Jodi Fulwood

Sports Performance Consultant

Sports Performance Consultant

Bachelor Degree of Applied Science in Exercise

and Sport

Experience working with a variety of sporting

athletes

Athletic ability ranges from amateur to national

level

ALL SKILLS VITAL TO

PERFORMANCE

Increase the ability to concentrate & focus for

longer periods of time

Increase ability to avoid & block out distractions

Improve rhythm, timing, coordination & balance

Fine tune motor planning & sequencing & decision

making

Ask an athlete if they

THINK

these skills are important?

“YES” Ask them do they know

HOW

to train these skills?

“NO!”

ONE SIZE DOES

NOT FIT ALL

Regular coaching &

training available to athletes

Unique sporting skills now

identified by athletes as important

Personalized

IM Program

Using the Interactive Metronome to “FILL THE GAP”

OBSERVATION &

ANALYSIS

Observation is more than just watching a sport

Identify the:

(1) PHYSICAL requirements:

Movements

Skill requirements

(2) MENTAL requirements:

Concentration

Focus

Decision making

(3) ENVIRONMENTAL requirements:

Analyse:

How, why, frequency, duration of the mental & physical skills?

Can you duplicate them in an IM program?

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF IM

Training Focus (A) Training Focus (B) Training Focus (C)

Physical, Mental, Environment Demands

TARGET YOUR TRAINING AREA

Simulate

ENVIRONMENT

Challenge

MENTALLY

Simulate

MOVEMENT

A BALANCED IM PROGRAM

SHOULD INCLUDE ALL THESE AREAS

OPTIMUM POWER

GENERATED

INTENDED POINT OF

BALL CONTACT

Perfect Swing Timing is:

OPTIMUM POWER with MINIMUM ENERGY expenditure

Difficult skill to teach and acquire due to the essential millisecond coordination and acceleration of the whole

body WITH precise timing

Swing Rhythm is the TEMPO of Swing Timing

Swing Timing FOCUS

Emphasis on correct sequence

Swing Rhythm FOCUS

Is on tempo of components

Difficult to observe split-second, complex body components

Correct swing timing often relies on “trial and error”

Most effective teaching tool is the rhythm of music

Movement Sequence for Swing Rhythm – first movement occurs in the distal of the swing lever system and progressively moves to each component one increment closer to the final impact point

“HITTING is TIMING,

Pitching is upsetting TIMING” Warren Spahn, Baseball Hall of Famer

HITTING IS TIMING ....THE SWING IS MUSCLE MEMORY

A pitch at 85 mph takes approx. 0.425 seconds to go from pitchers hand to the hitting zone

Average human reaction time is ¾ of a second = 0.750 seconds. Players reaction time alone is not fast enough

A batter must begin his swing the same time the pitcher begins his motion

RHYTHM &

TIMING OF SWING

PITCH SPEED &

LOCATION

ESSENCE OF

HITTING

Correct mechanics allows a hitter to do 4 things:

Help players to see the ball better

Gives players a shorter swing, allowing them more time to see the ball and make better decisions

Generate maximum bat speed to hit the ball harder

Give players better balance and control through the swing

A baseball pitcher uses the entire body

during the pitching motion, beginning with

the lower extremities, advancing to the

trunk, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand

ANY ALTERATION IN ANY

SEGMENT OF THIS CHAIN

CAN AFFECT THE OUTCOME

Commonly used phases of pitching

WINDUP Setting phase of pitching motion. Purpose is to set a rhythm and synchronized timing of the body parts

COCKING Divided into early cocking and late cocking according to the contact of the forward foot on the ground

ACCELERATION During this phase the speed of the arm has increased significantly

FOLLOW – THROUGH Occurs from the point of ball release, completion of the motion when the support leg stops forward motion

STATIC

STABLIZING DYNAMIC

Dynamic balance is very important

Double plays require a combination of skill, ability, coordination

and dynamic balance at the same time

Lunging movement is vital, requires static and dynamic balance

Agility is the ability to decelerate, accelerate and change

direction

Visual Eye Tracking

“YOU CAN’T HIT WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE”

Need to see the location, motion and rotation of the

ball

Speed and efficiency of players’ visual processing

allows keep eyes on the ball

Visual skills can impact softball and baseball

performance

Interactive Metronome® Training may impact performance in the following ways:

• Bat more consistently

• Sharpen pitch location

• Make faster decisions on field

• See location, motion, rotation of ball

• Speed of processing visual information

• Reaction time

• Know when to swing, when to throw and where

• Enhance pitch recognition

• Increase the velocity off the bat

• Improve timing, balance and confidence

• React more quickly to infield plays

• Develop visual confidence at the plate

The ability to throw the ball accurately with speed,

requires the entire body to work together

ARM MOTION: • Arm motion when throwing a ball

makes a circular motion

• Circular motion provides natural

momentum

• Front shoulder to point in the direction

of where you are throwing

LOWER BODY: • Lower body movements line up with the upper body

BEING RELAXED IS IMPORTANT TO ALLOWING A

PLAYERS MIND TO FOCUS SHARPLY

Concentrating on HIGH VELOCITY balls

Concentration is IMPORTANT to be able to hit the ball or return a shot

SPEED and SPIN increase difficulty

FOCUS is needed

…but, Focus is impossible to maintain for an entire game, so DONT TRY

Relax focus after a play / before the next play

Relax focus after a pitch / before the next pitch

Relax focus after a swing / before the next swing

Relax focus after team finishes part of an inning / before the next part

Weather:

• Heat

• Wind

• Rain

Crowds:

• Large crowds

• Stadium seating

• Open courts

What effect can these have on players?

Umpire:

Bad calls from the plate

umpire or base umpires

RE-EVALUATE THE PROGRAM

Is it CHALLENGING to athlete’s skill

level?

Is it

INTERESTING enough?

Are the (MS) scores reflecting IMPROVEMENT?

Is it FLEXIBLE?

When designing a personalized IM program it is important to:

OBSERVE

ANALYZE

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX FILL THE GAP

Check out the full presentation for more great

tips on using IM training for training baseball and

softball players.

Full version includes:

Extended discussion of baseball/softball mechanics

More information on softball vs baseball differences

Training videos

…and more valuable information to take your clients’

skills to the next level.

If you are looking for CEUs, look no further than

Interactive Metronome®.

We have an extensive catalog of over 100 webinars with

topics on everything from autism to motor deficits to

ensuring clinical profitability and success with IM.

And our new badging system makes it easy to identify the

information that is tailored to your practice. No more

wasting time looking for CEUs! It is time to take your

clients’ training to the next level!

visit www.interactivemetronome.com

or call (877) 994-6776 (*US Only)

Know your party’s extension?

call (954) 385-4660