HI everyone, I’ve officially become Fastpitch Power’s Instagram guru! The other day, I was exploring Instagram and came across the official account for the Tennessee Lady Vols Softball team, one of the top colleges for softball in the nation. I was happy to see some pictures of their girls in the gym! Check out some of the photos below!
Read MoreThis week I’m forwarding you to an absolutely awesome article. To be completely transparent, I know who “holds the deck” when it comes to youth athletic development: college coaches. So, when a group of coaches publicly sound off on what they look for in prospective student-athletes, I think it’s fair you might want to take a look.
Read MoreIn this week’s video, I review a new research study whose authors examined the relationship between performance in core stability exercises and shoulder dysfunction in collegiate overhead athletes. In this video, I summarize and clarify the important take-away messages from the results of this study and hope to show trainers how to read research a little more carefully in order not to jump to one way conclusions.
Read MoreA real issue many athletes face during the season is playing through pain or with minor injuries. In this video, I demonstrate an exercise routine for athletes (and parents) with back pain. At best, it addresses specific issues that could be contributing to your pain. At least, it is a total body workout you can do at home or at the gym to stay active and fit in case you need to take time off from softball.
Read MoreWhen I moved to Westchester, New York in 2009, I thought youth “sport specialization” was an issue exclusive to affluent communities where parents could afford the travel and private “tutoring” of athletes. Either I was wrong, or this problem has incomprehensibly metastasized across the country since. This week, I’m forwarding you to a must-read article on this subject and its hard, cold consequences for adolescents.
Read MoreThis week, I continue my theme of in-season exercise ideas for softball players and teams. In this video, I explain and demonstrate a routine of exercises to warm up the shoulder properly before practices, games, and pitching lessons. More important than the exercises is the message of this video: begin to install more stability or strengthening exercises into your warm ups in lieu of half-focused jogging and “stretching”.
Read MoreThis week I’m sharing an article from U.S. News regarding the benefits of lifting weights for females. Honestly, I know this is a softball training site and I try my best to tailor my advice to the goals of a softball player. However, I haven’t emphasized enough that strength training is not just for young athletes; it’s a cornerstone for a fit, healthy body.
Read MoreAs a follow up to last week’s in-season team conditioning video, here is an in-season softball team strength training workout. This workout is space efficient, time efficient, and requires two pieces of equipment, your body and a Cook Band.
Read MoreLast week when I answered reader CC’s question I promised I’d talk more about training young athletes and the Long Term Athlete Development Model. Following is an article I recently had published in the Performance Conditioning newsletter for baseball and softball. The information is indispensable for any parent of a young athlete!
Read MoreIn this week’s video, I demonstrate a body weight conditioning circuit that you can install after your preseason or in-season practices. This circuit is easy to coach, will increase or maintain your athletes’ fitness but will not leave your athletes too sore or stiff the next day.
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