Athlete Highlight: Michael B
First edition in our new series.
This is edition #1 of a new series we will be doing here on the newsletter. The defining factor we preach here is that hard work spread over a long period of time is the solution to your player development.
For youth athletes, I won't be getting into last names because I don't like the idea of publicizing kids, but his story deserves to be told and can be a learning lesson for many.
Most of the time, youth athletes train and practice with no specific incremental goals or vision for themselves. They go to practice day in and day out without a roadmap for success. It's easy to get lost in the minutiae of daily life and training but with concrete goals and a roadmap to your dreams it's way easier to get to where you want to go.
Michael started working with me 2 years ago, he was 14 and weighed 135 pounds. His throwing mechanics were terrible, he had no offspeed and could rarely throw a strike.
The travel team he played on was not good, and he barely played and never pitched. He threw less than 5 innings for the entire summer season.
He felt lost, understandably so, and at times he didn't even really want to pitch at all.
But he kept working.
He did all his drills, developed a really strong plyoball throwing routine and refined his throwing mechanics slowly over the course of a few years.
A week ago, he pitched in a weekend tournament at Elon University and threw a Complete game shutout, pitching nearly 80 miles per hour.
Now, being 16 and throwing upper 70’s isnt necessarily anything to write home about. But if you saw what he looked like 2 years ago, him being on track to pitch in college would be a shock.
I know 79 doesn't turn any heads, but Michael is on track to play college baseball and has a decent chance to pitch at the Division 1 level.
Think about it, he will have gone from sitting the bench on a not good 14u travel team, getting cut by other teams before finding his groove.
And will have the opportunity/potential to pitch in college.
Now what? Micheal still weighs in at a measly 152 pounds.
This has to change.
Simply put, you don’t see many college pitchers competing at a high level weighing 152 pounds.
Micheal and I have laid out his goals, giving him nutritional advice/tips on how to easily gain weight.
I told Michael he simply will not be able to throw 90 MPH until he weighs at least 175 pounds.
He might have some solid mechanics but his body won't be able to create the force necessary to throw hard and certainly won't be able to do so in a healthy manner until he weighs more.
He is on a moderate lifting program of 3x a week while his summer season goes on, which will be increasing to 4x a week once the season ends.
We are focusing on hammering down the basic movements that are found in high level weight rooms, and focusing on form before seriously pushing the weight.
With a 500 calorie daily surplus he will gain 1 pound per week, with the capability to gain more if he goes over that slotted amount. This will put him right at 175-180 at the end of the year.
Does this mean he will throw 90 before the end of the year? Probably not, honestly I'm not sure I want him to gain 10 mph in 6 months.
In fact I am actually quite sure I don't want him to do that.
But with an added 25 pounds he will certainly be in a great spot come springtime of his Junior year.
Not a single thing happened to him “overnight” and certainly nothing was magic, just a kid that focused on the basics for a long period of time and has a chance.
It is human nature to give up on kids way too early, I was told that i would never be as good as other kids on my middle school team (i was the only one to play college baseball, let alone professional baseball) and was told that i probably wouldn't be able to even play showcase baseball in HS.
We simply do not know what we do not know, and giving a hard working kid the guide rails to becoming a better athlete is the only thing we can do.
There are thousands of Michaels across the country every year, and most of them never truly realize their talent.
In about a year or two I am sure he will be told he has a ton of talent of “great genetics”, which will be humorous.
I look forward to his success.
If this sounds like you, or your athlete/kid. You are in luck.
There are a few slots available for my mentorship program.
We can get you on the right path.
Mechanical analysis + roadmap to what your baseball goals + daily texting and guidance.
It doesn't have to be that complex.
Click the link here and join.