Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: A Case Study
In August of 2015,Brandon D., a 15 year old left handed pitcher, came to a Rocket Launchers Training Camp all the way from Queens, NY . According to his father, Brandon had already seen 4 different orthopedists for recurring, debilitating left biceps pain. He had struggled with it for over a year and had been shut down from throwing for 6 weeks on two separate occasions. Per his report, after throwing 1-2 innings, he would notice a distinct loss of velocity, and he would experience gnawing,...
Watch Out for Tiger Country: 97 mph Pitcher… Massive Shoulder Blowout
Last week I scrubbed in to surgery with Tampa Bay Rays Team doctor, Koco Eaton to observe one of the most amazing surgical performances I have ever seen. The patient was a college pitcher named Zach. He is a former JUCO guy from Arizona who had previously topped out at 97 mph and currently has a scholarship to a division 1 school.
I first met Zach about 2 weeks into our Summer Program after his mother had called me and said he was ready to eject from the Jayhawk summer league because...
The Biggest Little Word In The English Language
In her enlightening book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck,identifies two vastly different approaches to life. She calls them "The Growth Mindset" and "The Fixed Mindset". I borrowed this table off the internet from Reid Wilson.
What kind of mindset are you?
Do you look at challenges, obstacles, and failures as roadblocks?
Or do you see them as interesting puzzles that will be fun and rewarding to solve?
I like to think I'm a growth mindset guy.
But if it...
This Is What It’s All About.
If being a baseball coach and instructor was only about teaching baseball, I wouldn't do it.
Recently, I was totally blind-sided by something I truly didn’t see coming.
Let me tell you the story of Danny Muniz.
Danny is a rising college sophomore from the Miami area. He’s a right-handed pitcher who upon graduation from high school was topping at a whopping 82 mph. Not willing to give up on his dream of playing college baseball, he accepted a scholarship to an NAIA school in...
Fowl Play: Lessons From a Frustrated Coyote
When I was a kid, if my brothers and I weren’t playing in football, basketball, or baseball games coached by my dad, Saturday mornings meant one thing… CARTOONS!!
Beyond question, my all-time favorite was The Roadrunner! I can still sing every word to the theme song. Obviously, the Roadrunner was the star of the show, but I’ve always pulled for the underdog, so I always hoped that sad Wyle E. Coyote would catch that blazing bird just once.
But he never did.
It wasn’t due to...
Quintin Time!! Quintin Time!: Another Arm Pain Case Study
Quintin Pile has a new arm and a new walkout "song" for his next season with the Wofford College Terriers.
Picture this: The coach makes a visit to the mound and motions for right hander out of the bullpen. The anxious crowd cranes their necks to get a glimpse of the bullpen gate. Just before it opens, the public address system blares this: Quintin Time!! Quintin Time!
Last winter we worked with one of Quintin's teammates, a Senior righty named Connell Anderson who was operating on the last...
The Dangers Of Training Corruption
More Is Just More:
Last weekend I flew to Houston to help Coach Ron Wolforth at The Texas Baseball Ranch with a 3 day Elite Pitchers Boot Camp. I am honored to be a member of the staff at a place where instructors and students are free to innovate and experiment to find better ways to learn and to teach throwing. They pay me to help them, but I would do it for free just to experience my favorite part of every camp – Julio’s Mexican Grill (Formerly Rico's Hacienda)!
The camps begin at...
How To Become a First Round Draft Pick
And with the 20th pick in the first round, the Oakland Athletics select… Richie Martin, shortstop, University of Florida.
Want to know what it takes to be a first round draft pick?
I’ll tell you what I know about Richie Martin.
I have known Richie and his father for about 12 years. He grew up right here in Valrico, FL in the suburbs of Tampa.
When my 3 boys were growing up, we were Little League park rats.
Every free minute of our time was spent at the local Little League...
Welcome to Pitching Coaches Anonymous
My name is Randy Sullivan.
I’m pitching coach.
And I am a confirmed talkaholic.
I’ve wasted too many coaching years telling kids how to do things, then telling them how to do them better. I have coached some amazing kids over the years and, thank goodness, many of them have survived, and even thrived, despite my “assistance”.
You see, in the past 5-7 years, I have come to learn that in the science of motor learning and human performance, the words get in the way. Very few...
Tonight I Cried
In the spring of 2004 I was a member of the Board of Directors at Bloomingdale Little League, when my youngest of 3 sons, Jake signed up to play in the machine pitch league. He was 6 years old. I was already coaching my oldest son, Ty, and my middle son, Ryan’s little league teams, so I decided not to be the head coach of Jake’s team.
But on the morning of the tryout, I attended and stood against the fence down the right field line, clipboard in hand, and watched. Why would a non-coach...
