"If it was that easy, everyone would do it" Millersville University & FullReps Athlete
Everyone wants to throw 90 MPH, but very few actually want to put in the work to achieve this! Athletes (including me a year ago) think that they will magically wake up one day & just throw 90 MPH. This is so far from the truth & if this is your thought process, something needs to change or the game of baseball will swallow you whole and spit you back out. After my freshmen year at college I realized that throwing low to mid 80s would not get me a starting spot in the rotation or an opportunity to play after college. Once I came to grips with this fact, I realized I needed to change something up so I decided to go out on my own and spend two months training at Driveline Baseball in Seattle.
"If it was that easy, everyone would do it"
This is where I learned that I wasn’t working nearly as hard as I needed. Being around athletes who were so focused, so committed to bettering themselves & so immersed in a process really inspired me to perform better and also helped with me realize that I needed to work HARDER! I got on a program and was ready to go! Shortly after starting my program, I realized that it would take a lot more than just throwing plyo balls & getting on a good routine to reach my goal. I realized that if you want to get better there are clear and concise training protocols you need to follow to get you there. Not only do you have to stick to a strict throwing schedule, but you need to be eating right, which in my opinion is the hardest part of training. You also need to be working out, maintaining mobility, getting enough sleep, and staying on top of your school work. Finding the time to train while being a "student athlete" can be extremely stressful & tiresome and I strongly believe that this is the reason why most pitchers in college throw in the towel & and simply get content with where they are at. The demands & failures just become too hard for some dudes to overcome and this is why they quit. I guess there is nothing wrong with that. I just look at it as an opportunity for myself and less competition.
Training At FRTC
After spending a summer out in Seattle, I decided to stay local and that's when I got hooked up with the dudes over at FullReps Training Center. Over the past year I had the privilege of training at FullReps and the culture, resources & coaches is what keeps me coming back for more. I look forward to going into the facility everyday & training with a group of like-minded individuals that are all chasing the same dreams and getting after it. The FR staff is kick ass and my advice to all young players if they are willing to put in the work & want get better is to get your ass into FullReps, get on a program, stick to the program, out work everyone around you and then never stop. FullReps provides all the resources that I needed including Marc Pros, Plyos, Stalkers, HitTrax, Rapsodo Baseball etc. in order to get the most out of my training. Their staff is super fun to be around and really educated when it comes to gaining velo, staying healthy etc. These guys have their athletes back 100% & they run one of the best arm care programs out there in one of the best facilities,
At the end of the day, I have my program and I stick to it day in and day out. It became so religious to me that my whole day would feel out of whack if I didn't eat right/enough, get my throwing in, or work out. I became obsessed with the process and never looked back. Most pitchers I know, get to this point where they reach all time highs and feel great about themselves. They are gaining weight, seeing jumps in the weight room, and breaking PRs. But that feeling doesn't last forever for some dudes because the more gains you make the harder you have to work to sustain them and most guys get complacent. When this happens you get hit with a right hook to the face and out of nowhere your lifts go down, you start eating like shit and your velo DROPS. So many guys get to this point and then quit because it gets hard! But true competitors don't stop when this happens, they push harder. The guys who quit are the guys who can't see the end of the tunnel where you break through and your numbers go back up again. There's no guarantees that you'll make gains or get to the end of that tunnel but the important part is that you see the light and you never stop trying. Sometimes it takes months before you might see any progress, and for most young athletes, it seems like it just isn’t worth it to push through the times when you feel like crap if all your holding onto is a "maybe". The biggest thing I have learned in this entire process is that training & arm care is not something that you just do for a month or two to get your velo up and then stop because you are happy with the results. You have to be on top of it seven days a week! This is why it is hard. Stop thinking it is going to happen and just go do something!!!
