quick note to say here's hoping you're all having an enjoyable and healthy holiday season.
accent here is on the healthy.
i found two things recently which you may find useful. the first is video that's a decent baseball workout; the second a product may save, if not your life, then certainly your manhood.
i should say at the start: i have no financial interest in either, though i wish i did.
the baseball workout program is online, and it's free. it's on a website called "exercise tv." just google that. the website appears to make money by selling exercise videos online. they give you 25-second samples in everything from yoga to pilates to weights, and then you pay what appears to be about $3 to download a full 4-10 minute, trainer-led exercise.
but under the heading, sports workouts, the baseball-training video they offer is free. it's conducted by a fellow named allen thomas, who's the chicago white sox conditioning coach, and each runs in four segments of about 5 minutes each. they cover topics like warm-ups, leg strengthening and core training. they don't require a lot of equipment, relying mainly on body resistance, so you can do the exercises almost anywhere. i've just done the warm-ups: they're simple and feel pretty good.
the other thing i saw is called "nuttybuddy," and it's a new cup. developed by mark littel, a former pitcher for the royals and cardinals, it's designed to protect and serve. unlike a traditional one piece cup, this one is molded to the male anatomy - with all the curves, lines and sockets that implies - and it comes in four sizes, the largest being the mongo (named after the alex karras character in "blazing saddles.")
i know i should probably wear a cup when i play, but, true confessions here, the only time i do is when i catch, and that's only about twice year, thank the stars. i just find conventional cups constricting, ill-fitting, awkward and they dig into your skin and mind. little says this one can be used for every major sport - lacrosse, hockey, basketball in addition to baseball - and the price is $19.95 per unit, if i may say.
anyway, you might check out littel's website, nuttybuddy.com. be forewarned if you do - littel, who looks a bit like bill clinton and acts a little on the nutty side himself - has a pitching machine turned on his product, which he's wearing. you'll cringe as you watch. and then smile.
