Everything you need to know, all in one place.
Smart guidance for players and families
Why is my velocity stuck at [X] mph?
.svg)
.svg)
Velocity stalls for a lot of reasons — inefficient movement, poor timing, limited mobility, or not having the physical horsepower to support elite output. Sometimes it’s coordination. Sometimes it’s your body just doesn’t have the movement options to hit key positions.
Other times, it’s not physical at all — it’s a lack of direction. Random drills, scattered programming, no real plan.
Real progress comes from putting the right inputs in the right order — built on principles that actually transfer to the mound.
What’s better: long toss, weighted balls, or a throwing program?
They’re all just tools — none of them are inherently magic nor dangerous on their own.
A baseball is 5 ounces. Is that the “safe” weight? A football is 15 ounces, and quarterbacks throw it full speed, daily, with no panic about blowing out their arms. Same thing with long toss — what even is it? To some it’s 120 feet, to others it’s 300+. No one flinches when an outfielder throws a guy out at home from 300 feet. In fact, those are usually the best arms on the field.
Weighted balls and long toss aren’t dangerous or special — they’re just ways to create a stimulus. Distance, load, and intensity are all variables we can manipulate to get a specific adaptation. The real risk comes from guessing, not from the tool itself.
A true throwing program isn’t a list of drills — it’s a system. It uses the right tools, at the right time, for the right reasons, to guide movement, focus attention, and build results.
How do I know if my mechanics are the issue or my physical strength?
Mechanics don’t happen in isolation—they’re shaped by what your body can do.
If you can’t access key positions, or can’t control them at high speeds, your delivery will compensate. If you lack the horsepower to create and transfer force, you’re going to run up against a ceiling — no matter how your mechanics look on video.
You can’t sequence what your body can’t produce.
That’s why we assess both: movement quality and physical capacity.
Why can’t I throw harder no matter how hard I train?
Because effort alone isn’t enough — throwing harder is a very specific outcome that requires precision.
If your body isn’t sequencing well, if you can’t access the right positions, or if you don’t have the horsepower to express force quickly, you’ll hit a ceiling — no matter how many hours you put in. Double down on the wrong inputs and you don’t just stall out — you dig the hole deeper.
Most guys aren’t lazy. They’re misdirected. You think you’re on the right track, but you’re speeding up in the wrong direction.
The 3 D’s Keeping You From Progress:
Dispersion is when your plan lacks focus — a little of everything gets you nothing.
Distraction is chasing the next drill, the next video, the next trend instead of doing what you need.
Drift is the slow fade — no benchmarks, no feedback, no accountability. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
Throwing harder isn’t about working harder. It’s about aligning your effort with the right constraints, feedback, and progression.
What are the biggest mechanical issues that kill velocity?
The two biggest killers?
A slow or poorly positioned center of mass moving down the mound
Poorly timed, poorly sequenced rotation through the pelvis and spine — across all three planes
Throwing velocity comes from the efficient storage and release of energy through the body’s rotational system — not from brute strength or isolated positions. The spine and pelvis create the wave. Everything else either amplifies it or disrupts it.
If that wave starts late, leaks early, or gets blocked by poor sequencing, you're not throwing hard — you're getting in your own way.
Why can I throw hard in catch play, but not in games?
Because throwing hard in catch play isn’t the same task as throwing hard in a game.
Catch play removes the variables that actually shape performance — no hitter, no stakes, no timing pressure. So your intent shifts. You move differently. And let’s be real — most guys aren’t even tracking their throws in catch play. They’re guessing. What feels like 90 might be 81. Without feedback, you don’t actually know what’s real.
And even if you are throwing hard, doing it in a non-representative environment doesn’t guarantee transfer. That’s a breakdown in perception-action coupling — your body hasn’t learned to organize the same movement under real game conditions.
Is command just mental — or is it trainable?
Command isn’t just mental — it’s a skill. A trainable one.
It’s about feel. Sensing where your body is in space. Timing everything up to direct force precisely — under pressure, at game speed. That’s not just focus. That’s coordination, awareness, and adaptability.
You’ll see pitchers with completely different mechanics throw consistent strikes. Why? Because they’ve trained the ability to organize their body around a target — over and over again.
Steph Curry wasn’t born with a 3-point gene. He trained it. Adapted to it. Refined motor feel and precision through intentional reps. Pitching works the same way.
How do I improve both command and velocity at the same time?
They’re not mutually exclusive — and you don’t get better by choosing sides.
Every time you throw a baseball, you’re training command — whether you realize it or not. With the right plan, intent, and feedback loops, you can build efficient mechanics, manage volume and intensity, and develop real feel while throwing hard.
The problem? Most training separates them. Guys train velocity with reckless drills, and command with slow, overly controlled catch play. Neither transfers.
We design environments that build velocity and precision. We challenge your body to move fast, organize better, and adapt to variability — just like the game demands.
Why is my command so inconsistent?
Because your training isn’t building a skill — it’s building a false sense of control.
Most guys “work on command” by playing catch with no real target, no pressure, and no variation. But command isn’t just about repetition — it’s about intentional repetition with variability. You need to be able to find your delivery when the mound is different, your timing feels off, or the adrenaline is up.
If your reps only live in predictable environments, your command will fall apart when the environment changes. That’s a design issue — not a mental one.
The game is fast, messy, and unpredictable — your training should prepare you for chaos, not hide you from it.
Should I train during the season or wait until the offseason?
You’re either getting better or getting worse — you’re never staying the same.
In-season might not be about pushing your body to the edge, but the variables don’t disappear — if anything, they multiply. Fatigue, travel, poor sleep, inconsistent workloads. That chaos demands a plan.
We’ve seen it too many times: guys train hard all offseason, then shut it down in-season and lose everything they built. They drift. They regress. And by the time the offseason comes back around, they’re starting over from behind.
We want to break that cycle — and give players the structure and support they actually need in season.
That means keeping their throwing sharp and scheduled, helping them gameplan around their workload, and continuing to develop amidst the chaos. It’s not about volume — it’s about clarity, consistency, and staying connected to a plan that evolves with the season.
Can I play and train at the same time?
Yes — if the training is built around the game schedule, not in competition with it.
Training and competing aren’t mutually exclusive. You just can’t treat them like separate lives. The key is adjusting intensity, volume, and focus based on what the season demands — and keeping your development tied to performance goals.
Playing without training is how guys fade and regress by mid-season. Training without adjusting for games is how guys burn out and get injured.
We build plans that complement your schedule—not compete with it.
How many months a year should I train vs. compete?
It depends — where do you want to be, and where are you now?
You can’t build a real plan without answering those two questions. If you’re throwing 80 at 17 and your goal is to play D1 or pro ball, 10 months of showcases isn’t getting you there. You’re not showcasing — you’re just showing up underprepared.
Too many players chase exposure before they’re ready. Tournaments and events pull kids in by the thousands, charge their families money, and send them out to compete without the physical tools to actually stand out. It’s ultimately just a big cash grab.
Playing the game is vital — it’s the whole point of all the training. But if you want to show up and perform at a high level, you have to earn the right to compete. Not enough players sit down and ask:
Where am I now? What do I want? And what will it actually take to get there?
That’s where we come in.
Whether your goal is to start on varsity, play in college, break through a plateau in the minors, or establish yourself as an everyday big leaguer — we help you step back, assess the truth, and build a plan that actually makes sense for your path forward.
Is it bad to pitch year-round?
There’s a difference between throwing and pitching. We believe throwing can happen year-round, as long as you’re varying intensity, constraints, and movement goals. That’s how you build adaptable movement solutions and avoid overloading the same tissues and patterns every time. In motor learning this is referred to as, repetition without repetition — the idea that skill improves through purposeful variability, not mindless reps.
But pitching — in games, off a mound, at high effort — is a different stress entirely. And doing that all year, without time to build the underlying physical qualities that support it, is how guys break down. If you’re always competing and never adapting, you’re not developing — you’re just surviving.
What should my in-season training look like?
In-season training should be precise and calculated — not random and reactive.
Your intensity needs to stay high. That’s how you maintain sharpness. But your volume needs to drop. The main stimulus now is the game itself — and your training should support that, not compete with it.
This time of year is chaotic. Schedules change. Recovery windows shrink. There’s more to manage — not less. That’s why not having a plan is the fastest way to drift and regress.
We build in-season plans to keep your mechanics sharp, your throwing organized, your body fresh, and your mind locked in. That includes managing your throwing days, adjusting your workload, and helping you game plan how to actually use your arsenal.
How does online coaching actually work?
It starts with a deep assessment — your movement, goals, velocity, workload, and context. From there, you’ll get assigned the right coach and a plan built for you. Not just a program — a process. One that adjusts with you, season to season and week to week.
Training runs through our custom built Kinect App. You upload video, track progress, and communicate directly with your coach — the same coach who builds your plan and helps you solve problems as they come up.
This isn’t YouTube drills and guesswork. It’s a relationship. You’ve got someone in your corner — watching how you move, designing out every piece, giving real feedback, and helping you gameplan week to week. Not just a coach — a partner in your development.
How often will I talk to my coach?
You’ll hear from your coach every week — with real feedback, check-ins, and support as you go. Just like you’d talk to a pitching coach in person whenever you needed, it’s the same here.
We don’t just hand you a program and disappear. You’ll always have a coach in your corner helping you adjust, problem-solve, and stay on track. That relationship is what drives results. The remote format doesn’t limit us — it amplifies it.
What happens if I fall behind in training?
Life happens — but progress doesn’t have to stop. If you miss a week, get sick, or your schedule shifts, we adjust with you. This is the asset of having a coach, not a template.
This isn’t a cookie-cutter plan you have to keep up with — it’s a system built for you. We meet you where you’re at, re-sync the plan, and keep moving forward.
The goal is growth — not perfection.
WhyShould I lift heavy if I’m a pitcher?
If you want to throw hard and stay healthy, you need a body that can handle the job — and that starts with strength.
We train strength to build general physical qualities: force production, tissue resilience, and motor control. These are the raw materials that high-level pitching demands. If you don’t have the horsepower, don’t expect to be powerful or durable on the mound.
Throwing a baseball is a high-speed, high-force movement that requires coordination, elasticity, and precise timing — but none of that matters if your body doesn’t have the capacity to support it.
Strength work doesn’t replace skill work — it supports it. The key is connecting general capacity to specific skill.
Every part of development matters. But without the base to express it, your mechanics and intent will always hit a ceiling.
Is mobility or strength more important for throwing?
It’s not either-or — it’s both. And more importantly, it’s how they interact.
Mobility gives you access to key positions. Strength gives you the ability to control and express force through them. Without mobility, you can’t move well. Without strength, you can’t move with intent — or hold up under high stress.
Most inefficiencies aren’t because someone is simply too weak or too tight — they come from poor coordination between available ranges and the ability to use them under speed.
If you can’t get to the right positions or stabilize and sequence from them, your delivery will compensate. That’s why we assess both and build both — so your body has the options and horsepower to throw hard, repeat, and stay healthy.
What’s the difference between being strong and being powerful?
From a physics perspective, power is defined as:
Power = Work / Time
Or more specifically:
Power = (Force × Distance) / Time
In short:
Strength is how much force you can produce.
Power is how fast you can produce it.
So if two athletes move the same weight the same distance, the one who does it faster produces more power. While strength is the foundation of power—it’s not all about raw force.
In the context of throwing:
You’re trying to apply force to the ball over a short time window.
The faster you can generate that force and transfer it through your body to the ball, the more powerful (and effective) your throw will be.
Why can I deadlift 500 but still throw 82?
Because throwing isn’t a powerlift — it’s a high-speed, full-body coordination task.A 500-pound deadlift means you’ve got horsepower. But throwing requires more than force — it demands timing, sequencing, and the ability to express that force fast, through elastic, rotational movement.
You can be strong in the weight room but still leak energy on the mound if you can't:
Access the right positions
Sequence rotation through your pelvis and spine
Transfer force efficiently through your arm into the ball
Strength gives you the raw material — but if you can’t organize it, it won’t show up in velocity. We bridge that gap by combining general physical and movement qualities with skill-specific work that actually transfers to the mound.
What separates KNCT from other throwing programs?
Most programs give you sheets of paper. We give you direction — guided by high-level coaches who live this stuff daily, and hold themselves to the same standard they expect from you.
Our staff spans from professional baseball to top private consultants — a team of coaches constantly pushing to get better, so we can do the same for you.
We don’t guess. We assess.
We don’t copy and paste. We adapt.
We don’t just care about your velo jump — we care about your long-term success.
This is personalized, principle-based coaching built upon real relationships — with the results to back it up.
What does a real pitching assessment look like?
It’s about understanding what physical qualities need to show up in the delivery — and using a principle-based, objective lens to evaluate how you move.
We break the delivery down into key segments and patterns, built on a technical model that holds up across levels. From there, we zoom out and assess how you move outside of throwing — your mobility, control, and physical capacity — to understand why your delivery looks the way it does.
It’s not just about what we see on video. It’s about connecting the dots between inefficiencies and their root causes — so we can build a plan that actually changes them.
By understanding the throw at a foundational level, we can diagnose precisely what’s going wrong — and give you a clear, personalized path to fix it.
It’s part physics, part biomechanics, part motor learning, part problem-solving — and all about helping you actually understand your delivery so you can train with precision.
How is this different from biomechanics or Trackman/Rapsodo reports?
Trackman and Rapsodo tell you how your pitches move — not how good they are, when to use them, or how to adjust them. It’s just numbers on a screen unless you’ve got a coach who can interpret and apply them to your game.
Same thing with biomechanical reports. Anyone can read off a chart and say “your timing is off.” That’s not coaching — that’s reading. Without context, that feedback usually creates more confusion than clarity.
Our process is built on actual problem-solving. We don’t just collect data — we translate it into coaching decisions. We use a principle based approach to figure out what’s going on under the hood, and how to actually fix it. t’s not about numbers. It’s about knowing what to do with them — and building a plan that gets you better now, and prepares you for where you want to go long term.
Will I just be doing drills — or actually learning how to move better?
Our goal isn’t to get you good at drills — it’s to help you adapt and improve at the skill of throwing.
Drills aren’t magic. They’re just constraints — tools we use to shape coordination, attention, and timing. But without intention or context, they won’t transfer. And without feedback, learning doesn’t stick.
We don’t just slap drills on and hope for the best. Every constraint, cue, implement, and intensity is chosen with a purpose — to guide your movement, refine perception, and solve real problems in your delivery.
This isn’t about repetition — it’s about adaptation. We train in a way that reflects the game: variable, representative, and focused on outcome. You’re not memorizing positions — you’re learning to feel, adjust, and execute under pressure.
Will I need to buy any special training equipment?
Not necessarily — we build your program around what you have access to.
If we recommend a tool (like a specific plyo ball, band, or piece of gym equipment), it’s because it directly supports your goals and gives us a better way to create the adaptation we’re after. But we’re not selling gear, and we’re not going to send you on a shopping spree.
We meet you where you’re at — and if a tool can help, we’ll show you exactly how and why to use it. No gimmicks. Just intentionally driven progress.
A curated set of principles, ideas, and explanations behind how and why we train the way we do.
What is motor learning?
Motor learning is the process by which your brain and body work together to develop and refine movement skills through practice, feedback, and adaptation.
Every movement — from throwing a pitch to tying your shoes — is a skill shaped by the principles of motor learning. It’s not just your muscles doing the work. It’s your nervous system learning how to coordinate them under pressure.
To create truly skillful performers, you have to understand how skill is learned. Motor learning isn’t just about reps — it’s about how the brain and body coordinate under pressure, adapt to new situations, and solve problems in real time. Without that understanding, coaching becomes guesswork..
What is Ecological Dynamics—and why does it matter for pitchers?Answer:
Ecological dynamics is a framework that combines ecological psychology (how we perceive opportunities to act) with dynamics systems theory (how movement patterns emerge and adapt).In plain terms:
It’s how movement emerges from the interaction between the athlete, their body, their task, and the environment — not from a motor program stored in the brain.It views skill as:
Relational, not internal — movement emerges between the pitcher and their environment.
Adaptive, not repeatable — skilled pitchers adjust on the fly to game demands.
Self-organized, not scripted — coordination patterns arise naturally through interaction with constraints.
For pitchers, ecological dynamics shifts the focus from “fixing mechanics” to designing environments that pull out better movement by manipulating what the athlete sees, feels, and responds to. It’s the foundation behind using constraint manipulation, representative tasks, and affordance-rich environments — all core to our approach.
What is Representative Learning Design—and why should pitchers stop only doing isolated drills?
Representative Learning Design (RLD) means that the information, timing, and decisions in practice should mirror what pitchers face in games. Most traditional bullpen work strips those elements out — no batter, no stakes, no tempo. That’s like training a quarterback without a defense.
What are constraints?
Constraints are boundaries that shape how movement emerges. They’re like bumpers in a bowling lane: guiding the outcome without telling the athlete exactly how to get there.
VelIn motor learning, there are three types:
Individual constraints (Factors surrounding an individual )— physical capacity (Strength, mobility, and joint stability), anatomical structure (limb length and tissue biases), injury or pain history, fatigue, motivation and emotional state, past habits/coachingocity
Task constraints (Factors surrounding the action being completed)— the goal, rules, tools, targets, time available.
Environmental constraints (Factors surrounding the environment in where the task is performed)— space, weather, noise, surface, opponents.
Constraints explain why a certain movement shows up — not just what it looks like. Instead of prescribing solutions, understanding that movement emerges from the interaction of individual, task, and environmental constraints helps coaches see what they can manipulate — and how to design sessions that let better movement emerge naturally.
Constraints are boundaries that shape how movement emerges. They’re like bumpers in a bowling lane: guiding the outcome without telling the athlete exactly how to get there
In motor learning, there are three types:
Individual constraints (factors within the athlete) — things like strength, mobility, joint stability, limb length, tissue properties, injury or pain history, fatigue, motivation, emotional state, or movement habits shaped by past coaching.
Task constraints (factors tied to the action itself) — the goal, rules, tools, targets, and time available to complete the task.
Environmental constraints (factors in the setting) — surface type, weather, noise, space, lighting, or presence of opponents and teammates.
Constraints explain why a movement shows up — not just what it looks like. Instead of prescribing solutions, understanding that movement emerges from the interaction of individual, task, and environmental constraints helps coaches see what they can manipulate — and how to design sessions that let better movement emerge naturally.
What is the Constraints-Led Approach—and how do we use it to train movement, not just mechanics?
The Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) is a coaching method that uses constraint manipulation to guide learning. Instead of telling athletes how to move, we shape the environment so that better movement solutions emerge organically.
CLA is built on one core idea:
Movement is a product of the interaction between the individual, the task, and the environment.
Rather than prescribing mechanics, we intentionally manipulate our training plans:Task — change the goal, position, target, tempo, or feedback.Environment — adjust slope, surface, space, or pressure.Individual — address strength, power, mobility, pain, or emotional/mental state.
For example, if a pitcher flies open early, instead of saying “stay closed,” we might create a constraint that demands better timing — we might tilt the slope of the mound towards their glove side, where if they rotate and pull off too early, they’ll fall backwards and won’t be able to execute the task. We’ll also likely address things like their pelvis or ribcage mobility to ensure that an athlete has the physical capacity to get their in the first place. Good luck getting somewhere in a skill that you cannot access outside of it.
The result?
Athletes learn through solving problems, not memorizing positions. Athlete also has more freedom to use as they go to complete the movement. The coach becomes a designer of learning environments, not just a deliverer of technical instruction.
What is an affordance?
An affordance is an opportunity for action — it’s what the environment offers the athlete, based on what they see and what they can do. It’s not just about the surroundings; it’s about the relationship between the athlete and the situation.
For example, a wide-open lane might afford a drive for one player but not another, depending on speed, skill, or confidence. Similarly, a 10 foot rim might afford an NBA player the opportunity for a dunk, while an 11 year old is not afforded the same exact opportunity because of the constraints upon their body.
This can mean a lot of different things in the world of baseball and pitching. What opportunities for action exist when you throw from a standstill versus using momentum from a shuffle step? And on the mound — what options feel usable based on your body, your stuff, your intent, or the pressure of the moment?
Affordances shift with context. Recognizing that sport is shaped by the interaction between these variables — not fixed mechanics — is a key step in designing more effective, adaptable training.
Affordances guide decisions and shape movement. They’re what athletes respond to in real time. Coaching affordances means designing environments that offer meaningful problems to solve — not just reps to repeat.
What’s the difference between attention and intention?
Answer:
Intention is what you’re trying to do. It’s your goal — the purpose behind the movement.
Attention is what you’re focused on while doing it. It’s where your mind is during the action.
They shape movement in different but connected ways:
Change the intention (e.g., “drive this through the glove” vs. “just throw a strike”), and the body reorganizes around that goal.
Shift the attention (e.g., focus on the glove vs. focus on your arm), and you change how the movement is coordinated.
Great coaching means designing tasks that align both:
A clear intention that gives the athlete a reason to move.
An external focus of attention that helps organize movement without overthinking.
Together, intention and attention shape how movement emerges. When both are aligned, athletes move with clarity, efficiency, and adaptability — not overthinking, just executing. That’s the foundation of skillful performance.
Why do we throw from awkward positions, use different weighted balls, and alter the environment during training?
Challenging technique by forcing athletes to adapt under varied constraints doesn’t prevent good ‘mechanics’ — it’s how good ‘mechanics’ are actually built.
Why? Because clean, efficient movement is not something you can force — it’s something that emerges when the body is pushed to find better solutions under pressure, fatigue, or instability. We’re intentionally disrupting predictable patterns (‘old mechanics’) so the body is forced to find more efficient solutions — ones that hold up under pressure, fatigue, and game speed.
The coordination that survives is durable — not just technically clean, but adaptable and repeatable in real conditions.
So ironically, when we design practice to challenge mechanics, we actually refine them. The result isn’t random motion — it’s movement that’s been stress-tested, organized, and simplified through exposure. What looks like chaos from the outside is often the exact process that sharpens timing, rhythm, and force application.
What is differential learning?
Differential Learning is a training approach where movement variation is the goal — not repetition. Instead of chasing the “perfect rep,” athletes intentionally explore a wide range of movements, tempos, positions, and solutions.
Why? Because the body learns not by repeating what’s right — but by comparing what’s different. When each throw feels slightly different, the nervous system starts to recognize what works best for that athlete, under different conditions.
This doesn’t mean chaos or randomness. It means purposeful variety — adding noise to stabilize signal. One rep might be heavy, the next light. One might be fast, one slow. That variation forces the athlete to self-organize, adapt, and refine coordination through exploration.
Differential Learning builds movers who can adjust on the fly — not just repeat when everything is perfect.
Why do conventional pitching drills ‘fail’ to transfer to the game?
Because they isolate the movement from the problem.
Most pitching drills are done in a vacuum — no pressure, no variability, no clear goal. They focus on repetition without purpose. When there’s no feedback to react to, no meaningful consequence for success or failure, and no clear intention behind the throw, learning stalls. There’s no loop. Just empty reps.
Pitching is an individual skill, so while decision-making is limited, adaptation isn’t. Real development happens when throws are connected to outcomes — when the athlete must adjust to hit a target, move out of an awkward position, or manage internal constraints like fatigue or tempo.
Put simply:
A drill that removes the problem removes the learning.
Repetition without pressure or purpose doesn’t build skill — it just builds comfort. That’s why we build throwing tasks that include intention, constraint, and feedback. So every throw means something — and every rep helps the movement adapt.
Why does your pitching coach just yelling at you to ‘stay closed’ not work?
Because the body doesn’t change just because you tell it to — it changes when the task demands it.
Frans Bosch puts it best:
“You have to make the body give a damn”
Instructions like “stay closed” assume that verbal cues alone can override a movement pattern — but research in motor learning consistently shows that without constraint, feedback, or task consequence, the body has no reason to adapt. It will default to what's easy, familiar, or most accessible under the current conditions.
“Stay closed” doesn’t tell the body what the problem is, and it doesn’t give it a reason to solve it. There's no load, no urgency, no instability — just a command. So nothing changes.
If you want movement to reorganize, you have to shift the constraints around it. The body won’t change just because you want it to — it changes when you have to. That’s the difference between instructions and learning.
Why does it matter to understand why we coach the way we do?
Because without a clear “why,” you’re just guessing.
Every cue, drill, or plan you give an athlete is shaped by your beliefs — whether you realize it or not. If those beliefs aren’t grounded in a sound framework, you’ll default to what’s familiar, what looks clean, or what others are doing — even if it doesn’t actually work.
Having a framework (like ecological dynamics or the constraints-led approach) gives you a filter. It helps you:
Choose what matters and cut what doesn’t.
Design sessions that are intentional, not random.
Adapt your methods with confidence instead of fear.
VeloAnd maybe most importantly — it gives your athletes a more consistent, principle-driven experience they can trust. Because if you don’t understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, how will you know when it’s working — or when it’s time to evolve?city
How should younger or less experienced pitchers train—do these same methods apply?
Yes — but the dosage and complexity need to match the athlete.The principles don’t change. Even young or inexperienced pitchers learn best by interacting with the environment, feeling different movement solutions, and building adaptability — not by memorizing positions.
That said, how we apply these methods matters:
Keep constraints simple and clear.
Emphasize exploration and play.
Use games, targets, and external focus cues to guide movement.
Build environments that reward good timing, rhythm, and feel — without needing to over-explain mechanics.
The earlier athletes build adaptability, perception, and coordination under task constraints, the more robust their movement foundation becomes. Skill isn’t delayed until they “get stronger” — it’s grown through quality exposure, right from the start.So yes — the approach scales. What changes isn’t the philosophy, it’s the progression.
How We Build Pitchers: Our 3-Layer System (Capacity → Coordination → Context)
We don’t build pitchers by chasing perfect mechanics — we build them by developing movement that holds up under pressure, fatigue, and chaos. That happens through a layered progression focused on what athletes need to own, not just what they need to look like:
Capacity (Can you do it?)
This is your physical foundation — mobility, strength, power, joint control, tissue quality. If the body can’t access a position, it’s not a movement problem — it’s a capacity problem. We remove physical limiters first so skill can emerge later.
Coordination (Can you organize it?)
Once the body has access, we challenge how it uses that access. We shape timing, rhythm, and sequencing through constraint-based drills — not by memorizing mechanics, but by adapting to variable demands. This is where movement becomes efficient and adjustable.
Context (Can you apply it when it matters?)
Finally, we stress-test movement in environments that reflect the game — pressure, tempo, feedback, execution under challenge. This is where skill becomes reliable and performance-ready.
We use a consistent framework to assess, plan, program, and evaluate — but the solutions are always individualized. We don’t guess. We identify limiters, target the right layer, and create environments that allow real change to emerge. Because skill development isn’t one-size-fits-all — it’s a dynamic process, and we’ve built the tools to guide it with clarity, consistency, and purpose.
First Time Here? Start With These Foundational Concepts That Separate Us From Cookie-Cutter Programs
To understand how we train, start with the key ideas that drive everything we do:
Ecological Dynamics – Why movement isn’t stored in your muscles, but shaped by the environment, task, and your body.
The Constraints-Led Approach – How we guide better movement by shaping problems, not prescribing mechanics.
Representative Learning Design – Why drills must reflect the game to build skills that transfer.
Intention + Attention – How goal and focus organize movement — and why cueing matters.
Our 3-Layer System (Capacity → Coordination → Context) – The structure we use to assess, train, and progress every pitcher.
Suggested links or calls to action:
“Watch how we train” (short explainer or IG reel style video)
“See the system in action” (link to case study, athlete story, or system breakdown post). Just link to case studies/blogs
Is dry work or mirror work actually useless? Or is there a right way to use it?
Dry reps and mirror work aren’t useless — they’re just limited. On their own, they don’t build skill. Why? Because real movement doesn’t happen in front of a mirror — it happens in context, under pressure, with a goal.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no value.Dry work can help athletes feel positions, organize shapes, or rehearse sequences without the full intensity of throwing. It can be useful for awareness, rehab, or early-phase prep.
But here’s the key: as coaches and athletes, we only have so much time and energy. Every rep is an investment — and we want the highest return possible. Dry work might set the table, but it won’t move the needle on skill unless it’s paired with constraint-rich, feedback-driven reps that actually reflect the demands of the game.The mistake is thinking dry work will translate without context. It won’t. Because there’s no consequence, no feedback, and no reason for the body to adapt.
So no — dry work isn’t useless.
But on its own, it’s not enough. Real skill comes from solving problems under real constraints — not from rehearsing in a vacuum.
.svg)
© 2025 KNCT Athletics. All rights reserved.