Implementing High Level Techniques into a Low Budget Program
With this blog article, I wanted to take a step back and discuss some of the tools we use at Liberty Christian Academy to develop our players. Despite being such a successful program in the past few years we are a private school with a low level budget. We are thankful for the blessings we have been given, and for the up keep facilities and the ability to have our own field in general, but despite this we definitely do not have the biggest budget in the area.
With that said, I am a true believer in using high level techniques despite having a small amount of resources. Before I dive into more detail, I would like to first discuss my background coaching and playing. Growing up in Michigan, playing baseball was a challenge in the off season. Weather permitting we may have been able to get outside and train 2 or 3 days out of the entire winter. Needless to say creativity definitely was needed to train effectively. Growing up I specifically remember throwing into an old mattress in my basement during the winter and using my garage as my head training center. I truly believe some of this do it yourself intuiting passed along into my coaching career. My high school coach, also shared some of this exact same intuition. I specifically remember him sneaking us in the elementary school gym to get our throwing in and building his own indoor mounds, turf bullpens etc. Point is in order to have a thriving program based around player development, there needs to be a drive to improve and make things better. This can be from the facilities to actual training methods.
Here at LCA we have had a tough winter. This has caused us to move our practices inside in an old training facility which barely has any heat. (wouldn’t have it any other way!) Despite this it has been my best efforts to impact the culture of our program. I am going to outline a few issues we have encountered and techniques we have been using to help develop players.
Issue #1 Not enough cages
Throughout the winter we have been kept inside. This means we have only two cages to work with on a daily basis among our 30 some players in our program. In order for players to develop they need quality swings with personal instruction. This can be tough especially since we only have 4 coaches. One of which (Being myself) spends the majority of time developing the pitchers. Because of this I am a big fan of taking short focused rounds. There is never a time where a guy will take 20 swings in one game. In my opinion there isn’t much benefit in just hacking away aimlessly at a 40 mph pitch. Instead we like to have a teaching session of the day and a focus drill of the day. This could be from guys focusing on their upper half and the turn into the swing using things such as PVC pipes or heavy bats. Also we have tee work on the sides using the backspin tees. Instead of just standing in a line chatting away waiting for the next round, our guys are always doing something. Another thing I like to do with the guys is BP at bats. This literally consists of giving them a game situation and me trying to strike them out. I may yell out something like runner on 3rd no outs get a ball out of the infield. This creates a competitive environment, gives them a focus, and makes them want to crush “washed up coach Mike.” While we do each at bat the others are focused on the situation and zoned in like a game. It is a great way to keep guys engaged in practice. The other thing we aim to do, is focused live at bats among our own team. This creates a competitive environment during the cage work and forces guys to compete. We keep score, count balls and strikes, and constantly challenge players to improve.
Issue #2 Throwing inside due to weather
This is a huge issue for pitchers of all ages. When there's snow on the ground and it is cold outside how do we get our throwing in? I always tell my high school players to find a way and be creative when they aren't with me at the facility. Even if the only throwing they do is to a mattress in their basement at least it's something. The biggest problem we face with today’s player is the lack of will to improve and compete. The truth is that kids would rather stay inside and play fortnight than go train to be a better baseball player. This is why as coaches we must inspire our players to compete and encourage them to train like competitive beasts. We can’t always yell at them every time they miss a training session or miss a workout. In my opinion that doesn’t work anymore with today’s player. Instead we need to be building relationships and challenging them to set goals and improve. This gives them the mindset of I need to get off the couch and do towel drills in the garage or I need to get up and do my arm care in the basement. It becomes a challenge more than a chore.
Specifically some of the things we do in the inside facility include things such as long tossing into the cage, plyoball work, towel drills, med ball work. I am a huge fan of using weighted baseballs to simulate long toss. We start with a heavy ball and slowly degrees to a baseball. This allows the shoulder to easily move into a greater range of motion simulating throwing on an arch. We do this into the side of the net until they build up to a max with a baseball. From their we progress into either their mound work or flat ground work for the day.
As I have discussed before we use lower level methods to create a pitching tunnel. This can be setting up screens to create a box or putting tees up in front of their face. This is to channel their focus on a specific target and task.
Utilizing nets, cages, and box screens can be a huge advantage. While one guy is on the mound, I put other guys on plyo balls, their throwing drills/towel work, or have them do pitch design drills with a bucket of balls and a net. Then when one guys is done on the mound they rotate. This allows me to get one on one instruction with each player while still being productive and efficient.
Issue #4 Low budget for arm care and training
For our program I use a variety of low budget tools. I stress any high school coaching staff to take advantage of what I like to call “baseball hacks,” these are tools for your program which mimic more expensive products. I have listed some examples below:
Arm Care
5 ft ½' PVC
- *$ 2.20 as compared to similar products which go for about $100
- * To add weight glue tennis balls to each side
5 lb, 7 lb, 10 lb Wrist Weights
- *Price: $12, $15, $20
Plyo balls
- *Set is usually around $60 depending on the brand.
Dumbbells
Medicine balls
Bands
- *We use Jaeger bands which are a name brand, but there are plenty of inexpensive options out on the market. Jaeger bands usually go for about $30 ea but, not a necessity.
Recovery
PVC foam rollers
- PVC can be used as a foam roller
Tennis balls & Lacrosse Balls
- Old lacrosse balls and tennis balls are great tools for working out sore muscles and working on soft tissue quality.
Wooden Spoon + Lotion/Cocoa Butter
- This is a great replacement for Graston Tools
- Graston Tools go up to $200, a wooden spoon and lotion is about $5
- Please do not perform graston technique without proper background/research/training
Car Buffer
- Can be used instead of a Thera-gun. Goes for around $30 in comparison to a thera gun which are close to $500
Performance tools
Towel, Golf Ball, Rubber Band
- This creates a great towel drill tool. This can be made for less than a dollar and is a great tool for helping young pitchers. Comparable products range from $20-$100.
Mirrors
PVC Piping
Hockey Pucks
Phone Cameras
String/Yarn
Use in bullpen to create strike zone
Charts & Spreadsheets
Issue #5 Need to keep up despite low level tech
Data is what is controlling the game in today’s world. People are so concerned about launch angle, Exit Velocity, Spin Rate, and a variety of other new statistics. With that said, not implementing techniques to work on these areas will leave our players behind. Despite not having access to expensive technology such as a flight-scope, rapsodo or track man. We still can effectively gather data from what we can measure. I suggest keeping charts on everything. This could be from strike to ball ratio in a bullpen. To quality at bats in the cage. This gives players feedback on how they are practicing and performing. Along with this we can put athletes in certain constraints which make them work on things such as applying spin to the ball and working on the overall shape of the pitch. A low level thing we do to track pitches is the use of our Phones slow motion camera. Although it is not ideal and as high resolution as we probably would like, it does the job for what we are trying to accomplish. We set up cameras behind the pitcher to catch ball release and track rotation. Also use Phones for video analysis. Another tool I plan to use is to draw lines down the center of the baseball and then film from behind the mound.
We also use nets which have targets instead of throwing to a catcher. This is time efficient and also forces the pitcher to actively work on throwing to a specific location. As far as hitting other tools which can be used is setting up nets in front of home plate of encourage lifting the ball. Also I have seen many programs incorporate angled BP to work on hitting the ball in different locations.
Conclusions
Bottom line as a new coach, it takes a little bit of creativity and problem solving skills in order to maximize training time. Often at the high school level practice times are regulated and often there isn’t much time to try new techniques. It is my encouragement to any player or coach to try and do some research on what is the latest in player development and try to adapt accordingly. Baseball will continue to evolve whether we like it or not. Effective programs will do everything in their power to keep up! These are just a few ideas which can easily be implemented into any program.
Author,
Michael Stafford
2/13/2019