By Jonathan Massey –
Are you a member of the “it” crowd? I’m not talking about being one of the popular kids at school. I’m talking about the portion of the baseball training community that believes that if they can do this ONE thing, their career is going to take off.
How do you know if you’re a member of the “it” crowd?
You’ll often hear or say phrases like this:
- Mass equals gas. If I just put on 20 lbs., I’ll throw harder.
- Once I get my mechanics down, I’m going to take off.
- My flexibility or mobility is keeping me from doing “X” and once I get that solved, it’s over.
There are many other phrases, but I think you get the idea. How do I know all of these? Because I used to be a member of the “it” crowd. I’ve written many times about how it took me 8 years to break through the 90mph barrier. Most people think, “Wow… that’s some incredible perseverance”.
Don’t get me wrong, I did have to overcome a lot. But I think a lot of the obstacles I had to overcome later in my life were due to the fact that, early on, I felt like if I could just get my mechanics right, I would take off. I had always shied away from the radar gun because I wasn’t a hard thrower. I loved working on my mechanics because I could hide there. I would tell myself that the key to throwing 90 was a little more hip and shoulder separation.
Are there guys who could benefit from a hyper-personalized strength plan? Absolutely! Are there guys who need to spend more time working on mobility and flexibility? Absolutely! And yes, many guys could benefit from becoming more mechanically efficient, but the vast majority of players need a combination of all of it.
At the Ranch, we call it “massive simultaneous action”. If you get 5% stronger, 5% more mobile/flexible, and 5% more mechanically efficient over the course of a year, you didn’t just become 5% better; it compounds on itself, and you actually get 15% better.
Don’t fall into the same trap that I did and believe that if you can just figure out the “one thing”, then your career is going to take off. It takes a little bit of everything.
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