Saving Shoulders, Throwing Gas, Dropping Body Fat, and Crushing Chin-ups

Written on November 19, 2010 at 5:03 am, by Eric Cressey

This weekend is going to be one of very mixed emotions for our entire family, as we’ll lay my grandfather to rest Saturday morning; he passed last Thursday morning.  Gramp had been the center of our family for my entire life, and he was a huge part of making me the man that I am.  Were it not for Gramp, I never would have developed the passion for baseball that eventually led to me finding a career that focuses on the game.  On one hand, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to him, but on the other hand, we’re happy to celebrate his life and take solace that he’s finally at peace after a long illness.

That said, in his final weeks, Gramp requested a Saturday funeral because – as a former high school principal – he didn’t want any teachers to have to miss school to attend.  To that end, he’d want the show to go on at this blog, too – so that’s what we’ll do with some random thoughts today.

1. I got a mention in the USA Today on Wednesday in a very interesting article on the biceps tenodesis surgery, as this procedure could become the “next big thing” in SLAP repairs.  I was mentioned alongside the likes of Curt Schilling, James Andrews, Brett Favre, Jake Peavy, and Bud Selig…pretty good company!  Check out the article: For Pitchers, Shoulder Surgery Cuts Both Ways.

2. Speaking of pitchers, here’s yet ANOTHER study showing that resistance training (with throwing) improves throwing velocity significantly more than throwing alone.  Meanwhile, we still have some old-school coaches saying that kids shouldn’t lift.  Ugh.

3. How’s this for some solid feedback on just the first two months of Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better?

“Hey Eric, Just wanted to keep you updated with the results I’ve had from Show and Go, as well as ask a quick question regarding this. I started the program at 10% body fat (measured with AccuMeasure callipers) and am now down to about just over 7% body fat! This is the lowest I’ve ever gone.”

For more information, check out www.ShowandGoTraining.com.

4. Here’s some interesting research that shows that vitamin D deficiency doubles stroke risk in Caucasians.  Deficiency incidence is lower (6.6%) in whites than African-Americans (32.3%), though.  Beyond just cardiovascular health, though, vitamin D is one of the first things we look at in those with chronic soft tissue problems, especially in Northern climates where folks don’t get enough sunshine during the winter months.

5. Today is the last day to get Joel Marion’s Cheat Your Way Thin Holiday Edition at the introductory discount; check it out HERE, if you’re interested.

6. Here’s a great video from Mike Robertson on “Conquering the Chin-up:”

7. And your weekly dose of puppy…

Have a great weekend!

Cressey Performance Elite Baseball Development Program in The Boston Globe

Written on April 9, 2010 at 7:56 am, by Eric Cressey

Just a quick heads-up about a great article in The Boston Globe about Cressey Performance’s Elite Baseball Development Program.  It features interviews with Kevin Youkilis, Curt Schilling, Chad Rodgers, Joe Bick, and Adam Ravenelle.

Custom Body Shop: Hudson Personal Trainer Gains a Following Among Elite Athletes

Click here for more information on the Cressey Performance Elite Baseball Development Program.

Have a great weekend!

Baseball Showcases: A Great Way to Waste Money and Get Injured

Written on March 26, 2010 at 4:04 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: I read your blog here the other day about your “ideal competitive year” for a baseball player.  What’s your take on showcases and college camps?  They always occur during the “down periods” you mentioned: fall ball and the early winter.  How do these fit in to a baseball player’s development?

A: To be blunt, while there are some exceptions to the rule, they rarely fit into development. In reality, they usually feed into destruction – at least in the context of pitchers.  I openly discourage all our young athletes and parents from attending them almost without exception.

I know of very few showcase directors and college baseball coaches who legitimately understand anatomy, physiology, the etiology of baseball injuries, the nature of adolescent development, or motor skill acquisition.

Showcase directors specialize in promoting and running showcases.  College coaches specialize in recruiting players, developing talent, planning game and practice strategy, and winning games.  To my knowledge, understanding scapulohumeral rhythm and the contributions of a glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) to SLAP lesions via the peel-back mechanism isn’t all in a day’s work for these folks.

The fundamental issue with these events is their timing.  As you noted, they almost always occur in the fall and winter months.  Why?

1.  It’s the easiest time to recruit participants, as they aren’t in-season with their baseball teams.

2. It’s not during the college baseball season – so fields and schedules are open and scouting and coaching man-power is free.

You’ll notice that neither #1 or #2 said “It’s the time of year when a pitcher is the most prepared to perform at a high level safely.”  It is just profitable and convenient for other people – and that occurs at the expense of many young pitchers’ arms.

In 2006, Olsen et al. published a fantastic review that examined all the different factors associated with elbow and shoulder surgeries in pitchers by comparing injured pitchers (those who warranted surgery) with their non-injured counterparts.  Some of the findings of the study:

-Pitchers who eventually required surgery threw almost EXACTLY twice as many pitches as the control group (healthy pitchers) over the course of the year…from a combination of pitches per outing, total outings, and months pitched per year.  For those of you who think your kid needs to play on multiple teams simultaneously, be very careul; add a team and you instantly double things – at least acutely.

-The injured pitchers attended an average of FOUR times more showcases than non-injured kids.

-Interesting aside:  injured pitchers were asked what their coaches’ most important concern was: game, season, or athlete’s career.  In the healthy group, they said the coach cared about the game most in only 11.4% of cases. In the injured group, it was 24.2%!  These crazy little league coaches are often also the ones running the showcases…

The big problem is that these issues usually don’t present until years later.  Kids may not become symptomatic for quite some time, or pop NSAIDs to cover up the issues.  They might even go to physical therapy for a year before realizing they need surgery.  It’s why you see loads of surgeries in the 16-18 year-old population, but not very often in 15 and under age groups.

So why are appearances like these in the fall and winter months so problematic?  Well, perhaps the best way I can illustrate my point is to refer back to a conversation I had with Curt Schilling last year.

Curt told me that throughout his career, he had always viewed building up his arm each year as a process with several levels.

Step 1: Playing easy catch
Step 2: Playing easy catch on a line
Step 3: Building up one’s long toss (Curt never got onto a mound until he’d “comfortably” long-tossed 200 ft.)
Step 4: Throwing submaximally off a mound
Step 5: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound
Step 6: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound with a batter
Step 7: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound with a batter in a live game situation
Step 8: Opening day at Fenway Park in front of 40,000+ people

Being at a showcase in front of college coaches and scouts with radar guns is Step 8 for every 14-16 year old kid in America.  And, it comes at the time of year when they may not have even been throwing because of fall/winter sports and the weather.  Just to be clear, I’ll answer this stupid question before anyone asks it: playing year-round and trying to be ready all the time is NOT the solution.

I can honestly say that in all my years of training baseball players, I’ve only seen one kid who was “discovered” at a showcase.  And, frankly, it occurred in December of his junior year, so those scouts surely would have found him during high school and summer ball; it wasn’t a desperate attempt to catch someone’s eye.

I’ll be honest: I have a lot of very close friends who work as collegiate baseball coaches.  They’re highly-qualified guys who do a fantastic job with their athletes – but also make money off of fall baseball camps.  I can be their friend without agreeing with everything they do; there is a difference between “disagree” and “dislike.”

Fortunately, the best coaches are the ones who go out of their way to make these events as safe as possible, emphasizing skill, technique, and strategy improvements over “impressing” whoever is watching.  So, it’s possible to have a safe, beneficial experience at one of these camps.  I’d encourage you to find out more about what goes on at the events in advance, and avoid throwing bullpens if unprepared for them.

As far as showcases are concerned, I’d encourage you to save your money and go on a family vacation instead.

Related Posts

The Biggest Mistake Pro Baseball Pitchers Make
Developing Young Pitchers the Safe Way
Preventing Injuries in Young Athletes

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used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!

Why Do Some Guys Come Back to Pitch Better after Tommy John Surgery?

Written on January 12, 2010 at 4:56 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: I was wondering the other day about why guys often come back from Tommy John surgery pitching better and harder than they did before.  My first thought was they can’t do any upper-body strength training for months while they recover from the surgery, so they’re forced to work on lower body, core, and mobility – and, in turn, come back as better conditioned athletes with more control and velocity.  Or, do you think their improved velocity and command is just an illusion made possible because we’re comparing them to the way they pitched while they were hurt, but not yet “disabled?”  Or, is there another factor I’m missing altogether? I figure there’s a sample-size issue — we’re just looking at the guys who make it all the way back, and ignoring the ones who don’t.

A: It’s an excellent question – and one I actually get quite a bit.   I’d say that it’s a combination of all three.

In my eyes, an ulnar collateral ligament tear is usually an injury that speaks to YEARS of dysfunction and accumulated stress.  Guys usually have a history of elbow pain/soreness in their teenage years, some calcification on the UCL, and then it finally goes in their college/pro years.  They may have been managed conservatively (physical therapy) for a long time just because doctors don’t like doing surgeries on 16-year-olds.  However, when they’re 20, it becomes “acceptable” to do a Tommy John surgery.

In the meantime, many of these injured pitchers will modify their deliveries to avoid the pain and end up with some crazy mechanics that leave the ball all over the place at erratic radar gun readings.  So, that can usually cover the velocity drop and control issues.  This is in stark contrast to what you’ll see with serious injuries to the labrum (SLAP2 lesions), which generally give you the quick velocity drop, and eventually, loss of control – even in the absence of pain.  Elbow stuff doesn’t usually directly influence velocity as quickly; a lot of guys can throw through it for years.

So, yes, we are comparing them to their pre-injury numbers.  However, there is – at least in my eyes – a better reason.

They are often lazy and inconsistent with their training and arm care before they get hurt.  Quite often, you’ll see an ACL reconstruction leg coming back and being stronger than the uninjured side long-term.  The same thing can happen with a Tommy John.  The rehab is crazy long, so guys have time to learn arm care as religion and – as you noted – focus on athletic qualities that are often partially or entirely “squeezed out” by competing demands.

I remember talking with Curt Schilling along these lines – although it was with respect to his shoulder.  He had a shoulder surgery in 1995, and it made him “religious” about arm care.  His best years came years after that even though he’d gotten older.

So, usually, the guys who wind up throwing harder are just the ones who were lazy in the first place and were finally forced into actually taking care of their bodies.  The guys who DO take good care of their arms and wind up tearing UCLs rarely come back throwing harder, and to be frank, probably have a lower chance of returning to their former selves than their lazy counterparts.

Of course, this obviously excludes issues with the graft type (autograft or allograft), graft site (Palmaris longus, hamstrings, or another site), surgeon’s abilities, physical therapy, athlete motivation, strength and conditioning, and return-to-throwing progression.

To learn more about assessment and management of the throwing elbow, check out my Everything Elbow In-Service video.

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Why Curt Schilling Should Go to the Hall of Fame

Written on March 23, 2009 at 11:59 am, by Eric Cressey

I got a phone call this morning around 7:30AM.  I knew it was coming, but was just a matter of time.  So, when I saw Curt Schilling’s name on the Caller ID, I figured that he was ready to call it a career – and a brilliant career at that.  You can read his official retirement statement on his blog.

We had the radio on today, and the commentators talked quite a bit about his impressive career stats, fantastic post-season record, and three World Series rings.  It’s safe to say that all of these factors are going to come up time and time again in discussions over the next few years about whether or not Curt ought to go to Cooperstown.  He’s got over 3,000 career strikeouts, and a career ERA of under 3.46.  Throw in six all-star game appearances, three Cy Young runner-up seasons, and a World Series MVP.  He’s also got the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio of all time.  Those factors alone – plus the subjective fact that he is probably the single-best post-season pitcher of all time – ought to get him in.

To me, though, there are two more factors that make this a sure thing.

First, while I’m a huge Red Sox fan and – like millions others – will be eternally grateful for the two championships he helped bring to Boston, I have to say that what he did in Arizona from 2001-2003 was nothing short of incredible.  At a time when the use of performance-enhancing drugs was off the charts – and guys were destroying home run records – Schilling was a dominant pitcher.  It didn’t matter how much hitters cheated; they still couldn’t put runs on the board against him.  Curt’s been extremely outspoken against the use of these performance-enhancing drugs, but to me, his numbers during that time period are proof to kids everywhere that you don’t have to cheat to get ahead.

Second, Curt’s career spanned a time period where it seemed like every day, a new athlete was getting into trouble with the law.  We’ve heard about athletes making bad decisions and getting busted for drunk driving, bar fights, spousal abuse, drug abuse, gambling, adultery, and even murder.  Meanwhile, Curt was raising millions of dollars for various charities, being a devoted husband and father, contributing as a valuable member of communities in PA, AZ, and MA, and mentoring up-and-coming pitchers.

I watched first-hand this winter as he took time out of his busy schedule to talk pitching with my minor leaguers and high school athletes.  You could tell that it was an interesting blast of emotions for them.  On one hand, they were starstruck and amazed that he would actually care enough to share his wisdom with them – and do so with so much passion.  On the other hand, they were all frantically trying to understand and memorize all the great ideas they were hearing from a guy with decades of experience in the big leagues.

Say what you want about Curt being outspoken, but make no mistake about it: at a time when baseball needed good citizens off the field as much as it needed stars on the field, Curt filled both those roles.  Unfortunately, none of the folks with whom Curt interacted at Cressey Performance will get a vote in the Hall of Fame balloting in a few years.  However, if we did, I can say without wavering that everyone in this group would vote him as a person – and that’s independent of his impressive baseball resumé.

Congratulations on a great career, Curt.  I’m damn proud to have been even just a little part of it.