Strength in Numbers #157 In Major League Baseball (MLB), the pursuit of increased pitching velocity has been a major focus for both players and coaches. However, recent research suggests that velocity alone is a poor predictor of Tommy John Surgery (TJS), a common procedure for pitchers involving ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction. Instead, the primary…

Strength in Numbers #156 I am not going to lie; I am all about companies pushing the boundaries of throwing high octane, especially with a concentrated effort on command and control.  However, what is giving velocity enhancement a bad name is the lack of evaluation.    For example, this athlete below has met the minimum cut…

Strength in Numbers #155 It's about 2 pm, and I am in my office, getting an email that turned my stomach.  A dedicated father with a serious pedigree in baseball and two talented sons reached out to me as his 10-year-old had what he believed was an extreme case of Little Leaguer's elbow.  I had…

Strength in Numbers #154 A very strange thing happened this past weekend.  I went to Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanview, California, to meet with the National Pitching Association, as they were hosting a specialized NPA event for their affiliated coaches.   While there, I caught the tail end of Tom House's discussion of deadlifting and…

Strength in Numbers #153 The "White Whale", as he called it.  I will never forget my former GM, Billy Eppler, standing in front of a room with a whiteboard, mapping out a strategy to maximize performance and minimize injury in front of the Angels leadership.  The "White Whale" was his euphonism for a huge competitive…

Strength in Numbers #152 In the world of baseball, velocity is a coveted attribute for pitchers. The bottom line is throwing hard, swinging and missing, and sustaining velocity matters.  Achieving higher throwing speeds often translates into greater performance and competitiveness on the field. One athlete who has successfully increased his velocity did so by enhancing…