The Coaches Corner Featured Article 'Nutrition Really Helps' The Coaches Corner is a monthly feature designed to help you reach your genetic goals using the Four Corners of Performance program. The NHA helped to develop this program which was specifically designed for the striker/thrower rotational athlete and will address all the performance imperatives necessary for you to achieve the highest level of skill development that is genetically possible. These imperatives cover Bio-Mechanical Efficiency, Functional Strength and Conditioning, Mental and Emotional support, and Nutrition / Hydration supplementation with Recovery.    Age-old thinking holds that success in baseball is determined by a combination of genetics, natural ability, sport-specific skill, and a strong work ethic. Therefore, current training programs offer a “one-size-fits-all” cookie-cutter approach, typically include hitting and throwing drills, as well as some type of weight lifting.  But the paradigm has now shifted, we now know that elite players need not only those elements above, they also must possess power, strength, mobility, stability and flexibility. These additional elements will not be found in conventional weight lifting and drills, however performance training will affect the ability to link successive segments of training to compete effectively with the cross-specific movements unique to baseball. As you continue with the Four Corners program it will become the cornerstone for all your training and you will come to understand that it is the essential element in your development. The mastery of these imperative is your best chance to "Keep the Dream Alive". Forgot your password? Four Corners of Performance Bio-Mechanical Instruction Baseball mechanics are subconscious for the major league player they are burned into their brains like a computer program on a hard drive. The professional player isn't really conscious of all the individual motions that are occurring. The motion is learned and refined as well as written and rewritten through drills. This neuro-pathway programming is the key to skill work. Remember practice doesn’t make perfect it makes permanent so we have to have perfect practice. Functional Strength Training We will address the neuro-muscular system as a unit. The integration of this system rather than the isolation of individual muscles is critical during strength training. We will increase the ability to produce force, reduce force, and stabilize the kinetic chain. You will develop the optimum levels of strength, speed, and power. Functional strength training will be an off-season, pre-season, and in-season activity. Mental/Emotional Preparation Thinking versus feeling or the connection of mind and body, a kinesthetic awareness. Physical tasks of the body are driven by mental/emotional state of the individual. You can't do two things at once. When trying to do something we can only perform one task at a time with conscious effort. When we want to improve our mechanics, we must decide which part of the brain program needs to be rewritten at what particular time. Effective management of emotions and mental focus are critical to the health and performance of the player. This will be a very important part of our process in training and games. Nutrition Counseling Nutrition includes all of the materials needed to both supply energy and maintain good health in a very complex athlete with very specific and complex needs. What we want to accomplish is to provide the information necessary for the elite player to understand these needs well enough that, they can confidently make the appropriate decisions to meet their specific nutritional needs. Recovery Closing the loop is a pre-habilitation and rehabilitation process of the human body. Athletes prepare to compete, they compete, then (ideally) they repair from their competition before starting to prepare again. This routine must be managed game-to-game and week-to-week in micro cycles, as well as month-to-month and year-to-year in macro cycles if players are to have a chance at successful and healthy careers.