The Inverted Iron Pyramid
One of the key indicators of efficiency and power in a pitcher’s delivery is his use of his lower half.
At The ARMory and The Ranch, we’ve been studying this for a long time, and our understanding is constantly evolving. An efficient and powerful lower half definitely isn’t seen in the old “stay tall and fall” idea.
It’s amazing to me how many coaches I hear say something like “stay tall on the back side”, and then turn right around and tell a pitcher “you gotta use...
How Long? Yes!!
Good Morning,
Later today The ARMory will board a jet to Atlanta, GA for a two-day Road Show with 54 aspiring young rocket launchers and their families. Once we land we’ll load up 5 suitcases of equipment and 7 staff members into a rented Suburban and head off to our hotel. Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up, slam down a continental breakfast, and it then it will be...
Ty Sullivan, Matt Abramson, Josh Wagner, Amy Marsh, Lisa Church, Austin Bergner, and I will be laying down the knowledge...
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...
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...
Is Your Collegiate Summer League a Waste of Time?
Earlier today I got a calls from 3 pitchers from a Top 20 Division 1 baseball program. In Lieu of summer ball these guys, upon the advice of their pitching coach, have decided to attend our Summer Rocketeer Training Program.
These guys and their coach really get it!
I know I'll catch a lot of flack for this, but here it is...
Collegiate Summer League games for pitchers are often a waste of time.
Yep...
There it is.
It's really the same trap that younger travel ball...
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...
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 around shouting, “I’m cuuuute! She...
Cankles Are For The Dogs!
Happy Monday after Thanksgiving!
Every year, on Thanksgiving Day I have one job… ONE JOB.
Keep Kathy happy and as stress free as possible in the kitchen.
I wake up when I hear her start rustling pots and pans and quickly assume my role as kitchen steward/porter. I’m sort of the “bar back” of the process. Every time she finishes with a mixing bowl or a utensil, I scarf it up, wash it, dry it, and get it back into play as quickly as possible.
I’m pretty sure I washed this one big...
10 Absolute Demands for Your Pitching Instructor This Off-Season
A while back I read a story about a man named Charles Proteus Steinmetz. He was a dysplasic dwarf who lived from 1865 to 1923, and he was brilliant. He pioneered research in alternating current and founded a company that was eventually bought by General Electric. According to one report, Steinmentz “almost single brainedly created the entire electrical world of generators, transformers, and motors that we all take for granted today."
Steinmetz was a difficult and cantankerous man who was...
