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Jake Vitale

@vitalepitching

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⚾️: @wctitanbaseball & @winthropbaseball
📈: Division III & Division I Player
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Haven’t posted in a while but we’re back now.

Getting ready to throw off of the mound in a few weeks - starting to transition to cleaning up movement patterns now that the intensity is ramping up. Don’t have much feel past 120 feet, so it’s been difficult getting in quality catch play these last few weeks. A lot of it is coming down to how I’m moving and a loss of mobility in the hips and spine. So, lifting has transitioned to more eccentrics into deeper ranges of motion during my bench press, pull-ups, deadlifts, and squats. Pairing them with mobility as active rest is creating strength & mobility adaptations, allowing for deeper ranges of motion when in a free state.

Bringing back some plyos @bpcjake gave me when I worked with him before TJ, and some of my own. Lassos, side-bend rockers, swingers, and front foot elevated are what I’m doing. Two things I’m working on are controlling the pelvis during leg lift to load and rotate better, and getting the arm in a deeper spot at flip-up (which is inherently effected by how well you can load and unload). Should see some of these patterns clean up in a few weeks as long as I’m consistent with them. Looking forward to posting more and seeing how I move off of the mound. by @vitalepitching

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4 months ago

Subtle changes, big improvements✅
First noticeable change - shifting to the other side of the mound. The perception of the arm slot to hitters on both sides is almost a given that it will play. All credit to @bsands1721 on that one.
Before🔄: Direction is immediately going towards third base and into the quad. For some, it can work. In this case, the hips never load or get open at landing, giving no choice but to triple extend and rely on the glove side to pull the torso through - messing up the overall timing.
After➡️: More loaded in the back hip, delaying rotation longer, and eventually leading to a better rotation of the hips into landing - creating better timing of the arm flip and rest of the throw as well.
How⁉️: For one, the mound shift not only helped with perception, it also helped provide a constraint for him to get into his back hip and clean up his direction or he would’ve fallen off the mound. Pairing this constraint with janitor throws, swingers, and rotational step-backs really helped clean up the overall timing and direction of the throw by @vitalepitching

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7 months ago

The “First Pitch Strike” - Arguably the most important pitch in an at bat. It dictates not only how you attack hitters, but sets up the rest of the at bat. Telling guys to “get ahead early” is great, but putting something on the line is even better. In this case, 1v1 pens with a point system.

The desired outcome: Throw first pitch strikes.
The reward: Getting a point(s), and being ahead in the count.

For the first day, we only did “Round 1” since we’re still getting in the swing of things. Different constraints will be added (as in “Round 2”) and different goals for each live at-bats progression will change. Getting pitchers to do, rather than think is the ultimate goal when it comes to improving. In my opinion, this is a great way to make development fun, competitive, and translate to the game. by @vitalepitching

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8 months ago

Mound evals from 2 of our guys the other day✅.

Identifying pitchers’ strengths & areas for improvement on how they move down the slope should always be the first step before changing their delivery. Having a plan, sticking to it, and being patient is how we’re planning to break some habits and build off of the good ones. Stay tuned by @vitalepitching

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8 months ago

Gearing up for the season means having a plan and executing it. Made this throwing program for our pitchers in hopes of having our first 100% bullpens scheduled for 2/14. A little different schedule than what a college pitcher would have due to guys playing multiple sports, access to a facility, and weather (which we saw this week having to push the schedule back a week🌨️) - but still a pretty solid program.

Individualization comes when we start to correct patterns, and guys get back in their routines. Starting from our dynamic - mobility - dry work - bands - plyos - throwing. Our dry work is focusing on hip awareness, and finding the glute in the throw. If you can’t control your pelvis while stationary, how will you be able to control it while moving at rapid speed (you can’t😉)? These progressions will have us going from flat ground to feeling those patterns on the mound. Plyos are optional because we don’t know who does what yet in their throw. Hoping to get some guys on a plyo routine in their pre-throw where we can work on those patterns and inefficiencies. Ready for it to be 75° and ☀️ to play some ball. by @vitalepitching

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9 months ago

Still working on the same power block - but trying to add strength to the upper body as well since it’s lacking from taking off a long time. Body moved really slow on Monday. Never really had a strong bench, but got up to 195 for 2. The dumbbells have always moved well for me, so I’m thinking I could be lacking strength in the triceps or front delts. Definitely sucks not having a spotter for a lift off. Had to move the rack down a level so I could get it up - felt like I was doing a 1/2 rep during the lift off, so I think I could’ve gotten 200 for 2 if I had someone for a lift off. To support the bench, I’ve been adding more upper body exercises in the accessory lifts targeting those areas. Saw the plate swings on @coachcam10 instagram and wanted to implement them to the accessories. Solid exercise for rotation and the front delts. Going to be posting some baseball content really soon and excited to share it on here. Few more weeks until opening day😎 by @vitalepitching

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9 months ago

One thing I’ve always loved about being able to create my own programs is knowing the purpose behind them. Now that my 5 week strength progression is completed, I can now incorporate the strength gains into power development. I typically shoot anywhere within the 68%-77% range of my 1 rep-90% max, but will make adjustments if I feel those percentages are too light/heavy.

The difference between good athletes and elite ones (including harder-throwing pitchers😉) is how quickly they can close the gap from going 0 to 100. Going from a state of complete relaxation to producing max force is exactly what power is. The “stretch-shortening cycle” plays a crucial role in it. Think about a spring. Going from a relaxed state, to storing energy by being pressed down or “stretching” (eccentric phase), transitioning that stored energy to be used (amortization phase), then the spring rapidly “shortening” and springing up is how true power is created. Great examples where it occurs are in sprints and jumps.🔋

With that being said, a lot of my focus is on going from that relaxation state, to then feeling like I’m exploding through the roof. The jumps/lunges - quickly relaxing and dropping down, to then stepping on the gas and exploding up. The sprints - presetting the arms, quickly hinging, and taking off. Always incorporate the stability work too🤝 by @vitalepitching

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10 months ago

Been a long 6 months, but we’re back. Excited to get rolling last next 5-6 months⚡️ by @vitalepitching

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10 months ago

Finishing up our last day of our General Physical Preparedness phase. These 4 weeks we have been focusing on functional movements, building stability, and preparing our bodies for our strength phase in the next 2 weeks. Training in all 3 planes (frontal, sagittal and transverse) are a staple in our program, especially in the beginining as we’re trying to teach our bodies the correct ways to move - with weight. A Block - our plyos done at max intent. B Block - our main lifts, focusing on building time under tension with load. C Block - building volume. Super proud of these guys and excited for what’s to come this year!
- A Block 🔥
- 10 yard accelerations (3x1/e) 💨
- Medball scoop toss (3x3/e) 🌪️
- B Block ✅
- Trap Bar Deadlifts (3 second eccentric) 📶
- Hip Cars (2x2/e)
- Dumbbell Press (3 second eccentric) 📶
- C Block 🔊🔊🔊
- Dumbbell Reverse Lunge (3x6/e)
- External Rotation ➡️ Press (3x6/e)
- Cable Chops 🚫🌪️ (3x8/e) by @vitalepitching

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a year ago

During my entire college career, I obsessed over the positioning of my back leg. Mainly because I thought that it was the all and behold of proper sequencing, leading to velocity increases. However, since I’ve been out of the game for 5 months and rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery, I have really been trying to simplify things and properly understand how the body actually works. One topic I have been wanting to cover is the relationship between the pelvis and femur.

A lot of guys get it wrong by looking at the back leg for energy leaks. Sure this can be a clue, but understanding how there’s a “leak” is what is more important. It is also important to note that everybody’s anatomical make-up is different. Comparing someone like Mason Miller to Aroldis Chapman simply isn’t fair due to one presenting an internally rotated back leg, and the other presenting a more externally rotated back leg (vertical shin) - when they both throw 100+. In Miller’s case, factors like Femoral Anteversion or just a lack of external rotation can certainly be factors as to why he presents a more internally rotated back leg - which is why they’re incomparable. However, what you can compare is how they both delay rotation in their pelvis. This is ultimately what “loading” your backside actually is, and is where guys have the biggest misconceptions. When you are “loading” your backside, you are delaying rotation as your pelvis will internally rotate - to better understand, basically your hip will coil. This move is what really stores the rotational energy and pushes the femur into external rotation - presenting more of a vertical shin like Chapman does. Miller does this move as well, but from a more internally rotated back leg. Ironic enough, when getting ready to deliver a pitch, the exact opposite happens. The femur will begin to rotate into internal rotation, which initiates pelvic rotation, leading to proper sequencing. From my new understanding, this is why I believe when addressing lower-half leaks in the delivery, you should be more concerned on what the pelvis is doing instead of the back leg. by @vitalepitching

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a year ago