baseball conditioning / 86 posts found
Why It Doesn’t Take 10,000 Hours
We’ve all heard of the 10,000 hours rule. It was made popular by author and Malcom Gladwell in his 2008 book, Outliers. In this book he alluded to research by Anders Ericcson suggesting that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. I read the book and it sounded legit. I even wrote about it in the first “book” I ever published. It was an awful piece — more of a manual — called Building the 90 mph Delivery. It sold approximately 4 copies and included…
Is How You Learn A Skill Is More Important Than What You Learn?
Coming from the medical world was certainly a difference-maker in the early success of our students — many of whom were overcoming significant throwing injuries. Our knowledge of anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics and the cellular biology of the human body, gave us the tools to help a lot of players. However, while our medical background is definitely an edge in training players, it’s not the biggest separator. The biggest difference-makers for our clients has been the deep dive…
The External vs. Internal Focus Debate In Baseball Skill Acquisition
I heard a lot of talk among coaches at the ABCA Convention in Dallas last month about motor learning and skill acquisition science. That’s a good thing. It’s refreshing to see so many coaches and MLB teams expanding their horizons and pushing toward a more “science-based, data-driven” approach to enhance both in-game performance and player development. When I played, we all wanted to work hard; however, knowing what to work on was always a problem. I can remember going into my mother’s…
The Moment I Knew He’d Make It To The Big Leagues
Since we literally broke down the walls of our Physical Therapy practice and entered the baseball training industry, we’ve seen thousands of hopeful students come through our doors. Nearly all of them have had dreams of throwing 90+ mph, playing in college, getting drafted, or playing in the big leagues. Over the years, we’ve helped 267 guys develop a 90+ mph fastball. FBR students have earned scholarships at every level of college baseball, saving their families millions of dollars…
Got Cut? Good.
Last week the high schools in our area held their annual tryouts. Opening day is in two weeks. For most of our students, this is an exciting time — a chance to see the results of the hard work the put in during the offseason. That’s the story for most Ranch Guys … but not all of them. Today, the father of one of our students called and requested a meeting before our 4:00 pm class. Tim (not his real name), a right-handed junior pitcher had been working hard all winter and was steadily…
Sullivan! Get Off The Field!
How 4 Words Changed a Baseball Career and a Life My first season as a baseball player at The Citadel, I was an ineligible redshirt Junior. I had transferred to The Citadel after two years at Erskine College, which at the time, was a small NAIA school (500 students) in South Carolina. By NCAA rule, I had to sit out for a year. I could practice with the team, but could not play in the games. Lots of naysayers said I was crazy for making the switch. I was a two-year starter at shortstop at Erskine,…
5 Flawed Assumptions Holding Us Back From Real Progress In Baseball Training
Back in the early 15th century, the science of cartography, or mapmaking, was emerging as a new and important piece of the scientific community. At that time, mapmakers were very successful in making precisely accurate two-dimensional (planar) maps of local areas. However, when they extended those maps out to larger areas, it was discovered that the maps became increasingly inaccurate. as the region being mapped grew larger. Additionally, planar maps of smaller areas could not be combined into a…
This Ranch Guy Gained 24 mph in 3 Years and Got a D1 Power 5 Scholarship
During the winter of 2016, a young 8th grader named Camden Minacci checked in at our physical therapy clinic for rehab after surgery on his right forearm. Cam was a baseball player, but this was not a throwing injury. You see, a few weeks prior, Cam had been playing in a basketball game in one of those gyms with the short baseline area and a door under the basket. On a breakaway, he tried to use the brick wall as his brakes, and this happened (shown with the approval of Cam and his parents). It…
How Minnesota Twins RHP Kyle Gibson Earned The Best Season Of His Career
I met Minnesota Twins starting pitcher, Kyle Gibson on December 20, 2016. After a stellar college career at Missouri, Kyle was chosen with the 22nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft. He looked to be on the fast track to the majors until he was sidelined by a UCL tear in 2011. He eventually made his major league debut on June 29th, 2013. By 2015, he had become a mainstay in the Twins rotation. On the surface, Kyle’s career seemed to be trending upward. However, underneath all the hope,…
