Before I tell you all about the 5 Biggest Reasons You're Still Slower Than Your Teammates, I first want to thank Coach Dan for all that he does and teaches -- his Baseball Strength info is terrific and you guys are all in really good hands with Dan. Now, onto the good stuff, let's get into these 5 reasons..

1. Your stiffness stinks.

Have you ever been playing a game and had to make a quick cut or change of direction, and it didn't feel like it was that fast or quick? Almost like it was a little unstable and if you were just "stronger" at that movement, you'd be a lot quicker and faster? If so, then you've already experienced what a lack of stiffness will do for you. Stiffness is the ability of your muscles and tendons to instantly "lock-up" and stop a negative, downward movement. It's that moment when you land from a jump, then immediately have to jump back up again (maybe for a rebound, etc). You have to quickly stop the negative downward movement caused by the momentum of the jump, so you can start your next jump as fast as possible. Think about a player like Shawn Marion: He has insane muscular and tendon stiffness. When he runs and jumps, he spends almost no time with his feet actually on the ground -- he's always bouncing on to the next step or jump (and that's a VERY common characteristic of an athlete with good stiffness -- their feet spend almost no time on the ground when they're running). Now, if you don't have good stiffness, then every movement you make is taking WAY longer than it could, which simply means you're still one of the "slow guys" out there. Improve your stiffness and you instantly improve your speed and quickness.

2. You have SLOW reaction time

Reaction time is simply how quickly you can react to an external stimulus. It's when you're guarding the other guy in a basketball game and he makes a move, it's how fast you can react to his move and slide over to stop his drive. I mean, let's be real here, have you ever had a time where you were guarding someone and you couldn't react fast enough to their quickness and they kept driving by you? If you could have reacted faster to what they were doing, you would have been able to stop them a whole lot easier.

3. You're a "program hopper".

People love the "latest thing", right? We all want the newest gadget, the shiniest object, the latest pair of Air Forces. Remember when the IPad first came out? EVERYONE had to have one, even if they had just bought a new laptop. It doesn't matter if you already have something like it, we all just love new stuff. Now this is totally cool and fine when it comes to "stuff", but when it comes to YOUR training, it's not so good. If you've ever started a new training program only to "try" another one a couple weeks later, you're guilty of this speed and quickness sin. To succeed with a training program and attain all of the results it promises you, you need to actually do it and use it for an extended period of time. For example, when one of the hundreds or thousands of athletes picked up their discounted copy of Truth About Quickness 2.0 yesterday, they found a video from me on the download page telling them how important following through with the program will be for their success (and I'm even gonna give out some of my ninja tricks to make sure they do actually follow through!). I might actually give away a couple of those on here too..hmm...

4. Your movement efficiency is whack.

Movement efficiency is (big, hairy revelation coming..): how efficiently you move. It's not hard for me or you to understand the importance of moving efficiently if we want to become quicker and faster, but let me give you a couple examples here to help you better "feel" what it is: Ever watch Derrick Rose play? Tell me if you ever see any "wasted" movement or energy from him? You don't. And that's because his movement efficiency is serious awesomesauce. He doesn't make any loud, "clunky" steps that allow for energy leaks, he doesn't unnecessary steps when he's driving to the basket and every movement he makes is purely efficient. Another great guy to look at is Steve Nash. He is SO smooth with all of his quickness and speed (and what's cool about Steve is that while D-Rose's movement efficiency is much more "natural", Nash wasn't born with it and has had to improve it himself throughout his career.. I'd say he's done a good job of that, eh?). If any of your movements, accelerations or cuts don't always feel super smooth and effortless, there's a VERY good chance your movement efficiency is garbage (that's pronounced gar-baj). Improve your movement efficiency and your speed and quickness shoots through the roof.

5. You've been using linear speed-training for your non-linear sport.

Linear sports are ones that take place only in straight lines: think the 100m dash or the long jump. On the other hand, NON-LINEAR sports are ones that take place in multiple directions and involve lots of "changes of direction": think basketball, football, volleyball, baseball, soccer and so on. Because it's just been a bunch of old-school "tradition" dominating the speed and quickness mafia for decades now, coaches have been using linear speed training methods for NON-LINEAR sports. They have basketball players go on the track to run 100m sprints, thinking it's gonna make them faster. They have baseball players running 60-yard dashes, thinking it's going to make them better with their first-step quickness off the bag as they try to steal 2nd. Or they have volleyball players run lap after lap around the gym, thinking it's going to increase their explosiveness. Let me tell you something: Using linear speed training methods for non-linear sports is wrong. Wrong, wrong, WRONG. Instead, use NON-LINEAR speed training methods for non-linear sports. The increases you can see in your results from making this change is going to be HUGE for you. Now, those are the 5 BIGGEST Reasons You're Still Slower Than Your Teammates. Let's talk ALL about the solutions to overcome each and every one of those major problems, so get your pen and paper ready, let's rock:

Part II: 5 Sneaky Solutions To Be Faster Than Your Teammates

1. The Problem: Your Stiffness Stinks.

The Solution: Pogo Jumps (1- and 2-legged) The best way to improve your stiffness is to use exercises that involve lots of eccentric Rate of Force Development and also have a reflexive aspect to them too. On top of that, the MOST important place for any team-sport athlete to have excellent stiffness is their PLANTAR FLEXORS. Put all that together and there is NOTHING better for quickly and efficiently improving your stiffness than Pogo Jumps. There is lots of rapid downward forces being absorbed (eccentric RFD), they're inherently reflexive and they focus entirely on your plantar flexors. To do a pogo jump, you jump vertically up and down, focusing on getting 95% of the "pop" in your jump from your ankles (NOT from your knees or hips). Here's a video of me doing them for you to check out (it's the first vid there): http://truthaboutquickness.com/CNSPrimingEffect.html For BEST results, do 3-4 sets of pogo jumps for sets of 10-20 reps 2-3x a week for the next 4 weeks. Rest 45-60 seconds between sets. Do them before your workouts and most likely, after just a couple weeks of doing that, you'll notice a new and big-time boost in your quickness, explosiveness and best of all, your first-step. And if you've been doing pogo jumps for a while now, try 1-Legged Pogo Jumps. They're a much more intense and advanced exercise, so please don't try them if you're not ready yet, but if you're going to, do them for 4-6 sets of 4-8 reps, with at least 60 seconds of rest between sets.

2. The Problem - You have SLOW reaction times.

The Solution - Try Visual and Auditory-Signaled Drills. When you're playing a game, where do you get your input as to what's going on come from? There are 3 main ways: 1. You see what's going on (visual) 2. You hear what's happening (auditory) 3. You feel what's happening (kinesthetic) And in a game, you take the input from one of those 3 place and then you REACT to them. You see the guy you're guarding fake left and cut right. You hear your coach call out the play on the next possession. You back your man down in the post and feel how he's guarding you. That's where you get all of your input from and then you react as quickly as possible. And if your reaction speed is lacking, then you're definitely struggling in a place you might be able to improve. And to get to work on your reactions, while simultaneously improving your speed and quickness, try visual- and auditory-signaled drills (you don't use kinesthetic-signaled drills because they get too sloppy/ visual and auditory is more than enough). To do these, you'll take ALL of your normal speed and quickness drills/exercises, BUT, you don't "start" a set until a training partner gives you either a verbal or auditory cue. For example, say you're doing lateral line jumps. You stand there on one side of the line and you don't start until your training partner snaps his finger (that'd be both visual and auditory). Or maybe, if you're gonna do Speed Skater Jumps, you stand there with your eyes closed and don't start until you hear your training partner yell, "We be steady mobbin'!" (that'd be an auditory cue). Try that for a few weeks and see what it does for you reaction times.

3. The Problem - You're A Program Hopper

The Solution - Find ONE Program That is PROVEN and Stick With It This one is almost entirely self-explanatory. If you want to be 100% SURE that the program you're using is going to work for you, then YOU need to stick with and follow through with it. The best, longest-lasting results take time and switching from program to program is the BEST way to make sure you don't get results. I don't mean to pitch here, but that's one of the best things about the Truth About Quickness 2.0: It doesn't make you change programs...instead, it fits right in with almost every other program out there, creating a synergistic effect for your results. It fits in so well because the workouts are fast (just 9 minutes long for most) and they're supposed to be done right at the start of your workout. So you do your TAQ 2.0 workouts, then do the rest of your training. And pretty soon, you're drastically quicker, running around like a tiger in the wild chasing down his prey, PLUS you get all the results you were gonna get from the original program you were already following. I cannot even begin to tell you how BIG this is gonna be for you..

4. The Problem - Your movement efficiency is whack.

The Solution - Focus on the SOUNDS made during your plyometric and speed training. This is easily one of my favorite ways for athletes to make rapid improvements in their movement efficiency. For the next few weeks, during all of your plyometric and speed exercises, focus on the sounds you make every time your feet hit the ground (whether it's landing from a jump or a foot hitting the ground during a sprint, etc). To focus on your movement efficiency, you want those sounds to be QUIETER. You see, most athletes with crappy movement efficiency usually make really loud, clunky noises with each step and landing and if that's you, then you're wasting potential energy and moving highly inefficiently. If your steps are quieter, you're inherently making better use of your energy and moving more efficiently. But here's the key: You don't want to move so quietly that you're not applying any force into the ground; that'll slow you down more than anything. Just pay attention to how much noise you're making on landings, and it it's too clunky or too loud, make a conscious effort to not sound like an master martial artist breaking a stacks of bricks with his forehead :-) Within a couple weeks, you'll notice your movements to be much quicker and more efficient -- and all of it from one simple change during your workouts.

5. The Problem - You've Been Using Linear Speed Training For Your Non-Linear Sport

The Solution - Use the RIGHT Non-Linear Speed Training Methods In Your Workouts The problem is that NOT all forms of Non-Linear Speed Training Methods are created equal. Some that you may have been exposed to probably fit right in to this "not nearly as good" category. So what is the "right" way of non-linear speed training? Well, I've tested out every method and strategy under the sun for the last 6 years, and I have found NOTHING nearly as potent as the training found in The Truth About Quickness Insider's System 2.0. Most of the exercises are NEW for 99% of the population, and the way we set them up are NEW for 100% of the population. There's been a lot of talk, hype and hoopla going on in the last couple weeks for the long-awaited release of The Truth About Quickness 2.0 and it finally came out yesterday...literally HUNDREDS of coaches and athletes jumped at the opportunity and are going through all of the speed and quickness secrets inside TAQ 2.0. http://www.TheTruthAboutQuickness20.com <------ Get TAQ 2.0 Here! And on top of that, it's available right now at a massive $40 OFF "Launch Special-Only" Discount until TOMORROW. http://www.TheTruthAboutQuickness20.com <------ Get TAQ 2.0 Here for $40 OFF before tomorrow! So if you're ready to have lightning-quickness and get blazingly fast in just 9 minutes a workout (albeit, a hard 9 minutes), then do not wait, click this link below and get Instant Access to the incomparable Truth About Quickness 2.0 before the MASSIVE discount expires tomorrow: http://www.TheTruthAboutQuickness20.com <------ Go now! Thousands of athletes worldwide have been waiting for this -- will YOU be joining them? -Alex Maroko

3 SNEAKY Solutions For Baseball Players

Kelly & Alex just released a monster quickness training program that absolutely blows the doors off of anything that I have ever seen before AND they are offering a $40 discount off of the already insanely low price until Thursday night.

Nope... You absolutely don't have to do anything... EVER!

I just received the video down below from my buddy Zach Even-Esh, the Underground Strength Coach (actually he forwarded it from another genius strength coach, Martin Rooney), and it answers a question that I hear way too many times every day - Do we have to do this? Is it Mandatory or is it Optional?

I used to simply glare at the ballplayers and tell them that they had to do everything that was on their worksheet for the day. Now I simply shrug my shoulders and tell them to do whatever they want...

Does that make me a bad coach? Maybe, but one thing that I can tell you is that the ballplayers that choose the option of doing the harder more challenging work get the results on the field and have the opportunity (hmm, sounds kinda like option, huh?) to play at the higher levels.

Quite frankly, if you choose NOT to put in the extra effort I don't want you in my workouts and you aren't going to get very far in your baseball career. I'm sorry, did that offend you? Good! Maybe it's the eye-opener that you need to get your attitude straight to really advance your career.

Let me point out a few of our ballplayers at the Baseball Strength Academy in Clifton, NJ.

First up are a couple of my college guys that worked out all summer long at 6am... even Saturdays! No, I didn't require them to workout that early. They requested that time because they had to go out and work to earn the $ to be able to afford the training!

Let's look at their options: Don't work hard all summer long -> Don't have to pay for training -> Don't have to work to earn the money to pay for training -> Have a relaxing summer hanging out with buddies and having a grand ol time!

Their Other Option - The option that they chose: Sign up for the most intense training they have ever done - Find a summer job that allowed them to pay for the training - Schedule workouts before the sun came up so that they could finish their workouts and still get to work on time - Go to bed earlier then their friends - Miss out on a ton of summer relaxation - Gain 10-15 pounds of Hard Earned Muscle! - Earn an invitation to compete for the starting 1B job at one of the states best baseball programs - Solidify the role of Conference Starter as a Sophomore!

How about one of my softball players that drives an hour each way to take hitting lessons and workout?

She doesn't get home from school, hitting, & her workout until 10pm or later... then she has to make sure she gets her homework done!

Does she have to do this? Nope, it's completely optional!

But she has a burning desire to dominate at the high school level and use softball as a tool to go to any college that she chooses. She's already a great softball player, so why choose to put in all the extra effort and work to get just that little bit better? Because She Can! Good enough isn't good enough for her. She is settling for nothing less than being the absolute best that she can be and that requires her to make serious sacrifices that are completely optional... but not in her mind!

So, what about you?

Are you choosing the easy way out saying that you are good enough to get by or are you choosing the harder options to put in the extra effort, take the extra BP, field the extra grounders, block the extra pitches, run the extra sprints, lift the extra sets, do that little bit extra -

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra!" - Jimmy Johnson

Are you motivated to choose the harder options and do the extra work?  Are your friends & teammates?  Visit us at Baseball Strength Academy & Hit the facebook "Like" button at the top or bottom of this post and challege your teammates to step up their game and choose the option of make themselves and your team better simply by having the attitude to do whatever it takes to succeed!

Enjoy the video and leave your comments in the section down below!

Dan

Here ya go, crank up your Hitting Power with 3 Rounds for time of the following:

Tire Flips

Sledg Hammer Slams

Sled Drags & Drives

Farmers Walks

Enjoy!

Dan

(download)

Click here to download:

Hitting_Power_Program_at_Leftys.m4v (56.01 MB)

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

OK, Today was make up day on my CrossFit Journey...

I'll admit it, I skipped the Friday workout and then didn't have a chance to make it up over the weekend since my wife & I were celebrating our 11th Wedding Anniversary by... changing our 2 month olds diapers and potty training our 3 year old.  I know, I'm a hopeless romantic, huh?

Anyway, I did both of the WOD's that I missed on Friday & Saturday today so now I am only 1 day behind.  I'll make that up on the next Rest Day.

So Workout Of The Day 100813

Rounds of 50-40-30-20-10 on Double Unders & Sit-Ups for time

Well, I can't do double unders so I just did regular jump rope... that was the easy part.  The Sit-Ups, well, they sucked!  I remember back in the day when I could bang out 2 or 3 hundred sit ups in a workout.  Today I parely got 25 on the first set before I had to rest ;-{

In the end, my time for the 5 rounds was a disgraceful 13:05...

Onto Workout Of The Day 100814

7 single reps with added weight.

Set 1 - Body Weight

Set 2 - 10 pounds

Set 3 - 15 pounds

Set 4 - 15 pounds

Set 5 - 10 pounds

Set 6 - 10 pounds

Set 7 - 10 pounds

Did I mention that I hate Pull Ups?!?

Not quite sure that the jump rope & sit-ups before had any negative impact on the pull-ups, but I'll tell myself that they did ;-)

So, I'm kinda back on track with my CrossFit adventures... I'll keep you posted!

Dan