7 Weeks Until the Biggest Day in ARMory History
7 weeks…
The land has been cleared.
The irrigation system is in the ground.
The utility lines are in.
The canopy of trees that used to cover our 400 ft x 70’ long toss lane has been trimmed back.
The building, a 120’ x 50’ metal quonsut arrives on tomorrow.
Workers will start erecting it on Monday.
That gives us 7 weeks…
7 weeks to finish the 4 bullpens.
7 weeks to lay the turf.
7 weeks to finish the parking area
7 weeks to construct the 15’ long...
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...
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...
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...
Can You Train Spin Rate?
Last week I sent out an email called “Your Ticket To Opportunity”. The response I got was exactly as I thought it would be.
The number one question that came across my desk was:
“How do you teach spin rate?”
Well, the short answer (for now anyway) is this:
No one knows… yet.
I have spoken to Trevor Bauer (who owns a personal TrackMan), Wes Johnson, and Flint Wallace. Like me, they are all looking for ways to increase spin rate.
Spin rate is a measure of how...
Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
Two mornings ago it rained in Tampa Bay.
Yeah...
I can hear everyone who's ever been to Fort Myers or Disney for tournaments during the summer:
“Rain in Tampa Bay? Shocker.”
I agree, but to have a rainstorm in the morning, especially this time of year is unusual. In the summer, I check the forecast every day. In the spring, not so much.
So this time I was totally caught off guard.
I woke up at 7:30 am to the sound of raindrops on the bedroom window and suddenly...
The Island of Misfit Pitchers
When I was a kid (back when we did our homework on stone tablets) there were no DVDs or Netflix, and we only got 3 stations on TV. One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season were the holiday cartoon shows. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was a classic, and I loved “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.
But my personal favorite was “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. One of my favorite parts was when Clarice told Rudolph he was cute. He danced...
Tommy John? No Thanks. I’ll Throw 90 Instead
Last November, I got a call from my friend Jason Burke, the pitching coach at Wofford College, a formidable D1 program in Spartanburg, SC. Jason told me he had a pitcher he needed some help with. The pitcher’s name was Connell Anderson, a senior righty who had missed the entire fall due to elbow pain.
During the 2014 spring campaign, Connell was a starter on the Terriers’ squad, but about half way through the season his elbow started to bother him. It got worse as the year went on, and by...
Shrinkage!!
So,
Valentine's day was Saturday...
Went to a nice restaurant on the beach in Clearwater.
Our table had a beautiful view of the beach and a small courtyard where the resort was hosting one wedding after another. Guess it was a good day for romance.
As our meal concluded I noticed a wedding beginning. It was a small event, maybe 20 people in attendance, but it was sweet. The bride was a pleasant looking blonde in her mid 30s.She wore a beige lacy dress that matched exactly the oufit of...
