Effect of Groin (adductor) Tightness in Baseball Players

If you have ever played baseball, or really any rotational sport, you have experienced some type of groin pain. You have probably had tightness, you may have felt pulls, and you have lost time within your craft because of it.  What most don’t know are the actual causes for the issues, the impact it has elsewhere in your body, and easy ways to relieve nagging groin issues. That’s where this article comes in!

Should Baseball Players Bench?

The classic question of whether or not baseball players should bench; I hear this question at least twice a week. My answer: yes and no.  The answer is neither yes or no because there are a lot of people in this world (baseball, overhead athlete, non sport athletes…) that honestly shouldn’t bench. Why? because they don’t know to bench PROPERLY. I will go out on a limb and say anyone that doesn’t know how to bench shouldn’t bench, and anyone that knows how to bench properly should. Follow along as I lay to rest all the claims made against baseball players and benching. 

San Diego Baseball Performance and DNS

San Diego baseball is dominant. As a strength coach that works with baseball players that play year round, and at a high level, I must be able to keep my players healthy. That means it is mandatory for my baseball players to maintain proper movement and joint “centration” (joint position allowing maximal transfer of forces and efficient of movement). I can watch most pitchers and baseball players on the diamond, and pretty accurately diagnose where they are suffering pain. It has actually become a game with new clients. Knowing more detail about their pain than they tell me, and 99% of the time being right. What’s cooler than that is being able to eliminate the pain during movement sometimes instantly. It’s not magic; it’s Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS).

How to improve shoulder Function

This is a fairly typical coversation I have with random athletes in passing:

Me: “How Is your shoulder feeling?”

Random athlete: “Ah not that good, I haven’t been doing my foam rolling and stretches.”

Me: Insert shocked face/are you kidding me face here.

How to Address Your training During Finals

This article is aimed to all the high school athletes and coaches out there…

Over the past two weeks, all of my athletes have been preparing and stressing over finals. Finals means one thing: stress. Stress is something that needs to be factored into preparing an exercise program. If you think stress doesn’t actually impact your performance, then check out this story.

Off season baseball/softball training in San Diego has just begun at 1RM Performance. So far, there is a trend of movement issues and injuries that are showing in the bodies of my younger athletes. Non dominant hips are much “tighter” then the hips on the dominant side. The tightness in the hips presents itself as “tight” hamstrings and “tight” hip flexors*. The imbalance between the two sides has also lead to structural changes in the athletes hips, which could be the cause for the increase in minor hamstring and hip flexor strains that parents have reported during their teams season. If this sounds like you or your child, sit back, and take a ride on the education highway!

*Why the quotation on tightness? Read: Quick Strength and Conditioning Lessons to discover more.

Training With Weighted Balls to Improve Throwing Velocity

Weighted balls will improve your throwing velocity. Whether you are a pitcher, infielder, or outfielder, having an extra mph behind each throw will improve your game. A great way to improve throwing velocity is through the use of over and underweight balls. To some, this sounds like a controversial topic since we’ve all heard mixed reviews on over and underweight ball use. I can only hope to dispel those myths by the end of this article, and show you how over and underweight balls are a great way to get a few more mph every time you let the ball fly.