The Mach 1 Pitching program was started in 2016 and has been going strong ever since. Participants are roughly 50% Gamers and 50% non-Gamers, with ages ranging from 13 years old to college and pro players. We have made a lot of changes to Mach 1 programming over the years and it keeps getting better and better.
Recently, we asked ourselves: Is all this data, technology and advanced programming delivering real results? Fortunately, the Gamers program has been collecting data for over a decade. So, we can actually answer the question with real data.
The charts above compare 5 oz pulldown velocities BEFORE Mach 1 (2012-2017) versus the current 2021 Mach 1 data. With current Mach 1 programming, high school age players are throwing the ball 3-5 mph harder. This is a comparison of data over a 9 year period with hundreds of players.
This improvement is not simply because the Gamers program is recruiting better players. The program has 80% retention rate and bets on developing players instead of recruiting them. The 2012-17 Gamers rosters were full of D1 pitchers and guys still pitching at high levels in professional baseball. The difference is that our PLAYER DEVELOPMENT for pitchers is now significantly better. All 14-18u pitchers in the Gamers program participate in a Mach 1 Pitching.
So, what are the biggest differences between current Mach 1 and our prior training programs in 2012-2017? Here are the four biggest differences:
- Pitcher training is now more continuous, 6-12 months versus 3-5 months
- Development programs are individualized based on frequent data assessments
- Training programs are more highly structured, utilizing state of the art equipment
- Strength training has improved dramatically, with assessments on force plates that lead to individualized strength programs
The combination of these four factors has resulted in the 3-5 mph improvements in the throwing velocity we now see. Let’s take them one at a time.
More Continuous Training
Previously, in the 2012-2017 period, the Gamers high school pitcher development looked like this:
- Offseason (Dec-Feb) – focused on development and improvement
- High School Season (March-May)— most high school programs had very limited pitching programs
- Summer Season (June-July) – focused on regaining velocity, maintenance and game competition
- Rest (August)
- Fall Baseball (September-October) – maintenance and game competition
- Rest (October-November)
The 3 month offseason, December-February, was the only sustained period of time for pitcher development and improvement. It was an old school approach of band work, weighted balls and long-toss for 12 weeks. Players were expected to do strength training, but it was not built into the program. This approach worked. But, success was up to the player. And, 12 weeks is not enough time for sustained improvement. As players moved into the high season we had little control or visibility into player training and work loads. The best we could hope for was maintaining performance. The reality was that most pitchers declined in performance during high school seasons.
During this 2012-2017 period, throwing velocities were on a roller coaster for most of our pitchers. When pitchers were actively training (Offseason), velocities increased but those increases were not maintained during the late In-Season and Rest periods. 3 mph up, followed by 2 mph down each cycle.
Mach 1 training has now evolved into a more continuous, sustained pitcher training, 6-12 months per year, with very precise training for each phase of the season:
Current Mach 1 pitchers throw harder now because they have minimized the dips in the roller coaster.
Individualized Development Programs, Based on Data and Assessments
With a longer-time horizon on training and season phases, we can now have a longer-term perspective with pitchers. This all starts with a discussion and understanding of each player’s goals. We deal primarily with high school age pitchers, so the range of individual goals and time frames are quite wide. A freshman pitcher has a longer recruiting time frame to work toward, while a junior/senior pitcher is working on a tighter time line to compete at the collegiate level.
With individual goals established, we then do frequent assessments on four dimensions to structure Mach 1 player development programming:
Health/Mobility Screening. We work with athletic training staff at SSM/Mercy Hospital to screen each player for health, injury risk and joint mobility. They use baseball specific standards around traditional Functional Movement Screens (FMS). Based on this screening, players are either assigned to work with a physical therapist or perform specific exercises to address their specific mobility weaknesses or risks.
Bio-mechanical Analysis. Each player is videoed with high speed cameras to assess throwing mechanics for injury risks, movement screening and efficiency improvement opportunities. We have a checklist for each step in the delivery. These videos are uploaded to our training software, Driveline TRAQ, and kept for reference. Improvement opportunities are identified and specific drills are added to each player’s training program based on this assessment. This offseason, we are now implementing Driveline’s Pitch AI product to help in the bio-mechanical assessment process and to measure improvements over time.
Pitch Data — Velocity, Spin Rate, Movement, Command. Our pitchers throw short bullpens at each phase of Mach 1 Training, obviously working up to longer and live sessions as the season nears. We use Rapsodo Pitching to collect pitch data during these sessions, specifically looking at:
- Velocity
- Command by Pitch Type
- Spin rate and axis
- Movement
This data is used to identify specific improvement opportunities, set goals and measure progress as the bullpen sessions move from the offseason into the season and during season. Based on this bullpen data, we may use Rapsodo Insight cameras to work on specific pitch design related to grip, seams and release. This can be applied to all high school age pitchers, even if it is limited to variations on 4 seam baseball, 2 seam fastballs and cutters that add to young pitchers effectiveness.
Athleticism Assessments. We made a big step forward this offseason by integrating Elite Baseball Academy’s Force Plate Technology into our assessment of all players. EBA has developed proprietary algorithms using force plate data to assess five aspects of athleticism — Strength, Fluidity, Momentum, Power and Movement Efficiency. Based on these metrics, individualized training programs are developed for each player to improve his athleticism. The goal is to develop strong athletes that move fast and efficiently. This outcome translates directly to the mound and the pitchers ability to control his body and throw at high velocity. Pitchers are assessed on force plates every month, so we can measure progress and make adjustments to programming.
With the data from these routine assessments, we then design a development program that give each individual players his best opportunity to succeed.
Highly Structured Programming, Utilizing State of the Art Equipment
Once the assessments and programming is completed, we use a standard player development process to measure and track results.
All of the programming and most of the assessment data is integrated into each player’s Driveline TRAQ account. When a player looks at his Mach 1 Pitching Workout on TRAQ he sees a set of sequenced drills to be accomplished in 60-70 minutes. The drills fall into five categories:
- Dynamic Warm-up
- Pre-Throwing
- Throwing Program
- Post-Throwing
- Recovery
The drills themselves are not magical. The selection and sequencing of the drills is where the coaching experience and insight comes in, along with instruction on proper form and movement patterns.
The drills utilize a focused set of equipment and tools including:
- Core Velocity Belts
- Weighted Balls
- Plyo Balls, Rebouders
- Plyo Walls
- Resistance Bands
- Medicine Balls
- Stabilizer bars
For the Recovery phase, we utilize MarcPro electric stimulation, Theragun Massage Devices and rollers of every variation. All of this is housed in a 25k square foot training facility.
Complete Integration of Strength Training Using Force Plate Data to Assess and Program
During the Fall of 2020, we partnered with Elite Baseball Academy (EBA) to bring advanced baseball strength training into our Mach 1 program. EBA has spent years developing proprietary algorithms and expertise in utilizing Force Plate data to assess and measure baseball players. EBA uses the assessments from force place data to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each individual player and then designs a workout program that addresses his specific needs. This is done with a position orientation — for example, pitchers and catchers with the same test results may be on different training programs since their positions have different requirements.
Below is data from 80 Mach 1 pitchers that compares 5 oz Pulldown Velocity vs. the Force Plate Momentum metric from EBA. You can see that 64% of the variation in pulldown velocity is explained by the EBA Momentum sore. In other words, if players improve the Momentum metric in their strength training program in the gym, we know that will almost immediately transfer to pulldown velocity.
With monthly force plate assessments, we can regularly measure and track each athletes progress over time. The improvement we have seen over the past 2-4 months have been very impressive.
Conclusion
So, we started out asking if Mach 1 Pitching has improved the performance of Gamers pitchers, where we had velocity data going back to 2012.
The answer is that our 17u players are throwing 5 mph harder than our 17u players just a few years.
We believe this improved velocity is attributed to the following four factors which are the biggest differences between our training approach in 2012-2017 compared to the current Mach 1 training approach.
- Pitcher training is more continuous, 6-12 months versus 3-5 months.
- Development programs are individualized based on frequent data assessments
- Training programs are more highly structured, utilizing state of the art equipment
- Strength training has improved dramatically, with force plate assessments that lead to individualized strength programs that translate into baseball performance
We recognize that 5oz pulldown velocity is a very narrow view into pitching performance. Velocity without command has little value. Fortunately, the Gamers program has been tracking game performance data, like % strikes, WHIP and BAA since 2012. When we look at individual players game performance, we see very similar results of continuous steady improvement over a 3-4 years. Below is an example of a 2020 Gamer that started with Mach-1 Pitching as a freshman and achieved continuous steady performance increases that translated into great in-game results. Mach 1 Pitching provides a platform and training environment for players like this to channel their effort and perseverance into a system that works.
In addition, the relationships with technology and training partners has been extremely important in the ongoing improvement and development of Mach 1. Software, products and training from Driveline Baseball have contributed greatly. Core Velocity Belts and participating in Lantz Wheeler’s annual Pitch-a-Palooza event over the years have helped tremendously. On the data side, Rapsodo has been a great partner in helping collect and assess data from our pitchers at a price that is affordable for the high school market. And finally, our relationship with Elite Baseball Academy for athlete assessment and training has jumpstarted our strength training with both data and programming that provides real results.
