April 5, 2010

Pitching Velocity Training Aid The Pitchers Power Drive Increases Velocity Potential
This device increases lower body power by training pitchers to lead with their hips from knee lift.  This can be done because the pitchers foot is in solid contact on a 21 pound training device braced against the rubber.  This allows the entire back leg and hip to move the pitcher’s body powerfully away from the rubber into landing.  The pitching velocity training device has been used with great success for over four years in a baseball academy with over 8,000 lessons documented.  See live video of pitching 60’6” at full speed on the Pitchers Power Drive at www.pitcherspowerdrive.com

March 31, 2010

Ryan Tatusko

Ryan Tatusko, Texas Rangers text me last week and said he is hitting new highs 91-95 mph on radar gun up from 88-93 and having a great spring training with the Texas Rangers. He said the Pitchers Power Drive has really helped him.
During the winter months while back home….Ryan reviewed video and talked with his Texas coach Danny Clark and local pitching coach Jay Lehr at the Roundtriper Baseball Academy in Indianapolis. Jay Lehr trains pitchers on the Pitchers Power Drive and recommends it to his pitchers. Jay made it part of Ryan’s training regimen in helping him to feel and learn backside initiation to help stay back in delivery. Ryan was so happy with the Pitchers Power Drive he wanted to own one. We shipped him a metal one and he now has a turf model at spring training in Arizona. When we communicated via email during the winter….I pulled up a video from the internet of Ryan pitching last year and saw from reviewing the video that his back foot was off the ground before he was throwing the baseball. I sent him an email letting him know what I saw and he said that was exactly what they had seen. He said that Jay and he were working on lengthening his stride to fix it. I mentioned that continued training on the Pitchers Power Drive with Jay would teach a hip lead which will allow staying on the back side and pitching with his weight behind the baseball thus getting the stride he needed.
Here is part of a recent interview that Ryan had with Jason Cole of LoneStarDugout.com on March 23rd, 2010:
SURPRISE, Ariz. - Looking to gain more consistency and get more out of his 6-foot-5 frame, right-hander Ryan Tatusko went to the video for answers in the offseason. Lone Star Dugout spoke with the pitcher about the changes he made and his first two outings of Spring Training.
Cole: What exactly were those mechanical adjustments that you implemented over the offseason?

Tatusko: Staying back. I came to find out that, through video and talking with DC and my pitching coach at home, that my back foot was completely off the ground before I was even releasing the baseball. That was completely taking all of the power out of my legs. I was just throwing strictly arm and shoulder.

Once I found that out, I talked to DC a little bit and talked with the pitching guy back at home. I really worked on just riding out my back side. I never really understood what that meant. Former pitching coordinator Rick Adair would always tell me that, too, and it never really clicked with me until I saw myself on video for the first time. All I really tried implementing was staying on my back side as long as I can and then exploding and not being too quick to the plate.
Cole: How long did it take you–when throwing bullpens or whatever–before it clicked and you were able to do that consistently?

Tatusko: It probably took me a couple of months to do it. Starting out, I’d get really frustrated. I would do it a couple times and then I’d go back to the same habit. I started to kind of feel myself rushing a little bit. I noticed a little bit of zip being taken off on my fastball.

Probably about the end of December or January, I started really getting behind the ball. The ball had a different feeling coming out of my hand starting in late December or early January. Every once in awhile, I’d catch myself rushing a little bit. And even still now, I’ll do it every once in awhile, but now I can feel it. That feels wrong now, and staying back and behind the ball feels right. It probably took me a couple months to figure it out.

Cole: At first, when you did it right, did it feel a little weird?

Tatusko: It felt really weird because I’ve never thrown like that before. It felt that I was leaving all of my power on my back foot and I wasn’t transferring through the ball. It felt effortless, and I’m not used to throwing that way. I was always maximum effort while trying to get the ball to the plate. That is kind of how I thought everybody felt throwing. Now everything felt effortless and I felt like I was leaving all my weight behind. Through throwing more and more, I started to feel that this is how you’re supposed to throw the ball–this is how you get behind it.

Cole: Going back to studying the video for a second, when you started looking at it, did you know that you were going to find something? Were you looking for anything in particular?

Tatusko: It was more that I just wanted to see if something was wrong. It just didn’t feel like I was getting enough out of my body. I talked to DC and some pitching coaches, and everybody said that there was more in there. I felt like, even myself, there was more in there. When I was younger–probably my sophomore year in college–I was 91-94. And then all the sudden I dipped. And I couldn’t figure out why.

I knew there was something in there, so I had to go to the video just to see if there was something there. And one day I was sitting down with a pitching coach back at home named Jay Lehr, and he found it. He called me up one night and said, ‘Hey, tomorrow morning, I want to show you something.’ He was the one that originally showed me. We went back to previous videos of me and I found the same thing happening in every single video. He really, truly found it for me. It clicked.

SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2010

Spring training trip to Arizona

On my trip to Spring training in Arizona…I was able to meet with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Arizona Diamondbacks. I am very happy to say both teams will be using thePitchers Power Drive this year. Michael Dana Butcher, Pitching Coach for the Angles said he will be using it with Scott Kazmir. I am excited to have the Angels using the Pitchers Power Drive and to see the results. The Arizona Diamondbacks strength and conditioning coach will be using with the pitchers in the weight room. They will be working med-balls and balance exercises on the Pitchers Power Drive.
I was so able to see my good friend Steve Foster, the bullpen coach for the KC Royals. The Royals have two new Pitchers Power Drives…turf models. There are now five MLB teams using the Pitchers Power Drive the Tigers, KC, Marlins, Angles and Diamondbacks. There are also several upcoming professional pitchers training with the Pitchers Power Drive.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Pitchers Power Drive Straight Facts
"Straight Facts about the Pitchers Power Drive"

? Books and DVD's offer valuable training but nothing replaces live pitching where you can feel and hear results during your delivery.
? We have been doing video analysis for 10 years and measuring results
? When comparing pitching styles on video, instructors should always compare pitchers at the same point of delivery…for example….not one pitcher at knee lift and the other at landing
? Pitchers have certain styles. You cannot cookie cutter evaluations of photos and video…especially at different points of delivery.
? Still photos used on our web site are of pitchers that all throw over 88 MPH with their live delivery.
? We do 2,000 lessons a year and have used the Pitchers Power Drive for over 4 years now. This represents 8,000 lessons and we have seen and measured the results.
? Pitchers Power Drives are operating as good as day one in training facility
? Pitchers love training on the Pitchers Power Drive as it teaches them to lead with their hips with instant feedback. Coaches are hearing the same thing from professional and college pitchers.
? Hundreds of coaches and baseball academy's are training with the Pitchers Power Drive and have absolutely seen the results and are recommending the device to others.
? Coaches with teams on our web site are professionals and understand pitching…there are many qualified pitching coaches and trainers in this great country….who are focused on game results and are on the diamond day after day.
? Trainers and coaches across the USA are training back side initiation with hip lead. This is what the Pitchers Power Drive teaches while throwing live and with instant multisensory feedback.
? We are glad to see and support other trainers teaching hip lead down the mound with their DVD’s, You Tube videos and books....this supports the use of hip lead training on the Pitchers Power Drive. The DVD’s and videos show the same motion that drives the Pitchers Power Drive plate.
? We hope all trainers get a chance to actually see and use a Pitchers Power Drive so they can really understand and help young pitchers reach higher levels of performance.

With the Pitchers Power Drive you can pitch live to a down catcher with your normally momentum delivery with a hip lead and hear the solid auditory click feedback. This device was designed by purpose to be very low to the ground with no springs to hold back your naturally delivery. Built with the right plate weight and mechanism to let your naturally hip lead drive the plate down by normal gravitational force. No springs to assist or resist your natural delivery. Spring resistance would cause pitchers to push incorrectly or with their foot and knee instead of using their hip. The plate was also designed to move both directions with no stop on the back side. This is to challenge pitchers balance as it is a very important part of the delivery. It allows coaches and the pitchers to identify mechanical balance faults when pitching. For example a pitcher that is on the back edge of their foot at knee lift would drop the plate back first and then forward losing balance and stability to lead with their hips. The pitcher learns that solid foot contact is the most athletic to balance and drive from.

The Pitchers Power Drive was designed for pitchers as a valuable training device to put in their training toolbox. As Jerry Weinstein now with the Colorado Rockies advised me in my early years of training…..”Put as much into your training tool box as you can to work with and improve your skills”. There is not one pitching coach or instructor, book, DVD or training device that will teach you everything. Keep an open mind to learn new things and never think you know it all from experience, reading, viewing DVD’s, training or scientific research.

Train with the original US Patent "Pitchers Power Drive" as it was designed to allow a natural fluid delivery with a hip lead. The Pitchers Power Drive is the choice of Professional, Collegiate, Youth and High School pitchers.