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RANCH REVIEW THE
NOVEMBER 2017
www.texasbaseballranch.com (936) 588-6762
SAME MESSAGE ... DIFFERENT CONTINENT
Jill and I and the Texas Baseball Ranch® staff traveled once again this year to Italy for a series of coaching clinics and player camps. The Ranch team put on two sold-out clinics, and, in between events, we visited Florence, San Marino, and Assisi. The already strong relationship between the Italian Baseball Federation and the Texas Baseball Ranch® has grown even stronger throughout the years from these joint events. A special thank-you goes out to Ennio Paganelli and Marco Lazzarini, who once again organized this amazing collaboration and learning experience. It gives the Ranch staff tremendous satisfaction to witness firsthand the development of Italian baseball players as we see their growth from one year to the next.
–Ron Wolforth
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Where You Can DREAM as BIG as Your Work Ethic Will Allow! PHONE (936) 588-6762
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DATES Dec. 11–14 and Dec. 18–21 THE TEXAS BASEBALL RANCH IS OFFERING A SPECIAL HOLIDA SESSION FOR THEIR ALUMNI ATHLETES Service Highlight BASIC SCHEDULE Two mindset presentations each day.
It’s the exact same program as in the summer.
IN THE MORNING : Mobility, flexibility, stability,
Speed & Strength/Mobility: Become a Better Mover: 9:30–11:30 a.m.
ladders and hurdles, angled plyo boxes, fighting monkey protocols, medicine ball wall series, Bulgarian bag, running med ball throws, suspension trainer, seven innings of Hell, ropes series, sled series, get up sprints, and sand pit work. IN THE AFTERNOON: Command, connection, velocity enhancement, differential throwing series, arm care, and recovery protocols. TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT: Call us at (936) 588-6762 or email Samantha@TexasBaseballRanch.com. We hope to see you this December ... or next June. Happy holidays and merry Christmas!
Throwing Program: Become a Prolific Thrower: 1:30–3:30 p.m.
COST One week: $1,299 (If you register before Nov. 22, it’s $999.)
Two weeks: $2,499 (If you register before Nov. 22, it’s $1,699.)
ENROLLMENT LIMITATIONS Only 20 athletes accepted per week. As with the summer
program, every training day is different.
REST BETWEEN SETS TO MAX OUT YOUR GAINS
In the heat of a good workout, you probably find yourself standing or walking around to shake off the burn between weightlifting sets. This habit isn’t necessarily bad, but there’s a better way to recover from a set to max out your gains. A recent study published in The National Center for Biotechnology Information found that when athletes sat or laid down instead of standing between sets, they completed more work in the remainder of their session. In other words, they were able to lift more weight and complete harder exercises in the same amount of time, by exerting less energy. “If you rest passively between efforts, your heart rate and breathing rates come down faster and lower than if you stand up and keep walking around,” says Kristen Ouellette, study author and assistant professor of exercise science and sports studies at Springfield College. Your body is able to recover quickly and, therefore, able to reset for your next set. This study reassures a growing concern of many athletic trainers. With the rise of high intensity interval training and Tabata workouts, athletes aren’t resting enough. Unfortunately, rest periods are one of the most overlooked components of training,
much like a good night’s sleep. Many people end up
lowering resistance as the sets go on because they are too fatigued to match their previous level of intensity. Often times, this fatigue could be eliminated by proper rest.
Sabrena Jo, senior exercise scientist for the American Council on Exercise, says rest breaks lasting anywhere from one to three minutes, as opposed to the common 30 to 90 seconds, may be better for those looking to improve strength and build muscle. “When you give your muscles enough time to recover and prepare for what’s next, you can apply all their force into every subsequent rep, maxing out your results,” she said. As counterintuitive as it may sound, resting is one of the most productive things you can do at the gym. So, take it easy and rest up for maximum gains.
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THE TRUTH ABOUT COMMAND How to Nail Down Accuracy
Honing great command is primarily about developing a repeatable movement pattern. One builds a repeatable movement pattern ONLY by good, old-fashioned,
The answer is thousands of hours of practice and a ridiculous amount of time banging range balls to shape their craft. Through repetition and trial and error, they developed a pattern that worked. It wasn’t necessarily “pretty” or “classic,” but it was effective. If that doesn’t spell it out, let’s take a look at an example from baseball. Juan Marichal and Dan Quisenberry are two of the all-time best in MLB history, with regards to giving up the fewest walks per 9 innings. In other words, their control and accuracy, or command, is exceptional. Yet, neither one of them are anywhere close to what would be considered, by most in baseball, as having classic or textbook mechanics. Furthermore, if you look closely, they are both right- handed and are not only far from classic, but are almost opposites of each other.
deliberate practice, and lots of it. Command, control, or accuracy are not techniques. Many in baseball would have you believe that you can only have command with “good mechanics.” To think about command as a result of mechanics is flawed. I think that through looking at real-life examples, you will see why narrowing down human movement patterns into an “ideal” movement model is not an exact science, to say the least. Personally, I believe it to be a waste of time. In golf, control matters even more than it does on the mound. So how do we explain how three of the greatest golfers of all time, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, and Jim Furyk have become top
How did these legends develop hall-of-fame command while keeping their unique throwing motions?
The answer — much like with Furyk, Trevino, and Palmer — is countless hours spent throwing balls and perfecting their own personal throwing motions.
performers? Their movement patterns are clearly FAR from having the classic golf swings of Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus.
The bottom line: If you want great command, you need to practice, practice, and practice more.
UPCOMING RANCH EVENTS COACHES BOOT CAMP December 7–10 (Thursday–Sunday) ELITE PITCHERS BOOT CAMPS November 18-20, 2017 (Saturday–Monday) SOLD OUT December 27–29, 2017 (Wednesday–Friday) January, 13–15, 2018 (Saturday–Monday) OUTSIDE ELITE PITCHERS BOOT CAMPS January 26–28, 2018 Fastball USA – Chicago February 9–11, 2018, MN Blizzard – Minneapolis AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES CONVENTION January 4–7, 2018 – Indianapolis, IN
THIS MONTH IN BASEBALL HISTORY The Diamondbacks Win the First November Series While the World Series is known as the Fall Classic, for more than a century, it was exclusively played in October. Due to the scheduling delays caused by the tragic events of September 11, 2001 was the first year that the series stretched into November. On Halloween night, the Yankees and Diamondbacks were contesting game four. Arizona had built up a 3–0 series lead and were looking to close out the Yankees. Tino Martinez hit a home run for the Yankees, pushing the game into extra innings. Before Derek Jeter batted in the next inning, the clock struck midnight, and November baseball was a reality. Jeter stepped up, hit a walk-off home run and kept the Series alive, prompting Yankees’ announcer Michael Kay to dub him “Mr. November.” And the team from the Bronx wasn’t done yet. After taking games five and six, the decisive game seven was set for November 4 in Phoenix. Heading into the latter half of the ninth, the Yankees clung to a 2–1 lead. With Mariano Rivera on the mound, the battle seemed all but won. The Diamondbacks, however, had other plans. When Luis Gonzalez blooped in the winning run, Arizona didn’t just win their first World Series; they won the first November Classic ever.
More information can be found at www.TexasBaseballRanch.com/events.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR OATES SPECIALTIES! STRATEGIC PARTNER,
www.OatesSpecialties. com/Durathro
3 Where You Can DREAM as BIG as Your Work Ethic Will Allow! PHONE (936) 588-6762
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(936) 588-6762 INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Same Message ... Different Continent PAGE 1 Special Holiday Session PAGE 2 Rest Between Sets to Max Out Your Gains PAGE 2 The Truth About Command PAGE 3 This Month in Baseball History PAGE 3 Feeling Crafty This Fall? PAGE 4
THE SECRET to Incredible-Looking Leaf Crafts
It’s fall, and your Pinterest boards are full of fall crafts. You find yourself daydreaming about candles glowing in leaf-adorned jars, leafy wreaths on the front door, and a garland of leaves lending a touch of whimsy to the dining room. Colorful fall leaves are the secret to a home that’s perfectly decorated for the season, but how do experienced crafters find leaves that last? If you just grab a handful from your backyard, in a few weeks, your painstaking project has dried up and you’re stuck vacuuming leaf bits out of your carpet. It’s time to step up your crafting game and learn the trick to preserving leaves for years to come. Before you go out hunting for the perfect leaves, grab a few newspapers. After you’ve gathered
up all your favorite leaves, place them in a single layer on a newspaper page. When choosing your leaves, make sure they are still fresh and flat. Leaves that are already dried or curling cannot be preserved well enough to use as decoration. If your leaves are damp, gently dry them off before putting them on the newspaper. Make sure none of the leaves touch each other. Set a few more pages of newspaper on top and add enough weight to keep them flat. Heavy books are ideal for this. Move the newspaper somewhere it can sit undisturbed and leave your leaves alone for at least two weeks. Just letting your leaves dry flat isn’t enough for decorations that last. The true secret to leaf preservation is an all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish such as Mod Podge. This is a popular tool for decoupage projects, and it belongs in every craft closet. Once your leaves are dry, gently coat one side of each leaf in a layer of Mod Podge. Place your leaves on a sheet of wax paper and wait for them to dry. This should take less than an hour. When the Mod Podge is dry, turn the leaves over and coat the other side. Repeat with a second coat on each side. Mod Podge brings the bright colors back to your leaves and makes them more flexible. They’ll look like they just fell off the tree! These leaves will last for years, and you are free to craft to your heart’s content.
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