlete should spread his legs out wide (uncomfortably wide) to mimic his stride and then place his back knee on the balance pad, which is secured to the pronation bench. The pronation bench is angled to allow the athlete to adjust up or down the height at which his knee is resting depending on how tall he is. The first action the athlete should take is to simply bow his arm and upper body back into a type of “scap load” position while in a semi-torque. Remember: this is not an arm action/acceleration drill, it is a deceleration drill – therefore, we are concerned with what happens after release not before.

Next, the athlete rotates and fires the ball toward the screen/net with the focus on pronating as much and as soon as possible. The athlete stays on one knee while allowing the arm to slow down via pronation and the throwing elbow should elevate above the pronated hand.

As the athlete rotates and his hand/arm near the landing leg/knee the athlete must continue to rotate over and around that leg. This ensures that the trunk of the body is helping to decelerate the arm and that the arm does not ever straighten out. A good goal to aim for is to never allow the hand to wind up across the belly button. If a pitcher rotates enough this will not be a problem. It only happens when the trunk stops rotating and the arm is forced to straighten out.

The first set of drills are performed while remaining with one knee on the pronation bench, but the second set or “pronation 2” requires the athlete to actually come over his front leg very similar to a pitch. This forces the athlete to simulate his pitching follow through as the back leg comes over and through so the pitcher can get the feeling of rotating over his front side.

As I mentioned previously, the pitcher uses the set of extreme duty weighted balls during the exercise. He begins with the 21 oz, then moves to the 14 oz, the 7 oz, the 5 oz, and ends with the 3.5 oz underload. The reason for this is that the heavier the ball, the easier it is to pronate. This is why quarterbacks, shotputters, javelin throwers, and other overhand athletes don’t get hurt as often – the body realizes how heavy the object is and wants to do as much as it can to protect the body, which forces an early pronation. As the pitcher moves to the lighter balls, the task of pronating and never letting the arm straighten out gets more difficult, partly because the arm speed increases and in part because the brain doesn’t sense it is as necessary as with the heavier balls. The 3.5 oz underload is the last ball in the series because if an athlete can pronate and properly decelerate his arm with this light of a ball, he will be able to do it with the heavier baseball.

The athletes who train with Coach Wolforth begin each day warming up with these pronation drills and it really pays off. I was extremely impressed with how well many of the regulars were able to decelerate their arms and how effortless it looked. I would seriously recommend everybody to begin some type of pronation drills as soon as possible, especially those who regularly have arm pain and soreness because this could be the solution to your problems.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

The Speed Chains have many benefits for athletes of all ages and levels. They can train the right energy system, develop more efficient neuromuscular pathways, increase sport specific functional strength, as well as improve an athlete’s speed and power. However, most baseball Speed Chain users are doing the chains before or after practice as purely a conditioning tool, which is great, but is not the only way it can be used. The Torso Burner and Bat Speed Chains can both be utilized to specifically improve a baseball players’ swing, especially when incorporated into a practice for hitters.

What I’m suggesting to baseball coaches and players is to integrate the Speed Chains as a station between other hitting stations. Mix in the Torso Burner after tee work and before soft toss etc. By blending the Speed Chains in with hitting stations it will help hitters take the power and explosive movements created by the chains and translate it into their actual swings. A number of Speed Chain users throughout the nation have been utilizing the chains in this fashion and the results are nothing short of extraordinary. The power and bat speed in these hitters have increased tremendously and many of the players are having career years in both slugging percentage as well as batting average.

If you plan on blending the Torso Burner Speed Chain into hitting drills I would suggest you chose specific exercises with it that most replicate the movement made by hitters. A few that are especially good with the Torso Burner are: Take the TB and put it across your back like a squat bar. Now assume your hitting stance and work on exploding your hips like you are turning on an inside fastball. This will really emphasize your hip movement and lower half. Another that is great to blend with hitting drills is to hold the TB against your stomach right below the sternum. Once again assume a hitting stance and take a swing just like you would if you had a bat in your hand. You can swing once at a time or you can rapid fire the movement and repeat it over and over for a timed number of seconds. Here is a video with hitting instructor Perry Husband describing how the Torso Burner can be used.

The Bat Speed Chain can obviously be used in the same fashion as the Torso Burner to improve hitting as well. There are two basic drills a player can use the Bat Speed Chain in to help improve a swing. The first involves short fast movements right through the plane where contact between the bat and ball is made. By oscillating through this zone as fast as possible you can specifically target hand speed and in turn bat speed. The second basic use of the Bat Speed Chain are large powerful movements where the main object is to swing as hard as he can so the chain is moved as much as possible. The hitter should try and move as much chain as fast as he can in both the direction of their swing and the opposite way as well to help balance out the movement. Click here to watch the Bat Speed Chain being used in these two types of movements. Here is another video of Perry Husband demonstrating the benefits of using the Bat Speed Chain.

Although some of you may have already been using these drills with the Speed Chains it will have a different impact on hitters when you begin to blend them in with hitting drills as opposed to just performing them before or after practice. By having an athlete hit then use Speed Chains, hit then use Speed Chains, hit then use Speed Chains and continuing this cycle, he will start to incorporate the movement of the Speed Chains into his swing. This has led to significant improvements in a number of athletes throughout the country as power numbers have climbed due to the increased power the athlete develops into his swing.

Batting averages have increased as well because the hitter can be more explosive and quicker to the ball. This allows him to wait longer to react to a pitch thereby getting beat less often and giving himself more time to read the pitch. I highly recommend you try blending the Speed Chains into hitting as soon as possible because the results might just surprise you.

If you have any questions or comments about Speed Chain blending please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

Many sports require an athlete to repeat the same motion or movement time and time again which can cause the athlete’s body to become unbalanced. Whether the athlete is throwing a baseball, softball, football, shot-put, or discus, or he is swinging a bat, golf club, or tennis racket, these activities force the athlete to use the same muscles through the same range of motion numerous times. This repetitive use by the same muscle groups causes certain muscles to become much stronger than their opposing muscles and according to Mark Verstegen, founder of Athletes Performance, “About 65% of injuries come from overuse, which is repetitive use of joints that are rendered dysfunctional by muscular imbalances.”

Opposing muscles and muscle groups are supposed to work together. As they work together certain muscles work as agonist while others are the antagonist. The agonist muscles initiates and causes a specific movement while the antagonist muscles act in opposition to the specific movement being created. When a sport requires an athlete to repeat the same movement, the agonist muscles generating the movement eventually become much stronger than the antagonist muscle which is what can cause trouble and eventually injury.

The majority of athletes, even those at the elite levels, never take much time to address this imbalance in strength throughout their body. That said, muscle imbalance is beginning to become a larger focal point for more athletes as they try and stay off the disabled list. For example, Tiger Woods after every round of golf he plays adds up the total number of swings he took that day and heads into the clubhouse to take that number of swings left handed (he is right handed). This is Tiger’s way of keeping his body balanced out as he is now using his antagonist muscles as agonist and his agonist muscles as antagonists. Other types of players who are naturally balanced out better than most are switch hitters in baseball. Every time a hitter swings left handed he is balancing out his body from his right handed swings.

The simplest way to avoid muscle imbalance is to choose exercises that strengthen opposing muscle groups. There are several exercises that can help rebalance an athlete’s muscles. The ideal way to fix an imbalance in the body is to force the muscles to work together in their opposite roles, like a switch hitter and Tiger Woods do.

The Speed Chains are one exercise tool able to do just that. For example, if you are a rotational athlete, such as a pitcher, hitter, or golfer, you often have imbalance problems with your core, such as obliques, as well as your lower back. The muscles on one side of your torso naturally become much stronger than those on the other side as the stronger side repeatedly initiates the rotational movement.

The Torso Burner Speed Chain is able to rebalance the torso as it forces the entire core to work together as you perform the many rotational and side to side exercises with it. As you move left with the Torso Burner the left side of the torso becomes the agonist with the right side as the antagonist. But as you reach the end of the range of motion and redirect the movement back to the right your right side becomes the agonist and the left side the antagonist. This will happen upwards of 20 times in a mere 6 seconds.

The constant redirection involving the unique variable resistance of the chains is what makes the Torso Burner such a phenomenal tool for rebalancing the mid-section in athletes. The chains, as they begin to move during the exercise, creates a load on the athlete as they are trying to quickly redirect the energy of the chains.

The Torso Burner allows for equally explosive movements to be made both to the left and right which will, over time, rebalance an athlete’s mid-section, protecting them from the many oblique and back injuries commonly associated with rotational athletes.

Other chain exercises, such as the throwing chain, rotator cuff chain, and kicking chain can all be used to train opposing muscle groups thereby creating more balance throughout an athlete’s body. For example, the Throwing Speed Chain can be used to balance out the back of the shoulder with the front and the Kicking Chain can be used to strengthen the hamstrings to help balance out the strength of the quadriceps.

Further, traditional exercises such as medicine ball throws are also able to accomplish this rebalancing of muscles. An athlete can utilize med ball throws such as torques and catapults to train both sides of their body. Many athletes never throw a medicine ball while torquing to their opposite hand side, or throw catapults backwards to strengthen their opposing muscles. This can quickly help to increase the strength and coordination of those weaker muscles.

An adaptation with the medicine balls is to incorporate the slam net with a medicine ball. This product has a handle for the athlete to hold onto while slamming a medicine ball which is located inside of the net. The medicine ball can be interchanged with the desired weight, and it allows for more explosive and dynamic core excercises that incorporate the entire core. Here is a video of the slam net in use:

In the weightroom, a great tool to help balance out an athlete’s body, especially a rotational athlete, is the TAP CoreBuilder. This piece of equipment has a pivoted sleeve that is capable of 360 degree rotation permitting a wide range of motion in any direction. Using this equipment, an athlete can target the entire core section and both obliques while performing a single exercise. The athlete can also add weight in addition to the leveraged weight of controlling the bar to put more load on his core, lower half, upper body, or whatever the focus of the training session may be. Here is a video with some of the activities that can be performed with the CoreBuilder:

Without a doubt, balance is extremely important in keeping athletes healthy and at their top playing condition. The Speed Chains, medicine balls, Slam Net, and CoreBuilder are a few products that are able to correct this problem as it allows users to continue using the muscle groups together while switching which groups are the agonist and antagonist.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

A warm up routine. Everybody has one, from California to New York, from little league to the big leagues. Before practice or games a warm up is necessary to prepare players for the competition soon to ensue. Although everybody does it and knows the importance of a good warm up routine, so many people get it wrong. Too often, it’s a slow jog from one foul pole to the other followed by players “circling it up” to spend 10 minutes static stretching their cold muscles. Coaches and players all over the nation are guilty of this awful sham of a warm up. These players are no more ready for competition than if they had just rolled out of bed.

There are a select few who have elite warm up/wake up protocols that include plyometrics, agilities, and dynamic stretching. These are implemented by people who understand the importance of warming and recruiting the muscles the athlete will soon be calling upon to perform the demands of his/her sport. These impressive pre-game routines successfully raise your body temperature, prepare your body for the coordination, footwork, and agility of the tasks that lay ahead and they loosen your muscles and promote flexibility to protect against injury. However, it is still lacking in totally preparing a player for the specific demands of the sport of baseball.

In baseball, rotation is king. Whether you are throwing, hitting, or making the initial movement to steal 2nd base, baseball athletes need to be prepared to use their core, obliques, lower back, hips, and arms. Yet, think about the warm-ups I have just described, even the really good ones. They do not generally involve the core or upper body and they do not usually prepare for the explosive rotational movements that you will soon be requiring from your body.

Baseball has different needs and recruits different muscles than nearly all other sports. So something else is needed. Something that will let the muscles, tendons, and ligaments required to rotate your hips explosively to be turned on and informed that they will soon be used. The number of oblique and arm injuries in baseball show there is a disconnect between the preparation of a baseball athlete and the demands the game puts on their bodies.

To prepare for the rotational and unique throwing demands of the game, baseball players need a warm up that is more sport specific after they complete the plyometrics, agilities, and dynamic flexibility exercises. Although there are a few alternatives that could possibly do this, Speed Chains are the perfect sport specific exercise to accomplish this goal. The Torso Burner Speed Chain can be used to warm up and prepare the core, hips, and lower back for the rigorous rotational demands of the game. The Throwing and Bat Speed Chains can be used to warm up the arm and muscles used during a swing in the exact same range of motions. No other exercises are this skill specific, allowing your body or arm to move as fast, while having as much load as created by the chains.

Here is a video of the Torso Burner Speed Chain:

 

Here is a video of the Throwing Chain:

 

Here is a video of the Bat Speed Chain:

The key to using the chains as a warm up tool as opposed to a rigorous workout is to use the chains for a slightly longer duration, such as 10 to 12 seconds, while decreasing the number of sets performed. This way, the Speed Chains are still training the ATP energy system, but because of the longer duration your intensity will be slightly less and therefore more of a warm up to get the blood flowing into the proper muscles. This will also help because you are warming up using the same movements used during the practice or games that will follow.

Utilizing the Speed Chains as the last phase of a warm up will allow athletes to be explosive on their first swing or throw. They will no longer waste the first 20 swings trying to get loosened up and will instead be able to hit the ground running at the start of practice. Pitchers and fielders will not look like old men on their first few throws of the day. Instead, they will be loose and their muscles awake so they will be able to let their arms be “whip like” out of the gate.

Not only will Speed Chains help your players be athletic and explosive at the start of practice but they can also play a huge part in eradicating many of the common injuries associated with the game of baseball. Oblique injuries and many of the common arm ailments will be eliminated because your athletes will be better prepared for the demands of baseball. Incorporate Speed Chains into your warm ups and it can pay serious dividends.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

Many coaches, players, and individuals have realized the benefits that stem from performing explosive, dynamic exercises with a medicine ball. I was first introduced to such throws in high school when I began training with Coach Ron Wolforth and his Athletic Pitcher program. In this program we performed a series of catapult throws that incorporated a number for different dynamic movements. Usually the first exercise that we would do was from our knee. We would start on one knee and then rare back and throw the medicine ball as hard as we could from this position. The goal was to generate enough energy to throw the ball with force and then let that momentum carry you off the ground and over your plant leg.

Next, we would move to a stride position with our legs spread wide, like we were throwing a baseball, and rock back and throw the ball with as much force as we could. This drill was followed by torques, which required the athlete to twist and throw the ball, helping improve rotational strength and the separation between hips and shoulders. Next, were backward throws where the athlete performed the same exercise as standing catapults, except the focus was to strengthen the back muscles and not the abdominal muscles. The last throw in this series was called running catapults. It required the athlete to get a running head start and perform as hard of a catapult throw as he could manage with the aid of the momentum generated from running.

While these are some of the basic throws in Coach Wolforth’s Athletic Pitcher program, there are many other types of dynamic throws that are popular. For example, medicine ball slams into the ground have frequently been used to explosively train the core as well. These types of throws are being used to train athletes in all sports as well in such training programs as Crossfit. No matter what type of throw or slam an athlete performs, it works to improve core strength, explosive power, stability, and endurance as well as enhance range of motion, coordination and flexibility. Here is an example of medicine ball slams into the ground:

With all of these medicine ball workouts becoming more popular, one thing becomes really apparent: medicine balls take a lot of abuse with all of the pounding against walls and the ground. Nearly everybody who has used a traditional, air filled medicine ball has experienced one (or several) bust during use. It is not hard to figure out why this happens, as strong athletes are repetitively throwing a rubber air filled ball against a hard surface. Eventually something has to give, and it is usually the wall of the ball.

Further, many coaches complain because air filled medicine balls rebound when they are thrown against a wall or the ground. Coaches who are having athletes perform ballistic throws or slams in tight areas, such as indoors, or those who have a large number of athletes performing the exercise at the same time, often don’t want it to bounce. These coaches dislike the fact that time is wasted as balls have to be chased down after a throw or when a ball bounces off the wall or ground and nearly takes out one of their athletes.

After several years of getting this type of feedback from our customers, Oates Specialties decided to find a ball that would be longer lasting and more durable to high impact activities. We recently began carrying the sand filled Extreme Duty Weighted balls, which are baseball sized and designed for weighted ball throwing programs as well as hitting programs. These balls have shown their durability over the last few months and even academies that have many athletes throwing and/or hitting these balls every day have been unable to break them.

With this type of durability, we decided to have these same balls made in a larger 9” diameter size for medicine ball activities. The result is that we now have a medicine ball designed specifically for high impact activities that is guaranteed to withstand such abuse.

This new ball, called the TAP Extreme Duty Pummel Ball is sand filled, allowing the ball to absorb the energy of the throw which is beneficial for two reasons. First, because the sand absorbs the energy, there is no bounce off of the hard surface. Second, because the ball can absorb the energy, it is not in danger of cracking. The Pummel Ball also does not have any traditional weak points such as a filler plug or any seams.

The Pummel Ball is available in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 pound weights and their soft shell allows for a firm grip. These balls are brand new but the reaction from coaches who are already using them has been tremendous. If you are tired of having to constantly replace your medicine balls each year because they are breaking and can’t hold up to the type of activities you want your athletes to perform, try out these new amazing Pummel Balls.

If you have any additional questions about these new balls, or any other product, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com

I know this may seem like an interesting title to one of my blogs as I normally write about conditioning regimens, workout equipment, or how to improve an athlete’s baseball specific skill set. However, my father and I have realized in the past few years that although a lot of the products Oates Specialties carries is designed with a baseball, softball, or throwing athlete in mind, the equipment has one universal characteristic: athleticism. What I mean by that is most of our conditioning tools encourage, require, or even demand that an athlete be as explosive and athletic as he or she can. This realization led us to begin promoting our equipment not just as baseball specific, but as tools that transcend individual sports to the broader theme of developing well conditioned and explosive athletes.

That said, last week I was at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention in Fort Worth and I had a coach approach me with the question, “What equipment do you sell to improve/increase a vertical jump?” The reason this question stuck with me is because I have received it numerous times in the last few weeks. Only two weeks before while at the Texas Girls Coaches Association I was asked the same question. My answer to both of these coaches had more to do with a style of training than it did specific vertical improving equipment.

Many people are familiar with products such as the Vertimax or the SuperCat which are designed to specifically increase an athlete’s vertical jump by overload training. This is not what I recommended to these coaches though. My answer had to do with training an athlete, no matter the sport, to be as dynamic, athletic, and explosive as he or she could be. The human body is amazing because it will organize itself for the task at hand. This is a principle in motor learning in that if an athlete asks his body to consistently perform activities that require explosive movements, then over time it will learn to perform such movements more efficiently and with better results.

That said, my response to these coaches’ question is to have their athlete’s practice jumping. Now this might sound like an oversimplified or even ridiculous answer but it is actually quite simple. An athlete whose sport requires fast twitch, explosive movements needs to continuously learn to move his or her body as rapidly as possible. The way to do this is not to load the athlete down with heavy weight but instead to allow them to work with his/her body weight. If an athlete only loads his frame with heavy weight, this will increase strength, but will not teach the body to learn how to increase his ability to rapidly develop force.

A good explanation of the science behind this is noted in the following passage:

“Most jumping and power activities involve a counter movement (e.g., wind-up, backswing, crouch) during which the muscles involved are first stretched rapidly and then shortened to accelerate the body or limb…The counter movement involves muscles acting eccentrically to slow the body/limb and initiate the reverse desirable movement. As the muscles are activated, force is increased in the tendon-muscle complex, increasing its stiffness or resistance to stretching. The result is a storage of elastic energy in the muscles and tendons that is recovered in the subsequent desirable “release” movement. A suddenly imposed stretch also increases neural stimulation to the muscles.”

“Implication: Training for explosive power must include activities which maximize the stretch-reflex phenomenon in the preparatory phase of any movement.”

-Kraemer, W.J. & Newton, R.U. (1994). Training for improved vertical jump. Sports Science Exchange, 7 (6), 1-12.

As this passage suggests, in order to become better at jumping or power (explosive) activities the athlete needs to repeatedly force his muscles to stretch and then shorten to work on better acceleration of the body. If an athlete is going to have his vertical tested for example, he will not simply jump up with his legs straight. He will first crouch down performing a mini-squat or crouch before exploding up. This is what the article above means by stretching the muscles when going into the crouch and then exploding upwards.

Therefore, my suggestion to these coaches is to have their players perform jumping activities. For example, box jumps are a phenomenal tool to train for increasing an athlete’s vertical jump. I would have my athlete consistently jump a certain height that he or she is barely capable of making and perform that jump until he is able to do so with ease before raising the height of the box or platform. As you raise the height the athlete is forced to find a way to link up his body in order to successfully land the jump.

Jumping from the ground onto a box is not the only type of box jump that is beneficial. Another type of jump can be performed with the athlete beginning on another box and hopping off of this box to the ground. As soon as the athlete touches the ground he has to redirect his energy and jump onto the other taller box. This forces an athlete to learn to redirect momentum and is a type of overload training with an athlete’s own body weight.

The last type of box jump that can be done is on a single leg. Of course the box the athlete is jumping onto must be much shorter but this teaches the athlete to make an explosive movement while not in the most powerful position. It also helps to strengthen each individual leg.

I can write about this topic with confidence because I have experienced the benefits of such a training regimen first hand. During the offseason after my first season of professional baseball, I changed the way I trained. I got rid of anything in my routine that did not target the ATP/fast twitch energy system and instead only performed ballistic, explosive movements. I incorporated the three types of box jumps above into my routine because I knew that any type of training that required me to move my body in a dynamic way would be beneficial. The overhaul to my training program delivered tremendous results.

Although I experienced many benefits as I became a more explosive athlete, for the purposes of this blog I want to mention one in particular. I was able to dunk a basketball for the first time in my life. Sure, I could grab the rim in the past but never could I actually take a basketball above the rim and put it in. I accomplished this feat the week before I reported to Spring Training and it sold me on the benefits of training within the ATP energy system.

So the simple answer to those coaches question about how to improve an athlete’s vertical: have them train to be more explosive in everything they do, and more specifically, have them train to be more athletic jumpers.

Until next time,

Brian Oates

Brian@Oatesspecialties.com