Texas Baseball Ranch?

I'm sure there are others who will chime in who have gone through the Texas Ranch...  My son went through the Florida Ranch (before it was called the Florida Ranch). Randy owns the Florida Ranch and instructs in Texas, so I'll assume it is pretty similar.

The camps really are meant to start you on a path to improve - rather than sending you out the door with magical "improvement".  Your mechanics are evaluated, and any areas of concern are addressed.  They aren't going to try to force you into cookie cutter mechanics, but if you are doing something that either increases your chance of injury or is limiting your performance - it will be addressed.

You will be given instruction on various exercises designed to either increase strength or to develop more efficient movement patterns.  If there are non-typical drills that the instructors feel will be beneficial to your specific situation, you will be taught how to do them properly.

My son was trying to change mechanics to deal with an injury issue, so after the camp he was given a written plan with specific exercises and drills to perform for a month.

The question of is it worth it is a tough one to answer.  It's certainly not cheap.  Players are going to get out of it what they put into it I guess.  Like any program, the results are going to be largely dependent on the dedication of the player. I'm sure there are guys who will say it was a waste of money, and guys who will say it was a great investment.

In my son's case, he went into the Florida Ranch with chronic tendonitis in his elbow.  He left with some modifications to his mechanics, and has not had a day of elbow problems in the 4 years since.  With the new mechanics he also picked up his velocity about 7 mph in a couple of months.  In his case it was a good investment, but anyone's experience may be different.

Considering your location, I would recommend Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson. Get your  strength and mobility going. Trust me, they know what they're doing and can help with your goals...........down the road you wanna fine tune, there's a lot of options before you spend a day at the airport and fly 1800 miles. 

TBR is an excellent choice, just don't overlook someone in you own back yard.

I went to Cressey Sports Performance for a while. Gave me a great strength training foundation. However, I'm looking for more of a pitching focused place.

To give you a recommendation we would need to know your age, weight, height. With that said...

$2,000 is a lot of money to spend to try to improve from low 70's. Looking at it from a return on investment point of view, if you were mid to high 80's and trying to get into the 90's and 16-18YO then I could see making the trip. From low 70's I would focus on strength and conditioning, and doing a remote program like their athletic pitcher or a Driveline remote program. Either of them could also hook you up with a local pitching instructor. 

This will give you the best bang for your buck IMO and save you (or your parents) a ton of money. 

I know that Randy at the FBR actually does a great job diagnosing and fixing. Both are great places.

Unless you have had a specific issue, I would definitely stick with conditioning and strength training.  

My son first starting going at age 13 and attended 2 of their boot camps, 2 of their advanced camps and spent a month at the ranch doing the summer program as a 16 yr old. It's a great program and you will learn a lot about proper mechanics for you (not a cookie cutter program). You will be given some drills to work on based on their assessment of your areas of improvement. I know the program has changed a lot since my son went through it and the prices are much higher now as well.

My son did both TBR and then moved on to Driveline and both helped him greatly and he is now pitching in college at a mid-major D1 program. However, there are no secret formulas that you will get from either program. You will get out of it what you put into it meaning the key is a lot of dedication and hard work. And it's not a linear type of improvement. You will see your velo increase then plateau and maybe even decrease, but the key is to stay totally committed and work through those peaks and valleys.

I believe both TBR and Driveline were invaluable experiences for my son and helped in his development. But he had to do the work in order for it to pay off, which he did. 

The hard truth is that most kids who go through these programs don't apply that total commitment and it ends up being a waste of money, but if you put the time in then I would enthusiastically endorse both TBR and Driveline. 

Maybe these measurables will help.

Most likely reclassing to 2021 next year.

5'8

145 LBS

135 Max Bench Press

225 deadlift

225 back squat 

BOF posted:

To give you a recommendation we would need to know your age, weight, height. With that said...

$2,000 is a lot of money to spend to try to improve from low 70's. Looking at it from a return on investment point of view, if you were mid to high 80's and trying to get into the 90's and 16-18YO then I could see making the trip. From low 70's I would focus on strength and conditioning, and doing a remote program like their athletic pitcher or a Driveline remote program. Either of them could also hook you up with a local pitching instructor. 

This will give you the best bang for your buck IMO and save you (or your parents) a ton of money. 

 

Thank you BOF; I do have to note we recently discontinued our remote training program and plan on rolling out a newer method for remote training in the future. Our last method - Driveline U - was actually really, really successful, but we think we have something better, more scalable, and more affordable in the works.

Just wanted to let people know we don't currently train athletes remotely.

Baseballcomesthird posted:

Maybe these measurables will help.

Most likely reclassing to 2021 next year.

5'8

145 LBS

135 Max Bench Press

225 deadlift

225 back squat 

OK this helps you are essentially a HS freshmen throwing low 70's, correct?

I would follow the advice given you and focus on strength and conditioning. Get some jaeger bands and read up on their long toss program and start doing this. I see that you are in Boston so keep up with Cressey.

I see from above that Kyle says they have stopped the remote program, but I would connect with Driveline and see when they plan on releasing a new version. I would look into potentially purchasing the "The athletic pitcher" program from Wolforth and/or communicate with Driveline on how to get started on one of their programs. You have time so you don't need to rush into this, do your homework, and get so you can start one of their programs come next summer. 

I want to caution you that these weighted ball programs are not just "throwing around a bunch of heavy baseballs" they are very specific, and you need to have someone show you how to do them as well as the proper sequencing. You should find someone local who understands them and can help train you. 

There are no guarantees, but if you work hard you can make significant improvements in your velocity, and control. My son was essentially a low to mid 70's pitcher in HS and eventually pitched in college and he topped out at 93/94 with good coaching and using modern training methods. His college pitching coach, who is very very informed on both Wolforth and Driveline told my son that "give me an athletic HS athlete and I can likely get him throwing in the 90's  by the time he is a Senior".  

Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress and keep asking questions here.

Baseballcomesthird posted:

I went to Cressey Sports Performance for a while. Gave me a great strength training foundation. However, I'm looking for more of a pitching focused place.

Baseballcomesthird posted:

Maybe these measurables will help.

Most likely reclassing to 2021 next year.

5'8

145 LBS

135 Max Bench Press

225 deadlift

225 back squat 

Young man, I'm guessing your a '22 as your considering reclassing...... up?........I'm not sure what the rush is. You're an infant in the world of baseball..............baseball is a very long road that perceivably goes very fast!

There are NO short cuts, unfortunately MOST have to work harder than others for velocity gains. Your strength foundation is a good start...........YOU are too strong, said nobody. 

My advice is to reach out to older, successful pitchers at your school, training facility or even at CSP......locally! 

At this stage, you are still a fish in the pond! Use the local resources to your advantage. There isn't a magic exercise or pill that's going to carry you out of the 70's. You're gonna have to put in the work.

Son spends time at TBR.  Didn’t go until after his first year in college. 

No change in velo and cleaned up some mechanics. Learned a splitter and command improved. 

Made all League in a short stint in summer and had a great fall. Positioned to have a big role this spring. 

The biggest gains IMO are between his ear lobes. TBR focuses a lot on the mindset of the pitcher. To me this takes some advanced knowledge about oneself to be fully effective.  

Like the others unless you have a pain issue that needs to be dealt with you might consider using that money now to train and let puberty do its thing for a bit. 

Good luck!!