training

Practice and Training are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Every baseball team and player practices, but not all of them train. Let me explain what I mean… Practice is what we universally call anything that involves throwing, hitting, throwing a bullpen, taking ground balls and fly balls, etc. Practice is defined as, “Repeated...

Until I met Frans Bosch at the 2014 Texas Baseball Ranch Ultimate Pitching Coaches Boot Camp, my coaching style was unremarkable and, in retrospect … suboptimal.  It was what I call TWT coaching. Tell the player how to do something. Watch them do it. Then, tell them how to do it better. And, when they don’t get it right, label them...

In 2003, Paul Nyman coined a definition that has become a centerpiece for us here at the Texas Baseball Ranch® for the past 14 years. Nyman refers to it as the Bernstein Principle: the body will organize itself based upon the ultimate goal of the activity.  It is derived from the works of the father of biomechanics, Nikolai Bernstein, a...

Based upon the works of Dr. Frans Bosch and Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, the Ranch training systems have significantly shifted toward the awareness of how the brain is being influenced and shaped during each training session and how our practice sessions are either developing/ optimizing or inhibiting with/ interfering with our athlete’s ability to adjust and adapt during competition. It...

Evidence and research can be a great thing. It is the basis for our never-ending quest for knowledge. But what if I told you relying on evidence and research could be harmful or even set you back in your training? I would venture to say most people would highly doubt such an opinion. After all, SCIENCE is ALWAYS RIGHT! I am not here to argue the validity of research, but I am here to ask if you need to be absolutely assured by scientific evidence that something is right before you place it into your training program? In my opinion, the answer to this question is no, not really. Let me explain. Continue reading →

Over my career as an athlete, coach, and teacher, I have noticed that the most successful people are the ones who STAY. I don't mean they stay where they currently are in their growth…that is definitely one thing successful people do not do. Here is what I mean by ‘they are the ones who stay’. Continue reading →

In 2010, Coach Ron Wolforth coined that phrase, and it changed the way I practice physical therapy and forever altered the way I train throwing athletes. It just made sense. You see, in the Ranch System, pain is neither good nor bad. It is simply information  -- a beacon that lights the way toward dysfunction. Continue reading →

It's a fact... Baseball players -- especially pitchers – are conditioned to lie. Wow! I just said that out loud! But it’s true! All pitchers lie! This is not meant as a character assassination. Continue reading →

Recently, I had a minor leaguer in for a Precision Strike, One Day, One-On-One Evaluation and Training Session. Since he’s currently in extended spring training with a pro team, he had to come in under the radar on a Sunday morning. So to maintain confidentiality, I’ll just call him “Lefty”. As I always do with minor leaguers, I asked Lefty what he thought were the biggest constraints keeping him out of the big leagues. Continue reading →

Have you heard the talk of the town in MLB Cactus League? Seems there is a “rising phoenix” in Surprise, Arizona. And its got a lot of people confused The entire league is wondering how Chien-Ming Wang, a 35 year old, twice injured pitcher who was sitting at 86-88 mph in AAA last year is now bumping 96 mph and is showing better stuff than any time in his career. Continue reading →