By Jonathan Massey –
This is far and above my favorite time of the year. Not only do we get out of the unbearable summer heat, but fall is the time of year that we can truly get after it. Here are five tips to help you make the most of your fall.
- It Starts With A Goal
These next four to six months are some of the most crucial months of the year. Why? Because, as they say, “Gains are made in the off-season.” Any time you try to change your movement pattern or enhance velocity, command, or swing-and-miss stuff, there is a short-term risk. You change your movement pattern, which throws off your timing, and therefore, your command suffers. You push to gain some velocity, and your arm becomes more fatigued or sorer than expected. This isn’t a big deal during the off-season, as there is no pressing need to constantly perform at our best. However, this can be detrimental in season, as we expect to go out and perform at our best each time. That is why utilizing the off-season is incredibly important. The problem is that most people don’t really know what they want. So often, I’ll get the response, “I just want to get better,” when I ask a young man what their goal is this off-season. That is simply way too vague. I’m not saying you can’t work on multiple things, but there needs to be a hierarchy. What’s your #1 goal? If it’s to gain five mph, great! Our workouts will center around that. If it’s to reduce arm pain, great! We’ll center our workouts around that. So, the first step to having a productive off-season is to have a very specific goal. If you need help identifying this, just think to yourself, “If I only accomplish one thing this off-season, what would it be?”. The answer to this question will probably be your #1 goal.
- Make A Plan
A goal without a plan is just a wish. Failure to plan is a plan for failure. If your goal is to gain five mph this off-season, that’s great! However, it doesn’t mean you are ready to jump straight into a velocity enhancement program. What’s your arm pain like? What’s your ramp-up like? Are there any red flags in your delivery that would put you at unnecessary risk of getting hurt? Another question you should ask is, “Am I working on a plan specifically tailored to me? Or is this just a generic, one-size-fits-all plan?”. If you really want to maximize your off-season, you need a plan that is tailored to your specific needs.
- Consistency Over Intensity
The mistake I see time and time again is that people think that one to two really intense throwing days are going to be enough. The truth of the matter is that throwing one to two times a week is never going to be enough to really change a movement pattern. The most challenging motor learning skill you ever had to master was one you had done before you could even talk. Learning to walk is far and above the most difficult motor learning skill we’ve ever had to learn… And we didn’t learn it by practicing once or twice a week. Now, I agree entirely that you cannot push yourself to your limit every single day and expect to stay healthy. The key is to cycle your workload between light, medium, and heavy days of throwing. The consistency of working your movement every day is what will lead to significant improvements.
- Create A Schedule
I can’t even begin to express how important it is to sit down once a week and schedule your throwing. So often, I see kids just fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to scheduling their throwing. They wake up and think, “I’ll make today a heavy day,” only to find out they don’t have the time or resources to make it a heavy day. Scheduling your throwing also forces you to keep a bird’s eye view of your week and make sure you are cycling workloads. I once had a kid email saying that he was experiencing significant arm pain. The cause… A poor cycle. Without realizing it, he was getting in three heavy days over a five-day period. I would urge you to sit down once a week and schedule your throwing. It doesn’t have to be overly complex. Figure out which two days you can do a heavy day on. The following days will be light, and every other day you throw will be medium days. It really can be (and is) that simple!
- The Law of Diminishing Returns
What is the Law of Diminishing Returns? To put it in layman’s terms, the Law of Diminishing Returns is after a certain point, each additional unit of input results in a smaller increase in output. At some point, the more you put in, the less you will get out. I see this mistake made all the time in young men, and to be fair, I made this mistake when I was playing, too. We always tend to gravitate to the things that we do well. If we’re strong, we like to lift weights. If we’re good at working on our mechanics, we like to do drills. Etc. Etc. Coach Wolforth says this all the time, “You only have to be enough: strong enough, mobile enough, mechanically efficient enough.” We all have low-hanging fruit that we can chase that will significantly impact our ability. The problem is that, for most of us, it is often the thing we dislike the most. To be clear, I’m not saying if you’re strong, you shouldn’t work on getting stronger, or if you are mechanically efficient, you shouldn’t work on your movement pattern. What I am saying is, if you are spending more time working on increasing your squat from 405 lbs. to 450 lbs. than you are on eliminating your ten mobility constraints… We have a problem.
The off-season is short, so we need to maximize it. Implementing these five tips will ensure a very productive off-season.
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Important TBR Updates
- Our Fall/Winter Elite Pitchers Bootcamps are filling up fast. Get your spot now for one of the upcoming dates! Please CLICK HERE to learn more and secure your spot.
Dates include:
Nov. 23-25 (SOLD OUT – Call to be placed on waitlist)
Dec. 28-30
Jan. 18-20 (MLK weekend)
Feb. 15-17 (President’s Day weekend)
- Calling all CATCHERS – You’re invited to join us for our 6th Annual Elite Catchers Bootcamp Dec. 6-8 (ages 13 & up). For more information and to register go to www.TexasBaseballRanch.com/
catcher. “Early Bird” $500 registration savings ends October 31st.
- ATTENTION Ranch Alumni: Only a few spots remain for the January Advanced/Alumni camp. To register CLICK HERE. For more information go to https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/alumni-pitchers-bootcamp/.
- Registration is full for our October training classes but you can secure a spot for November. If you’re a local athlete and looking to make an impact for your team this Spring, this is your edge. For more information, call (936) 588-6762 or email AnnaDugger@TexasBaseballRanch. Space is limited!
- NEW VIDEO on our YouTube Channel: “From Good to Great: How the Posterior Chain Can Transform Your Pitching Game (Pt 1) ”. Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHobqqlS0Q and share your opinion in the comments.
