Slammers South AVP Recap 2022 Offseason
Guys are stronger, more athletic, are throwing harder, etc. etc.
The Slammers South Advanced Velocity Program (AVP) wrapped up this past week and from what we’re seeing, across the board, everyone’s velocities are up – which is exciting, because that was the point.
At the start of the program, each of the 80 participating athletes self-reported their top throwing velocity to date. At the close of the program, Slammers recorded each athlete throwing off of a mound on a Rapsodo. The average velocity gain during the 5 months of the program was +4.2 mph.
Pssst - the velo gains are related to the jump height and power gains ;)
AVP participants completed a Rebound Jump test using the Loden Sports Performance Lab App at the start of the program, intermittently during the program, and at the end of the program. This was done to track progress in the weight room – specifically, power output in the legs (more on that later). As you can see from the above chart, significant gains were made in the weight room as well.
Where does velocity come from?
Explain the gains, please.
There are four primary variables for increasing velocity – in no particular order: the length of the athlete (height and wingspan, essentially), proper throwing mechanics (a good mover can efficiently use all they got), power in rotation, and power in the legs.
Here’s Jacob deGrom - the perfect combination of the four variables…
Length
Longer levers = more velocity. Think simple machines.
This one is out of every athletes control.
But it’s also the reason why wind turbines are so large and why the bigger they are, the more electricity they can produce…
Good Mechanics
Good mechanics are a function of good movement patterns and high-level instruction – two points of emphasis for the AVP program. This one is a little bit harder to measure, but it is well known that if a throwing athlete can move properly, they execute their power better, and if they execute their power better, they throw harder.
The foundation for good movement patterns is fostered in the weight room.
Decades of learning and expertise amongst the Slammers staff is a separator for teaching proper throwing mechanics.
Power in Rotation
The act of pitching (and hitting) requires that an athlete can rotate fast (and in-control) in order to throw (or hit) hard. The weight room program for AVP includes a healthy diet of rotational exercises to help our athletes increase their ability to rotate fast.
Power in the Legs
Power in the legs is a result of force and speed and is a bit of a golden bullet for success in any sport. More powerful athletes have higher ceilings for what they can accomplish. How does an athlete develop power in the legs? Max effort sprinting and plyometrics. The AVP program regularly integrates plyometric exercises to boost power output.
Athlete jumps the same height at the start and at the end without adding weight = power stays the same.
Athlete jumps the same height at the start and at the end while adding weight = some power gained.
Athlete jumps higher at the end vs. the start while adding weight = most power gained.
Jump high while adding weight = more power.
Maintain jumping high and body weight during the season = maintain power and velocity gains.
Slammers tracks power in the legs for all athletes with a simple Rebound Jumps test using the Loden Sports Performance Lab App:
A demo of the Loden Sports Rebound Jumps test used to track progress in the weight room.
And as we can see from taking a look at Brady Snow below, from November to the end of February, he added 3 inches to his average Rebound Jump test and almost 5 Loden Power Points (LPP) – no wonder his velocity jumped 3 ticks.
Brady’s power output went from being just a tick below average for a collegiate athlete to solidly right in the middle by the end of the program (a neat comparative feature built into the Loden Sports Performance Lab App). Nice job Brady!
Now that we know where velocity comes from and how regular participation in the AVP program fostered gains for 80 Slammers athletes this offseason, let’s talk about maintenance. You’ve got a shiny new car, now you need to protect it from the elements.
Here’s a simple recipe for how to get ahead of 90% of high school baseball players…
Looking Forward: Maintenance
The offseason is for training and gains, so shout out to all the kids who showed up regularly and got after it over the past few months. The hard work paid off. Between now and next fall, it’s time to protect those gains.
The competitive season (for amateur athletes) is for maintenance. All of our AVP athletes are about to enter their competitive spring seasons (followed immediately by their competitive summer seasons). It’s imperative that all of those fun gains we talked about earlier are protected.
Ideally, all of our guys are throwing just as hard in August as they were at the end of the AVP program this offseason.
That is the goal.
Unfortunately, that goal is a little bit of a pipe dream in the current landscape. Many high school baseball players across this country will be dragging by June and wondering where their offseason gains went. The bottom line is that a competitive season wears on the body and all of those gains in the weight room will be lost without maintenance.
Maintaining weight room gains and regular arm care are the golden ticket to the pipe dream.
Slammers wants to see all of our guys feeling good and throwing just as hard in August. How do we get there?
Solutions
Slammers is offering in-season strength and conditioning that is geared towards protecting offseason gains and maintaining peak performance through the competitive seasons. Slammers is cognizant of the fact that different athletes have access to different resources depending on what high school they play at. The goal of in-season strength and conditioning at Slammers isn’t just to maintain strength gains, but just as important, to cultivate proper recovery routines.
And of course, Slammers will be using the Loden Sports Performance Lab App to continue to track power in the legs over the course of the season (physical readiness).
The low-hanging fruit: subscribe to this blog and read it.
We’ll be sharing a number of resources to help establish routines that can slow the rate of attrition (the importance of sleep, hydration, recovery, nutrition, etc.) along with other exciting objective findings within Slammers athlete development processes.