Velocity Enhancement
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Want to Make a Real Difference in Your Pitching Performance? by Coach Ron Wolforth
Want to Make a Real Difference in Your Pitching Performance? Follow these three steps EXACTLY: A. Start by reducing or eliminating any regular pain, tightness or discomfort. First, identify the specific location(s) of your pain Second, rate the current degree of that pain 1-10. A rating of one equals incredibly small discomfort, soreness, tenderness, irritation or fatigue. A rating of... -
Is Baseball’s Current Instructional Pop Culture Giving Weighted Balls A Bad Name? BY: RON WOLFORTH
The competitive baseball universe is very akin in many ways to our Western Culture at large, trends and fads are always in motion. As we all know from life experience, trends and fads simply come and go. In 2018, ‘weighted balls’ and velocity enhancement programs are decidedly in vogue. Even as I travel around the world to places like Italy... -
Athlete Has Elbow Pain, Calls FBR, Then Makes Team USA - by Randy Sullivan, MPT,CSCS
The 2020 Vandy commit from Boca Raton, FL was a low to mid 80s lefty when I met him on September 23, 2016. He and his father made the 3-hour drive to the Florida Baseball Ranch® for a Precision Strike One Day One-On-One Evaluation and Training session. We conducted a full head-to-toe physical assessment and a video analysis of his movement pattern. We... -
How NOT Long Tossing or Throwing Weighted Balls Could Get You Hurt. -Randy Sullivan, MPT, CSCS
Wait… What? And here we go again. The long toss and weighted ball police are back at it. I was perusing through twitter last week and saw this blast. “Study. Max Distance Throwing Changes Mechanics and Puts More Stress On The Arm.” It was accompanied by this infograph. First of all… that study is not news. It came out in... -
The Side Step Is Satan? by Randy Sullivan, MPT
OK, admittedly that subject line is a little extreme, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems like every kid that comes in to see me – especially the ones who have had lots of pitching lessons – does one thing in almost EXACTLY the same way. And frankly, it’s driving me crazy!! What is it you ask? It’s this... -
Athletes' Performance Pyramid
Having on-the-field success is the ultimate goal for all athletes. But how is that achieved? The vast majority of people focus on (1) sport specific training and/or (2) athletic abilities, such as strength and speed. Yet, there are more factors that contribute to success than just those two. We all know people with tremendous physical abilities that never achieve success on the field. I think the following graphic is a great example of the building block components that make up a successful athletic performance. Continue reading → -
Throwing Weighted Dogs Can Increase Velocity! Wait… What? - by Randy Sullivan
Seems the rage these days is about these new weighted ball things and how they increase velocity. Funny… When we started using weighted balls as part of our process in 2009, in my community you would have thought I was Jack the Ripper! Naysayers unfairly blasted me privately, and publicly to the point that I finally gave in and stopped using them for a few months. I soon came to the realization that critics will be critics and accepting their slings and arrows is simply the price I must pay for the privilege of working with all the fine young men in my care. Continue reading → -
Why Do Plateaus Occur?- Part I - by Ron Wolforth
Whenever a young man breaks a record at the Texas Baseball Ranch, I will as a habit, make the comment... "Wow... just think, if you can improve that much every week, by the time you are X (typically I add 10 years to their current age) you'll throw it 132 mph... and that'll be a record!" Everyone laughs. But my point is made. Big jumps in velocity or bat speed, while nice, can't be expected every single week or month. While we all know that intellectually... emotionally we just can't seem to get our head around a plateau. We just assume we must improve from yesterday and give it no more thought than that. Continue reading → -
Why We Don’t Run Long Distances by Randy Sullivan
“Did you throw your bullpen?” “Yessir.” “Good. Now go run your poles while I work with the infielders.” Given the amount of research available on the topic, I am always amazed in a camp when I say, “Raise your hand if part of your practice involves running poles.” Incredibly, approximately 60% of the attendees still raise their hands. Continue reading → -
I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong - by Randy Sullivan
“Just throw strikes. Don’t worry about velocity. Just get lots of out… Win lots of games… And the college recruiters will see you’re a winner and they’ll want you to be a part of their program.” That’s what I told my son, Ty. I couldn’t have been more wrong... Continue reading →
