“Our BP pitcher would tell us that a change-up was coming and he would still dominate us” Jim Vatcher, former major league outfielder

When was the last time you heard a hitter say, “I can’t wait to hit this guys change-up”. Possibly never. The truth is hitters love fastballs. It’s what they’ve grown up on. It’s basically all they see in batting practice and it’s the one pitch that they are most geared to hit. Pitchers too have grown up on fastballs. It’s the pitch they’ve been trained to establish, command and condition their arm with. It’s also the one pitch they traditionally throw more often in game situations than all other pitches combined (change, curve, slider, etc.). read more

Dr. Stephen Osterer and Dr. Michael Chivers

Baseball Development Group

Twitter: @drsosterer / @drmchivers

It’s the middle of August and for some of us, the summer season is coming to a close. As such, high school and collegiate players are beginning to face some tough questions.

What am I going to do for off-season training?

Where am I going to accomplish this?

What should it be composed of?

In a world with an infinite number of ‘Ultimate Strength and Conditioning Programs” flying around social media, answering these questions can often be a confusing and difficult task for the uninformed. read more

By @mbobBROS

I’m not going to tell you how you should prepare for a start. That’s for you to decide. Pitchers’ routines are as different as their throwing motions. I encourage you to find what works for YOU, and stick to it.

What I will do, is outline the different phases of a starting pitcher’s pregame routine and give you a few SUGGESTIONS on how to maximize each one.

End of Last Start

Preparation for your next start begins directly after your last. Whether you had a good outing or a bad one, process it and move on. Reflect on your successes and failures briefly, taking with you only positive thoughts and constructive critiques to work on. Discard the rest. read more

by Chris McKenzie PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, PES

Do you want to know how to prevent a SLAP tear, or any significant injury from happening as a baseball or softball player?

I thought so…

Enter Chris, a 15y/o left handed pitcher who was throwing good heat for his age (sitting in the low 80’s) without any formal pitcher training. Chris began developing a painful pinch on the back of shoulder early in the Spring of 2014 in the late cocking position. This pain eventually brought him to my clinic, where he could only crow-hop a 90ft throw before he experienced his painful pinching. I gave Chris some simple exercises to perform and 2 weeks later here’s what happened: read more

By Alan Jaeger (@jaegersports)

In nature, some trees are short, while others, like the Great Redwoods, can grow above 350 feet

Nature knows best. That’s why if you sit in one place, like on a plane, for a long enough period of time you will feel an urge to stretch, or get up and go for a walk. This urge is called your life force. It is nature’s way of telling you, instinctively, that your body needs to move some energy around because it’s atrophying.

You see, if muscles are inactive for a long enough period of time, or aren’t used close to their desired capacities, the life is taken out of them. When muscles are given proper blood flow, oxygen, and range of motion — in short, when they are nurtured — they are free to work at their optimum capacity. read more