3-Day Pitching Masterclass Walkthrough

Aug 19, 2024

TMVP #024: 3 Steps to Getting Recruited by a D1

In this episode, Josh breaks down the 3 steps he took to be recruited by multiple D1 schools.

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This past weekend I ran an exclusive pitching camp for 5 pitchers between the ages of 16-23.

Being the first one I have ran, I didn't know what to expect.

Truth be told, it went better than I could have hoped for!

Today, I want to walk through what we did at the camp and why it was much different from your standard pitching camp.

First off, there were only 5 pitchers. Have you ever heard of a camp with a 5 player limit?

This was intentional. I honestly, wouldn't even call this a camp considering the way I ran it.

It was mostly 1 on 1 work between the player and I, with a few group activities.

Let's dive into day 1:

Biomechanics and Pitch Movement Evaluation

I am fortunate to have access to the Banner Sports Medicine High Performance Center in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Here, they have a mound with force plates built in and a Kinatrax motion capture system.

Between these 2 things I was able to know exactly what each player does well and areas to improve.

For those that don't know what a motion capture system is, it is able to measure:

How fast each body part is rotating (and when)
What degree each body part is flexed, extended, rotated throughout the delivery

The force plates are able to tell me how much force is being put in the ground (how long and when):

Vertically (straight into the ground)
Between the rubber and home
Between 1st and 3rd

Between these 2 things it becomes very clear what the player does well and needs to improve.

Here is an example of a player's arm action from this past weekend:

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the data you get.

There are also 7 different camera angles for every pitch!

During the biomechanics bullpen, I also have my TrackMan running to evaluate how their pitches move.

I failed to mention earlier that apart of the evaluation is ArmCare app testing. This allows me to see what there shoulder range of motion looks like and strength in the shoulder and forearm.

This helps with the programming I'll later do for their arm care.

That concluded the evaluation segment, Friday morning.

In the afternoon, I gave a biomechanics presentation on the data they would later be getting.

I walked through an example report of all the data and explained what everything meant (in simple terms).

Throughout the presentation I stopped and had players/parents ask questions to provide as much clarity as possible.

That concluded day 1.

Moving onto day 2:

Group Training Session, Pitch Movement Presentation and Individual Evaluation Meeting

Since they had just thrown a bullpen the day before, day 2 had very little throwing.

We started off the day with a movement assessment before going into the warm up and light catch.

After that I took them through some medicine ball, water bag, and PVC pipe drills on the mound.

During this we focused on rotation, and the relationship between the upper and lower body during the throw.

After the drill work we moved into a movement and mobility circuit.

This involved mostly the spine, hips, shoulder, and elbow. The goal with this was to focus on recovery and to show them ways to mobilize different parts of the body.

After this, we moved into the pitch movement presentation segment.

During this presentation I walked through:

Fundamentals of pitch movement
Showed what a movement plot is and what it means
Examples of different types of profiles
MLB example plots
How big leaguers use their stuff based on the batter handedness
Average movement for all pitch types

This concluded the morning session.

In the afternoon I had individual, 1 hour meetings with each player and their parent(s).

During this I walked through their entire biomechanics report and pitch movement data.

I explained what everything meant and what I thought the 1 or 2 most important things were for us to focus on moving forward.

Day 2 was a packed full of education!

Moving onto the final day, day 3:

Pitch Design Session

Since they through a bullpen 2 days prior, this mound session was performed around 80% effort. I didn't want max effort, but it also needed to be high enough for the movement data to mean something.

The day started with their warm up and a few drills to start priming the movements we wanted to improve based on the biomechanics report.

After that we threw and then moved into the pitch design session.

The focus was solely on the 1 or 2 pitches we talked about the day before needing to be improved.

In one session, multiple players improved their arsenal or at least showed promise!

Checkout this changeup improvement after one session:

This concluded the 3-day pitching masterclass.

Within a week after the camp I gave every attendee:

70-day plan (warm up, throwing schedule, drill package, arm care, mobility, and lifting)
Video recording of every group and individual presentation over the weekend
Their Kinatrax, force plate, and TrackMan data
PDF's of my slideshow presentation
Resource folder (throwing build up plans and educational videos on various parts of pitching)

The weekend went better than I could have imagined!

I am looking forward to the next one!

As of now, I am planning on running 2 more masterclasses this winter.

Dates are not finalized, but will likely be:

December 20th-22nd

January 3rd-5th

If you are interested in attending you can join my waitlist and be the first to know when the dates are officially released.

Have any questions about the tech used during the camp? I'd love to help!

Reply to this email with any questions.

That's all for today.

See you next week!

Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Remote Training: a personalized throwing and lifting program built for you and your goals.

2. In-Person Training: Work with me in Phoenix, Arizona. Personalized training program to help you reach your goals. Trackman and edgertronic for bullpen sessions.

3. Pitch Design "U" Course: A complete blueprint for developing nasty pitches and optimizing how you use your stuff. 3+ hours of easy to follow video lessons.