Infiniti Sports Performance
Neal Heaton: What Should A January Throwing Program Consist Of?
(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is a 12-year MLB Veteran pitcher. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft and is in the University of Miami’s Hall of Fame. He now gives pitching lessons at 365 Athletics in Bellport, NY. The following words are his own.) A pitcher should be treated like a race horse–carefully groomed and you cannot accelerate that process. When a pitcher picks up the ball for the first time in January, they haven’t pitched off a mound for over two months. I tell my pitchers before I see them on the mound they should have done a bit of long-tossing. You should not be going from inactivity to a mound. I took a lot of precautions to stay healthy in my career, and for that reason I landed on the DL only once–and it was a freak accident during BP while running spr...
365 Athletics Opens in Bellport: What It Means for Long Island Baseball
Long Island’s newest baseball and softball facility has opened up in Bellport and it could have a big impact on the local baseball scene. 365 Athletics is a 15,000 square foot facility at the former location of All Pro Sports, and they have an A+ list of instructors. “Our vision is to provide a high level of instruction, training and skill acquisition services throughout the calendar year. Periodization for an athlete, in both skills and conditioning means cycling through a well-conceived progression of training to assure that the athlete is in peak performance mode at the most important time of their competitive seasons. Simply put…what we do with an athlete in November is not what we will be doing with them in February, or in June, etc..” said owner Ray Babinsky. ...
Creatine: Important for Baseball Players?
Has anyone ever told you to be careful with your Creatine supplementation because it “damages your kidneys”? Or, that it really has no effect on muscle growth and is clinically unsafe? These are some of the common misconceptions in the field of exercise science. Fortunately for you, this article is giving you the real science behind Creatine. Creatine has been the most widely studied supplement. It’s importance to muscle growth is well known, and has been backed by numerous scientific studies. In this article, we will review how Creatine is used by your cells, why it is important for baseball, and how it feeds your muscles to grow! So…What is Creatine? Creatine can be found in meats and fish. However, these items must be consumed in large portions to obtain a generous amount of Creatine. F...
Kyle McGowin Hosts Clinic at All Pro Sports
Sag Harbor native Kyle McGowin (Pierson 2010) hosted a clinic for little leaguers last night at All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport. It featured dozens of players ages 7-13 learning the fundamentals to pitching from the Washington Nationals RHP, who has overcome some improbable odds to transition from one of the smallest towns on Long Island to the Major Leagues. He was drafted out of Savannah State in 2013 by the Los Angeles Angels in the 5th round following an outstanding season in which he compiled an ERA of 1.49 with a record of 12-1 spanning 96.1 IP. He also led the league in strikeouts with 111. He pitched in the Angels minor league system in 2013-’16 before getting traded to the Washington Nationals for Danny Espinosa. Following that season, I spoke with him for an interview, a...
How Do You Improve Speed?
Some people might tell you that speed cannot be taught. Some people might tell you that it’s just “genetics” and that’s why you’re not quick enough. What I’m here to tell you is that these are some of the BIGGEST myths in regards to athletic development. If speed/quickness is an athletic quality, can’t it be trained like everything else? The answer is yes, and here is how. Acceleration Mechanics When we look at elite-level sprinters, we can see that their acceleration may be the most important factor in their performance. Linear acceleration occurs between the first 6-8 steps moving forward. If a sprinter cannot get as much distance as possible in those first few steps, that could be the difference between a win and a loss. Whether you are a sprint...
Strength and Conditioning Weighted Ball Throwing: An Advanced Training Tool
Another year, another chance to get better. At Infiniti Sports Performance, we highly encourage most of our baseball athletes to put a baseball down once October hits. However, the baseball culture still pushes playing fall ball, which is highly unfortunate. My question is, for what reason? At the end of every summer season, your arm has a bunch of mileage on it with not a lot of maintenance performed on it. You LOSE mobility in your throwing arm AND you usually see a dip in velocity. So, if you didn’t throw a lot during the summer season, then keep throwing so you can add onto the chronic workload of your arm. If you DID throw a lot, and you’re part of that example that already lost mobility, velocity, and strength in your arm, do you really think you should be showcasing you...
What Research Says About Weighted Baseballs
WEIGHTED BASEBALLS: DO’s and DON’T’s BASED ON THE RESEARCH Jarad Vollkommer, CSCS Assistant Director of Training, Infiniti Sports Performance Oh boy, here we go again with all the weighted baseball stuff… But, seriously, are you educated yet? Probably not. There is so much more research needed to fully understand everything there is about weighted baseballs. So far, here is some of what we do know in a quick summary: Throwing Velocity Using an array of weighted baseballs (4-12oz.) can lead to an increase in throwing velocity, we know that. One study [1] found that using over-weighted baseballs as a warm up greatly improved both throwing velocity and accuracy. These results are great, but they lack ecological validity (carry-over effect). Will a pitcher ever warm-up with a non-regula...
5 Supplements Baseball Players Should Consider
FOCUS, BUILD, RECOVER, REPLENISH, GROW Jarad Vollkommer, CSCS Before I get into any supplementation stuff, I think it’s important to say that you should first have a very well-balanced diet. What does that exactly mean, anyway? You’re having the appropriate amount of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins based on your age, activity level, lifestyle, genetics and whole load of other factors (which we will get to in the later weeks). “Supplements” are not to be overlooked, as they usually are. They are to supplement your current diet. Therefore, don’t get all your protein just from protein shakes! The layout that I have for these supplements will AID your performance in five arenas: Focus, Build, Recover, Replenish, and Grow. Let’s get into the good stuff! TrueFocus – FOCUS This is a great suppl...
Infiniti Performance Opens Up in Farmingdale and Commack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Im_THqldVQ&t=317s Over the past 13 years, Infiniti Sports Performance has carved out a reputation for training many of the top baseball players on Long Island. In fact, of the previous 13 Carl Yastrzemski Award winners, 11 of them have regularly trained at Infiniti. The same can be said about five winners of the Paul Gibson Award during that same span. Additionally, five of their athletes were selected in the 2017 MLB Draft and eight were selected in the 2016 MLB Draft. They have recently opened the doors of a second location; in the current home of Prospect Performance in Farmingdale and a third in the current home of Team B.E.A.S.T. facility in Commack. The merge now turns the Prospect Factory building into somewhat of a “baseball factory”...
