You can reach today guest, Ben Brewster, by visiting his website TreadAthletics.Com

You can also reach Ben directly via Twitter @TreadAthletics

• This guest transformed himself from a skinny, soft throwing LHP in HS with little interest from college recruiters, to a Mid-Upper 90’s reliever selected in the 15th round of the MLB draft.
• After walking on at University of Maryland and transforming his body/delivery, he spent time with the White Sox organization and is one of the more respected pitching minds in the velocity development realm.
• He recently opened up a new facility in Charlotte and is continuing to train hundreds of athletes across the country.
• We’re super excited to get the chance to gain some insight from this guest.
• Welcome to the show Ben Brewster!

Finding Balance

• We have a handful of pro guys that work out at our facility and do some lessons during the off-season. Preparing their bodies for the grind of a pro season always takes priority for those guys, understandably so. How do you find balance to prepare physically for the season while training/programming for so many athletes?
• What are your thoughts on MILB contraction?
• If an opportunity doesn’t arise with an affiliated club, are you at peace with “retirement”? Or would you continue chasing the dream through Indy Ball/other leagues abroad?
• With such a deep understanding of the way the body should move down the mound, do you ever still struggle to make quick adjustments when you are throwing competitively?

Early Career

• Did you always have an interest in kinesiology?
• We know that Division 1 walk-ons are seldom in the coaching staff’s “plans” for the upcoming season and have to be nearly perfect to get a shot. What were your expectations heading into your first semester at Maryland?
• Did you have discussions with the coaches at Maryland prior to walking on?
• Were you confident that you could “figure it out” if given the resources and opportunity? Or were you just content with receiving a degree and any baseball accomplishments were a bonus?
• Was there a specific bullpen, inter-squad, or outing that you felt things “click”? Or it was just a gradual steady progression towards the low-mid 90s?
• Being a player with more curiosity than the average d1 pitcher, did the staff at Maryland grant you freedom to try different things than the rest of the staff? Or did you have to sneak around and “experiment” on your own time?

Pitching Mechanics/Movement Patterns

• Do you view yourself as a pitching coach, a strength coach, a bio-mechanist or a combo of all of them?
• I love your quote, “elite athletes are elite compensators”. If an athlete is achieving success with elite power output (i.e. Carter Capps delivery), would you still address some of those “compensations”? Or does it take an injury or nose dive in performance before you would suggest major changes?
• From a general stance, what is your starting point when assessing potential remote trainees? How much does it differ from clients you work with in person?
• As a pitching instructor, I notice when I try to teach the concept of the “drift” guys often shift weight onto their toe and tend to lose the ground early with their back heel. For those without tools like the Core Velocity Belt that encourage proprioception, do you have any cues or drills that have helped clients in the past with this issue (assuming no major mobility issues)?
• How do you categorize “tight movers” vs. “loose movers”? Do you find one of the buckets of athletes are easier for you to achieve results with?
• Arm actions are so unique to every athlete. Are you cautious making tweaks to a player’s arm action?
• In the pitching world, coaches often turn to phrases like “push” or “drive” with your back leg. You talk about the importance of “relaxing and rotating” the back hip late in the delivery. Is it a challenge to get trainees to engage their lower half while still having the timing/ability to relax their lower half late?
• Along the same lines, run and guns/pulldowns and “throwing with intent” are staples in velocity programs across the country. Muscling up, specifically early in any throw, is common when you push guys to throw with intent. I understand how these athletes can become confused when they hear “just let it eat” and then “quit tensing up” after that same rep. What are your thoughts on Run & Guns/max intent days? In your opinion, do those type of throws produce more “muscling up” than the benefits they can potentially provide?
• I read an article you posted (granted with old data from 2002) describing the differences between Korean pitchers and US born pitchers. With the KBO group having more ER at FFC but achieving less MER, is it safe to say the US pitchers have quicker arms?
• It seems like US pitchers (totally eye test here) break their hands later than most Korean pitchers. If so, does that give credence to the motto, “force your arm to feel like it’s running out of time”? Do you feel there is validity to that concept?
• You talk about having a “beginner’s mindset” is a healthy thing for young professionals. Have you ever had moments where you thought you “had it figured out”? Or have you always remained intellectually curious?
• You highlight on social media how building a 95+mph body & arm is a long and gradual process. I’m sure you get plenty of inquiries from potential remote trainees with unrealistic goals based off their time constraints. I was guilty of this flying to get a Biomechanical assessment from Dr. Fleisig 2 months before my Senior season at NC State. How often do you turn athletes away based off unrealistic goals?
• People often highlight the similarities between the swing and pitching delivery. What do you view as the main similarities/differences between the two?
• Going back to your HS days, can you walk us through how “Letstalkpitching.net” got you started in your journey of coaching/training athletes?
• We’re the same age and I went through struggles in 2008-2013 with my own delivery/performance. I scoured the internet for answers but it was so hard to find credible sources for proven training regimens/routines. How much has the accessibility of information changed over the last 10 years or so?
• Building off the last question, there is enough credible info sources for dads to have a “dangerous” amount of information. Do you deal with any parents that read one Driveline article on back leg drive for example, that will then say my son needs to sit in his back leg and stride out further?
• How common is the tendency for hard working pitchers you work with to to over-train?
• Along the same lines, many pitchers are perfectionists which can make managing work load a challenge. What are the challenges and benefits of being a perfectionist pitcher, from your personal experience?
• My favorite article you wrote was on hard throwers that hold an externally vs internally rotated back hip/knee during drive phase. Can you touch on what physical attributes you would look to in a movement screen to find the optimal movement pattern for a given pitcher?
• The game is constantly evolving and so is the way player’s are developed. Are there any cues/drills/statements you made regarding pitching mechanics 5-10 years ago that you completely disagree with now?
• I watched your breakdown of Jordan Hicks pre and post TJ last week. It’s insane how differently he’s moving now, not in a good way. From your experience, are there any protocols/cues doctors, PT’s, and pitching instructors tend to give TJ guys during the road back that could lend to such a different movement pattern?
• Were there any red flags in Hicks delivery before TJ in your eyes? If not, can we chalk it up to throwing 100+ is unnatural and you can break down even if you move well?