Building The Perfect Pitcher

Josh Heenan CSCS CES

Thank YouMoore Staff

Dr. Vadasdi

Wayne Mazzoni

SHU Baseball

About Me 3 Years Working at Moore

3rd Year Coaching SHU Baseball

Former Collegiate Pitcher

Competed in Powerlifter

Competed in Olympic Lifter

Masters in Human Movement with a Specialization in Sports Psychology

Goals Of ANY Strength and Conditioning Program

1. Injury Prevention Or Injury Reduction

**Develop Good Posture**Posture Dictates Function

2. Performance Enhancement and Becoming More Athletic

What Makes a Good Athlete/Pitcher?

1. Never Misses a Start

2. Has Good Body Awareness/Control = Throws Strikes

3. Fatigue Resistant = Throws Strikes for Many Innings

4. Powerful and Fast = Throws Hard

5. Mental Toughness or The “X” Factor

The Pitcher’s Power Position

X X

X

Maximizing Internal Rotation (Injury

Prevention)THIS IS THE KEY TO MINIMIZING ELBOW AND

SHOULDER INJURIES!!!

Corrections for Limited Internal Rotation: The Sleeper StretchSoft Tissue Work to the Rotator Cuff

Why So Tight or Painful?

Maximizing External Rotation (Performance Enhancement)

1.) Thoracic Extension and Rotation

2.) Scapular Positioning and Stability

3.) Gleno-humeral (Shoulder) Rotation

A Note About Laberal Tears

One Study Took MRIs of Major League Baseball Players Throwing Shoulders. 79% of these players had some form of Labrum damage. THESE WERE ASYMPTOMATIC PLAYERS!!!

Miniaci, A., Mascia, A. T., Salonen, D. C., & Becker, E. J. (2002). Magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder in asymptomatic professional baseball pitchers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 30(1), 66.

A Note About Laberal Tears

“The labrum makes the shoulder joint much more stable.”

Maximizing External Rotation (Performance Enhancement)

1.) Thoracic Extension and Rotation

2.) Scapular Positioning and Stability

3.) Gleno-humeral (Shoulder) Rotation

4.) Laberal Tears?!

The Upper BodyThoracic Extension

Side- Lying Thoracic Stretch

Y’s

T’s

Sleeper Stretch

Y’s and T’s

The Pitcher’s Power Position

Strong Flexible

The Lower Body: Putting Force Into The Ground

Flexibility In the Hip Flexors

Hip Flexor Mobilization

Power/Strength in the Glutes and Hamstrings

Bridges

Jumps

Deadlifts

Squats

Lunges

Hip Flexor Mobilization/Stretch

Liam and Steve

BridgesBad Good

Front Squat

Reverse Lunge

Reverse Lunge

The Core:Connecting the Upper and Lower

Body

The Role of the Core is to Stabilize the Spine and Transfer Force.

What is the Core?!

Core TrainingNO CRUNCHES!!!

Repetitive flexion of the lumbar spine, such as when performing sit ups or crunches, contributes to degeneration of the lumbar discs and significantly raises the risk of disc herniation.*

Squats – Deadlifts - Pull-ups - Chin-ups

Planks – Push-ups

Medball Work

*Callaghan, J. P., & McGill, S. M. (2001). Intervertebral disc herniation: studies on a porcine model exposed to highly repetitive flexion/extension motion with compressive force. Clinical Biomechanics, 16(1), 28–37.

The Best Shoulder and Core Exercise You Have Never Herd

OfPush- up with Reach

ConditioningConditioning Should Replicate the Demands of

the Sport.

Baseball is mostly fast starts, stops, and 100% effort.

Distance Running?!

Weak and Slow Strong and Fast

Conditioning Sprints: Under 110 yards

Games: Football, Ultimate Frisbee, Dodgeball, Tag

Timed Sets: 30-60 seconds

Strong Man Training: Sled PushesFarmers WalksTire FlipsMed Ball Throws

Putting It All TogetherWarm-up

Side Lying Thoracic Stretch

Thoracic Extension

Y’s

T’s

Sleeper Stretch

Hip Flexor Stretch

Bridges

Workout

Core Stability

Jumps

Squats or Deadlifts or Lunges

Chin-ups or Pull-ups

Conditioning

Case Study!

Troy

6’1” 185lbs

F. Squat Max: 230lbs

Pull-up Max: 10

Vertical Jump: 27inch

Liam

6’3” 208lbs

F. Squat Max: 305lbs

Pull-up Max: 12

Vertical Jump: 29inch

John

5’10” 195lbs

F. Squat Max: 365lbs

Pull-up Max: 19

Vertical Jump: 29.5inch

Case Study!

Troy

84-88 MPH

Liam

89-93 MPH

John

80-84 MPH

The X-FactorsMechanics

Mental ToughnessWe improve mental toughness through

conditioning, team-building activities, creating habits, and constantly push our athletes outside their comfort zones.

Questions?Comments?