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*SHOW TIMESTAMPS FEATURED AT THE END*

In this episode Gerry welcomes on New York Yankee’s Base-running Coordinator Matt Talarico!

To start, Matt and Gerry talk about Matt’s playing career and background and how that sparked his interest in speed, base running and more. A lot has changed in the course of 10-15 years regarding speed and strength training, and Matt takes us through what he did personally to get faster and how his wheels began to turn in terms of moving away from the older school (conditioning, longer sprints etc.) and into the newer school of thought (strength, power, shorter sprints etc.).

From there the two discuss the prominence of acceleration in baseball and how your first ten to fifteen yards in your sprint can make or break you. From stride length, stride angle, body positioning and all things mechanical, Matt and Gerry break down what goes in to true “baseball speed.”

To finish, the discussion turns to the drop step and WHY it is the most effective way to sprint in baseball and how it’s ok to know what the great athletes felt, but also important to know what they actually did. Matt then takes time to explain the premise behind his coaching business “steal bases,” the philosophies and what goes in to making yourself a good base runner regardless of your level of speed.

All that and more on this episode of Muscles and Management!

Timestamps:

6:13- Matt’s Playing Background

9:18- Training Athletes Who Don’t Have Exceptional “Natural Talent”

13:55- Matt’s Lifting Program/Experience as a Player

16:45- Correlation of Leg Strength and Speed

20:30- Mindset During Sprints (Getting 100% From Sprints)

27:40- Acceleration in Baseball and Styles of Sprints During Programing

33:30- Importance of Differentiating Between Acceleration vs. Top End Speed

39:36- Is The 60 Outdated?

51:20- Stride Length is Key

57:45- Using Sleds For Sprints

1:02:30- Drop Step

1:14:35- StealBases.com

1:22:25- Benefits of Having Base Stealers on Your Team

1:25:20- Do You Steal on a Pitcher, or a Catcher?

1:29:30- Matt’s Ending Thoughts

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