Author: Sam Cumbo
One of the greatest rewards that we get to see working with athletes is increased movement quality as we get to the season. This is because it is usually followed by increases in throwing velocity, exit velocity, as well as other factors like ability to get on plane with a pitch, or repeatability of your mechanics. Unfortunately though, these are not permanent changes to the body. Your body constantly reacts to the stimuli that it is faced with and will always change accordingly.
This is why it is CRITICAL to take care of your movement quality throughout the season. You don’t want to lose hip internal rotation for example, then adapt your mechanics to this new loss of range of motion, and create mechanical change and/or difficulty throughout the season because of it. Range of motion in various areas of your body can be a HUGE factor for why you swing and/or throw the way you do. Losing range of motion will therefore have a substantial impact on your swing and/or throwing.
Hips able to rotate through internal rotation
Hips losing space due to lack of internal rotation
Getting a Baseline is Crucial to Identifying Changes Throughout the Season
You have to know where you started to know if you have regressed at all and monitor it throughout the season. One of the key pieces to our evaluation process here that we utilize at Hot Corner is OnBaseU. OnBaseU helps us understand what baseball specific limitations an athlete may have in regards to range of motion and/or motor control. We use this information to individualize the training process, ensure athletes don’t have movement restrictions causing challenges on the field, but also to learn about how an athlete’s body responds to different things, such as not training during the season.
Below you will see an example OnBaseU evaluation that we performed on an athlete on Day 1 in the facility, followed by an evaluation in the middle of his off-season training, followed lastly by an evaluation after the Spring season ended.
By monitoring this athletes progress we were able to accomplish two things:
- Create an understanding within the athlete of how important staying on top of his movement was
- Take the necessary steps to regain motion that is impacting him negatively
The 3 Keys to maintaining range of motion
while in-season
#1 – Stay on Top of Movement Prep
- Your warm-up is the best time to get your mobility work. We find that 5-10 exercises directed towards your movement restrictions is enough to get warm, but ALSO plays a huge role in retaining your movement.
#2 – Train 2-3x per Week
- Training doesn’t have to be 60-90min. Shorter training sessions that you are able to work around your session can have a huge impact on your movement quality, as well as your strength and power over the course of a season.
#3 – Execute Movements Well
- By executing movements really well such as a yoga push-up you are able to work on your strength and movement quality simultaneously. You will be able to keep your upward rotation of your shoulder blade (key for throwers) while maintaining/building strength.
By following these 3 keys to keeping your range of motion, you will be putting yourself in a position to perform all season long. You will be taking your health into your own hands. You will be setting yourself up for a fall of development that you can jump right into and skip the tedious process of fixing any lingering issues that you develop due to not taking care of yourself in-season.
Put your body first and it will pay off in dividends.