Ground Force Medicine Ball Series
All right guys, here we're going to discuss just how we use the medicine balls. Personally, I
prefer the four pound. If I had to pick one medicine ball, I'm definitely going with the four pound
because we can use it in so many different areas.
We use the medicine balls for many reasons:
1. Activation. We're trying to excite the nervous system.
2. Body Awareness. We are constantly striving to heighten awareness and the weight of the
med-ball is perfect for doing so.
3. Rotational Awareness. The med-balls are about the only drill I know that teaches pitchers
how to un-load the hips.
4. Mechanical Focus. That’s the beauty of med-ball training. It allows us to insert our
mechanical focus into our warm-up.
Now, it’s time to talk safety.
Here’s a few precautions you need to make that will not only keep you safe but it will also
enhance the effectiveness and overall quality of your med-ball training routine.
Again, the medicine ball is a great tool for teaching pitchers or even hitters on how to unload
the hips. There's not another tool that really does that.
But with any training tool, we’ve got to be safe, we've got to use some common sense with the
med balls. Another thing I’d like to point out is that guys whom struggle with lower-half
mechanics, simply by putting the heavier weight of a med-ball in their hands, stimulates the
body to clean some of the inefficiencies up.
Here’s the rules for throwing the med-ball:
1. Always throw the med-ball with two hands, with your elbows close to the body.
2. Never try to catch the med-ball in the air, let it bounce. Personally that’s why I prefer the
one I’m using in the video, it doesn't bounce.
3. Throw the ball with 100% intensity!
In review, we use the medicine balls literally 100 different ways but the most important points
are:
• Throw it with 100% intensity…
• Number two, throw it with two hands…
• Finally, number three, don't be an idiot. Don't try to catch the ball in the air. Let it bounce. Let
it roll. Let it stop before you pick it up.
Ground Force Medicine Ball Series Program
Order of importance:
1.
SouthEast Slam - Please master this drill before moving forward. If your pitcher cannot
rotate his hips without losing stability, he would be wasting his time and putting his body at
risk with the remaining exercises.
2. Carry the Head - After mastering the SE Slam move onto “Carry the Head”. This exercise
promotes proper posture which is needed for rotation of the hips. If he cannot control the
positioning of his head, he’s never going to effectively rotate his hips or shoulders.
3. Step Over - The Step Over is combination of “Carry the Head and Weigh More. The goal is
to rotate your hips into landing while separating your hips and shoulders. The Step Over
and Weigh More can be performed simultaneously.
4. Weigh More - Weigh more is all about teaching pitchers how to utilize ground forces. It
should be used in conjunction with the Step Over.
Advanced Series:
5. Cheat the Hips: This exercise requires greater hip awareness and should not be performed
until the pitcher has proven he can consistently utilize ground forces and rotate his hips into
landing.
6. Mirror the Slope: This exercise is basically the same as Cheat the Hips but is performed on
one leg with a lift. Until the pitcher has proven he can “cheat the hips” consistently, while
keeping a flat back foot, I’d avoid this exercise.
7. Step Offs: Again this is very similar to previous two but is again an advanced exercise. It
can be used in conjunction with both Cheat the Hips and Mirror the Slope.
Ways to Maximize Your Time With The Ground Force Medicine Ball Series:
1.
Blend the exercises with baseball throws. Blending is nothing more than alternating a
medicine ball throw followed immediately by a baseball throw.
Example:
Finisher - 2 throws
SE Slam - 2 Slams
Weigh More - 2 throws (baseball)
Weigh More - 2 medicine ball throws
2. Mound training. Using the med balls off the mound can serve several purposes.
• Can be used prior to the season to get your pitchers acclimated to the mound before their
arms are ready.
• Great way to work on lower body mechanics without the stress on the arm caused by the
baseball.
3. Recovery or Activation: Medicine balls can be used inside your warm-up to excite your
nervous system or on the days following your outings to flush out or help your system recover.
SOUTHEAST SLAMS:
Med ball exercise drill number one is
what we're going to call the
Southeast Slams.
With all the medicine ball drills, I’d
highly recommend you make throws
from both sides of the body, dominant
and non dominant.
Not only will it increase balance of
strength but it will also heighten
awareness and force you to make
adjustments.
After all, isn’t that what pitching is all
about?
One of the beauties of training both sides of the body is that whenever a pitcher is attempting
to make a change, training from the non-dominant side will increase his chances for making
the change.
Why?
Because they don't have those old habits. It's easier to introduce it to the body, feel it and then
take that feel or that association, go to the dominant side and just coach yourself by applying
that.
Honestly, if I had to pick one med-ball exercise, no question it's going to be the SE Slam.
Teaching points:
1. Slower is better. Start by taking the ball down to the side slowly. As you begin taking it
down, you should start to FEEL a really deep stretch. Personally, I can feel this in my lats,
upper shoulder and the arm.
2. As you reach the furthest point down and begin working you way up, I’d like to see you
‘puff’ the chest out as you begin working the ball over-head.
3. The key is not getting into a rush. Stay under control. Breathe.
4. This should probably be number one and two… Whenever performing any drill or exercise
always focus on keeping your eyes straight ahead while controlling your breathing.
5. Finally, as you begin to rotate the shoulders into the final phase of the throw, SLAM the ball
beside the heel of your front foot.
The Slam next to your foot is what makes this drill so functional to hip rotation. I’d avoid any
med-ball throw made over head in a straight line. It’s just not how the hips work and it can
begin to promote very poor movement patterns.
The hips are meant to rotate.
6. During the final phase of rotation, be sure to ‘exaggerate’ (I say this because the pinky-toe
rollover should never be a conscious move during any drill in which you step and throw.) the
pinky toe rolling over.
The roll-over allows for greater range of motion in the hips, thus providing your shoulders with
a greater range of motion for rotation.
Keys to Get More From The SouthEast Slam
One of the biggest flaws with amateur pitchers hip rotation is they don’t actually rotate. Instead
they’ve been taught to spin. AKA… “Squash the bug’ or spin the hips.
Spinning is not rotating. Spinning turns the body as one-piece.
Rotating is actually being able to segment rotation of the body. It rotates the lower body,
followed by the upper body at different times. Thus increasing the stretch reflex.
And that my friends is how your kinetic chain works to to transfer momentum via segmented
rotation.
Blending
With the southeast slam we're going to use this as a blend meaning we'll make a throw with a
baseball and immediately follow it with a med-ball slam, or vice versa.
As you see here, we also use it as an activation or warm-up activity. Like I said in the
beginning, if I had to pick one med-ball exercise, by far and away the SouthEast Slam is my
favorite one.
Using with The Core Velocity Belt
Beginners: Hook in Front and attach to the back hip.
Advanced: Double tubing attached to both hips facing the anchor.
Carry The Head
We're actually using this for a visual. Before I get into
the drill, what you have to understand is that baseball
is a rotational sport. If you've watched any of my
previous videos, you're probably sick of hearing that…
so I thought I would tell you again.
Here’s why it’s important:
Rotation occurs around the spine, if your head moves
forward, it’s impossible for your body to rotate around
your spine.
Your body will always follow the head.
Pitchers whom rotate inefficiently not only struggle with velocity and command, they’re
candidates to really stress joints such as the arm, shoulder and elbow. The problem with
posture a lot of times is that guys don't realize it because inside their head, between their ears.
One of the best ways, most effective ways I found to teaching awareness, posture, rotation is in
the form of a med ball.
As you already know, I'm a big believer in FEEL.
You can preach all day long about what you know and how to do it, but until a player can
actually FEEL what you're asking him to do, he'll truly never understand it.
I believe in teaching it the right way first and then asking them to perform the same drill in a
manner which they know is wrong. This really heightens awareness and bridges the gap
between knowing and understanding.
I want them to be able to FEEL the difference.
With this exercise, ”carry the heads", one of the first things we're going to demonstrate the
exercise as if I were a hitter. Regardless if you're a pitcher only or you've hit, everybody's picked
up a bat.
We realize that in order for my hips to rotate, the head must remain over the center of your
body, or slightly back.
If I'm to take my head forward, no matter what I do, I cannot utilize my lower half. I can't use my
legs because I've got no lower body to rotate on. We want to keep our head over the center
which is going to allow for rotation.
Visualize this: You just cut off our head and now you’re carrying it in your hands.
Throw #1: Hold the ball out in front of your
head and throw it .
Right away you’ll notice the pitchers struggle
with this. Instantly they want to get back to a
position that enhances rotation. That’s good.
Make sure you have the pitcher measure how
far he was able to throw the ball.
After the throw ask your pitchers…
How did that feel?
How powerful were you?
Obviously they're going to say they weren't
very powerful.
Throw #2: Start with the ball in
the center of your body and
throw. The goal for this is as I'm
moving, this ball doesn't move.
We don't move it back and forth.
We don't try to load it. We throw
it exactly from here.
Throw #3: The third and final
throw we're going to position the
ball slightly behind the center. As
I start to go, I'm going to throw it.
In reality, the third one you're
going to start to see more of a tilt
of the hips. It's just because of
the intent, because I've placed
the ball in that position, my body
is organizing itself around. It's going to provide some valuable feedback in the form of FEEL.
That, my friends, is "Carry the Heads", and it's one of my favorite as far as increasing
awareness of rotation and posture.
Stepover:
Inside this drill, we're going to discuss
the Step-Over. This was a phrase
coined by Paul Nyman.
The goal of this exercise is to unload
the hips into foot-plant. Un-loading the
hips can sometimes give the
impression of a pitcher ‘stepping-over’
an object, hence the name step-over.
Inside this exercise you’re going to
focus on unloading the hips by showing the sole as you move into foot-plant.
3 reasons to show the sole into foot-plant:
1. Showing the sole counter-balances the head and promotes posture.
2. Showing the sole may aid in keeping the front hip closed longer. (Truth is - Control the rear
glue.. Control the front foot… Cause/Effect relationship.)
3. Showing the sole enhances pitchers chance for landing more softly.
But the primary goal of this drill is teaching pitchers how to unload their hips into foot-plant.
Let’s face it, many pitchers struggle to unload their hips to begin with. That’s why I like to use
the medicine ball. In my opinion, the medicine ball is by far the most effective training tool at
unloading the hips.
Inside the Step-over you’re going to start…
• Hands bent but extended in front of your body. (Loose, relaxed upper body)
• Your feet will be around 75% of your stride length.
As you start to go, go!
Do not attempt to get your momentum moving back. Move forward from the starting position.
Instead of rocking back, Think- driving weight into the ground. Try to ‘weigh more’ as you
show the sole into foot-plant.
Suggestion: A lot of times something that's really effective is placing a tool in front of you,
forcing you to step-over the object. Maybe it's a foam roller, maybe it's something else. It really
doesn't matter. I would suggest placing it slightly in front of the shoe.
Whenever evaluating the drill, watch for the back hip turning first followed by the knee and foot,
into foot-plant. A good marker is watching the back knee start to turn inward as the front foot
makes contact with the ground. We do not, let me make this clear, we do not teach that our goal
is to slam the knee. I've seen another camp do that. That's a very good, good, good way to
promote the inverted W arm action and a perfect way to spin, and never rotate.
Weigh-more:
The "Weigh More" is one of
the first drills I created within
the Pitching Mechanics
Mastermind System.
Weigh-more is a cue used
to describe how you're
utilizing ground force.
Visualize: There’s a scale
underneath you. I weigh
roughly 195 pounds. I'm going to see how quickly can I distribute force in the ground. I want to
see that number on the scale, weigh-more.
By investing weight into the ground early in the delivery, the return of energy at the end is
compounded.
As you know, many pitchers are passive with their body, even a little stiff. But, that’s an easy
problem to fix if you can get past their initial perception. Their perception is is skewed from
ours. To them, even the slightest bend of the legs seems like they’re butts are dragging the
ground, even though its hardly noticeable.
That’s where the cue, ‘weigh-more’ comes into play.
Allowing the pitcher to visualize pushing force into the ground, promotes a much deeper sit,
which is the ultimate goal of this exercise. The only thing that really matters is what they think. It
doesn't matter how much we know. It's only about what they understand.
With the "Weigh more", we're going to start off your original weight and move up with each
throw until we find the ‘correct weight’ that allows us to throw the hardest, with the least amount
of effort.
Weigh-more is probably the most popular drill inside the program because it teaches pitchers
how utilize ground force to project the center mass at higher speeds. (Hence - Arm speed!)
Cheat the hips:
Now it’s time to talk cheating,
cheating the hips. Inside this
exercise we are going to manipulate
our hips to utilize ground force, in
order to project our center mass at
higher speeds.
Why is this important?
1.
The faster, more efficient I can project the center of my body… The faster the arm is forced
to travel. (I call this Peer Pressure. The body’s #1 goal is to self protect and if you can get
your hips moving faster by utilizing the ground.)
2. It’s how we generate “on-the-spot’ arm speed.
3. What you have to realize is that “Arm Speed” is instant, “Arm Strength” is not.
You could spend weeks, even months training to build a stronger arm, yet all the training may
not transfer to the mound. The key to a faster arm is learning to cheat your hips!
Basically with “Cheat the Hips” you’re going start in a position very similar to the "Weigh more"
position. The major difference is the pitchers ability to ‘reverse rotate” or counter-rotate the hips.
Key point: This is more of an advanced move and until your pitcher can consistently perform
the “Weigh More”, I’d recommend you not starting here. In other words, your younger guys will
focus on the "Weigh more", as they begin to consistently repeat the Weigh More, only then
should you allow them to progress into "Cheating the hips".
Really with "Cheating the hips", all I'm trying to do is create a little counter rotation with the hip.
It's just a slight counter rotation, and that's why we'll use a lot of anti-rotation with the core
velocity belt just to train this move.
One very, very key point, and you've heard me say this 1,000 times, so you'll probably be ready
to hear me say it another 1,000 times because I'm going to pound it in your head until we're
perfectly clear…. Keep the back foot flat!
Do not attempt to push sideways with the back foot. In order to utilize ground forces you’ve got
to create a greater surface area with the foot.
Start with some flexion (bend) in the back leg with the foot flat. Once I’m in that position, I’m
going to slightly take the hip back.
Once you’ve set your hip correctly, you should see the knee-cap begin to face slightly back, in
the direction of the SS for RHP and 2B for LHP. For years guys taught the knee to go inside the
back foot and what ended up happening was pitchers were merely pushing the hips, without
utilizing ground forces.
The big advantage of this starting position is
1. You’ve pre-loaded the hips from the stretch position.
2. You’re now in a starting position that only requires you to ‘Weigh-more”, in order to generate
new arm speed.
Basically, you’re corkscrewing the hips and foot. From this position, as you start to drive weight
into the ground, you’re going to project the hips in the opposite direction. Also it allows me to get
into the hamstring, the posterior chain, which is going to promote rotation. It's enabling rotation.
It's promoting rotation.
"Cheat the hips" by far one of my favorites.
Mirror the Slope:
Honestly, it’s this move here that
separates the 85 mph pitchers from
the 95 mph pitchers. The secret is
using gravity to your advantage.
We're trying to accrue momentum
down the hill.
1. The way we're going be able to do
this number one, is a flat foot.
2.Number two, as I start to lift, I've
slightly got the hips in front of the shoulders.
3. Be careful not get your weight to the inside part of the back foot. This position promotes hip
extension (Pushing sideways.)
As you reach the top of your lift, you’re going to ‘counter-swivel’ the back hip and sit. It really is
that easy. You’re not trying to push.
That’s why it’s very important you work through the order of these exercises.
Weigh More: Flat foot - ground forces
Cheat the hips: Flat foot - Counter rotation of the hips
Mirror the slope: Combo of both drills but performed on one leg.
Step Offs
You've got to realize we're
trying to mirror the slope, just
like a skier would, just like a
skateboarder would. The key to
that is once I reach the top of
my lift is that I'm able to sit
while moving forward.
Most of the time with guys that
try to load their hips, their going
to get to the inside of their foot.
They're going to push out or
their simply going to push their
hip, extend their hip out, lock
out this back leg, and then
forced to swing the front leg.
That’s just not very efficient.
Power and energy is transferred from back to front. That’s why its imperative you keep
your back foot flat, and not push sideways. Once you can flatten the back foot, you’ll begin to
transfer energy from the ground up through rotation.
So, that’s where Step Offs comes into play.
While performing this exercise I suggest a heavier ball. The heavier ball, the better, because by
using a heavier ball going to promote me starting to sink the hips, keeping the foot flat, while
moving forward.
Next thing…
We both know the body’s number one goal is to protect itself. That’s why I encourage you to
perform this exercise from an elevated surface. The reason I wanted to elevate the surface is
because the higher the platform, the more of a threat it is to the body.
The more of a threat, the more controlled the pitchers body will be while performing this
exercise.
In other words, the less likely the pitcher is going to try to push sideways.
Here’s how it works:
1. Start the lift just off the edge of the mound.
2. Next, lift the leg and simply sink while moving in a slow motion fashion off the side of the
elevated surface.
Trust what you FEEL!