South Bay Sports Training

Coaching Staff:

• We have some of the most knowledgeable coaches in the Bay Area.
• We provide the best coaching, training, and resources to the student athlete.
• Program will be directed under the highly certified Mitch Taylor.

Sports Performance Instructor

• PES, CPT, Bachelors degree in Kinesiology from CSULB
• Certifications from: NASM, NCEP, NESTA, APEX, Kinesis, & Resist-A-Ball
• Certified in: Speed-Agility-Quickness, Personal Training, Advanced Personal Training, Corrective Exercise,  Advanced Program Design, Nutrition, Core & Balance.

Mitch played baseball at Hartnell Junior College and then went on to Cal State Long Beach. In college Mitch realized just how important training & preparing the body for sports really is, it can make or break athletes. His focus on Physical Therapy to Strength & Conditioning is where he has helped hundreds of athletes excel in their sport(s) and decrease the chance of injury. Mitch has worked in the field of Sports Performance for over 14 years. South Bay Sports Training and Kali Baseball are pleased to have Mitch on board as their Director of Sports Performance. 

Can Significantly Increase Strength Levels:

There is a significant amount of evidence to indicate that high school-aged athletes can significantly increase strength levels, beyond what would occur naturally as a result of growth and maturation, as long as training is of sufficient intensity, volume, and duration. Indeed, it is common to see strength gains of approximately 30% in youth training programs that last 8 – 20 weeks in duration. This is important for two reasons. The first reason is that multiple studies have shown that resistance training can have a positive effect on athletic performance. This positive effect on performance is mainly the result of increases in lean body mass, decreased fat content, improved maximal force and power production. The second benefit of resistance training for athletes is injury prevention. Because of this, in recent years, strength training has become a part of most high school’s athletic programs.

Increased Injury Rate in Youth Sports:

The decrease in injuries among athletes who participate in strength training programs is important because the number of youth injured while participating in sports has increased. At least a part of this increased injury rate can be attributed to the fact that many youth are ill prepared or improperly trained to handle the rigors of sports participation. Suggesting that young people are often not physically prepared for the demands of youth sports because of sedentary lifestyles. Approximately one-third of young athletes who participate in organized sports in the United States sustain injuries that require medical attention. This is unfortunate because sports-related injuries are one reason youth athletes elect to stop participating in sports.

Detraining Defined:

Unfortunately, the physiological adaptations that occur as a result of training are reversible as a result of detraining. Detraining can be defined as the loss of physiological adaptations and athletic performance when training is reduced or stopped completely. Knowledge of detraining is important because it gives understanding as to what can be expected when training is reduced or stopped. Further, an understanding of the detraining process assists the strength and conditioning specialists in designing in-season programs that will slow or stop the loss of endurance and strength gained in the off -season and preseason conditioning programs. The effects of detraining on endurance and strength occur quite rapidly. For example, endurance athletes show a decrease in sub maximal run time to exhaustion by as much as 25% after only 15 days of inactivity. Within eight weeks of inactivity, VO2 max returned to the untrained state. While decreases in strength, as a result of detraining, have been less studied it is recognized that strength will also decrease once training is stopped, and this is an important consideration when designing and in-season training program. Studies have shown that decreases in strength will be demonstrated as quickly as two weeks following detraining, and that the higher the training status of the athlete, the quicker the decreases in strength will be demonstrated.

Arm Care & Arm Strength:

The shoulder, to a baseball/softball player, is like an engine to a car. For most of us, if we have any sort of pain in the shoulder, it is going to severely inhibit our ability to play the game we love. Often times, I see ballplayers at the professional ranks all the way down the youth ranks working with tubing and going through a standard Jobes Routine. This routine often times consist of a good amount of volume, but focuses solely on the development of the rotator cuff muscles. Good but inefficient. The rotator cuff is important, right? Yes, it is extremely important. The rotator cuff muscles provide stability and movement of the arm. If these muscles don’t have an adequate base to work from that is strong and stable, they can be as strong as you like but they are not going to give you the outcome you desire. This lack of a stable base is what leads to injuries of the rotator cuff, shoulder capsule, and elbow. I get questions all the time from ballplayers asking about pain in their shoulder and elbow, and the common denominator is a lack of scapular strength and stability. Often times we are able to see that the scapula has moved out of place, which will cause constant discomfort on the anterior side of the body. 
So in regards to Prehab for the shoulder, a major focus is going to be spent on strengthening the musculature of the posterior shoulder that holds the scapula in place. The lower trapezius muscle is also shown to have very little activation in overhead throwers and athletes in general, so we will pay particular attention towards this region as well.
This musculature is also responsible for decelerating the arm, and deceleration is when most arm injuries take place. Ballplayers are so strong when it comes to internally rotating the arm, for example when throwing, but the opposite action is relatively weak due to a lack of focus on the posterior musculature. So, when it comes to our Prehab/Arm Care, we will again focus on the scapula and on the external rotation of the cuff. This combination will lead to an extremely favorable reponse amongst pitchers and throwers alike.

In-Season Training:

This phase is the one that many coaches consider “the maintenance phase”. This is a hypocritical statement, because if you ask coaches if they want their athletes to be strong or weak by the end of the season most will say they want them strong, yet most don’t lift or train their athletes during the season. So, in turn, they are not maintaining, they are losing. Who said you cant get stronger during the season? Our program will not only maintain your strength and power throughout the season but also help you increase strength and power, as well as strengthen the throwing arm and decrease injury. An athlete should perform just as well at the end of the season as they did in the beginning, if not even better.