Steffen Simmons

@cubs Assistant Director of S&C. Former @drivelinebb Director of High Performance

[Jeremy Frisch @JeremyFrisch]

This is where youth sports often get it backwards.

Kids don’t need more sport-specific training.
They need more athletic development.

Somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that earlier specialization meant better outcomes. More reps of the same skills. More drills. More structure. More pressure.

But strong, fast, coordinated, resilient athletes are not built by narrowing movement early. They’re built by expanding it.

Before worrying about a child’s shooting form, throwing mechanics, or position-specific skills, we should be asking:

Can they run, jump, stop, and change direction?

Can they balance, rotate, climb, crawl, and fall safely?

Can they move with rhythm, coordination, and confidence?

Athletic development is the foundation that sport skills are built on—not the other way around.

Speed, strength, power, and durability don’t magically appear because a kid played one sport year-round. They come from movement variety, free play, and exposure to different physical challenges across multiple planes and environments.

When we skip this phase and rush into specialization, we don’t create better athletes—we create fragile ones.

Develop the athlete first.
Then layer the sport on top.
#LTAD

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@CoolbaughDL @Crider_HP @drewcarlsonhp

[Brice Crider @Brice_Crider]

Most people say they'd "love to learn".

Very few actually put skin in the game to get it done.

A great starting point for anyone who's actually serious about it-

https://t.co/XjGedzyBZG

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@Crider_HP @drewcarlsonhp Bad take. That guy stinks

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@Crider_HP

[Brice Crider @Brice_Crider]

One of the more pervasive misconceptions of the last 20 years is that power is “plane specific”, stemming from a fundamental misunderstanding of how rotational power is created.⬇️

[Rob Hill @Berticushill]

Congrats Coach Bill!!!!

@billhezel

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@Tstokey

[Washington Track & Field and Cross Country @UWTrack]

+3 𝑃𝑂𝐼𝑁𝑇𝑆

In his first season as a thrower, Brice Crider is officially a Pac-12 scorer!

He hit for a new PR of 204-0 to finish 6th-place after coming in seeded 10th.

#GoHuskies

[Jeremy Frisch @JeremyFrisch]

GPP is not dead...
Just that many coaches have no clue how it's implemented
It's not
Olympic lifting with PVC
1x20
knees over toes
Push/pull/squat/lunge/hinge
Westside sled pulls
Sprint technique drills

I think legendary coach Tom Myslinski said it best on GPP:
Its exclusive goal is to expose young athletes to a wide variety of physical fitness skills, thus stimulating healthy development and increasing their functional capacities, motor abilities, and knowledge base. Additionally, exposing the pre-adolescent sportsman to a well-rounded curriculum negates the effects of early specialization and elevates their overall adaptation level.
For example, an extensive range of calisthenics, exercises from many different sports, and children's games are introduced at this stage. Particularly, preference is given to the elementary movements that provide low neurological resistance but serve a foundational role, such as running, jumping, climbing, tumbling, swimming, and throwing.
#LTAD

[Casey Mulholland @CaseyMulholland]

You have to understand the breaking ball argument before you just outright blame breaking pitches for arm injury.

When you say breaking balls = higher stress you generally are saying there is more valgus torque on the medial elbow.

This isn't true.

Due to lack of velo a breaking ball produces vs a fastball valgus torque isn't generally higher in most pitchers.

However when you talk about the possibility that a breaking ball places more stress on a specific musculature in the forearm than a fastball does... this seems to possibly be a valid statement but we just dont have a ton of information here yet.

Additionally a few people have said it well... "EMG is the dark arts of science". I think this is funny but really explains well the limitations EMGs present when we talk about using them in research.

Last note: even if a specific breaking ball places more stress on a specific musculature than a certain type of fastball does... what do we do about it? Logically we have to manage workload still and it just weights our value of a breaking pitch differently.

Ive said it before and I'll say it again. Workload management is something we all do. What we use to quantify the workload value of a single throw is probably not right today. It will continue to evolve. Research like the below document could contribute to that evolution.

https://t.co/F064NwFVYu

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@Tstokey

[Josh Hejka @hedgertronic]

In light of some prominent pitching injuries in the major leagues, I'd like to share my perspective as a minor league pitcher in my first season back after Tommy John surgery.

🧵:

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@AndrewAydt

[Pat Basil @pbasilstrength]

“Mobility work” is overrated

Story time:

I was taking one of my team through a typical dynamic warm up.

I noticed they breezed through one of my toughest hip mobility drills nearly ice cold.

It dawned on me:

“They just don’t need more hip mobility”

I saw the same across 99% of the athletes I worked with (600+).

Here’s the truth about mobility and athletes:

1. You only need to be mobile enough to play your position

2. There’s minimal to zero evidence that more mobility actually decreases injuries

3. Full ROM strength training is the best “mobility” you can do anyway

#3 is the key takeaway.

Use flawless technique and build strength through full ranges of motion and you’ll build all the mobility you need.

Doing some leg swings on top of that isn’t necessary.

Need help building out your training program to hit all the major movement patterns your athletes need?

I have a free training for you on my program design system to make it simple.

Comment “TRAINING” below and I’ll send it.

[Coach Wayland | Performance Expert | Craftsman @WSWayland]

Golfers Band Push Pulls Suck

Load rotation like you mean it.

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@daniel_comstock

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@ColeUvila

[Steffen Simmons @SSimmons_]

@betch_baseball @garzstrength You get an off-season?

[Nathan Garza @garzstrength]

Contrary to what I see a lot of, Pitchers CAN:

Back Squat (sure)
Hang Clean (or any kind of clean)
Bench Press (barbell)
Dips
Heavy Rotator Cuff work

I’m not going to provide context because I don’t have to. But blindly throwing out to avoid exercises just because we