Behind the Seams Baseball Podcast

Today, I’m sitting down with Sam Sharf, RPP's new Director of Recruiting and Sales. Sam brings with him over 12 years of baseball coaching and recruiting experience. Topics Include: When is a good time to look into hiring a recruiter? What’s involved in an initial recruiting eval? Top focal points when preparing to choose as recruiter Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holist...

This week we're sitting down with Florida State Strength and Conditioning Coach Jamie Burleson to talk about training strength with the elite college population. Topics Include: Incoming Recruits, What to Expect on Day 1 The Importance of a Great Baseline Assessment The Lack of Dedicated High School Strength Coaches in the Northeast Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic...

Today we’re talking about creating a more efficient lead leg block through lower half activation with PT Greg LaMendola.  Topics Include: Removing blocks in the kinetic chain The Soleus and Piriformis muscles and their association with lead leg stability More efficient transfer of power from lower to upper half Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach,...

Today I’m flying solo addressing how to identify and train Scapular Stability. This is such an important topic with many athletes ramping up into hard throwing. Topics Include: How to identify Scapular Instability The key muscles responsible (and to focus on) How to train to create a more stable shoulder Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experie...

After speaking at last week’s ABCA, today I’m sitting down with Dr. Jimmy Onate, Director of Human Performance at the Ohio State University to discuss last week's convention… and a lot more!! Topics include: What is the ABCA experience What it offers that’s different from other conventions Jimmy’s role in the Performance Lab at OSU Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic...

Today, we’re sitting down with S&C Coach Zach Kollar with the Toronto Blue Jays, who was also formerly the Director of S&C at RPP Baseball. Topics Include: How a great internship can prepare you for a job in pro ball The difference in coaching when going from the private sector to pro ball Juggling training volume and starts for pitchers Ready to take your game to the next level? With our...

Happy New Year! This week we’ve got a special episode featuring the Top 5 downloaded podcasts of 2024. Topics will include: Training Rotation (Eugene Bleeker) Developing Global Movement Patterns (Dr. Ismael Gallo) What’s in a Great Travel Program (Bahram Shirazi) Assessing and Profiling Pitchers (Nunzio Signore) Life in the Transfer Portal (Ryan Butler) Once again, have a safe and Happy New Year!...

Today we’re sitting down with Sam French, Freshman Pitcher / Corner Infielder at Red Bank Catholic High School (NJ), and his father Alex French. Sam (Class 2028) is ranked #92 Nationally by Perfect Game as a RHP, and Top 20 Overall in New Jersey.  We’ll be discussing Sam’s recent gains in lean muscle mass, how he got there, and the subsequent gains it has brought him. Topics include: Making nutrit...

Today we’re sitting down with EMD Recruiting’s Andy Kiriakedes. Being both a former player and a coach, Andy brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Topics Include: Showcases, when and why Downsizing the 40-man college roster, what it means to young athletes New topics that are potentially impacting the recruiting process Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-dri...

Today we’re sitting down with Zach Dechant Strength and Conditioning and Performance Coach at Texas Christian University (TCU). Today’s topic is going through the off-season “to-do” list. Topics Include: Some main bullet points to achieve in a great off-season protocol Testing and assessing on Day 1 Periodization Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach...

Today, I’ll be discussing testing and training the shoulder to help both optimize performance, as well as help reduce the risk of injury. Topics include: The importance of optimizing both movement AND stability Testing protocols Training and rehabbing the shoulder / elbow Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge te...

Today, I’ll cover a number of methods and information on training linear and change-of-direction speed. Topics Include: Efficient Running Mechanics An Efficient Warm-up Some Big Coaching Mistakes Importance of Strength Training Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge technology, RPP Baseball takes the guesswork ou...

Today we’re discussing adjusting the power curve in order to better improve performance when training high performance athletes. Topics Include: Force Velocity Profiling Understanding Force-based vs Velocity-based Athlete Profiles The “Special Strength Zones” Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge technology, RPP...

Today we’re sitting down with Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Casey Pierce to discuss the Triple Tommy John Procedure, the newest advancements in Tommy John repair and recovery. Topics include: What makes it different than traditional TJ surgery Quicker recovery / back-to-play time The step-by-step process Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced co...

With the off-season upon us, today, we’re going to sit down and answer a few questions that we get asked often regarding what to look for in a great off-season training protocol for pitchers. Topics include the following, among others: An outline in Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) The importance of determining Strength vs. stability Assessing on day 1 (not an option) Ready to take your game...

In 1981 the song “Talkin’ Baseball” took the country by storm. The song describes the history of American major league baseball from the 1950s to the beginning of the 1980s and was inspired by a picture of the three outfielders of the title (Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider). Today we sit down with Songwriter and minor league pitcher Terry Cashman to discuss: Growing up in the Bronx dur...

Today we’re sitting down with RPP Remote Athlete Graham Keen (Class 2027). Graham is ranked #1 in PA and #2 Nationally by PBR and #1 in PA and #34 Nationally by Perfect Game.  We're going to talk about what it takes to be ELITE! Topics include: Nutrition (getting those daily calories in) Finding time to Train year-round Playing vs. Pitching Ready to take your game to the next level? With our...

Today we’re sitting down with Coastal Carolina Recruiting / Player Development Coordinator Tyler Shewmaker. Topics Include: The importance for athletes to find “The right fit” Showcases- yes?/no?....maybe? Some non-negotiables when recruiting catchers Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge technology, RPP Basebal...

This week’s podcast is with Coastal Carolina S&C Coach Mike Thomson. We spent a few days with Mike assessing Coastal Carolina’s pitchers a few weeks back and today we’re going to discuss his take on the process, as well as other topics including: Strength training during fall ball Expectations of new recruits in the weight room Consistency in training... “Don’t rush the process” Ready to take...

This week we cap off our remote college assessments with the pitching side of things with RPP Director of Pitching Niko Leontarakis. Topics include: Avoiding over-analysis when dealing with elite throwers Some common disconnects between D1 schools and players Disconnects... not always a bad thing, it depends on the athlete Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-drive...

This past week we flew down South to assess Division 1 Pitchers at a couple High-Level Universities. Here are the results and commentary.  Topics Include: Assessing Mobility / Stability Determining Plyometric ability and Force-Velocity profiling Are they “Strong Enough”? Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge tec...

Today, we're with Coastal Carolina pitching coach Matt Williams to discuss what goes into starting with a new organization, as well as his experience with the RPP on-site pitching assessments of his throwers that we previously did at University of South Carolina. Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experienced coaches, and cutting-edge techno...

Today I’m sitting down with physical therapist Greg LaMendola who specializes in a technique known as “Total Body Re-activation Therapy”. Topics Include: Bridging the gap between the nervous system and the biomechanical / muscular system Removing “blocks” in the kinetic chain through manual therapy / activation techniques How it can help reduce recovery time from an injury Ready to take your game...

Today, I’m sitting down with former Liberty University and now Ohio State pitcher Ryan Butler to discuss his experiences and lessons learned once you enter the college transfer portal. Topics Include: Topics prompting a decision to enter the portal What happens the day after you sign? Monetary / NIL considerations Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approac...

On this week’s podcast, we’re talking about global movement patterns, why they’re so important, their influence on performance and some great coaching cues to increase motor learning. Topics Include: Letting the athlete solve the movement problem Improving overall athleticism Common mistakes when coaching Ready to take your game to the next level? With our holistic and data-driven approach, experi...