10 offseason shoulder health tips for softball players

This is session number 60 of the Performance Place Sports Care Podcast, and in the words of Hippocrates, walking is man's best medicine. Welcome to the Performance Place Sports Care Podcast, where you can learn about sports injury theory, rehab, diagnosis, and how to understand the doctor lingo you didn't understand at your appointment. And now, your host, Dr. Sebastian Gonzales. Hey, everyone. It's Dr. Sebastian Gonzales, again, with the Performance Place Sports Care Podcast. And I thought I'd start out with a quote again today because walking is awesome medicine, and movement in general is great for conditioning yourself to or getting yourself over an injury.

And I think a lot of us actually tend to freeze, and I'm no exception. You just kind of freeze up when you actually have an injury happening. And sometimes moving is one of the best medicines you can actually possibly do. So, on that note, I thought I would have on a strength and conditioning coach today. Her name is Nancy Newell from Newell Strength, or the website is nancynewell.com. And sometimes moving well is the better medicine than just moving, period. So, I thought she'd be a great one to come on and talk to us about that in some of the top 10 off-season shoulder health tips that you can do as a softball player.

So, Nancy was actually, she's one of the, she actually is the first female strength and conditioning coach that came out of Cressy Sports Performance. And I don't know if you guys have looked at any of the stuff that Cressy has put out, but he put some really great knowledgeable information out. There's really well-written, concise, technical articles as well. And some awesome videos, lots of tips and so on. I've personally gone on to his site and his content many times for great videos and ways to break things down to patients and athletes. So, Nancy's kind of following suit with that, which is what I really love about what she's putting out.

The videos are concise, they're technical, they're purposeful, which I can't stress enough. Because in strength conditioning and in fitness overall, we're not just looking for aesthetics. And in this case, she's probably looking for more performance because she's working with softball players. She's working with athletes. But also, too, there's also a clinical aspect to it because it's not about just how much you move, but it's also quality of movement. So, you'll see when you look through some of her videos and her content, it's almost clinical-like, which I really, really like. And I think we need blends of people like that out there in sports performance.

So, she has a bachelor's. She also is a certified speed and agility coach. I thought one reason we should have her on is because in one of the articles she wrote, she posted some stats of 80% of softball players report with shoulder pain in high school. And, I mean, that's a lot. And she also mentioned, which I was actually unaware of, but softball does not have a pitch count restriction, which is a huge problem, in my opinion, especially for those, the youth age one, who aren't skeletally mature yet. I mean, that's a huge thing. And when it comes to baseball, we already have pitch count restrictions.

So, there was another part she wrote in the article, which she was citing, it looked like a lyric of 2016, where they said in a three-day event, it's not uncommon for a softball pitcher to pitch up to 1,200 pitches. 1,200. I don't even know how long it would take me to throw that many baseballs over the course of playing outfield, warming up, and so on. It would probably take a heck of a long time. But these are things that I think, if you're a softball player, if you're a softball player's mother or father, or if you're a softball coach or someone who trains softball players, I think this podcast, I know this podcast, is going to be something you're going to get a ton of information from.

Okay? So, listen in for the next 45 minutes to an hour and soak this stuff up. I think you're going to agree with a strong majority of it. And please, go over to Nancy's site and check out everything she has there. She's putting out great content. So, without any further ado, let's welcome on Nancy Newell. All right, everybody. Welcome on Nancy. Nancy Newell. Say hey. Hey, everybody. How you doing? Excellent. So, you're walking your dog right now. No, you're touching your dog right now, you said. Yeah. I'm actually sitting in like a mini lawn chair, and my dog is just hanging out with me, relaxing, soaking in some rays while we're doing this podcast.

That's a good spot to be. I'm staring at a wall covered in foam. I definitely like your spot a little bit better. Hey. I agree. So, tell everybody about yourself, and I thought we'd go down the route of this podcast a little bit just to kind of better educate softball, not just players, but players, parents, coaches, and trainers, or people that train softball players, mainly because there was all those. I brought up the issues with pitch count, shoulder pain in high school, and just all that kind of stuff. So, tell us about yourself. Well, I grew up in a small town in upstate New York called Glenfield, New York.

I went to high school, graduated there. Like, I graduated in class with like 62 kids, so I was really, really small. I actually thought I was going to go into the military, so I went to SUNY Cortland, which is about 30 minutes south of Syracuse, New York, if I give you kind of a reference. I went in as an athletic training major and also did Air Force ROTC at the same time. And I ended up not liking athletic training. I did it a few times, and it was just not a lot of action, even though that sounds bad. Like, you're not supposed to have a lot of action if you're doing your job, but it was kind of too quiet for me, and I wanted to be, like, more in the action.

So, I switched my major to exercise science. I really liked how you got to work hands-on with students and athletes, and I liked helping people move better and, like, seeing, like, instant results. I think that kind of, like, pulled me in a lot. And then freshman year, I played college softball, actually, and then I got cut my sophomore year, and I got kind of cut because I was, like, I was too small, and I wasn't really able to, like, hang out with big dogs. So, that kind of inspired me to start learning how to strength train and just get stronger and bigger. And that really helped, and I, like, went back my senior year, and probably from, like, my freshman year to my senior year, I gained, like, 15 pounds.

But at the time, I was, like, 105, 10 pounds of, like, nothingness. And so, like, that whole experience gave me a lot to kind of relate to many of the girls, many softball players that I deal with now. So, after I graduated, I did, well, through my college, I did internships, like, every summer just to, like, learn more. I did an internship at Game Changers Strength and Conditioning, which was in, at the time, Mountainside, New Jersey, and I dealt with a few baseball players. And then my senior year, I actually did an internship at Cressey Sports Performance, where I currently work. Did that internship, left, and two months later, Pete and Eric called me back saying that they wanted me, and at that time, I was like, hey, I'm in, count me in.

Yeah, it's rare to get a job even there, right? Yeah, and I've been there for about a year and a half-ish now, so. So, what made you want to go into, like, was it that you were in softball that you wanted to work with throwing sports, or did you just end up, like, hey, there's this other place that works at baseball, this looks fun, let's do it? I would say, like, softball kind of found me. I actually didn't want to work with females at all, just because it was, like, so cliche, like, oh, a female trainer is going to, like, work with female athletes. I'm definitely the person to be able to, like, coach anyone I see, and I, like, I really enjoy coaching the male athletes just because it's something you don't really see that often.

And sometimes, like, being able to, like, lift more than them is kind of, like, funny, too. Yeah. But I just, I think it's, like, really empowering for me to, like, walk in, to be surrounded by, you know, to be a special baseball player, like a minor league guy trying to make the throws, or, like, a 15-year-old, like, little nugget. I like the ability, as a coach, to be able to work with any athlete, male or female. I don't want to say that, as a coach, I'm solely focusing on softball. I like to really focus on, like, the individual and their sport, and their sport really just is a goal that they're trying to accomplish, really.

Thinking back to, like, you said you were doing ATC, and there wasn't really that much action there, I would imagine that, I mean, you get so much more one-on-one and personalization with the people, actually, that you must train them multiple times a week. And I'm guessing ATC, you only got football, majority football come in, right? Did you say football? Yeah, well, in the ATC. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like, it's really, in athletic training, it was just, like, football, it was people with, like, nagging, like, just overuse injuries, taping ankles, and at the time, like, as an athletic trainer, you're not allowed to diagnose injuries, you know?

You can only give them kind of pointers, so it's, like, you go through all this training, all this learning, so, like, you obviously know what the injury is, but you can't diagnose it. You can't really take any action with it, but to refer out, like, that's, like, your biggest thing, is, like, you're always referring out. Mm-hmm. So, I wanted to be able to, like, actually help people move better, understand why they're in pain, and give them, like, applicable, like, takeaways to make their pain go away. Yeah, it's nice to see on, I watched, I watched quite a few of your videos and read a bunch of your articles, actually, and I find it interesting that the, and I don't know if you adapted this to get this over at Cressy's Place or not, but you guys seem to focus a lot on corrective stuff, or I guess with rowing, we're looking at shoulder blade mechanics or scapular dyskinesis, rather than just, hey, we're going to do pulling, pushing, complex movements, you know?

I like that a lot, and so do you guys do that with every single person? Do you find some type of deficiency with every player, and you address it, or? Um, I would say, like, for me, I take every person that I meet as, like, or client that I meet as, like, I'm playing a chess match with them. So, depending upon what move they make, I will make a move in response, so I kind of offset it, really. Um, but the way I coach, or the way that I instruct one person is going to be completely different than the way that I coach another person. Um, but I'm just looking for good quality movement, um, and so if I have to, you know, put them in a breathing position to help them understand or, like, get their, you know, shoulder blade to gain more upper rotation so that they can feel where it's supposed to be, then I will.

Um, but most of the time, you can fix a lot of poor scat movement by coaching, um, and a lot of the players that I've seen in, like, the high school setting or even the college setting, it's just, there's, there's one coach and 30 athletes, and it's, it's hard to give quality, um, instruction to all those players at once. But, um, from what I've seen and from my, um, experience thus far, it's, it's good coaching, it's helping people move better, um, with words, more faith than, like, corrective exercises. Mm-hmm. So, just, uh, effective cueing, I'm guessing? Yeah, I would say effective, effective cueing is, like, the, my biggest strength for sure.

Okay. Um, you said breathing earlier, is that, is that what you said? Yep. Okay. So, I've, I, I've, a lot of people I've interviewed, actually, um, from various different disciplines, PTs, chiros, uh, trainers, and so on, everyone's focusing on breathing a lot right now. And, um, I just want to see your take on it, because I know that when I have clients in the office here, to start with breathing, sometimes, say, when we're working with, like, knee conditions, they're like, why? Like, the confusion and the, the, the lack of ability to understand why, I, I guess I just want to correlate that to a shoulder condition.

So, everyone can understand that. Okay. Um, so, for example, if I, if I have a girl coming in, and one of the assessments that I do is, like, a, um, like, they're just going to stand there, and they're just going to do, you know, a shoulder, shoulder flexion. Okay? Mm-hmm. Um, so, um, when I'm watching her, and I see, like, her ribs fly up, and she, like, extends through her low back, um, it's going to tell me that she's going to, obviously, move through her low back a lot, which is something that we want to avoid. Um, so, an easy way to help her understand that is, like, the tension that I want her to create is, like, I could do, like, a dead bug and place one of my hands over, well, both, I'll place my hands up, and she's going to push her hands and gently into my hands.

And I'll place my other hand up, and she's going to gently push her knees into my other arm. And what happens is, I'm going to say, opposite arm, opposite leg, and the whole time, she's pushing my arm, and then I'm going to say, all right, we're going to inhale into our belly, and then we're going to exhale hard as we extend. And we'll do that for a few reps to help her understand what bracing feels like. Mm-hmm. So, she has the ability to get up overhead, but she doesn't know what bracing is. She doesn't know what core control is. So, giving her context, I think, is the biggest thing to helping people move better, especially as a female.

Um, you tell a female to brace, most of the time, they actually suck in air. Like, they suck all their, sorry, they suck all their air out, and they try and get as small as possible. Mm-hmm. So, I think context is huge. So, now, when I go back and do the shoulder flexion, and I'm like, all right, brace, bring your arms up overhead. Well, it's kind of flawless. They just don't know how to move. So, once you give them context, it fixes it up. Or, say, I have a girl who is, like, she has limited external rotation. Most of the time, you get them into some type of prone bridge or side bridge. You have them do five solid breaths, get their diaphragm set, you know, good quality inhales and exhales.

You're going to improve motion above and below the shoulder, which is a super simple fix. Mm-hmm. Because, like, most people are just, they're just resting in an out-of-line position. And they teach, you get their body to be back in the position that it needs to be, and you gain range of motion. So, sometimes I think people get carried away with the breathing. I just like to add, like, high tension breathing to, like, your normal exercises, like, side bridges, prone bridges, dead bug, bird dog. And I think you can get the same effect. I mean, I understand some concepts of, like, PRI, but I try not to get too carried away with it.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I totally agree. I think sometimes people, they get stuck within, like, a corrective, like, paradigm a little bit too long. And even, like, being face down or on their back or being in an unloaded position, sometimes I feel like we could just move into a half-loaded or at least a standing position and kind of apply the same thing if we cue them well. My personal experience, sometimes people, when they lose that ground contact, like, say, on that dead bug you're saying, they lose the ability to hold it. It's like they've lost everything we talked about, you know. I don't know if you have, you said when you get them to stand, usually it works out pretty well, you said?

Yeah, it usually works out pretty well. I think it's more of a contact thing than anything. Okay. So, in regards to, bringing it back to trunk control, in regards, or breathing in regards to throwing, what kind of power leaks, I guess, or lack of performance would you see with something like lack of breathing properly? Oh, shoot, I'm sorry. So, with proper breathing or not having high tone with breathing, what type of performance decreases would someone typically see? I think most of the time, they, someone that's really not how to breathe correctly or say that they are more of a chest reader.

And they tend to, like, breathe a lot, obviously, beating their neck and their upper chest. Usually that creates, like, a high resting or a high sympathetic tone. And it just makes, like, their upper torso is really stiff. They're not athletic. Sometimes they'll limit external rotation. So, instead of, you know, getting full external rotation if they can, or lay back, like throwing softball, they're actually going to rotate to the low back and compensate. Got it. Okay. I just thought we'd just go deeper and deeper and deeper into that thing. So, it seems to come up pretty consistently. So, let's go into your article, then, because I know that, so there was 10 points we wanted to hit.

This was your article that you wrote. So, it was 10, basically the 10 things you would have someone do off-season for softball. So, the first one was soft tissue, the pec minor, and scalene. Tell me why, and, yeah. So, with soft tissue where, like, the pec, the pec major, you know, attaches to the part of their shoulder. And, as a softball pitcher, they're using your pec major to internally rotate, like, or pronate through the ball. And, what happens is most females, well, softball, and softball will tend to have, like, a flatter key spine, anterior, shoulder blade. So, they're already, like, their resting position is already rounded forward.

Plus, you have your pec major pulling them inwards because that's what they're doing. And, scalenes go back to breathing again. So, I find with both, like, the softball and the baseball population that scalenes tend to get really gritting because they're pitching a lot. Usually, they're lifting a lot. And, they tend to breathe a lot, like I said, through their neck muscles. That's why I think, like, throwing in, like, the high-tension side bridges, the foam bridges, dead bugs, etc., is a good idea because it just allows them to, like, relax for a few seconds, get their diaphragm to turn on, and kind of, like, reset them in a better resting position.

Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah. So, would you want them to, by, I know most people think when they think soft tissue, they think massage, foam rolling, using a ball, so, could you give a couple examples of, like, improving tone or just using a different exercise to kind of relax those muscles, right? So, is there, is there, do people, do you suggest people use any of the types of manual therapies as well, or is it? Um, I, I will write on the program, you know, you can roll out your pec with a lacrosse ball. I found, like, that's kind of huge work. Fabulous. Um, like, 30 seconds on the right, 30 seconds on the left, um, getting after it.

And then, scaling, I use just, well, we usually have, we take, like, a, like, a Theracane, uh, which is just, like, a massage tool. You can buy it off Amazon. It's actually pretty clutch. I have one of my own. Mm-hmm. Um. The Tiger, the Tiger still? Yeah. You know, I think it works really well. So, what we do is you take the Theracane, and you just, you just gently, you know, run it across, um, our scalings. It's located more on, like, the front of the neck. Um, you gotta be careful, um, because you don't wanna, like, massage it too much, just because there is, like, a lot of, um, superficial arteries and veins that kind of run around your neck.

So, if you get after it too much, it could do some damage. So, um, just stay light with it, um, along the surface. I try not to, like, dig really deep. I would save that for, like, a, like, a therapist. Mm-hmm. Is, is there a certain point where you'd say, like, hey, this is, this, the tone or, or the, the way this muscle's reacting so, it's, it's so severe, or it's, it's not responding the way you want it to in regards to relaxing, that you would have them go to somebody else? Or is there, like, is there guidelines that you usually give the players on that, or? Um, most of the time, um, like, I think that's definitely a good, good spot to start, because, like, with a baseball player, they have their shirt off.

With a female, they usually will come in, like, a razorback, or if they feel, like, pretty comfortable with their body, we'll just go, like, sports bra and shorts. Um, and that gives me a good visual of, like, any abnormal hypertrophy that's going on at the neck. Um, I'll just, you know, I'll have them, like, do some neck rotations, like, to the right and to the left, see if I can see any, like, crazy restrictions. Um, but most of the time, like, if they look to the right or the left, um, I'll see, like, crazy, like, um, striations or, like, just gritty neck stuff going on. Um. I can imagine it right now, actually.

Those, those, those strips on the side of their neck, right? Yeah. And, uh, they usually will just, like, pop off. Um, so when I see that, you know, I'll just go over to them and I'll gently just, like, rub, um, and ask them, like, you know, what they feel. Like, do they feel any, like, referral pain patterns? Like, most of the time, like, like, um, with softball players, sometimes I've done that and they felt it, like, more on, like, their lat or, like, under their armpit. Um, those tend to be, like, the main spots they intend to, like, refer to. Um, so I just kind of, like, lay it out. It's, like, what happens is, like, once you lose motion at your neck, then your body's going to try and keep rotation somewhere else.

And for most people, it's around their low back, you know, so if you can free up some space down there, get you to sit in a better, like, you know, rest in posture, get your abs to turn on a little bit. Um, you know, you probably won't have so much low back pain. And I think that also helps with, like, pitching, too. Like, usually people who have, like, really, really gritty necks are also, uh, people who can't keep their head still while they're pitching. They tend to be, like, um, head whippers, um, and it creates inconsistencies with their pitch. They can't repeat their, um, mechanics over and over again.

Huh, that's interesting. So that's also, yeah. I never thought about that. That makes, that makes sense. What about batters? I would imagine it would be the same. They, they can't turn fully to see the ball, right? Yep. They can't turn, um, turn fully to see the ball. So those people there will kind of, well, if they're having, like, a bat hitting, hitting year, usually people who have crappy, like, neck rotation, and then I ask them to show me their batting stance, and then it's more close. I'm like, oh, yeah, there's, there's why. Because, like, they're closed off, they can't rotate, and it's gonna, they're gonna be late on everything.

So, I think that's a huge thing. Um, a quick fix, open up their stance a little bit, do some soft tissue on their neck, bring them up a little bit, and they're like, wow, yeah, that's much better. They think, they think you're, like, a magician at that point, huh? Yeah. How often, how often do you want, do you usually have people do, uh, soft tissue work on that, those kind of areas? Like, I honestly have them do it probably every, every day, until, like, another area seems to, like, pop off. But, um, I think those two areas are, are the most, are the crucial areas, just because they can cause a lot of damage.

Like, if you're a softball player who has, like, you know, you're, you're a right-handed softball player, plus you have a low clavicle angle, plus you have a gritty, you know, pec major, gritty scalings. Like, you're going down the road to get thoracic outlet syndrome, plus you're overused. You can't get overhead. Like, I think if, even if you have a low clavicle, but free up some, some, um, um, muscle density on your scalings and your pec, we could probably do a little bit more work up or, up overhead to kind of, like, raise your clavicle up. You could, you could kind of free you a little bit from some nagging pain that you can have.

But, um, I think those two areas are, like, huge. And same thing with, like, pec major and, like, scalings and, like, levator. It's, like, when those muscles get really gritty, they can cause a lot of, like, shoulder pain, and people can kind of disguise it as, like, bicep tendonitis or something like that. But people forget, like, these muscles have, like, a lot of referral pain patterns that go directly to the shoulder. And it's, like, being able to go to, like, a quality massage therapist and, um, having them work on it and kind of recreate those symptoms to, um, help them understand, like, what muscles are causing the issue, um, and how to, um, kind of prevent this from happening again.

So, so, so with the, say, youth girls that don't actually have, they don't have pain or anything like that, how common is it to find that they have grittiness amongst those areas? Do you say grittiness? Grittiness, like, like, just gunked up muscles in that area, even if they don't have pain, especially the youth? I'm just curious. Yeah. Um, with youth players, it's, it's not that much, really. I see more, like, um, I tend to see, like, more, like, lat tightness, actually, than, than anything, just because, um, they're being overused so much. Um, and a lot of youth athletes or youth softball pitchers tend to focus more on arm speed because they have a hard time, like, understanding, like, what driving off the mound feels like and what it means.

So, um, instead they tend to speed their arm up and they tend to kind of, like, you know, aggressively pull down and relax when they're coming through that last phase of the underhand motion. So, um, that kind of tends to be one of the bigger areas. Mm-hmm. But other than that, um, nothing too gritty with the youth girls. Okay. So, that probably brings us into a good, uh, second part, actually. So, you had, uh, increased training volume for strength conditioning as number two for off-season. Uh, tell me about that. So, one, most young female athletes have never lifted weights before in their life.

Um, and I think you need to increase the training volume, just one, for practice. They just need the reps. They need to gain confidence on how to move better, um, understand, you know, what a squat should feel like, um, what a deadlift should feel like. And I think just increasing their training volume gives them the opportunity to learn. And I think that's super important. I know that when I was growing up, I didn't have any instruction on how to lift, um, or, like, you know, how to squat, deadlift bench, any, any of those. And then you go to the college setting, and then you're thrown in with 30 different teammates and a coach, and it's hard to get, like, that one-on-one attention again.

And you're kind of, you always feel lost. And I feel like a lot of girls don't really feel confident going into the gym, you know, whereas they should. That's why they migrate all to, like, you know, the treadmill. Um, so, I think, um, overall, increasing training volume, practice, and to gain confidence down the road. So, when they go to school, they can still, like, kick ass and take names. Yeah. So, what age do you think is a good one? Because I'm, I'm, I'm pretty sure that you probably start them off fairly light and work on form, and at some point you'll load them even further. And, and to college, they just start loading you anyways, probably.

Um. Yeah, I mean, I, I've had, um, kids come in, I think, just to, like, eight, eight to ten, it's been, like, the youngest. But, um, that age there, it's, like, when I run the program for, like, an eight to ten-year-old, it's, like, we're, we're, we're just looking for fun. Like, our training for fun, where it's, like, oh, you see this ball? We're just going to carry it from here to here, and then we're just going to try and stand on one leg and, like, do a bullish lap. Like, just, um, doing drills that are fun, giving them games to help them, like, move more. Um, you know, learning how to control their own body weight and space.

Um, and it's going to be more, like, goal-oriented than, like, actual coaching, because most kids that age, that age, actually move pretty well. They, all you got to do is a little bit of, like, um, good coaching cues, you know, find out what, like, their favorite movie is and kind of give them cues based off the movie. You got to be, you got to be in tune with all the current kids' movies then? Yeah, always. You know? So, um, I think that's huge, and as I, as I get older, then probably that, like, that 12, like, 13 range, all right, now we're training just to, like, get the reps in, practice in.

Um, we start learning, like, what the names are, what prone means, what supine means, you know, and then that, that 14 through, like, 15, 16 level, we're, we're training to, like, you know, build strength, build confidence, and then anything after that, I think you have a pretty good idea of, like, why you're training, or, like, what's, what's your why, really? So, like, you're training to compete, and I think, um, some people tend to mess that up a little bit too early, um, as kids are growing up. So, that's kind of my, my take on it. Yeah, I would imagine, too, like, even just the accountability of showing up at a certain time and just having a mentor as well when you're younger, like, there's probably some mental, uh, traits that are ingrained, even with training that early, too, because I've had a couple kids that have trained that early, but I, I don't know if the, I think the parents are a little bit scared away, not that we even do anything extensive with them either, but just getting them to move around and be aware of their body, you know?

Um, yeah. What's your, what, go ahead, sorry about that. Yeah, I, um, I think when I explain to parents that, like, most, most youth injuries will happen, like, at the end of the game. And why? Because they have a lack of, like, proprioception of, like, where the body's in space and things just tend to, like, you know, fall out of line and then they, they hurt themselves versus if they come and, like, have fun, you know, at the gym for, for three days a week, you know? That's still going to have an effect on them because they have zero training experience. So literally anything that we do with them, whether it's teaching them to do, like, like a one-leg SLDL walk or teach them to do an inchworm, anything like that is, is going to help them increase strength, increase stability, give them confidence, you know, that they're, that they're growing up to be Superman, whatever it is.

Um, I think it's, it's huge for their development. So, uh, I'll just dig a little bit deeper on this because I had a, I had a patient that asked me this week, we were doing, uh, we were doing crawls and he, and he's like, why are we doing this? So if the parents are there and they're seeing you're having them do, like, inchworms and so on, if they say, why, why do we need this stabilization? Why do we need to do this? Do you, how do you explain it to them? Um, an easy way to, like, for me to, like, test, test the child. Like, just, like, athletic ability, just to, like, be able to see, like, where he's at, like, training age-wise.

It's like, I'll have him skip. Just, I'll have the kid high knee skip in front of his parents. And most of the time, the kid cannot skip. They will literally, like, when the right knee goes up, their right arm goes up. And left knee goes up, the left arm goes up. And it's, it's hilarious to watch, and the parents, like, stream with the kids, they're like, are you serious, you don't want to skip? And I was like, when was the last time your child skipped or, like, walked correctly? Like, it's, it's, I just have to show them that, and it kind of answers it for them. That's great. Like, if you, like, softball and baseball is, is all about, you know, being, being very aware of where your body is in space.

Like, you need to be able to have supreme footwork and, like, mechanics and flow of, like, your natural ability of your body. Like, and if you can't skip, you can't tell me that you're going to be able to turn a double play. Like, that's, that's probably not going to happen. Mm-hmm. I imagine you just have a bunch of kids, like, skipping around a maypole. It'd be a great training environment. It really would. Yeah. They, so, back on the concept of training volume. So, explain what you mean by training volume, because I know I have a lot of kids that come in here. They're doing speed and agility somewhere, and then they're going to go do hitting drills, and then they're going to go to a pitching coach.

So, when you mean volume, what exactly type of movements or things are you talking about? I'm not talking about, like, hitting practice. I'm not talking about speed and agility, like, at a different coach. I'm strictly talking in, in the weight room. Like, we need to increase volume. I think it depends, too, per person, like, how you do it. Some kids can do, like, the four sets of, like, 12 for, like, that youth athlete. Some of those athletes, they tend to, like, their form starts to deteriorate, like, as they get to, like, reps of 8, 9, 10, or 12. So, for them, even programming them, like, six sets of five, six sets of six, isn't going to hurt them.

Like, they're not moving that enough or that heavy enough load to really have a crazy impact on, like, their CNS. I'm just looking, really, for, like, quality reps so that each rep looks exactly the same as the first one. And kind of upon, you know, how the child or the athlete moves or, like, what's their training style, some kids like doing, like, the higher rep stuff or, like, learning as a youth athlete. And some kids would rather do the shorter, less reps and more sets with, like, a heavier load, you know. So, some kids are still afraid of training, you know. So, you might have to go a lighter weight.

I just want them to be able to buy into the process and enjoy training. I don't want them to think it's something that, like, is, you know, like, prep school. Like, they have to do this, this, and this, and this, and this, and they can't have any fun. So, where do you think they get that fear from? Is that, like, parent installed, or is there, I mean, I don't remember ever seeing anything about lifting when I was, like, eight. You know, like, we were watching cartoons still, probably. Yeah, I think, um, definitely times have changed. Like, there's, there's travel ball teams for, like, 12 you, you know.

Like, and in order to make that team, you have to have this, this much talent. You've had to have this much experience. You have to be able to do this, and this, and this, and this. And I think the kids know it, you know. And it's, it's tough as a parent, I think, to see that your kid is, like, not good at sports. Or that your kid is, like, the weakest. Um, but I also think that parents forget about long-term development. Like, in my mind, I'd rather have the best 18-year-old pitcher than the best 12-year-old pitcher, in my mind. Like, anything that happens, like, 18 and under is, like, is just, in my mind, you know, building the foundation up to where, you know, my son or daughter, like, wants to be.

Um, I feel like parents try and get to that 18 spot so quick that they kind of ruin the fun for the athlete, you know. Yeah, I, I was actually thinking you were going to say, uh, I have this, I have this joke that, uh, I have a couple friends that played college sports. And they say, ah, it was so good in college. I'm like, you peaked too early in life, man. Now it's just a steady decline. I thought you were going to say the kid peaked too early. So, um, so let's go on to the third one then. So, uh, improvement of rotator cuff strength and scapula humor, humor, rhythm. Um, let's start on the rotator cuff because I've actually, so a misunderstanding I've had with a lot of people is that when we talk about rotator cuff strength, they think big.

Or are we talking about strength, not girth or size, but are we talking about endurance? Like, how would you break that down a little bit more for understanding? Um, I would say, like, it goes really by, like, feel. So, like, I'll have them lay in, like, the supine position or half kneeling. Um, you know, do some ER holds with them. And depend upon, like, the feel of it that's created, I can kind of get a good idea if, like, this person has, like, a weak cuff or if this person has, like, a strong cuff. Um, and most girls or youth athletes don't have a strong cuff. I mean, they're still growing, the muscles are still growing, and they've never really activated, like, just their cuff.

Like, the first time they do, like, a half kneeling 90-90 ER hold, their biceps, you know, turns on, their laps turn on, because they're trying to make, um, so much, so much strength and so much power. But people forget that the rotator cuff is just an itty-bitty muscle. Like, it's not going to be, like, a crazy, it's not a crazy strength exercise. Like, the muscle you're working is so tiny that it shouldn't be that much strength. Like, um, I'd say, like, on a half-feeling, like, cable extra rotation, some people, um, have a hard time, like, moving just a .5-pound weight, you know? And, um, usually for, like, females, they're not going to get over 5 pounds.

You know what? They shouldn't, because if they're doing it right and, um, controlling it, you know, eccentrically and concentrically, that's a good weight to own right there. But you'll see guys go ahead and try and, like, you know, put the 10 to, like, 15, like, crank it up, things like that. I think rotator cuff strength is more about, um, control and, um, like, a mind-muscle connection. Really, you really have to, like, feel where rotator cuff is and understand what muscles need to be turned on. Because, like, most kids have no idea where the rotator cuff is, you know? Um, so I think it's, it goes more by, by feel and not really by, like, appearance, really.

Okay. I could agree with that. Um, for the scapulohumor rhythm, I, I felt that this is, when I speak about rotator cuffs with people, or, sorry, scapulohumor rhythm, I think their eyes roll back in their head and they have, it's just glazed look. And because there's so many different movements in there that it confuses them. Is there an easy way that you can talk about it? Yeah, um, when I explain it, it's, like, wherever your arm goes, your shoulder blade should go. So, um, like, an easy, easy exercise to kind of visualize would just be a, uh, standing one-arm cable row. So, you grab the handle and you row.

So, first example, it's, like, your shoulder blade is, is stuck and it's, it's not going to move anywhere. So, when I were to, if I were to go and, like, you know, bring my elbow back, row the cable, I'm most likely going to have a bulge in the front of my shoulder. And that's because the humerus is pushing into the anterior capsule because it's just humerus movement. So, once the humerus runs out of room, it has to go forward. Um, versus if I bring the cable back and I move my shoulder blade closer to my, to my spine, then things should be flush, you know, if I, unless I have my elbow, like, directly close to my body.

I mean, for, for a row or, like, a push-up, anything like that, I always tell athletes, you don't want it at 90 degrees and you don't want your elbows rubbing against your body. Try and find, like, a nice, happy medium. And wherever your arm goes, your shoulder blade goes. And that's, that's really rhythm. Yeah, I think I saw you do, you did a video on this one, right? Yeah. Okay, yeah, I'll make, I'll make a note of that in the, uh, the show notes as well for everybody. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah. Um, yeah, so any of the stuff you have, by the way, if you, if you have a video on, just tell me, I'll, I'll, I'll link it in there.

All right, perfect. Sounds good. In regards to, uh, assessment by coaches, is there any way that just, just looking at these girls that the coach can, can tell that this person has, uh, scapula, scapula, hemorrhythm issues, or if they have a weak cuff, or does it have to be assessed by means that you talked about? Um, most of the time, you can just, I usually like to see it through assessment because even though someone can have a, a crappy resting posture, like say that this girl has like a flat key spine, her shoulders are rounded forward. She has, you know, her shoulder blades, the anterior tilted a little bit.

She like resting that posture, but then she goes up overhead to shoulder flexion and shoulder abduction. And she could crush it because she understands rhythm. Like she under, like her body understands that, you know? So just because someone's resting in a poor position doesn't mean they, they move poorly. So that's a huge thing to kind of recognize. Um, and I think, um, assessing anterior glide, I think that happens in movement and action. So like, as they're exercising, you'll see like their, their humorous, like grinding on the anterior capsule. Most of the time you'll see it in like, um, any type of pushup, definitely any type of row.

Um, and it's just because most likely they haven't been educated on just how to move in that position. So I don't think anyone is like set with anterior glider glide. I think it can be coached and I think it's more knowledge than anything. So in regards to throwing, how does that correlate to shoulder injuries? So say someone is like sitting in that really bad position and they have poor movement, um, for like an infielder, as they go to like lay back with a softball, right. To go throw across the diamond, the first thing to move is the front of their humorous. So their humorous is constantly banging in the front of their shoulder all the time because there's no, there's no good stiffness in the back.

They have no good, you know, cuff control. They have probably like barely any like bad musculature to kind of pull the humorous back where it needs to be. And they don't really have good control of it, you know, and the reactive ability of the cuff to turn on is, is probably pretty poor. And I think it's, it's that, but one of the main things that I think shoulder issues come with you softball players is because they have no idea how to throw. Like many coaches, yeah, I mean, they can't get their hips moving. They're like not that athletic. Their catch play is really poor. They're not getting their feet moving.

And coaches, I think should coach athletes, even when they're playing catch, to get their feet moving, you know, be a little bit more athletic and throw the ball with like intent and conviction. You know, I think a lot of girls tend to have a kind of lollygag catch. And then when they go to the field, it's a lollygag throw with really poor mechanics. And most of it's just like a wrist flick and like hard, hard elbow extension. I think like I've had a lot of, or not a lot, but a few softball girls come to me and they've actually had bone spurs in their elbows because of the constant, you know, elbow extension because they don't know how to achieve layback.

Oh my God. At what age were they, did they have that? Um, 16, one of 16, one of 17. God, that's, that had to be developing early. I think that takes years. That's not a quick thing. No, the most of them will have to have surgery. Um, but it's just like, they come to like train with me. Like I'm getting them to like Christian wonders, like our pitching coach, even though he's like the pitching coach who works with anyone from like high school, like pro level athletes. Girls just need to learn how to, to throw, you know, and I, I don't know if it's because they like, everyone tries to put them in a box and like, it's so mechanical, but like, I know with me, I played little league baseball for like up until I couldn't play baseball anymore.

And I think throwing with the guys definitely helps. These guys tend to like throw a little bit harder. They're a little bit more aggressive to catch play. They long toss, you know, it's a little bit more athletic. They're moving faster, you know, and I think girls can benefit a lot from playing catch with guys. Mm-hmm. Is, does there happen, is there anything like a, like educational piece on how to encourage coaches at unit youth level softball to get them to throw with more intention or is that common knowledge? Um, I don't think, not that I know of, I don't think there's any resources that I know of.

Um, and I think it's just, it's just something that people have done for so long, you know, and I like the youth level. It's like, it's, it's hard to coach girls how to throw because that person has to be able to coach one. And most of those coaches are athletes and some, even though you're a really good athlete, it doesn't make you a really good coach. Mm-hmm. And so some coaches, they, they just don't know how to coach or they, they see bad movement, but then they don't know how to, how to fix it. You know, um, I, I think it's a combination of everything really. It's a combination that the, the athlete has a poor strength training background, you know, they haven't been exposed to, you know, just like normal catch play.

There's, there's a lot of, a lot of things. Okay. So the, the fourth thing you had in here, this was use of isometric holds. Explain that to me. Um, so many, many, not all, um, softball players tend to be, um, very loose in some joints, especially like, you know, the knees and the elbows are like the two biggest ones. Um, so using holds gives them a good idea of where their body is in space. So doing a reverse lunge with like a four or five second eccentric is going to help them own that position for sure. Um, cause some, some girls tend to over stride. Some girls tend to have a short stride. So just setting them up, you know, um, from the ground, just getting into a lunge position on the floor and then just standing up and then with like a dumbbell, you know, just lowering nice, super slow.

So it's going to help them own that position. Um, it's also going to help it, help them like strengthen the tendons and the ligaments surrounding that joint. Yeah. You still get pretty high, high time under tension with that. It is, but again, they're not using that much weight. Yeah. I figured, uh, so that do you find that the, do you get them into the position where they're, they have that little bit of laxity and then you tell them to hold that position or are you going through the entire range and then having them stick certain ones? Um, so, so if a girl say has like hypermobile knees, um, and we get them into like a split squat position, um, they're going to go down.

It's going to be fine. Um, with that nice long, essentially on the way up, I think that's going to be like the harder thing for them to recognize because I don't want them going past, you know, that excessive range of motion at the top. I don't want them walking out and like crazy extension, you know, to get them to understand where that they need to lock out. I think that's huge. And also like pushups, like most girls have really hypermobile pushups. So like, um, getting them to understand like, Hey, at the top, we're going to end with actually a slight elbow bend and their slight elbow bend is usually like a normal lockout position.

So most girls, when they like go to lockout pushup, it's just like hard again, elbow extension. Yeah. You know, um, I'm curious, I'm curious, do they, do they actually over time when you get them to own that position, do they eventually get rid of that excessive overextension of those joints or is that just something they just learned to control inherently then? Um, I have found actually that they don't lose it. Um, usually it's something that sticks with them the whole time. It's just their ability to control it and under like, be aware of where they're stopping. I think that just improves a lot.

Okay. I hadn't thought about that and having them stick in those positions. Um, but just let you know all this week, since I read some of your stuff already, I was telling people they're going to own the sagittal plane, which brings us to number six. So tell me about there, there was this one lady, she was just, she was so sloppy on lunges and everything else. I was like, and you know what? Screw it too. We're going to own the sagittal plane. So I kept, I kept yelling it through the gym at about her or at her. So she loved it. Um, yeah. So tell me about bringing them back to the sagittal plane.

Cause I do like this one. Um, so sagittal plane, um, I think that there's like huge positions to own. That's like, you know, your, your squats, um, lunges. And I think if you can get strong in those positions, you can help your frontal, your frontal plane, your transverse plane stuff become a lot better because you're going to have more control. You're going to be stronger. And I think it actually has really good carryover to, to go through those other planes. Um, but I like to tell athletes like, Hey, you want to, you want to do something different? You have to earn the right. You know, I'm not just going to throw out like crazy, like one arm, you know, low cable rotational, rotational row when you can't even do a standing one arm cable row the way I want you to.

You know, they wanted, they wanted to be entertained, didn't they? Yeah. Um, so I like, I like telling athletes, you have to earn things. And when you, when you tell them that, like a light switch goes off and they're like, all right, I'm going to work hard right now. Cause you give them kind of a goal to work for cause they want something that you have or that you're in control of. Um, so I feel like that, that's a huge, um, benefit kind of keeping players in the sagittal plane, um, and making sure that they, they own positions. Yeah. I liked it a lot. I actually considered, I'm like, I bet I can put this on the wall here, this, and they'll say, what does that mean?

I'd say, I'm glad you asked. So, um, since we are talking a little bit more technical terms of sagittal plane, um, give me some examples or give everyone some examples of exercises or movements that you would want them to own before they moved on to something else. Um, so for example, I would probably have to say like, I want you to own a dumbbell goblet squat with a band around your knees with a two second hold at the bottom. Oh, you're bringing in that isometric, huh? Yeah. I think that comes in with owning like you can sit down in the bottom with like an 80 pound dumbbell to your chest. Like you bet your, your abs are engaged.

You got your glutes turned on, everything solid. So, and you can't really fight it. Like you have a weight in front of you. There's, you can't really cheat it. Whereas, um, like like a front squat, like you could cheat a, you could cheat a front squat with not that much weight or like no pause. Um, you could like miss depth. Um, there's a lot of ways to cheat exercises, but you can kind of manipulate exercises to the point where they have no option, but to do it the way that you want to do it. Yeah. You wouldn't be willing to, I don't know how much, how many videos you're planning on making this year.

You wouldn't be willing to do a video with a compilation of like two or three different ones that would be owning that Saturday plane, would you? Oh, I think, um, I actually did, um, did one yesterday, but I could, uh, definitely do a little, um, a little, um, um, you know, set of videos together. Okay. And I'll, and I'll, I'll put that together. Um, or I'll, I'll, I'll put a link to it as well. Cause that would be, that'd be great. I figured that would be something that some of the players and coaches can look at and say, yeah, my, these kids can't do it at all. So I think we need to really push them into some of this off season increased loading, you know, or increased volume.

Yeah, that's huge. Yeah. I'm about that. Okay. As long as you're about it. So tell me, tell me about eating. Cause the number six is eat more. I'm sure there's, this goes deeper than, than just eat more food. What do you, what are you finding with a female softball pairs and eating? Oh, they just, they just like, I think it's like a big combination of like the media, but like women are so afraid to gain weight to the point, like they're, they're scared that they're going to get fat and that it's going to like decrease their performance. And I'm like, in my head, I'm like, you're, you're 110 pounds.

So like you're five, eight, you know, like if we add a good, like 15, 20 pounds, to you, you're not going to get fat. And I'm pretty sure you're going to be able to hit, you know, more bombs if you're eating good food combined with like a solid strength training program, you know? Um, but I think it's more of a, um, it's a mental barrier. I would have to say, um, and, and gaining trust. I think they have to trust that they're not going to, you know, look fat or I think that's really like the big thing. Like they don't want to get fat. How do you get them away from that thought? Um, I usually just use myself as example.

I was like, I'm, I'm like five to, I go from like 125 to 130 pounds. But when you look at me, I look pretty tiny, but I'm just like solid muscle. Um, and I think that they have a hard time understanding, um, like weight or like muscle, muscle weight versus like fat weight. That's huge. Um, and most of them are actually under eating. It's what I've been finding. Like most girls or athletes, but by the time they go to practice, they're in school all day. They haven't even come close to like that, that 2100 mark or anything like that. Um, I think if they were just to, you know, eat the calories that they should be eating and eat it on a regular basis, they'd be able to gain weight, you know?

And I think that it should, um, it's more time than anything. Like they have to gain that first pound and not really recognize anything or like gain that first, like, you know, five pounds and feel stronger and like look in the mirror and be like, Oh, I'm looking a little bit better, you know? I would imagine that the, um, you're, when you, when you added that weight and guessing your pant sizes in the waist didn't change, right? Or they got a little smaller. They actually, um, my pant size actually decreased. Okay. Um, which was like pretty crazy, but, um, most of the time it's like one, you need to eat like three to four solid meals a day with like a nice protein, a carb, a fat and some veggies like at every meal.

That's what I tell, tell the girls, like, I don't care what your protein is or your carb, whatever. Just make sure that every meal you have those steps. And I want them to be consistent with that, you know? And I'm sure most times they're consistent with that. They start seeing improvements in the gym. They start seeing improvements, um, like in their, in their body or in their physique. Um, I've had some girls like come in with a lot of acne and just because we just made a few tweaks to what they eat, they actually got rid of a lot of acne, which is kind of cool. Um, and that's really, that's really it.

And I think, um, if you take a look at some of like the best, like collegiate softball players, they're not 110, 115 pounds. Like they are, they are jacked. Yeah. They weigh like, you know, anything like 140 and above because that's what it takes. Like they're just, they're just, they're just getting so strong and they understand nutrition. They understand the importance of strength training and they're consistent because most people can start something, but they can't finish it. Yeah. Well, that's, that's, that's awesome that, uh, I think that, I think even if people just only listen to this section on eating, I think you've already helped so many female softball players, probably not the male ones.

Cause those are the adult league ones and they're drinking beer and playing at the same time. I don't think you saved them at all. Um, going on to number seven. So this one I think is a big one. Um, taking a break from throwing, I I'm sure you've had the same issue I have, and this is mainly with, I see more with baseball, but there's so many club teams in year round. How do you get these kids to stop? Um, I really just, luckily, you know, at CSP, we have, you know, a good amount of special baseball players, uh, triple, triple A guys who come in, um, and just, you know, calling them over and having them just have a, like a little talk with the athlete.

Um, um, many, many baseball players go through the same thing. Um, it's, it's, it's, it's an overuse injury. You know, they're, they're trying to fight for the high school team and then they try and play for the travel team. And then they're trying to go to every showcase in the summer, um, while playing travel ball. And then in the winter, they have winter showcases and it just goes on and on and on. Um, and if you don't set the ball down, you don't give your time or you don't give your body time to recover, get stronger, um, and gain some stability that has been lost, you know, from just overuse and not, you know, strength training regularly.

Um, and many, many, uh, baseball guys have a huge success, you know, putting the baseball down for a while, um, getting their weight back up and focusing on the fundamentals. And it really helps their shoulders and it helps their whole body and it feels rejuvenated and fresh. You know, they, they don't lose miles per hour by sending the ball down for like two months, you know? Um, and I think that, um, once they have that, that talk and they, they understand that and they've seen people who have been successful and I put the ball down, um, they, they start to buy in. But, um, I think, um, luckily for me, I have a lot of people who, who, um, you know, trust in the process and a lot of players who have, um, you know, set the ball down and instead have, you know, strength train and, um, got back to the regular schedule and I come back and I had, you know, thrown the baseball harder or the sophomore harder.

Yeah. I would imagine that the, the elite players or the higher level ones would be more receptive, receptive to try at least, but the, the resistance I've found is, is the people that are on the cuff, like the ones that barely get playing time. And I think they think if they don't play in a certain league or a certain, you know, club team, then they're going to lose a spot, you know? I don't know if you have any, any experience in regards to that or not, or if it's just my observation. Um, that, that one's a tough, tough one, just because it's, it's so individualized, um, to the person, um, whereas we've had like a few times, some, sometimes people don't need to put the ball down.

They need to, to work on the mechanics. They need to do more long toss, um, and they need to put in just more work throwing the baseball, you know, and not throwing the baseball a hundred percent max effort, but just like putting in quality reps, you know, throwing 70%, um, focusing on like hitting your target, like even going out and throwing like, you know, 15 to 20, 20 softballs. I think that's going to be okay. Um, I think it's, it's when softball players, you know, sign up for the high school team, they're the only high school pitcher, then they try and make this elite travel ball team. And then one pitcher doesn't show up for this weekend tournament and they end up pitching like six games in a weekend.

And then next weekend's like a summer showcase. Then it just keeps going, going, going, and kids get kind of drained, um, fatigue sets in and then they start using, you know, parts of their body. They shouldn't be like rotating or parts of their body, um, that they shouldn't be, um, rotating with. So I think it's definitely an individual, kind of individual level, um, for each person. Um, for each person needs, you know, things are a little different, but for the majority of softball players who are active in high school, active in travel ball, need to set the ball down for the winner. Got it.

Okay. I like that. Um, number eight. So we only got three more to hit. We spent so much time on those beginning ones. These ones almost feel a little rushed. I'm trying to keep this under an hour, but I think we will not, we won't make it. Um, so improvement of alignment to improve alignment to improve range of motion. I'm sure you can do that probably. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was literally like the first little, um, chit chat we had. Um, so yeah, like if a girl comes in and, um, you know, she's, she's, um, doing her shoulder flexure when, uh, like she's just sitting in a bad position, like that if she looks at me, she has like a low right shoulder, she has a left rib flare, you know, and she's sitting into her right hip.

Like everything is kind of pulled to the right, um, doing a simple, like breathing exercise, which is like a prone bridge or side bridge, um, or even like a, uh, a dead bug just to get her, her rib cage to be in a better position to get her pelvis a little bit more posterior tilted. So it's not, you know, crazy anterior tilted, um, to get them to more of a neutral base is going to help them increase range of motion. Just because their joints are stacked, like stacked joints are happy joints. And when joints are stacked, usually you're going to gain more range of motion. Good. So I think the, I think, uh, you've heard the term proximal stabilization for distal mobility, I'm guessing.

Yep. Got it. Yep. You explained it better. So, uh, I'll, I'll bundle the last two together, sleep, drink water, and visual training. What do you think about those? Um, so sleep is huge. Sleep is huge. Um, you know, I try, I try and get tall athletes to get at least eight hours of sleep, try and go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Um, just because it creates a nice schedule for your, for your body. Um, and I think it also helps players perform better. Um, so sleep, you want to get more sleep and better quality sleep, sleep in a dark room. Um, I can probably hang feet in my room.

My room is so cold. I love it. Um, so that's good and quiet. And I always like to like put my phone down around like, you know, 40-ish minutes before I go to bed. Um, I think that there, for the majority of people, will help them sleep a lot better. Um, and drink water. I think for the average person, like, you want to be able to crush a gallon of water. Like, if you're an active athlete, you know, running around in the field in the summertime, you should be able to easily crush a gallon of water. So, I think that's a good goal to reach. Um, and visual training. Um, eyes are a muscle, too. Uh, people tend to forget that.

Um, I think, like, probably two, two or three times, um, a week is huge. But even, um, getting, like, mini wiffle balls, um, with, like, a little, little, um, stick. I used to, like, uh, write numbers on the wiffle balls and use different colors. So, like, I used numbers from, like, one to five. And I'd have someone, like, soft toss to me, um, with these little wiffle balls. And as I hit them, I'd have to tell them what number it was. And, um, sometimes I'd switch it up. You'd have to see the color. And as you get better, I'd say you start with the color first. I used black, red, brown, blue, and green.

And you just, you create a calendar or a chart. And they would throw me 20 balls. And for the first week, I probably got, like, five out of 20. At the end of, like, 20 weeks, like, I had 20 out of 20. Like, it was easy. Then you started dancing to the numbers. Um, I started being able to, like, read the laces, like, the way the laces were spinning on the soft balls that were coming towards me. Wow, I like this. So, I think, um, people ditch on it a little bit just because it hasn't been studied that much. Um, I, I totally agree with that 100%. And you know what? It's not going to hurt you. Yeah.

It's not going to hurt you. It takes, it takes literally 10 minutes. You get extra reps in, too, with your swing. Um, I think reading books, too, is visual training, believe it or not. Um, just because we spend so much time on our, time on our phone, we're looking at screens every day. You see everything is, like, amplified. Um, and, like, text messages are, like, bigger because you bring the screen close to our eyes. And so, just, like, reading a book with, like, normal font, I think, helps keep your eyes on it. It keeps you sharp. Um, so, those would be my, uh, my little hacks for visual training and, uh, drinking water and sleeping.

I like that. There's, pretty soon, actually, I'm going to have someone on that all we're going to talk about is visual training, um, and how you can decrease the chance of lower extremity injuries with, with visual training. So, um, I'll actually, uh, he's supposed to send me the research over before we actually talk about it, but when I get it, I'll actually send it to you if you are interested. Hey, I would love that. I would love that. Yeah, it'd be a really interesting one. Um, so, I think that's, that's it, then. So, I'm just going to have to put the, the notes to your site, or I'll put the link to your site, and the article, um, as well as any of the videos and exercises we talked about, and I'll, uh, yeah, I'll send it over to you.

Where can everyone reach you? Did you say, uh, we'll have a night show? What, what was that? Did you, what type of show did you say we'll have? Oh, no, no, I said, where can everyone reach you? Oh. How can they, how can they reach you? I was like, a night show? What are you doing here? Yeah, we're going to do a night show. Um, it almost is night there. It really is. Um, so people can reach me, um, at my website, uh, it's just nancynewell.com. Um, that's where you can, um, you know, you can sign up on my newsletter or anything like that. Um, I'm pretty active on my Instagram. Um, Instagram is just nancy underscore Newell.

Um, I have a Twitter account. I don't tend to use it that much. Um, I feel like people have kind of played away from it, but if you're on Twitter and it happens that I, you know, do some tweeting, it's just, uh, nancynewell, uh, zero two. And, um, you can also read some stuff that I have, um, on like Eric Cressey's site, which is ericcressey.com. Uh, or you can come visit me in, uh, Hudson, Massachusetts at Cressey Sports Performance, located in the beautiful, you know, Hudson, Massachusetts area. I was just, I was just in Boston like two weeks ago. I should have just come over that way. It was a quick trip.

I was going to Maine. I just had to grab a car and go, but another time, next time, next time. Um, cool. Uh, so I guess, uh, just hold on there and I'll come right back. Okay. All right. All right, everybody. That was Nancy Newell and Nancy, thank you so much for coming on. That was amazing. And we did run a little bit over time, but regardless, uh, I think we need to get through all those parts since the article was awesome to read. So everyone go to that article. There's actually a couple of videos in there, which will be productive. And we didn't get through everything. I had to skip a little bit down, but the third section on scapulohemorrhythm, um, is actually really, really good in there as well.

And there's a couple of videos to, uh, correlate with that. So if you guys have any questions at all, feel free to go onto the P2 sports care site. All of the show notes will be on P2 sports care.com slash podcast and share it with your friends, share it with your softball friends, your softball coaches, your softball parents. This is a wealth of knowledge that you're going to have to go all the way to Boston to get. So you might as well get it here on the podcast. So everyone, thanks so much for listening. And I will speak with you next week.