Comments for Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

Comment on Are pitch and inning counts effective? by DrYessis

DrYessis — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:31:00 +0000

Jim, I presume you have my book,Build a Better Athlete. As far as I know it is the only book that addresses the biomechanics of throwing together with picture support. You can usually find one or the other but not both together.

For more on pure biomechanics of throwing, see most any university textbook on biomechanics. Most of them use stick figures rather than a live person. Also visit some science websites especially in baseball. You’ll find that most of them are more descriptive, rather than analytical as they do not answer the question of how effective or ineffective the action is.

I hope this helps

Comment on Are pitch and inning counts effective? by Jim

Jim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:30:28 +0000

I own several of your texts and am interested in more biomechanics of throwing do you have any suggestions

Comment on Breath holding is needed by DrYessis

DrYessis — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:05:36 +0000

Thanks for the info. I heard this but never gave it much thought because it does not “hold water”. IN essence, you need both. the muscles can not do the same job that the breath holding does - it is impossible.

Comment on You can’t use the glutes to push off by DrYessis

DrYessis — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:01:35 +0000

Thanks for the comments. For anterior I prefer the reverse sit up and for posterior, back raises. These are explained in detail in Explosive Running, Explosive Basketball training and in Explosive Golf.

Comment on Breath holding is needed by Tyciol

Tyciol — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:03:59 +0000

The main argument I’ve heard for not holding breath is something like you rely on muscles rather than lung volume for stability, like doing it inefficiently will make your core more efficient?

Comment on You can’t use the glutes to push off by James

James — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:02:54 +0000

Dr. Yessis,
I enjoy reading your blog and books that you have written or translated. What are the best exercises for the anterior pelvic tilt that you describe in this post and the posterior pelvic tilt during the leg drive phase?

Comment on Breath holding is needed by DrYessis

DrYessis — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:13:38 +0000

Giuseppe, thanks for the comments and I’m glad to hear about the changes in the gym. I wonder how long it will take before it becomes common knowledge.

I agree that we should not tell athletes what to do in regard to breathing during play performance. The problem is that many coaches are now doing this, especially in running and in some sports that require hitting actions. In other words, rather than leave it to the athlete they are bringing in new techniques that do more to disrupt the normal breathing pattern rather than aid it.

Comment on Breath holding is needed by Giuseppe Meazza

Giuseppe Meazza — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:07:39 +0000

I’m starting to see people refine the “exhale on the exertion” advice to “exhale after you pass the sticking point, at least in the context of lifts in the gym. On the field, court, ice, etc., it seems far better to just let the athlete do what comes naturally than to crowd their mind full of mechanical directions based upon something that is best left alone for the most part.

Comment on The Shock Method in Training by DrYessis

DrYessis — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:39:47 +0000

Zhang, I am happy to hear that you would like to gain more knowledge about training through my blog. Be sure to read past blogs on various topics in addition to the more recent ones.

I also recommend that you read many of my books which have considerably more detail together with practical application of the information. Click on books to check them out.

Comment on Should you use cycling in place of running? by DrYessis

DrYessis — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:35:31 +0000

Speed runner

Have you read my book Explosive Running? Explainations of why long distance runners land slightly in front of the body and why we need pawback are given to these questions in great detail. The article you refer to has some great information but also quite a bit of misinformation.

Quickly condensed, long-distance runners land slightly in front because the force of the movements are slower in comparison to sprinters (who do land under the body). It should also be noted that it takes awhile until the eye learns to recognize pawback on film.

One thing that was left out of the discussion is that pawback is needed to help get the body well out in front of the pushoff leg so that you have more horizontally directed forces. The pictures show pushoff occurring with the body directly over the support leg which indicates a great deal of vertical force. You have to closely examine what elite long-distance runners do in order to better evaluate the multitude of runners.