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I hit and threw today with Jacob at Arena Sports, where we got about an hour’s worth of work in. We focused mainly on dead-arm soft toss for hitting and threw from the mound a bit after working with the wrist weights. Both Jacob and I noticed better spin axes on our pitches after working with Marshall’s plans, but we both lost consistency with our breaking pitches (his curve, my gyroball). That being said, Jacob’s slider is getting much, much better - he is getting excellent tilt and depth to it, and he threw his best one ever (in my opinion) today. Great lateral break and excellent depth.

After incorporating some of Marshall’s theories on pitching (pendulum swing, loaded slingshot position), I have noticed an increase in velocity when throwing from the traditional motion. I have started to combine the theories of Mills and Marshall to increase the stretch reflex in my lower half while simultaneously driving the ball with early supination and late pronation. The results feel good right now, I will say that much, but I need to start doing more push-ups and conditioning of my arm to maintain shoulder integrity throughout the season. My lightweight SPRI bands were chewed up by my cats, and I’m stuck with only a heavy band. What I need is multiple reps with light weights and varying degrees of resistance to build endurance in my arm.

One thing I am working very hard on to improve my control is the combination of pointing the acromial line (shoulder plane) towards the target and getting the feeling of “sprinting” down the mound; both of these cues are Marshall-esque in nature.

As for hitting, I am crushing soft toss but having a few problems with overhand toss at lower speeds (60 mph). My timing is poor; my front foot is blocking late and as a result, I’m letting outside strikes go by and getting jammed inside unnecessarily. It’s time to hit the video and watch Yeager’s DVDs again to help fix that problem!

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Jacob wrote an excellent post on how he trains in the offseason, and it inspired me to write one of my own. Jacob and I went to the American Baseball Institute held at Rijo Athletics in Woodinville, WA, to get information on training with them and to see their pitchers throw. What I saw was an unbelievable talent level - pitchers throwing 92+ using Dr. Mike Marshall’s techniques with plus to plus-plus breaking balls by any measure of analysis. Unfortunately, due to both the cost and the time commitment, Jacob cannot participate in the program. I have opted not to continue practicing with them after a single session; this decision was made because the level of training their pitchers go through is not something I can sustain at my current fitness level. Their facility trains real MLB-level players, and the difficulty of training matches that philosophy.

For the next two months, I will be adjusting my diet to one that embraces both high-protein and low-calorie components to it.

My training has changed largely due to my experiences at ABI; in utilizing both the hybridized and the regular Marshall pitching mechanics, I find myself able to throw on a daily basis with no arm/shoulder pain. I experience soreness as I would when I lift weights, but not the type of ache where it would be physically damaging if I were to throw pitches at my maximum velocity. Marshall’s mechanics have enabled me to throw two quality breaking balls (pronation slider, gyroball) and when I am getting my arm up to driveline height early and translating my forward momentum well, my control is very good. Since this is all new to me, I am still working out the kinks, but I strongly believe in what Marshall teaches.

Working out for me is something that I do enjoy to do, but the results aren’t there because of my less than ideal diet. I have started eating a lot of skinless chicken (prepared in various ways), baked potatoes (not that great for you, but not terrible), and clean sources of protein and complex carbohydrates. On a daily basis, I will do the following:

• Utilize 8 lb. wrist weights to perform various arm/shoulder exercises (wrong foot drill, external rotation drill) as well as just getting loose
• Throw 30-50 pitches into a net, mainly fastballs
• Various bodyweight exercises (sit-ups, push-ups, dips) and static stretching
• Various SPRI band exercises (though not as extensive as Jacob!) involving my shoulders and arms

I need to get back into a better rhythm when it comes to compound lifts, and I am shooting for a 3 day/week program that focuses heavily on deadlifts, squats, and cable cross exercises. I will also work harder on running 2 miles every other day, as well as adding sprints and plyometrics into my workout regimen (which I hate).

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are baseball-oriented workouts with some combination of Jacob, Jensen, and Vinny at Arena Sports, Strike-Zone, or, preferably, outdoors. We typically focus on soft toss and 45-foot overhand batting practice, as well as throwing full bullpens for Jacob and I. These are my favorite days of the week! If I can find the time, I will try to add in another day of hitting machine BP at Strike-Zone just to work on my swing and to see more fastballs.

My supplements that I will be taking on a daily basis are ErgoLean’s AMP (fat loss), a standard multi-vitamin with BCAAs, a Optimum Nutrition protein shake, and possibly Creatine Monohydrate.

I am entering the 2008 PSSBL draft and my goal is to be drafted as a relief pitcher and an infielder in the Adams division (intermediate), playing alongside with my Rocky division Mariners. I haven’t yet decided if I want to exclude myself from the Olympic division, but it’s unlikely that I would be chosen to play at the top levels regardless.

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Pitchers and catchers are to report to their major league camps in a few weeks, but most of us amateur ballplayers don’t have nearly the time, resources or work ethic to train like professionals do. Going to the ABI with Kyle the other week really drove that point home. The ABI training was in a very professional manner, with a very professional price… both in time and money. Understanding this is easy; it takes absolutes of time, effort and resolve to change yourself into a MLB prospect. The whole thing made me want to be 21 and fresh off the bus to Seattle… but I’m neither. So my focus during the visit was to soak up as many drills and as much culture as I could during those few hours. It has definitely affected the way Kyle and I work out, and now that I’ve received my official release from the Red Sox (by my request) I have tryouts to train for.

I really like some of the pitching philosophies we heard about at ABI, though I think it’s disappointing that the ‘philosopher’ himself, Dr. Mike Marshall, carries such a negative stigma. But hey, I’ve been a black sheep myself my whole life and never doubted the validity of my thought and ideas, so we have some common ground. Aside from being completely single minded, compulsive and utterly confident, I think ‘Doc’ has some good things to add to the game. What Dr. Marshall has failed to embrace is that baseball is about results and relationships. This former Cy Young winner seems to be solely focused on the former with little regard to the latter. Some folks are scientists, others are diplomats. Very rarely are they both.

So unless an earth shattering blog-for-training agreement is reached between myself and ABI, I won’t be training there. I will however be using some of the tech I learned there in my preparation for this season. Don’t get me wrong I would love to train there, but the specific time of the workouts is impossible for me to accommodate without giving up my career. The cost was also too high monetarily for myself, but if the goal was a pro baseball contract it could seem reasonable. So I’ve had to come up with an adaptive solution, an extension of the realizations that I’ve been coming to on how to prepare for my season.

From throwing a curveball to learning how to run a successful business I’ve always been the kind of person who needs to be able visually see something in order to retain it. Therefore my low-tech approach to training is based on of some calendars printed off of my Imac. I’ve developed a little system of notation that becomes bigger as I progress through the months before tryouts and become more active. An ‘X’ through the date marks a day on which I stretched out really well, it’s the baseline for all workouts. An ‘O’ around it means nothing was done at all that day. Workout sets are usually denoted with two letters and a number, indicating the exercise and the intensity. For example, ‘BP1′ means ‘bullpen 1′ or 25-30 pitches to location after a thorough warm-up. December 2007 was a very light month for me workout wise, I was going to physical therapy for shoulder tendinitis and working a freakishly busy retail job 50 hours a week (with split weekends). I stretched only 9 of 31 days, and only averaged 1.5 workouts per week. Pretty tame.

Tame, yes… but a baseline nonetheless. This month has been much better, I’ll post it after we’re into February. Writing this all down has definitely provided feedback on how hard I actually work, and it has given me a incremental way to better myself.

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I threw a partial side session on Sunday, as I’m gearing up for the 2008 season. I feel as though I’ve gained a few mph on my pitches (and the location is getting better), but after reviewing the video, my biggest flaw is still there (albeit less seriously as before, it is still present). At footstrike on a fastball release, my glove arm is tightening up (good) but before my hips rotate (very bad). Since my torso more or less rotates with my legs, this is robbing me of significant velocity and will only increase the load on my shoulder/arm. This is something I have finally identified as my major flaw, and I think I know how to fix it.

See on the left how Lincecum extends his glove arm away from his body? This helps to keep his shoulder closed at footstrike and achieve a powerful position:

I would like to get a picture of me up there, but for some reason I can’t Print Screen from Windows Media Player, even when I turn hardware acceleration off. I’ll figure it out soon.

Tomorrow Jacob and I are going to the American Baseball Institute at 9 AM to get some work in, tour the facility, meet the coaches, and check out some prospects who are getting evaluated by Cubs and Phillies scouts. Should be a good time!

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