SIGN UP NOW!
TRUE GRINDS'
COLLEGIATE SUMMER PROGRAM
LEARN ABOUT
TRUE GRIND'S SYSTEMS
Performance-Oriented Youth Strength & Speed Classes
Our most efficient, individualized system for high level athletes
Adaptable & progressive program that caters to all fitness levels
----------- Testimonials ------------
The Results are Real
I came to true grind following my first season of college baseball. I knew I needed to change the way I worked out to stay competitive. Prior to working out at true grind I lifted like a bodybuilder and not like an athlete, this resulted in limited mobility and back pain. True grind worked with me to assess what my needs were and what to do to fix those issues. True grind provided the structure I needed to workout smarter and come closer to my goals.
Steel Kupec
Huston-Tillotson Pitcher
thǝ /grīnd/
Verb phrase
1. The sacrifices you will make, the friends you'll lose, the sleep you will never get back, the social life you won't have, and the hours you'll never get paid for; It's everything you give to relentlessly chase your dream.
2. Getting after it.
The best hitters in baseball have powerful swings. They are fast and violent yet smooth and controlled. As a hitter, you can have the best eye in the game and even have the coordination to barrel the ball up more times than not. But, if you don’t have the strength and power to hit it out of the infield your time playing is limited.
5 key factors for hitting with power:
Foot-to-Ground Connection
Glute Activation/Strength
Upper and Lower Half Separation
Core Activation/Strength
Posture
When producing rotational force, athletes need to maintain a solid connection to the ground. Just like when athletes squat, lunge, or deadlift - keeping their weight even across the whole foot will give them greater maintaining balance and stability. Imagine playing Home Run Derby barefoot in soft sand vs fully cleated up on the hard packed clay of an MLB batter’s box. It’s easy to imagine how much more consistent force you can produce on a hard surface vs the unstable surface of soft sand.
An easy way to help athletes assess this is by paying close attention to where their weight is distributed on their back foot during the loading phase of their swing. Every time an athlete’s toe comes off the ground because they over rotate during the load or the heel pops up because they drive their knee too far forward the athlete is creating instability and essentially turning the batter’s box into a sand pit.
Check out Bautista’s back foot stability as he smokes this 113 mph line drive to left field.
When a hitter loads, the hips get pushed back (hip hinge) and slightly rotated away from the pitcher. The purpose of this “coil” is to get a pre-stretch in the posterior chain to build as much stored energy as possible before the violent unwinding of the swing. This is how the glutes get activated during the swing. As the swing continues to develop and the hitter’s front foot lands, his lower half will release a rapid muscle contraction to pull his front hip open. Simultaneously, the backside fires to drive the hips through the hitter’s rotation. This creates a beautiful alliance of muscles working together to produce a powerful rotation.
If the hitter fails to hinge his hips (activating glutes), he will more than likely drive his knee too far forward (activating quads) and push through his swing instead of rotating out of it. We cannot push our way through a rotational sport.
Notice on Trout’s load that he sits into his back side. He starts fairly upright, then upon lifting his front foot his butt gets pushed back. His right knee stays behind his toe ensuring that he is activating his glutes. And again, the back foot is rock solid.
After the load, the pelvis begins moving forward as the hitter begins to shift his weight to the front foot. This is quickly followed by a controlled, yet violent, rotation of the hips as the shoulders remain in their “loaded” position. This hip/shoulder separation stretches out the core muscles that are attached to the top of the pelvis and bottom of the rib cage. The faster these muscles stretch, the more they stretch. The more they stretch the faster and stronger they contract. This is like the rubberband effect that everyone is familiar with.
The simple goal of the swing is for each segment of the body to pick up speed as the swing unwinds. It begins with the hips, then the torso, shoulders, arms, hands, and finally bat head. By the time the bat begins to rotate, it should have energy accumulated from each subsequent movement. This massive stretch that’s caused by the hip/shoulder separation allows for more velocity to be created throughout the torso. Setting up a powerful swing. Improper separation of the shoulders and hips leads to slower swing speeds and lack of power.
Cano does a beautiful job separating his upper and lower body.
The core is everything from the top of your thighs to the bottom of your chest, 360° around. This is the nucleus of your body and without control you will undoubtedly lose the ability to consistently move well and produce efficient power. A strong core will increase posture, balance, body control, as well as producing a stronger lever to transfer energy up the kinetic chain.
Like I previously hinted at, athletic power involves fast contraction of muscle fibers. As the muscle rapidly stretches, energy builds and triggers an immediate increase of force released by the working muscles. Strength in the core will lead to greater ability to separate the hips and shoulders as well as increase the ability to contract. It is the stretching and shortening of the core muscles that produce rotational power.
Griffey makes this powerful swing look smooth as glass.
One consequence of today’s society of sitting for 6-10 hours a day and the increased use of tech devices is that we lose our posture, specifically in the thoracic spine (middle of our back). We can enter a kyphotic posture, where the curve in our mid back is more than normal. This inhibits our ability to extend and rotate. Since hitting is a rotational movement that rotates around the spine, when the spine is overly curved it makes it difficult to rotate. Obviously, when hitters are having trouble rotating they consequently have trouble hitting.
Pujols does a fantastic job showing separation here, but notice how much his spine has to rotate for his hips to separate.
There’s no doubt that the best hitters in Major League Baseball have powerful swings. Thus, knowing how to increase your power as a hitter becomes a critical part of prolonging a career. The good news is that all hitters can work on boosting their power inside the box.
The best, most efficient way to do this is through an individualized strength program. One that targets the specific hitting muscles while training the movement patterns that are unique to hitting. This program should continuously focus on the foot - ground connection, activating and strengthening the core and posterior chain, upper and lower separation and maintaining proper posture. In part 2, we will go over the exercises we utilize to strengthen and mobilize our hitters.
TRUE GRIND'S FORMULA
-- OWN --
Take ownership of your game and stop blaming others for your failures.
-- LEAD --
Lead your team by being the hardest worker with a team first attitude.
-- WIN --
Dominate your opponent at the highest level and win championships.
THE TEAM
Brandon Janecka
Strength Coach
Ian Perez
Advance System Coach
Erik Miller
Advance System Coach
Kadi Rae Carr
Adult System Coach
Daniel Cano
Adult System Coach
Avian Jordan
Adult System Coach
If you are between the ages 8 - 13 and have zero to little weight room experience; our Youth System is a perfect place to start.
If you are above the age of 12, have some sort of weight room experience, and are looking for the next level training; our Advance System is for you.
If you are an adult looking to train with other like minded individuals on strength, power, mobility and endurance; our Adult System is the best option.
8 years and older.
Not the way we do it. We train all aspects of sports performance.
All of our programs have an appropriate amount of strength, speed, power, and mobility.
We offer a “same household” discount. Each additional athlete living under the same roof is 50% off.
Must be 18 or younger to apply.
At this time we do not offer contracts. Our programs run month-to-month with no obligation to renew.
We have a tiered pricing model that fluctuates based on how many days per week the athlete is training at True Grind Systems. Click the link below to view our pricing model.
Leander Tx, 78641
info@truegrindsystems.com
SIGN UP NOW!
TRUE GRINDS'
COLLEGIATE SUMMER PROGRAM
LEARN ABOUT
TRUE GRIND'S SYSTEMS
Performance-Oriented Youth Strength & Speed Classes
Our most efficient, individualized system for high level athletes
Adaptable & progressive program that caters to all fitness levels
----------- Testimonials ------------
The Results are Real
I came to true grind following my first season of college baseball. I knew I needed to change the way I worked out to stay competitive. Prior to working out at true grind I lifted like a bodybuilder and not like an athlete, this resulted in limited mobility and back pain. True grind worked with me to assess what my needs were and what to do to fix those issues. True grind provided the structure I needed to workout smarter and come closer to my goals.
Steel Kupec
Huston-Tillotson Pitcher
thǝ /grīnd/
Verb phrase
1. The sacrifices you will make, the friends you'll lose, the sleep you will never get back, the social life you won't have, and the hours you'll never get paid for; It's everything you give to relentlessly chase your dream.
2. Getting after it.
The best hitters in baseball have powerful swings. They are fast and violent yet smooth and controlled. As a hitter, you can have the best eye in the game and even have the coordination to barrel the ball up more times than not. But, if you don’t have the strength and power to hit it out of the infield your time playing is limited.
5 key factors for hitting with power:
Foot-to-Ground Connection
Glute Activation/Strength
Upper and Lower Half Separation
Core Activation/Strength
Posture
When producing rotational force, athletes need to maintain a solid connection to the ground. Just like when athletes squat, lunge, or deadlift - keeping their weight even across the whole foot will give them greater maintaining balance and stability. Imagine playing Home Run Derby barefoot in soft sand vs fully cleated up on the hard packed clay of an MLB batter’s box. It’s easy to imagine how much more consistent force you can produce on a hard surface vs the unstable surface of soft sand.
An easy way to help athletes assess this is by paying close attention to where their weight is distributed on their back foot during the loading phase of their swing. Every time an athlete’s toe comes off the ground because they over rotate during the load or the heel pops up because they drive their knee too far forward the athlete is creating instability and essentially turning the batter’s box into a sand pit.
Check out Bautista’s back foot stability as he smokes this 113 mph line drive to left field.
When a hitter loads, the hips get pushed back (hip hinge) and slightly rotated away from the pitcher. The purpose of this “coil” is to get a pre-stretch in the posterior chain to build as much stored energy as possible before the violent unwinding of the swing. This is how the glutes get activated during the swing. As the swing continues to develop and the hitter’s front foot lands, his lower half will release a rapid muscle contraction to pull his front hip open. Simultaneously, the backside fires to drive the hips through the hitter’s rotation. This creates a beautiful alliance of muscles working together to produce a powerful rotation.
If the hitter fails to hinge his hips (activating glutes), he will more than likely drive his knee too far forward (activating quads) and push through his swing instead of rotating out of it. We cannot push our way through a rotational sport.
Notice on Trout’s load that he sits into his back side. He starts fairly upright, then upon lifting his front foot his butt gets pushed back. His right knee stays behind his toe ensuring that he is activating his glutes. And again, the back foot is rock solid.
After the load, the pelvis begins moving forward as the hitter begins to shift his weight to the front foot. This is quickly followed by a controlled, yet violent, rotation of the hips as the shoulders remain in their “loaded” position. This hip/shoulder separation stretches out the core muscles that are attached to the top of the pelvis and bottom of the rib cage. The faster these muscles stretch, the more they stretch. The more they stretch the faster and stronger they contract. This is like the rubberband effect that everyone is familiar with.
The simple goal of the swing is for each segment of the body to pick up speed as the swing unwinds. It begins with the hips, then the torso, shoulders, arms, hands, and finally bat head. By the time the bat begins to rotate, it should have energy accumulated from each subsequent movement. This massive stretch that’s caused by the hip/shoulder separation allows for more velocity to be created throughout the torso. Setting up a powerful swing. Improper separation of the shoulders and hips leads to slower swing speeds and lack of power.
Cano does a beautiful job separating his upper and lower body.
The core is everything from the top of your thighs to the bottom of your chest, 360° around. This is the nucleus of your body and without control you will undoubtedly lose the ability to consistently move well and produce efficient power. A strong core will increase posture, balance, body control, as well as producing a stronger lever to transfer energy up the kinetic chain.
Like I previously hinted at, athletic power involves fast contraction of muscle fibers. As the muscle rapidly stretches, energy builds and triggers an immediate increase of force released by the working muscles. Strength in the core will lead to greater ability to separate the hips and shoulders as well as increase the ability to contract. It is the stretching and shortening of the core muscles that produce rotational power.
Griffey makes this powerful swing look smooth as glass.
One consequence of today’s society of sitting for 6-10 hours a day and the increased use of tech devices is that we lose our posture, specifically in the thoracic spine (middle of our back). We can enter a kyphotic posture, where the curve in our mid back is more than normal. This inhibits our ability to extend and rotate. Since hitting is a rotational movement that rotates around the spine, when the spine is overly curved it makes it difficult to rotate. Obviously, when hitters are having trouble rotating they consequently have trouble hitting.
Pujols does a fantastic job showing separation here, but notice how much his spine has to rotate for his hips to separate.
There’s no doubt that the best hitters in Major League Baseball have powerful swings. Thus, knowing how to increase your power as a hitter becomes a critical part of prolonging a career. The good news is that all hitters can work on boosting their power inside the box.
The best, most efficient way to do this is through an individualized strength program. One that targets the specific hitting muscles while training the movement patterns that are unique to hitting. This program should continuously focus on the foot - ground connection, activating and strengthening the core and posterior chain, upper and lower separation and maintaining proper posture. In part 2, we will go over the exercises we utilize to strengthen and mobilize our hitters.
TRUE GRIND'S FORMULA
-- OWN --
Take ownership of your game and stop blaming others for your failures.
-- LEAD --
Lead your team by being the hardest worker with a team first attitude.
-- WIN --
Dominate your opponent at the highest level and win championships.
OUR TEAM
Brandon Janecka
Strength Coach
Ian Perez
Strength Coach
Erik Miller
Strength Coach
If you are between the ages 8 - 13 and have zero to little weight room experience; our Youth System is a perfect place to start.
If you are above the age of 12, have some sort of weight room experience, and are looking for the next level training; our Advance System is for you.
If you are an adult looking to train with other like minded individuals on strength, power, mobility and endurance; our Adult System is the best option.
8 years and older.
Not the way we do it. We train all aspects of sports performance.
All of our programs have an appropriate amount of strength, speed, power, and mobility.
We offer a “same household” discount. Each additional athlete living under the same roof is 50% off.
Must be 18 or younger to apply.
At this time we do not offer contracts. Our programs run month-to-month with no obligation to renew.
We have a tiered pricing model that fluctuates based on how many days per week the athlete is training at True Grind Systems. Click the link below to view our pricing model.
2100 Downing Ln - Ste B
Leander Tx, 78641
512-542-1023
: info@truegrindsystems.com