Speed & Performance Workouts?

I would recommend Mike Palmer, coach at Harper College...he has the knowledge relative to baseball that is up ther ewith the best of them. My other option would be at MVP in the Lake Forest/Libertyville area if you are clsoe to there. They generally work kids pretty hard whereas I didn't see the same passion at the White Sox Explosion while there.

Good call FBDad. Palmer's great. MVP is maybe the single best facility to get 1 stop shopping. My favorite for the speed/fitness specific is Thurman Hendricks @ Gottlieb. Not sure Thurman is available without waiting for an opening. Graf in the Joliet area is excellent for speed lessons. I must say that although the Sox facility in Lisle never once failed me in any way, I'm surprised by the seemingly high percentage of dissapointment mentioned on this board. Personally I found it hard to beat. For me it combined all the lessons needed, Herm Schneider, Mike Woodard and Mark Crabtree with unlimited cage time for $165.00 per month. Big bang for your buck if the entire package is used aggressively......if you can get in. They have limited membership to 100 I believe.

I second Josh Lamont. He will be starting an 8 week program at the Ho Chunk Sports Complex in Lynwood soon. Has worked in the Red Sox, Orioles and Angels organizations. The best thing about his program is that he is one of the few who tests you and then re-tests you after the 8 weeks to see where you have improved. Players will not be dissapointed.

Thank you to all for the suggestions. Appears that there are a couple of options and locations for us to review.

I have heard a lot of stuff lately about the Chicago Acceleration program in Bensenville. I was wondering if anyone had some additional information about price, sessions, etc. Thanks a lot.

TXCubFan...Just talked with Josh Lamont. He is starting an 8-week session on Monday evenings at the Ho Chunk indoor facility in Lynwood. Cost is $96.00. Contact him at 630-217-1984. Well worth it if it fits into your schedule.

The Acceleration programs are very good. I was in one of them last year and they really kick your butt! The equipment there is top notch and you won't find it at any other places. You need to go there and see for yourself. Very nice place and you get results

Just a quick question about Acceleration. I've done minimal research on it since one of my good friends from school (volleyball player that started on our school's softball team as a freshman) is a trainer at an Accelerationi place in Michigan. I asked her if it would be worth it for me to go through for baseball, and she said probably not. She said there were a few things they'd do there that I already do on my own with her when we work out together, but nothing else that would be of use. So what type of stuff did you do with them that worked and helped you out?

I am not saying Tim Graf isnt an excellent speed coach but I do question him a bit. He came to my high school my freshman year to work out with the football team. We ran the 40 in the beginning and I got a 4.9 we did his hour and a half workout and reran it...and I was down to a 4.7. I just find it hard to believe that it took that much off.

As a former Illinois high school sprint champion; as a former Big Ten sprint champion; as a former Olympic Trials invitee, I would say Tim has all of the qualifications to help kids with their speed work.

If you paid attention and stayed with his program, you likely would be at 4.5 now.

Beenthere...I was saying his timing might be a little off. I dont think one days work would drop me that 2 tenths of a second.

And sir, I ran a 4.5 this spring without sticking in his program. And today after doing no sprint training this summer, I was lazertimed at a 6.9/60. Trainers arent everything.

Slightly off topic, but it speaks to Weaver's comments:

Ohio State Football added Butch Reynolds to their coaching staff and many of their players (even Ted Ginn) rave about his "program". When questioned how "elite" athletes can benefit from him, the answer was that, at the very least, he can tweak running style and body positioning.

It is possible for a sprinter to modify a baseball player's running form (or a football player's) and increase speed and explosiveness. That doesn't even consider any workouts or exercises that the runner could suggest.

I have heard nothing but positive remarks about Velocity Sports Performance in Willowbrook. My neighbor's son raves about the facility and program. They even have a batting cage at their facility and give enrolled athletes free cage time. The cost is reasonable and their coaches all came from college and professional organizations. Their contact number is 630-920-1120.

Besides the polymeric, speed, and weight training Frappier Acceleration, which is franchised in other cities as Madison Acceleration, Chicago Acceleration and other city names has baseball specific programs. If the staff is what they are like in Madison, after a short session your results will be surprising. Then again it is what you put into it.

Check out the main link at..

http://www.frappieracceleration.com/

rz1, what kind of baseball program did your son do with Frappier?

Corky,

Besides basic and specific baseball muscle related weight lifting, they used a resistive harness system for both hitting and pitching. I can't explain the complete therory behind it, but the harness system increased strength when throwing and hitting the ball and also trained the muscles involved in stopping the arm, shoulder, and hip action.

From what I understood most pitching injuries happen not in the forward throwing motion but in the muscle action it takes to slow the arm down after release. I think the idea is to strengthen those forward motion muscles, but more important is to work the other muscle groups that kick in after the pitch is thrown.

If you can imagine a supportive shoulder harness connected to a wrist strap that has tubing controlled by the trainer. As he controls the tubing tension the player imitates a pitching motion and holds it at the end. Very slowly he returns the arm to the start position the whole time working against the tubing resistance.

It's been a couple years since I saw this done. However, players are always trying to throw harder but remember that for every action there is an equal reaction. Since throwing overhand is an un-natural occurrence, the body has to have an equal way to react and if it doesn't some body part fails.

Maybe someone else has a better way to say this. But these were very specific training exercises for baseball related muscle groups. I know for weeks my son was sore in areas that he never knew existed.

Corky,

It sounds like that might throw off your mechanics. Couldn't you do the same exercise with regular tubing and just go slow back to the starting position?

did any one get a SPARQ rating for baseball yet?

If you are extremely serious about the sport we found that Pro Sport in Rolling Meadows (Dave Buchannon) did a wonderful job of evaluating needs and training the individual to his or her sport. He works with many different sports and has a long list of successes. He is not cheap, but the results (at least for us) have been nothing less than phenomenal.

Azdbacks,
I've heard about sparq, what exactly is a sparq rating, though?

AZDBACKS,

What mechanics? You are only using the motion of throwing a ball forward. This is also conditioning for position players. The harness system supports the skeletal (joints) so that the exercise maximizes the muscle groups. Having a trainer holding the tubing allows him to adjust the resistance.

High resistance conditioning should never be done without supervision or a spotter with knowledge.

Rz1 and Corky,

Throwing mechanics can definately be effected by using resistance tubing and a harness. Resistance tubing is a variable resistance device. As the tubing is stretched and the arm moves through a full range of motion, an increasing amount of stress (muscular tension)is placed on the musculature. This stress is maximized at the point of the range of motion where the band is stretched the furthest. This point is usually at the end or begining of the throwing motion depending on what muscle group (posterior or anterior shoulder muscles) is being worked. This can result in injury if the greatest stress is placed on the muscle at its weakest part of the range of motion. Joint angle dictates muscle reruitment. Corky, if your son was sore for weeks after using this device, it would put him at risk if he were to throw during this period of soreness. This could comprimise his throwing mechanics and reinforce the wrong throwing motion. I would also be very careful to make sure that the person training your son was highly qualified and had a strong background in biomechanics. Just because someone knows how to operate a device does not necessarily make them qualified to train anyone! A college degree in an exercise related field and certification as a strength and conditioning specialist are minimal requirements in this field. Remember the recruitment pattern of the muscles under tention while using this device are not necessarily similiar to one of a throwing motion.

Traveldad,

I looked into the Sparq rating and this is what I found out. I did research on the internet and over the phone with a sparq rep. The goal of the SPARQ baseball rating is to give the coach, athlete and the trainer the tools to assess the overall athleticism of the baseball player with the tests that are designed to reflect the specific physical demands of the game. It doesn't measure sport specific skills, but it does serve as an indicator of the athlete's potential athletic ability. Their website is http://www.sparqtraining.com. The only place to get a sparq rating is at a Sparq hosted event or at a Velocity Sports Performance. Sparq and Velocity Sports Performance have a agreement to have only the certified coaches at Velocity perform the testing. I hope that answered some questions that might be out there. The Sparq website is http://www.sparqtraining.com. The Velocity website is http://www.velocitysp.com.

Frappier Acceleration for us was 395.00

24 sessions. MWF

In the third week right now.

There web site shows how they train for baseball.