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...
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...
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...
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...
What’s In Your Booty?
Several years ago my wife and I had a yard sale.
The purpose was to get rid of some of the junk we had accumulated over the years, so we could make some room for all the new junk we would soon add to our stash.
Our inventory was eclectic.
Old clothes and blankets, a crappy set of golf clubs I never used, toys our kids had outgrown, my entire collection of albums by The Bee Gees and The Little River Band (not really..I just threw that one in to make it a better story), an old boom...
Feed the Mistake!
I attended a Functional Movement Screen (FMS) Certification class yesterday.
I've been using the Functional Movement Screen as a part of my pitcher evaluations for about 3 years now, and I had studied it thoroughly via books and DVDs, but I had never been to a class.
We recently decided to start using the FMS in our physical therapy clinic as a template for rehab and for a new campaign we have planned called “Feel Better, Move Better. Before we launch the campaign, I'll need to train...
This Scares Me To Death
And Makes Me Proud As Hell.
My middle son, Ryan, is a warrior.
Throughout the entire 20 years of his life, he has been the underdog. But he fights. Born prematurely, with undeveloped lungs, there were times during his five weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit when we weren't sure if he was going to make it. But he fought. Asthmatic during his first seven years, my wife and I spent countless hours in emergency rooms or at home with Ryan nestled in one of our laps, holding a nebulizer...
The Connection Ball: A Case Study
I’d like you to meet Ryan Kopenski.
He gave me permission to tell his story.
Ryan is a sophomore left handed pitcher at Central Florida Community College. His most recent season didn’t go as well as he would have liked. He spent the entire spring season hovering at 80-81 mph and fighting constant pain in his medial elbow that he rated at a level of 5 out of 10.
When he came to The ARMory for his initial evaluation on June 18th, 2014 his elbow was still hurting every time he threw.
His...
