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My apologies to the late Sir Winston Churchill for "paradoizing" his famous quote "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." (please see http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/britain/britain.html )

But after watching these past two years as one baseball training "expert" after another "jumps onto" the functional (and core) strength "band wagon". And declaring "their new discovery" as as solution for all of your baseball related problems.

And sending or should I say "sentencing" many an unsuspecting parent, player and coach to fruitless hours of unproductive activity.

I can only shake my head in disbelief and frustration as those who on the one hand "rail" against "magic bullets". But on the other are all too willing to "sell" their own "cure", i.e. "your problem is poor functional or core strength".

Which in reality is their attempt to "make up" for the real problem, their (the "experts") ignorance of what it REALLY takes to maximize a players baseball potential.

Here's what I consider a perfect example taken from a "well known" advocate of "functional-core strength training cures all problems" (who just so happens to have a new "three" video tape series on functional training for pitchers):

A player asks the following question:

Is my post leg dragging too much??? Anyone, I am currently pitching at College. My fastball this fall was consistenly at 88-90 Mph but i think i have the potential to throw harder if i can iron out some problems in my mechanics. When my front food lands my back leg is already dragging forward and back knee comes close to my front knee when i release the ball.

The"well known" pitching/fictional training "expert" answers:

Ian,

Welcome from the land of "down under." Glad to have you here mate.
Tell me about your overall conditioning over the past year and what you are doing now.

Your dead back side could be the result of poor rotational forces and/or a flexibility and strength problems related to hip flexor weakness or tightness.

The players replies:

Dick,

Thanks for the post. Since February, I have been doing functional training that consists of a lot of core stablises and also traditional weight lifting such as squats, lunges and mostly body weight on the upper body (pushups, chinups). When i went to a 2 month Major League Baseball camp from June to August before college i did even more functional stuff such as split squats and 1 leg squats. We were tested for core strength and they said I had a strong core. I have also always been flexible and stretch everyday so I am not sure if this still could be the problem.

While at college i have started the medicine ball work aswell. What do you make of all this???

I was thinking that it could be a result of getting into the high cocked position too late due to a long, flailing arm action that i am working on fixing at the moment?

I appreciate all you comments, Thanks again. Simon

And the pitching/fictional training 'expert", upon "seeing" that he can't "sell" his functional "line" then has to resort to trying to find out (albeit in my opinion a very feeble attempt) what the REAL problem is (most likely cause of his problem is this player was taught by this very same pitching expert to "pull" off the rubber which is the number one cause of a dead back side):

Simon,

How do you look at landing? Is your trunk back and is it closed?

How about your stride length? What % of your height?

Are you getting good trunk flexion after trunk rotation?

Also make sure you don't shorten that arm action too much or you could create a timing problem that could cost you more mph's.

And then give this player the ultimate "kiss of death" advice (as in nothing happens until foot plant):

Focus on what you look like at landing. If your arm is getting up I would not mess with it as long as your timing is OK.

Functional Training?

Vern Gambetta, one of the "fictional training" advocates-equates functional training with athleticism. Here are some excepts from his talk at the NSCA seminar:

"Now the other thing. This is the only time you're going to hear the "F" word. I've gotten so tired of functional. Everything is functional folks. All right, that's the first thing. As long as we are breathing, as long as we woke up this morning everything we do is functional. So don't kid yourself. If somebody says I do functional training. Does that mean that I do "dis-functional" training. Okay!?!. I'm not a big machine guy, but it's functional. It is just not very functional (to me). So that's all for the "F" word. All right ....."

"Athleticism being a general capability to ability to execute athletic movements at optimum speed, not maximum speed, with precision, style and grace. The problem that we have today is early specialization. Young players are given one sided training and are not exposed to other athletic "stimulus", i.e. multi faceted training...."

"The weight room is important....."

"Are you coaching them or are you training them?...."

"You must coach them at every step of the way....."

"I'd rather teach my athletes to solve the "movement equation". Present the problem to the athlete. We've got to move from here to there as fast as possible. Do it, time it. Give the feedback to the athlete. "Ok Judd, that was 12.3 (100 yard dash). Then the next person goes. Jim runs it and Judd's watching and Jim runs it in 10.2. Alright Judd, what did Jim do different? Well he took two less steps. Judd tries and watches again and again and then "gets it". He gets in their then all of a sudden is time improves. That's called solving the movement equation."...."

"Our bodies are pretty smart if we allow them to be. Our job is coaches are to put the bodies in the position so that they can solve the movement equation. I believe in coaching, but I don't believe in "robottisizing". We don't want to go so much to the extreme were being so anal that were worrying about with a big toe is in relation to the knee to the ......."

"We've got to present, just like in math class, what the problem is to the athlete, allow them some creativity . The body is incredible machine that can solve movement problems. But must be given the proper tools to solve the movement equation....."

"So is the gap in between what the problem is, and what the answer is. And that's what we want the athlete to begin to solve the problem by using creativity....."

"The key thing that you must remember is the muscles are slaved to the brain. You are training the nervous system and we want to be able to recruit and explode...."

Exactly what is functional training anyways?!?

The following was prepared by Richard O'Connor is an Exercise physiologist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and Certified Club Coach through the U.S. Weightlifting Association. He is a former coach for Mike Boyle's Sports Acceleration North, a for profit strength and conditioning facility here in Massachusetts. Rich is currently the owner of Personal Best Performance Consultants and is working with teams and individuals around Boston.

Functional training, then, should focus on "integrated multi-directional movements". We need to train our bodies to operate as a collective unit rather than a bunch of isolated parts. The more we try to isolate a muscle or worse, part of a muscle, the less functional we become. This goes in direct contrast to what the bodybuilders and muscle mags have been saying for years. "Isolate and grow" is their mantra. Please understand that bodybuilders are concerned only with how their body looks and not how it performs. The bodies they are building will not run fast, jump high, or score goals because they don't need to. The old adage "looks like Tarzan but plays like Jane" was never more appropriate.

Competitive athletes in the weight room are working to accomplish the following goals: increase explosive power, increase functional strength, gain muscular size and weight, and lose fat. Increasing explosive power involves the use of plyometric and Olympic lifting training programs that are extremely functional but beyond the scope of this article. Increasing functional size and strength is what most of us are interested in so lets spend the remainder of our time addressing the issue.

Functional training demands that we prioritize our training programs in this order 1. Core muscles (abdominals and surrounding muscle groups) 2. Lower body 3. Upper body. Train your core muscles first every workout when your energy is highest and you will give them the most attention. Don't leave them until the end when you can conveniently forget about them. By the way, working your core first will not lead to injury later in the workout as some "experts" have suggested. Lower body training is absolutely essential for athletic success. For the rest of us, strong legs will help us maintain active lifestyles and keep us free from the ankle, knee, and back injuries that would otherwise slow us down. Squats, lunges, step-ups, and one leg squats are the foundation of leg training. (Note: you should seek knowledgeable coaching in these exercises. They are extremely productive, but require some skill) Upper body training is last because it is least important for athletic success. More importantly, I firmly believe that the majority of people severely over train their upper bodies and see limited development as a result. By de-emphasizing the importance of performing a multitude of exercises for every possible upper body muscle, it is possible for exhausted muscles to recover and grow. The bottom line is this, if you are one of those guys with the big upper body and skinny little legs, you have put all your eggs in the wrong basket.

Developing size and strength depends largely on choosing the correct exercises. Your program should be comprised almost exclusively of multi-joint exercises. You get a lot more bang for your buck here in terms of lifting more weight and activating more muscle.

Also, body weight exercises need to be included when ever possible. Chin-ups and pull-ups will be the cornerstone of your upper body routine, while weighted pushups and dips will be frequent players. I don't care how much weight you can bench-press, if you cannot perform at least a couple of chin-ups, you are not strong enough. I would much rather see a lifter put more time and energy into a variety of lifts than to devote too much time to the bench. Your goal should be to create balance between various muscle groups instead of focusing on just one lift.

The next thing we need to do, is to free ourselves from the use of machines in our training programs. Our muscular system was designed to move and stabilize our bodies in an unstable world. Machines do the job our stabilizers were meant to do. The price we pay for over reliance on machines for training is not only an imbalance between our prime movers and stabilizers, but a gradual weakening of our stabilizers and ultimate injury that will follow. The surest way to train our bodies the way they were designed to function is to rely on body weight exercises, free weights and especially dumbbells for the majority of our exercises. The increased balance and control needed to lift dumbells requires a much greater activation of the stabilizing muscles.

To be even more functional, we should stand up during any weight training exercise that allows us to. Our bodies were designed with two legs that were designed not only to propel us but, to be actively involved in lifting and moving heavy loads. It stands to reason that if we spend any amount of time lifting and moving, whether the load is an offensive lineman or a jackhammer, our weight-training programs should better enable us to perform these tasks. Exercises such as overhead presses and curls should always be performed standing to take advantage of the strong activation of the legs and erector spanea muscles of the lower back.

While functional training certainly doesn't end here, this should provide a good understanding of the principles involved.

To be continued: