AREAS OF TRAINING FOR PITCHERS

Transcription

1 The essential AREAS OF TRAINING FOR PITCHERS How To Throw Harder, Throw Safer And Recover Quicker Than Everybody Else Andy Powers Founder, Andy Powers Texas Pitching Institute, LLC & Andy Powers Performance Baseball, LLC & The Total Pitcher Training Program Copyright 2015 by Andy Powers Texas Pitching Institute, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of Andy Powers Texas Pitching Institute, LLC, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

2 Disclaimer All drills and exercises and videos in this report are designed to help develop fundamental throwing and pitching skills. It is extremely important as an athlete or a coach that you execute them with proper technique in order to avoid possible injury. Andy Powers Texas Pitching Institute, LLC and all its members disclaim any liability or loss in connection with the information prescribed within this report or videos. To Reduce the Risk of Injury: - Consult your doctor before beginning any exercise or skill development program - Complete a full body warm up prior to starting any program - Complete a proper cool down after finishing any program

3 About Andy Powers Coach Andy Powers is the founder of Andy Powers Texas Pitching Institute, LLC & Andy Powers Performance Baseball, LLC. Since 2004, 15 of Coach Powers players have been drafted in Major League Baseball. Over 250 of his players have been recruited and played in college baseball. Three of his high school players received Louisville Slugger All-American Honors. Coach has worked with former 1st Round Draft Picks and current Major league and Minor League Players, as well as his numerous relationships and mentors that are considered to be some of the top pitching minds in the game at any level. A former Division I pitcher himself, Coach Powers suffered a career ending injury, which ignited a passion for learning the movements of the pitching delivery. His motivation to get into coaching was to make sure that any player he comes into contact with, has available to him all the opportunities and exposures to the game of baseball from all levels, be it high school, college or professional. Coach is constantly in pursuit of teaching the most advanced methods of pitching, which provides the highest levels of personal and individual development. Maximizing the unique individual s abilities is his primary goal. This determination has driven Coach to develop a "roll up your sleeves and dive in" mentality and approach to his students. Coach Powers has coached at the highest levels of amateur baseball with stints at Division I Universities, Junior College, High School and Private Organizations. Coach is currently an Associate Scout for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

4 The Realities Of Playing Beyond High School 1,667 schools sponsored varsity College Baseball teams during 2014: Average Athletic Number Number Varsity Athletes (1) Team Scholarship Average Athletic Scholarship Division of Schools of Teams Men Women Size limit per team ** Men Women NCAA I , $ 13,986 $ 15,072 NCAA II , $ 5,853 $ 7,112 NCAA III , $ - $ - NAIA , $ 6,512 $ 6,946 NJCAA , $ 2,258 $ 2,768 Other Divisions , n/a $ 292 $ 355 Totals 1,667 1,667 55, $ 4,713 $ 5,279 Estimated Probability of Competing in Athletics Beyond the High School Interscholastic Level Student Athletes High School Student Athletes High School Senior Student Athletes NCAA Student Athletes NCAA Freshman Roster Positions NCAA Senior Student Athletes NCAA Student Athletes Drafted Percent High School to NCAA Percent NCAA to Professional Percent High School to Professional Baseball 474, ,655 32,450 9,271 7, % 9.40% 0.50% ** Do the Math! The average NCAA Division I baseball team has a roster of 35 players but only a maximum of 11.7 athletic scholarships available. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of annual college costs and this assumes the sport is fully funded at the sponsoring school. Baseball is an equivalency sport for NCAA scholarship purposes, so partial scholarships can be awarded to meet the NCAA limit per school. For example, an NCAA Division II school can award 18 baseball players each a 1/2 equivalent scholarship and still meet the limit of 9. For more information see our page on scholarship limits.

5 (2) Average Athletic Scholarship is the average amount of athletically related student aid per athlete for ALL varsity sports sponsored by the specific school. Some athletes receive full awards, some receive partial and many receive none. Additionally some sports within a school may be fully funded, some partially and some sports provide no athletic scholarships. Private schools generally have higher tuition than public schools and the average award will reflect this. (3) Financial Assistance to all undergraduates includes ALL forms of student financial assistance including athletic and academic scholarships, grants and other financial aid. % receiving is the percentage of all undergraduates who received some form of financial assistance. Average $ is the average award to those undergraduates who received some form of financial assistance during the year. *Source: *Source:

6 What s The Point? My point is simple If you have any hopes of being able to break through to the next level, whether it be High School Baseball, College Baseball or Professional Baseball YOU MUST BE BETTER THAN YOUR PEERS AND COMPETITION! Have you ever seen the 12 year old that was ridiculously better than everyone else in his Little League and all of the parents, including his own, sat in the stands and marveled and commented about how this kid was going to be a Super Star when he gets older? Have you ever seen that same kid disappear into the crowd later on as all of his other peers hit growth spurts and got stronger and worked hard to develop their skills, while he coasted on the idea that he would always be better than everyone else? If you haven t, let me tell you, I have.and it is one of the saddest, most frustrating things that I see as a coach. I call it WASTED TALENT The kid gets lazy and comfortable, making the mistake that his ability will just grow with him. When you watch some of the greatest players of all time play on TV, they make it look so easy You often hear commentators, coaches and teammates talk about how they were born with a lightning bolt for an arm, the ability to run like a deer and the baseball IQ equivalent to Einstein. It is easy to believe that you are either Born with it, or you are not.

7 What you don t see What the commentators, coaches and teammates rarely mention is what that player does behind the scenes, away from the game on the field.. I will bet you all the gold in Fort Knox (if it s still there), that the greatest players of all time are also the hardest working players of all time. Am I suggesting that every player in the world can be a Major League Baseball Player? No, only 750 players at any given time get to hold that distinction. Am I suggesting that every player in the world could play at a level higher than what they otherwise would have played at if they worked intelligently and developed their skills? Without a doubt.. YES!

8 Why Should You Care? Competition in baseball has never been higher.. Athletes are bigger, faster and stronger.. Access to information is at an all-time high.. I also believe with those factors, that the opportunity for separating yourself from the rest of the pack has never been better. I want you to think about this scenario for a moment, take a journey with me. I want you to think about the best player on your team (hopefully you) NOW How does that player match up against the rest of the league? How does that player match up against the rest of the city? How does that player match up against the rest of the region? How does that player match up against the rest of the state? How does that player match up against the rest of the country? How does that player match up against the rest of the world? You see, when you look at things from 30,000 feet up, you can see that just being the best player in the neighborhood doesn t mean anything. Every year, somebody gets to be the #1 overall draft pick.. SO WHY NOT YOU?

9 WHY YOU CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO IGNORE THE INJURY BUG Whether it s happened to you or not, arm injuries appear to be occurring at a higher rate than ever before There are several contributing factors as to why we see this, but I don t think that it s a coincidence that when the signing bonuses of MLB drafted players began going through the roof, that arm injuries did as well Velocity is king in this game. People can make arguments that velocity isn t everything, but the truth is, is that if you can throw really, REALLY hard, someone, if not a lot of people are going to want you THE MOST COMMON REASONS FOR INJURY 1. Overuse / Fatigue 2. Lack of Recovery 3. Poor Throwing Mechanics 4. Poor Conditioning 5. Lack of Strength 6. Previous Injury Pain is a terrific indicator that something is wrong Soreness is a terrific indicator that you either exerted your body too much for too long, OR that you didn t perform the necessary steps to promote the recovery process to begin sooner. Fatigue is a terrific indicator that you are starting to break down and lose the capacity of your muscles, ligaments and tendons to perform a desired movement with full competence

10 Something I always ask my clients when we first get started together is: Have you ever or are you currently experiencing any: pain, soreness, stiffness, fatigue, tenderness? Rarely do I ever get someone that says NO to all of those with complete confidence I believe that most players, coaches and parents have no intentions of making an injury occur, but at the same time, they don t really have a clue as to what steps to take to greatly reduce the risk of them occurring. There is this mentality that has swept the country of PLAY MORE GAMES, PRACTICE LESS If you never take the time to develop your skills, to develop and properly train your body and your arm, then how can you expect to be able to showcase them consistently in games? The answer to this and much more is why I have developed THE TOTAL PITCHER TRAINING PROGRAM

11 The FIVE Essential Areas Of Training Essential Area #1 THE DYNAMIC WARM UP I m going to guess that I can describe what your pre-game/pre-practice warm up looks like with relative certainty You get on the foul line, jog to centerfield, job back, get in a circle or some lines and you spread your feet apart and reach down one leg and hold it for about 8 seconds and then you switch to the other leg. You follow this protocol for pretty much the rest of your body until it s time to throw. If I came pretty close, it s because what I described is called Static Warm Up, and I would guess that about 98% of every team in this country participates in that kind of warm up regularly. Your warm up sets the tone for the rest of the day, DON T SCREW IT UP!

12 You see, there are basically two kinds of warm ups: 1) Static Warm Up 2) Dynamic Warm Up A Static Warm Up, basically means that you are intending on warming up and stretching the muscles through little to no movement. A Dynamic Warm Up means that you are intending to warm up and stretch the muscles through movement. Think about it this way A rubber band is a lot like a muscle and when you pull on it, it stretches.. Imagine now, that you are stretching a cold muscle It is entirely possible that you could pull the muscle so far, that it doesn t bounce back to its original state, and then once you place some additional stress on it through running or throwing, it could be more than the muscle can handle.. The very reason you were stretching the muscle ended up being the very reason that you may have gotten hurt.. I m not against Static Stretching, but I am against it as part of a warm up. Research has shown that putting yourself through a Dynamic Warm Up, prior to activity, leads to much more productivity and preparedness for the athlete. In a Dynamic Warm Up, you are constantly moving your muscles, increasing the blood flow and allowing them to lengthen out at their own pace. Once more, if you can implement Dynamic movements that complement the throwing athlete, you are preparing yourself even better for that day of work.

13 Essential Area #2 ARM CARE Arm Care is essential to playing this game at a high level or a longer period of time.. Let s face it, if your arm hurts, it s no fun to play There are so many different ways that you can warm up, strengthen and loosen up your arm.. One critical component that I want you to understand is that the stronger your arm is, the more stabilized it will be.. The more stable the joints of your arm are, the elbow and shoulder, the more you decrease the chances of injury.. Not only that, but the muscles act as the BRAKES for your arm..

14 YOUR BODY WILL ONLY ACCELERATE WHAT IT CAN SLOW DOWN Here s a scenario that I often use when I m talking to my pitchers I first ask them, what is their dream car? Often I get answers like a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Bugatti These are all very fast cars, and they are cars that most of us will never drive So I tell them to imagine that I just handed them the car of their dreams for this one chance in life and that they could do anything they wanted with it BUT, just before they get in the car, I tell them By the way, this car has the WORST brakes ever known to man! If you re intelligent, HOW FAST ARE YOU GOING TO GO? Your answer should hopefully be Not Fast and you would be right Now, take the same scenario and just before the player gets in the car, I tell them.. This car has brakes on it that were just developed by NASA.they are the greatest brakes the world has ever seen! NOW HOW FAST ARE YOU GOING TO GO? If you re like me, you are going to let it fly and the answer is simple Because I know that I will be able to stop myself, which will keep me from getting hurt The body and the arm operate under the same concept.. Your body will not let it hurt itself if it can help it

15 Essential Area #3 Strength & Conditioning This is an area of training that I believe is widely misunderstood and ineffectively practiced.. In my experience, when you are talking about Strength & Conditioning to players, especially those in High School, there is a poor understanding of what the body needs to most efficiently throw a baseball.. There is also a gross misconception as to what you are supposed to look like as a pitcher.. Think about this simple equation for a second VELOCITY = ARM STRENGTH (+) ARM SPEED In other words, how strong your arm is and how fast you can move it at the same time will translate into the velocity of your throw..

16 Because of raging hormones, the sudden interest in girls and poor information, a lot of players that I see believe that when they get in the weight room that they need to turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger. It s impressive and I don t think that anyone would argue that if you looked like this that you would lack for the Arm Strength part of the equation.. But how fast do you think Arnold here could move his arm? And if we are supposed to strength train with this idea in mind, then how come these guys are some of the hardest throwers to ever play the game? They don t exactly look Schwarzenegger-like

17 The truth is, is that we want to build, what has become a popular term recently, Functional Strength The idea that we want to build strength and stability in the areas that we use most to throw a baseball.. I agree with this approach, but I want to take it another step forward.. I want to build that strength, maintain or increase its mobility at the same time, and make it more explosive I believe that there is a time and place for the weight room kind of strength training But that is where most people stop, it s all about getting HUGE.. I want to take the new found strength in the weight room and then put it in an environment that asks you to be as explosive as possible. Remember. VELOCITY = ARM STRENGTH (+) ARM SPEED Please don t misunderstand me, by no means am I implying that the entire throwing process is dependent solely on the arm.. FAR FROM IT In fact, a phrase I like to use a lot with my athletes is that We want the arm to be a FACILITATOR, NOT a GENERATOR On the conditioning side of it, the typical and accepted manner of conditioning for baseball players, especially pitchers, is to do a lot of distance running. The mantra behind the distance running is that by running for miles and miles, you are developing your stamina, which will translate into lasting longer in games. There is also a notion that by running long distances, that

18 you are flushing the system of lactic acid. I m going to prove to you that both common approaches are VERY wrong. Consider this for a moment 90% of a baseball game is played in 2 seconds or less (a pitch is delivered and nothing happens) When action does take place, the average time it takes to go from home to 1 st base is 4 seconds One could argue then, that the longest any given play in baseball would last would be about 15 seconds, an inside-the-park homerun or an extended run down Neither of which are very common AND the only person running the entire time is the baserunner. Now This There are 3 energy systems in our body and this is how and when they occur: System #1 ATP/CP* occurs during the 0-15 seconds stage System #2 Anaerobic/Aerobic** occurs during the 15 seconds to 2 minutes stage (Lactic Acid is produced) System #3 Oxidative Phosphorylation*** occurs at the 2+ minutes stage

19 *ATP/CP as an extremely focused amount of an energy burst. Sprinters work in this energy system. **Anaerobic/Aerobic is where the Lactic Acid is produced. It is meant to provide a higher burst of energy, but the ability to sustain it for a longer period of time. Distance sprinters work in this energy system. ***Oxidative Phosphorylation is where speed is not as important as longevity. Marathon runners work in this energy system. Now, which one of these energy systems sounds most applicable and similar to playing baseball? I would argue that there is really never a reason to leave the ATP/CP energy system when we are training, yet we are constantly having our pitchers train in the later stages.. Which one looks more athletic and explosive? Let s practice how we play.. Let s train to go as hard as we can, for a short period of time, recover quickly and do it all over again Doesn t that sound like a better way? I don t know if any of my guys can run a mile, but I do know that they can compete for 7 innings without getting very tired..

20 Essential Area #4 Throwing Drills Now that you have spent so much time and energy getting your body warmed up, loosened up, stronger and properly conditioned, it is time to throw a baseball.. The whole reason we have gone to all this effort is to be able to throw a baseball more efficiently with more velocity and less arm stress.. Inside the Total Pitcher Training Program, there are several different throwing drills starting at Low Intensity and going all the way to High Intensity The database for throwing drills is always being updated as well, if it appears to be a drill that makes sense.. In terms of actually throwing a baseball, everyone has their own style of throwing, because each of us are built differently.. No two pitchers are the same, so to train them the same is foolish.. Having said that, there are some specific points within the delivery of a throw that I believe are critical to the efficiency, output and overall health of the arm. At this time I m going to go into some different check points of throwing a baseball, but how you achieve these points will be unique to you and your style Do not try to force yourself to look like the examples if it s not you. I am convinced, that even though throwing a baseball is an unnatural act to the way the body is designed, that when it is done right, according to the individual, that you will know it by feel..

21 Hips/Leg Drive The ability to create energy and momentum begins from the ground up.. The lower half is the strongest part of your body.. The more it generates, the more it relieves the responsibility on your arm. The critical link in the chain are the hips/center mass area If you have poor hip activation, or lack much hip mobility, the amount of momentum and energy that you generate with your lower body will only seep through to your upper body, instead of fly through it and gain even more energy The hips and leg drive may be the most important area to focus on when it comes to throwing a baseball because so few are really good at it. Instead of driving towards your target, the lower half is more so just coming along for the ride. One way that I try to describe this to my pitchers is: Go to the plate because you WANT to, NOT because you HAVE to

22 Obtuse Elbow Going back to Geometry, there are 3 types of angles basically, a Right Angle, Obtuse Angle and an Acute Angle.. The Right Angle is, of course, 90 degrees.. The Obtuse Angle is anything greater than 90 degrees.. And the Acute Angle is anything less than 90 degrees.. I believe that the most optimal and safest position for your arm to be in when your front foot strikes is in an Acute Angle position Here s some examples, Peavy above has had a career riddled with arm issues Below are Clemens and Maddux, two very different styles, but look at their arm positioning at foot strike. Heck, look at them entirely, they are almost identical in every way and were not plagued by arm issues..

23 The idea behind it is relatively simple Throwing a baseball is a rotational move and when you rotate, you are rotating around an axis in your body.. Anything that revolves around an axis inherently wants to fly away from it as it is put in motion. I believe that when your arm is in an Obtuse Angle just before you rotate forward, that your forearm and hand are more inclined to want to fly away from your body during rotation In doing so, this can place increased stress on the elbow, shoulder or both... Multiply that stress force with what is already present in a throw through external rotation and others and you could be cooking up a recipe for problems By keeping the arm in an Acute Angle position, it allows the elbow and shoulder to relax a little more during rotation It cushions the elbow and shoulder.. It also allows for faster acceleration which will allow the arm to hopefully travel further before release and will increase velocity On a side note, if you are a Right Angle guy, this is acceptable, but be aware that you are at the limits of what I have found to be ideal..

24 Firm Glove Side As you can see with Nolan, from the moment he starts forward in the delivery, into rotation and through release, his glove has basically stayed in the same position the entire time I believe that it is critical for so many reasons that the glove establishes a strong direction towards your target and then virtually locks in at that spot as you continue the throwing process.. Establishing a strong front side direction allows you to set the tone for that throw.. You are saying that I want to go right there and NOT that you want to go in that area somewhere.. A misconception taught a lot out there about the front side, or glove side, is that as you start to rotate forward with your throw, that you want to pull your glove backwards because this will cause you to rotate faster.. WHAT A DANGEROUS APPROACH Pulling your glove will most likely create an early release point and that, in turn, places an increased amount of stress on the elbow, shoulder or both. If you are around a guy telling you to pull your glove, find somebody else. So what do you want to do instead? And if you are doing it, STOP IT..

25 Here s the idea, when you begin to rotate forward, you want to bring your chest to the glove.. This allows the glove to move very little. It creates an environment where your torso can move over your front leg as it stabilizes to allow you to get your arm through to release a lot farther in front.. These are all a whole lot healthier positions to be into.. Here s an example of a poor glove side, you should not be surprised to know that this guy s career has also been riddled with shoulder and elbow issues.. By the way, this is the same guy with two different organizations.. Apparently neither one of them can figure out what is causing him to be on the DL so much Here s a picture that might hit a little closer to home for you to see..

26 Deceleration As I mentioned earlier in this report, the greater ability you have to slow down, the faster your body will allow yourself to accelerate.. At the end of the day, we all want to throw harder CHICKS DIG IT There are many out there that will argue that the Deceleration Phase of throwing is a natural occurrence and to intentionally practice it is a waste of time.. To these people I counter with the notion that Isn t breathing a natural occurrence as well? And if so, then why do athletes go to Breathing Coaches? The answer is simple. Even though it may be a natural occurrence, does not mean that we can t make it happen better The Lamborghini that we talked about earlier comes out of the factory with brakes on it, and I m guessing that those brakes are pretty good.. But is it absurd to think that I might be able to put an even better braking system on that Lamborghini? Let s think about it a little differently.

27 The more time your arm has to slow down, the better off you will be Can we at least agree on that? What is better, driving 70 down the highway and slamming on your brakes, or going 70 down the highway and gradually slowing down? You ll stop either way, but which is going to provide better long term, overall health of the vehicle? Unless you are just trying to be stubborn, you know that the gradual slowing down is the better option, and in order to gradually slow down, you need time.. When you look at Nolan in the picture above, I think his arm position is a major reason why he was able to pitch for so long, throwing so hard, without any major arm issues.. Compare to these guys.. Maybe it s just me, but if the brakes of the arm are on the back, then all of these positions look to me like they are putting a lot of responsibility on the back of the shoulder..(also, look at their gloves and the fact that all of these guys have had arm issues) When you can bend your arm, instead of keeping it straight, you buy yourself time.. When you bend your torso down, instead of keeping it up, you buy yourself time...

28 When you rotate your torso around your front hip, instead of stopping, you buy yourself time.. On top of that, when you can strengthen the muscles on the back of your arm and back, you provide the ability for them to absorb more force and energy.. The combination of these two components create an environment where you are putting yourself in a great position to not only increase velocity, but to also do so in a manner that reduces risk as much as possible.. At the end of it all, isn t that what we all want? To be able to play this game at the best of your ability, with freedom in your throw and pain free?

29 Would You Like To See More Growth In Your Game? Are you currently trying to figure out how to throw harder, throw without pain, take your game to the next level? Well, what are you waiting for? Let s take a look now and show you how to tie all of this information TOGETHER so that it works as a cohesive system to make you start moving towards becoming the pitcher that you want to be! READY? How To Put It All Together? THE 5 ESSENTIAL AREAS OF TRAINING FOR PUTTING YOU ON THE PATH TOWARDS BRINGING YOUR GAME TO A NEW LEVEL! The following is a simple Bell Curve that connects all five of these training areas together to work as a system. High Intensity Throwing Moderate Intensity Throwing Low Intensity Throwing Strength & Conditioning Cool Down Arm Care Warm Up Dynamic Warmup Training Complete

30 If you follow this simple map from left to right, you simply prepare and develop your body and arm down a path of unavoidable improvement! Each area of training serves the purpose of moving you into the next phase of training. This is the EXACT system I m using in my business, and it really comes down to these five areas of training. But now that you know WHAT you need to do, you re presented with a few challenges, like.. How do I start doing this training? What do I do and what do I use? What if I want to learn about other areas of pitching also? Well.welcome to the Total Pitcher Training Program. Over the next few days, I will be sharing with you THREE powerful (and free!) training videos that will address all of these questions and more! I ll show you how to get started and work through the program easily and effectively so you can start improving your career, TODAY! Here s a quick peek at what you ll learn over the next few videos..

31 The 3-Part Video Series: FREE VIDEO #1: The Dynamic Warm Up In Video #1, I ll introduce you to the concept of the Dynamic Warm Up. Plus, I ll show you the exact Dynamic Warm Up that I use to prepare my pitchers! FREE VIDEO #2: Strength & Conditioning In Video #2, I m going to dive into HOW TO train like a baseball player. I will show you some specific exercises that my clients use on a regular basis that have been directly responsible for many of the increases that they ve experienced! FREE VIDEO #3: Throwing Drills In Video #3, I ll take you past the run of the mill throwing drills and show you the explosive drills that truly lead to more velocity! Plus, I ll show you how to incorporate these drills in a progression format that creates more results, faster!

32 The Total Pitcher Training Program is a DVD set training program with an accompanying companion manual, designed to take you step-by-step through the Training & Development Process, so you can transform your abilities to another level with the latest information available TODAY! In addition to the Core 5 Areas Of Training Sections, there is also a lot more information in the companion manual, on several different topics, and some guest chapters by nationally recognized coaches like Alan Jaeger, Perry Husband and Tim Dixon. As a member of the program, you have the opportunity to join a Private Facebook Page that is only for like-minded individuals, as well as an ability to submit questions to me, where I will do my best to answer as many as I can. Over the next few days, you ll not only receive FREE Training, but also MORE information about the Total Pitcher Training Program and how you can take advantage of this year s enrollment! Here s to your success! - Andy Powers