Prep Baseball Report  sat down with Current Deland Assistant Baseball Coach and former Division I Strength and Conditioning Coach Ryan Faer to discuss arm care for high school baseball players.

Ryan Faer: NASM-PES, CFT
Ryan is in his 4th season as an assistant coach with the DeLand High Baseball program. Ryan is a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist though the National Association of Sports Medicine, a Certified Fitness Trainer though the International Sports Sciences Association, and has passed his Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist exam from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Ryan has also spent time as a Division I collegiate strength and conditioning coach.

PBR:  What are some basic items of care for a pitcher or position player should own?

FAER: A foam roller is definitely a great place to start when it comes to recovery. Roll around on one of those before a game or practice and you will feel like a new person – do it after a game or workout and you can start the healing process.

The foam roller is great, but because of its size, it is hard to really get into those gritty areas that overhead athletes need to hit. That’s why I’d recommend picking up a lacrosse ball. The size, flat surface, and density of the LAX ball works great for getting in between the shoulder blades, the back of the shoulder, and the pecs. A tennis ball, baseball, or golf ball are also good substitutes depending on the feeling you’re looking to get when you roll.

Finally, I’d recommend band work. Bands have great versatility and are relatively cheap. You can use bands for shoulder resistance exercises, or use it for self-stretching. Together, these few items can help ballplayers improve tissue quality, maintain proper muscle balance and flexibility, as well as strengthen and activate. The best part is that this “care package” will only cost you roughly $40, which is incredibly cheap in contrast to the cost of every other piece of equipment that will be in a player’s bat bag.

PBR: We are approaching near the end of the baseball season for most high school teams, How would you advise a pitcher who has increased pain and recovery time between starts is increasing, who may have a travel season approaching?

FAER: I would say if there is pain that it is definitely most appropriate to take some time off. Now, I know how prep baseball is, especially here in Florida; it is nearly impossible to get a kid to slow down and take the baseball out of his hand. Between their competitiveness, the nature of prep baseball now, and parents pushing their kids to play, play, play, the norm is to compete year-round, no matter what age. But, if there is pain involved it is a necessity to put the baseball down. This doesn’t mean stop training, but it means the elbow and shoulder need some true recovery time and to do things that don’t cause them pain.

Even without pain, I’d say it is important to take time off. It is crucial for players and parents alike to understand that many of the injuries we see in the college and professional ranks aren’t acute injuries that occur because of the innings at that level, but chronic injuries that actually stem from overuse at a younger age.

Point being, if a player can reduce the likelihood of pain and injury through proper maintenance of the body (starting in the off-season) and get the ball out of their hand for maybe 4-6 weeks after the spring, there is no reason why he can’t ramp back up as the summer season goes on, being in a peak and pain-free condition for the important end-of-summer travel events and tournaments. I think this is a realistic compromise.

PBR: Explain the importance or little there may be of tissue regeneration exercises?

FAER: It is definitely important to maintain good tissue quality throughout the season. Something that a lot of people don’t take into account for high school athletes is the amount of time they spend in a seat. Usually, a high school student will spend 5-7 hours in a desk seat. Then, they have to go straight from sedentary to full-speed in just a few minutes when they get to the field.

But, foam rolling, which is a great tissue quality tool, has been found to help increase joint range of motion (improve flexibility pre-activity), decrease soreness (improve recovery post-activity), along with other health benefits. What I like most about foam rolling is how it makes you feel. Players usually don’t really care to hear about the physiological benefits, as long as you tell them it will make them feel better – and actually does – then they will do it consistently. Feeling better after a long day of sitting goes a long way for a student-athlete.

Integrating some Self-Myofascial Release (foam rolling) with stretching - and a proper warm-up - can not only help regenerate tissue for recovery, but can also help correct the imbalances that are created in the body as a result of student-athletes sitting all day in class (or on long bus/car rides and hotel stays in the summer). Taking care of tissue quality can improve performance, but more importantly it can foster longevity, which is critical in such a long and arduous sport like baseball.

PBR: Being in the State Florida we have the privilege of playing baseball a whole calendar year, Do you feel as if this takes away from strength and conditioning periods and what advice would you give parents or players?

FAER: Year-round baseball here in Florida is truly a gift and a curse. We all know the pros of playing year-round: exposure and sport-specific skill improvement. But, the cons are there as well and many don’t know them. As I alluded to earlier, baseball is a sport that already lends itself to overuse and chronic injury. The nature of the game is highly repetitive movements (throwing and hitting) that are stressful on the body. Multiply this stress by year-round playing and you will of course get a highly skilled player, but also one that is predisposed to chronic injury (tendonitis, impingement and labrum issues, rotator cuff, UCL, etc.).

Though the year-round ball draws in scouts, which leads to greater exposure, should we really be focusing on exposure for 13-16 year olds? Or, should we put an emphasis on development in these highly influential years? When parents and players hear the S-words, “scouts”, “signed”, “scholarships”, all thoughts of development seem to go by the wayside. Strength and conditioning is vital to a player’s career. Taking advantage of the time in high school when players can most develop their bodies can help a ballplayer become bigger, stronger, more projectable, and less prone to those nagging injuries. And, better bodies not only look more appealing, they also perform exponentially better, lending themselves to more exposure anyways.

Even if a player strength trains while playing year-round, chances are they are not going to be able to eat enough to get the results they want. So, setting aside an 8-12 week period with little to no competition (games), and focusing on strength training the right way and development can be incredibly worthwhile. We’ve got to start thinking about longevity. Getting in front of scouts all year is great, but what does that actually get you if you are not in your peak physical condition – healthy and strong?

PBR: What is the biggest difference you have noticed between strength and conditioning done on collegiate vs. high school level?

FAER: The biggest difference here in Florida is the actual lack of strength and conditioning coaches and programs in high schools. Unfortunately, paid high school strength coaches in this area are hard to come by, so it is up to the student-athlete to train on their own, get trained by the school’s weightlifting coach (who may just be a certified PE teacher), or find a private-sector coach – or forget training altogether.

Sometimes the high school weightlifting coach just isn’t qualified to work with baseball players (through no fault of their own, this is the position the school has put them in) or the facilities just aren’t good enough. Private-sector gyms sometimes cause discord with baseball coaches just because the player isn’t getting trained at the school. And, skipping strength training altogether is obviously detrimental to ballplayers.

What you see on the college level, though, is completely different. Nearly all D-I Universities have strength and conditioning programs, and many of the institutions at lower levels are getting them as well. The strength and conditioning staff is generally comprised of paid individuals with high levels of education in physiology, and they are committed to helping their athletes and teams improve performance through their program, and communication with the training staff and coaches. They are all on the same team.

With the commitment that most colleges make to strength and conditioning today, it would be great to see that commitment find its way into high school baseball – in Florida, at least – so that student-athletes are prepared and well equipped for the next level.