This week we get deep into baseball training with a man who is building strong arms by the masses. Ben Brewster is the co-founder and president of Tread Athletics, the author of Building the 95mph Body, and still putting in work himself to get past injury and make another run at professional baseball.

This week we get deep into baseball training with a man who is building strong arms by the masses. Ben Brewster is the co-founder and president of Tread Athletics, the author of Building the 95mph Body, and still putting in work himself to get past injury and make another run at professional baseball.

You can learn more about Ben Brewster and Tread Athletics here: https://treadathletics.com/

Show Notes:

12:37 Importance of Daily Logs

17:37 Hydration & Carbs 22:32 Body Mass link to Velocity

24:59 In-Season Training: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjbxp2kwpiU)

32:07 Not Competing Year-Round

40:47 Stride Length

49:10 Trunk Rotation & Inverted W

51:17 Variability & Injury Risk

52:20 Chasing Metrics

1:00:13 Developing around Individuality

1:04:07 Hip Movement / Rotation

1:17:27 Good Coaching

1:25:27 Ground Reaction Forces

Learn more at https://ArmCare.com

In this episode of More Than Velocity, we bring Kyle Matsel onto the show to discuss important findings when it comes to Arm Care Training.

Kyle is a Physical Therapist, researcher, and professor at the University of Evansville, and has spent a great deal of time working on how to reduce injuries in the sport of baseball. He recently published an article on the findings of a nationwide survey on high school baseball coaches and their perceptions of arm care training.

(Link to Research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8169022/)

In this episode of More Than Velocity, we are honored to share this wide-reaching conversation with Tom House and Dean Doxakis from The National Pitching Association. In this episode, we talk about the long history of pitching development to discuss their Mustard App along with tons of insights on pitching development.

To learn more about The Mustard App at https://teammstrd.com/

Plus, check out the National Pitching Association at https://www.nationalpitching.com/

Show Notes & Highlights:

4:05- Get to Know the Mustard App

13:00- The evolution & acceptance of Tom House

14:15- "Key's to the Big League Kingdom," as told by Warren Spahn

16:45- The integration of using technology and vision

20:20- 85% of coaching pitching happens before foot strike

23:26- The simple teach for coaching delivery: GFF, Eyes Level, Firm Frontside, Drag Your Backfoot

24:50- "You're better off getting no information than getting bad information when it comes to efficient mechanics."

(*Our Ben Brewster/Tread Athletics Podcast is coming soon)

29:20- Absolute vs. Functional Strength

34:44- A unique way to get players motivated to hit the gym

36:00- How does NPA use weighted balls to increase velocity https://teammstrd.com/the-squeeze/weighted-balls-why-we-do-holds/

41:50- ArmCare IQ on run and gun throwing: https://youtu.be/SbxbPBDcL-E

42:00- Insight on developing strength and balance with various training tools

51:35- "Arm speed without functional arm strength is a recipe for disaster."

55:50- The reason why you need to be holding onto or gripping something with band work

56:40- Balancing stress going out and stress going in

1:00:00- Eccentric, Isometric, and "Shake & Bake" Exercises

1:07:00- Turning rehab into prehab

NEW EPISODES DROP EVERY WEDNESDAY! BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO STAY UP TO DATE.

Learn more at ARMCARE.COM.

Check out additional episodes

In this episode of More Than Velocity, we cover the topic of two-way players in baseball. Ryan and Jordan dive into some of their insights learned from coaching some of the top pros who excel at multiple positions on the field (such as Shohei Ohtani) and tell you everything you need to know about developing strengths at multiple positions.

3:07- Insights on managing two-way players from years in pro baseball

9:40- Monitoring and assessing the two-way player

11:30- The problem with player monitoring systems

13:45- More Than Velocity 2: https://armcare.com/blog/throwing-workloads-and-ac-ratios-explained/

14:45- The catching & pitching combo

18:30- Does playing multiple positions up your recruitability?

22:35- Pitching and hitting are both rotational

27:00- Considerations for scheduling the two-way player

32:00- Sprint work

Learn more at ArmCare.com

In the episode of More Than Velocity, we talk about the popular baseball training topic of weighted balls.

Download our Velocity Checklist: https://armcare.com/pitch-strong-download/

Show Notes:

1:00- The difference between weighted balls and plyocare balls

4:25- What you need to know before diving into a weighted ball program

8:10- The magic of & our favorite plyocare drills

15:10- Some examples of when and when not to pick up a weighted ball program

16:50- The keys to success with a weighted ball program

18:45- Should we develop starting vs. relief pitchers differently with weighted balls?

21:30- The essential thing to include with weighted ball programs

23:10- The Short vs. Long term focus: When should a player start weighed balls?

26:33- Habits and psychology needed for more intense training

28:55- "Give you give a kid a sports car for their first car...don't be surprised when they wrap it around a pole."

32:43- The guy who throws strikes is easier to teach to throw harder

35:30- The take home on weighted balls

In this episode, we discuss: what the kinematic sequence is, how to measure it, and how rotational training can improve it.  Then we talk about why tracking performance changes are essential to any biomechanics changes (kinematics, arm path, etc.) coaches may consider making with an athlete.

Show Notes:

1:40- What is the kinematic sequence

7:40- How to measure the kinematic sequence

10:00- Rotational Training 

19:35- Disassociation

23:05- Performance Concerns

28:400- Arm path issues.

Learn more at ArmCare.com

In this episode, we lay out the need, logistics, and structure of the essential off-season baseball training program. Listen to this to learn how to set up throwing workloads and correctly periodize a plan to hit the season in stride.

Show Notes:

Listen to our episode on pitch counts: https://youtu.be/F4ZqI-8Y-tw

Download the Pitch Strong Guidelines: armcare.com/pitch-strong

1:20- Structure and developing off-season training

2:35- The mistake that many off-season throwing programs make

3:40- "Not every player needs a rehab program"

7:45- Defining the phases and structure of an off-season throwing program

12:10- Structuring off-season for high school vs. the pros

14:00- How to make the off-season work

Learn more at ArmCare.com

In this episode of More Than Velocity, the ArmCare crew breaks down essential assessment tools to evaluate your pitching performance.

Show Notes:

1:15- See through the "fog of war"

3:23- Slow-motion mechanical breakdowns

6:00 - Programs to use to assess pitch mechanics

6:25- Proper pitching perspectives for video analysis

10:40- Are you making it easy for runners?

15:45- Dissecting your baseball performance

18:10- Be your harshest critic

Learn more at https://armcare.com/

Download the Pitch Strong Guidelines here: ArmCare.com/Pitch-Strong

Throwing injuries, specifically for the elbow, are at the highest level they have ever been in baseball. The problem doesn't seem to be decreasing and players ages 15-19 are the most susceptible.

It appears that part of the problem is that there is a general lack of awareness of the overuse issue in baseball. For example, a recent study showed that 92% of coaches don't follow current pitch count guidelines. But we also feel that some things are currently overlooked in managing workloads, especially for younger athletes. And as athletes throw harder, there needs to be a better understanding of the progression and proper recovery in their schedule.

In this episode, Ryan and Jordan cover the Pitch Strong Guidelines and detail the updates needed to protect young players.

Get the Pitch Strong Download here: www.ArmCare.com/pitch-strong

Show Notes:

1:30– The major injury problem in baseball

3:41– The honest truth on pitch counts at all levels of baseball

6:36– Introduction to ArmCare’s new pitch count guidelines

8:10– The need for an early season ramp-up

13:30– Why pitch counts need to start early and when to start player pitch

18:34– Why max pitch counts need to be lower for younger pitchers (13 years old)

20:47– Practical changes to reduce player workloads

25:32– Wave loading explained

30:30- References

30:30- Research References:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31013139/

31:51– Pitch count examples in the real world

Ryan Crotin and Jordan Oseguera explain why lower body strength training is crucial to performing on the mound.  From fixing the kinetic chain to handling peak torque, a strong lower half matters.  

Additional resources: Blog Post

https://armcare.com/blog/hip-core-for-arm-care/

https://armcare.com