I went to dinner with some of the pitchers, parents and a coach from this May 3X Pitching Velocity Camp and the consensus is that they want to learn more about triple extension pitching. Mainly, the parents were concerned that their boys were not truly understanding it after a full day of hardcore athletic conditioning. I then asked the question, “Do you mean they are not understanding it mentally or physically?” They said mentally and then I said, “The concept of 3X only really needs to be understood mentally by the coaches of 3X, not the players.” Of course it is great that 3X can be understood by the athlete but it is not necessary. 3X must be conditioned when it comes to the athlete. If triple extension is going to continue to make a name for itself in pitching and continue to benefit those who use it, it must be conditioned and not only just understood. This means if a coach is going to teach a pitcher the benefits of 3X, he must know how to use drills, exercises and lifts to train this key component.

A good rule of thumb is that athletes will always benefit more from muscle memory than cognitive memory. The reason for this is called Attention Mechanics. This is the study of reality. Not to get too deep into this philosophy but basically it has to do with how natural athletes play the game. Natural athletes play the game in reality. This means they are using muscle memory or the central nervous system to control their movements. The non “Natural” athlete moves in between muscle memory and cognitive memory. The problem is cognitive memory is outside of reality. Here is an example: if you are driving a car and you want to make a right turn. You would subconsciously take the right turn when it becomes available. To do this you are using programmed muscle memory. You would not tell yourself, “OK, John, now grab the steering wheel with both hands at 12 and 3 o’clock and pull down with your right hand when the right car bumper is 3 feet from the right hand curb.” This would be using cognitive memory and it would more than likely cause an accident. If you are going to become a natural athlete then you must condition yourself to move in an explosive manner with only your central nervous system. This means if you do not do this already, then you need to condition yourself to do so and the ability to cognitively understand the mechanics to do this, is not as important has using the drills, exercise and lifts to develop the muscle memory.

All this means is that once you believe that the 3X Pitching Velocity Program is the best program for you then you must commit yourself to it and get started. If you are wasting your time trying to cognitively justify the effectiveness of the program then there isn’t enough time in your career to find the answers you are looking for. Basically your career is passing you by while you are contemplating your success. This is why most “Natural” athletes have a strong faith in a higher power or themselves. They know they do not have enough time to figure this stuff out, so they are relying on their morals and rolling the dice. This takes either a strong intuition, a strong faith or some gigantic BALLS! The key word here is COMMITMENT! You will never know the outcome without knowing the commitment. So stop wasting your time trying to find the perfect program that is going to make you the greatest athlete ever and pick the one that makes sense and start kicking some ass because baseball doesn’t get easier, you just learn to work harder!

Tryout camps are open for all players over 16 years of age. There is no fee. Registration will be done 30 minutes prior to start of camp. All players must bring their own equipment. IMPORTANT: Each player must sign a liability waiver to participate. If player is under age 21, a parent or legal guardian must also sign the waiver. A waiver can be obtained in advance at mlb.com or at tryout camp registration. Tryouts subject to change.

Note: Please read the FAQ if you have any questions.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/tryout_us.jsp

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve.

It does not matter whether you are a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up you had better be running.”

One of the biggest mistakes young pitchers make is not educating themselves. They usually do not like to read, especially for more than a few seconds, so I will list the rest of the steps in an ordered list to try and beat their short attention spans.

Biggest mistakes young pitchers make:

1. They DO NOT exercise their brain like their body.
They know nothing about pitching mechanics, joint integrity and nutrition. They leave it up to their parents or coaches.

2.  They DO NOT stand up for success.
They follow the leader. If everyone is slacking, then they are slacking.

3. They DO NOT keep the BIG Picture.
Life has a time limit. Do not miss your window of opportunity.

4. They DO NOT establish routine or disciplines in their young lives.
They do whatever feels good or whatever everyone else is doing.

5. They DO NOT warm-up before playing or practicing.
They show up for practice or a game just before it starts.

6. They DO NOT take care of their arm or body after a pitching performance.
They go home and take a hot shower and eat a bad meal.

7. They DO NOT make adjustments when things are not working.
They just get frustrated and continue to beat their head against the wall.

8. They DO NOT stay after practice to improve their mechanics or run some extra sprints.
They can’t wait to run home and get on the phone or play video games.

9. They DO NOT take the blame for their mistakes.
Everything is someone else’s fault.

10. They DO NOT thank their Coaches and Parents for supporting their careers.
They act like it is just their job to do this for them.

11. They DO NOT push their limits.
They think being average and lazy is cooler than being good and dedicated.

12. They DO NOT listen to their bodies.
They continue to play when their arm is saying, “Stop!”

13. They DO NOT eat, sleep and breathe baseball.
Baseball is just something they do after school.

14. They DO NOT spend more time playing ball than playing with the TV or computer.
They have poor hip rotation because their body has adjusted to sitting down, instead of running around.

15. They DO NOT eat healthy foods.
They are addicted to fast food and soft drinks.

16. They DO NOT understand that to be a good pitcher you must be an exceptional athlete.

If you are a younger pitcher and reading this, I hope that you do not make most of these mistakes. If you do, I hope that this motivates you to make a life change. Even if you make some of these mistakes I hope you are motivated to make a life change. If you have read this far, this is confidence that you maybe just making that life change at this very moment. Please use this site to guide you during this transformation. Don’t forget the quote above.