Minnesota Blizzard Baseball

Day one complete...after two flights, getting the rental car and finding out everybody in Major League Baseball was traded for each other, I made it out to the Texas Baseball Ranch. Tonight was the bonus night, as we got to see what is currently going on at the Ranch. Coach Wolforth gave an overview of the weekend, including a preview of his discussion topic for tomorrow. It centered on the shift to more individualized training programs and the assessments they use to categorize what players need.

The most interesting topic to me was Flint Wallace's presentation on training command in pitchers.  It can be applied to position players as well, all the drills force players to organize and sequence their movement patterns to make adjustments. It has the chance to revolutionize how we train that particular skill in our Elite Pitching Program and individual lessons.

Randy Sullivan, owner of the ARMory pitching and PT clinic, discussed new developments in their deceleration training methods. It could be a game changer in preventing injuries and aiding recovery. The MN Blizzard and MN Baseball Academy will be able to bring you these new and innovative methods in the coming months. Check back tomorrow for more!

If a lot of information came out of day one at the ranch, it was nothing compared to today. Coach Wolforth kicked off the day with belief in a paradigm shift to hyper-personalized training regimens.  It makes a lot of sense in that all players have different constraints and needs.  He also showed an efficient method for diagnosing those constraints and getting players into the programs they need. Some need a more strength based approach, others more mobility, etc. 

Next up was coach Bob Greco, who guided his Oklahoma high school teams to back-to-back state titles and was named the ABCA coach of the year for 2014. He spoke on leadership and the importance of coaching yourself first. He has had successful teams for many years, but made some changes in himself that has led to a better demeanor for him and more success for his program. Interesting note from his presentation was that both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett had the same answer to this question, "if you could have one super power, what would it be?" They both answered...the ability to read super fast. They always want to learn more, gain more knowledge and be able to apply that knowledge. We owe it to our players and ourselves to strive to always learn more.

Randy Sullivan continued his discussion from yesterday on deceleration patterns and how they relate to injury.  It was am informative talk on how various muscle systems work together and how we can reduce potential contributors to injury.

Flint Wallace gave a great presentation on incorporating the lower half into the pitching delivery.  It's something the majority of pitchers out there can get better at. He provided some drills and concepts that will help all of our pitchers in this respect. It was interesting to see that we are already doing some of these concepts, particularly blending, but can now implement it in a more efficient way.

The talk of the day however belonged to Frans Bosch, on how the body learns movement patterns (mechanics) and the role coaches play. I think you'll be hearing some new terminology around the Academy, such as "self-organization",and see some new methods of training that will promote long-term retention.  It was interesting to see two different teaching methods and how they impact on-field performance (which is ultimately what everybody seeks to master).

Today continued the string of informative and entertaining presenters, starting with Perry Husband. Husband is know on as the inventor of Effective Velocity, a pitching theory centered around the hitter's change in reaction time based on the location of the ball in and around the stike zone. That is an incredibly simplified description, as I cannot do it justice in this space. Suffice it to say, it quantifies some old adages about pitching and debunks others. One of the big takeaways was the theory of tunneling...it takes repetion of release point to a whole new level. Combining this with our new high-speed cameras will help pitchers learn to disguise pitches better than ever before.

Next up was Trevor Bauer on recovery and its importance to him throughout a 162-game season.  It was interesting to see the various modes of recovery he uses and how they keep him fresh. In the off-season recovery is a big deal for him, as it allows him to go harder in his training and get in more all-out days. The extra all-out days help him make larger gains and/maintain what he was already doing well.

Andy McKay, director of peak performance for the Colorado Rockies, kicked things off after lunch. His talk centered on three things...designing and revising processes, the importance of teamwork, and the need to create challenging practices. There was a lot to take away from him, again more than can be covered here. The biggest one for me is the idea that in times of stress we don't rise to the occassion, but sink to the level of our training. Our practices therefore need to be game-like, but more challenging than the games themselves. I have lots of practice ideas when combining Andy's thoughts with those of Dr. Bosch yesterday.

Retired Army Colonel J Craig Flowers gave a presentation on a new App called APTUS that can provide some real value to college programs. It helps bridge the gap in how we teach players that are growing up in the smartphone/iPad/snapchat world. The app puts players through a series of tests (set up like games) and shows how players best receive and process information. Some players need only be told what to do and are able to go do it, while others need the "why" behind everything. Very interesting stuff.

the final talk of the night came from Trevor Bauer and Barry Zito and their off-season training methods. It was enlightening, as they spoke about what kind training environment has best led them towards the goals they want to achieve. It was great to see that the environments they wanted were along the same philosophies we build around at MN BB Academy. This included a Q & A with both and one thing that stuck out was Zito saying "focus on excellence and success will find you". It tied back in with Andy McKay's presentation in regards to being process focused vs results focused. 

The final day of the Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp brought with three more presentations full of knowledge. Washington State University pitching coach Gregg Swenson spoke on the daily implementation of the mental game. He provided some excellent strategies on goal setting and mental preparation during practice.

Houston Astros pitching coach Brent Strom provided his thoughts on what he learned and what's needed for pitchers to have success at the big league level.  He provided some excellent strategies on developing off-speed pitches.  

Coach Wolforth finished the weekend by showing some of the "best practices" currently in place at the Ranch. It included examples of warm-up routines and daily schedules. There was a lot to take away from the week end, and I look forward to putting together a plan to implement the parts that best fit our program. It will allow us to continue to provide you with the best pitching development in MN.