Brian recently had the chance to speak with Lee Fiocchi of Dynamic Sports Training and he had some exciting news to share about Speed Chains. An ESPN camera crew recently traveled to his facility in Houston, Texas and shot footage of his players during a training session. Lee incorporates Speed Chains into his athletes training regimens and in this particular footage, which is scheduled to be on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight on Sunday, February 14th at 12:30 ET (11:30 Central), Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays is using the Torso Burner. Although nobody is sure as to what may actually be aired on the network due to editing, I wanted to take the time to ask Lee how he felt about the Speed Chains and specifically the Torso Burner.
Lee began by informing me that he never had to give his professional guys an explanation as to why/how Speed Chains work. They can feel the explosion and power created when using them. In his own words, the chains just make a lot of sense. Lee went on to say that baseball has always catered toward using medicine balls to prepare athletes for the rotational demands the game places on them. But the med balls don’t hold water when compared to the sport specificity in which the Torso Burner provides.

Athletes want drills in practice to translate to performance in games. Speed Chains satisfy this desire far better than medicine balls or most other exercises and equipment. In Lee’s words, the Torso Burner forces neuro-muscular recruitment by involving high speed eccentric loading of the core. This happens because the athlete is using his limbs when moving but has to engage his core throughout the exercise. The nature of the high speed movement in which the core is eccentrically loaded the entire time makes the Torso Burner unlike anything else on the market.

Lee also believes the Speed Chains have many benefits in which typical weight training does not offer. When lifting weights, the plane of motion is linear and singular, which is unlike baseball movements. However, the Torso Burner incorporates different planes of motion as you exercise which allows for closer training to the demands the game puts on baseball players.

Lee mentioned another great thing about the Torso Burner is it helps to recreate balance in the core muscles. Baseball is a one-sided sport and imbalances are common. Think about it. A pitcher throws with one arm and most hitters hit from only one side. This creates an imbalance in strength as the dominant side/arm becomes much stronger than the other due to repetitive use. The most balanced people on the field are switch hitters because they balance out their body by hitting from each side of the plate. The Torso Burner does not favor one side over another and will equally train the entire core making for a healthier and stronger athlete.

Try the Speed Chains for yourself and see why Lee and his elite athletes are sold on them!

And be sure to tune into Baseball Tonight and watch for the Torso Burner!

Brian Oates
Brian@chaintraining.com

“When I really want to get medieval, I pull out the SpeedChain – which really does look like something out of the Middle Ages. It’s a golf shaft with a 20 or 30-foot-long chain of heavy links attached to the bottom. You get on the grass and sling the chain back and forth as if you were cracking a whip. It’s a brutal exercise and five minutes of it once a week is enough to really develop strength and speed in your core muscles.”

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Here is a little excerpt from Calvin:

“Tennis Education Group is the brainchild of Spanish Federation Coach, Jofre Porta, whose mission is to help bring to light the best and most advanced methods, concepts and techniques involved in training and developing world-class tennis players. Jofre also founded his own tennis academy based in Palma de Mallorca together with Moya called Global Tennis Team…

And now, the SpeedChain is in the process of being integrated into the “Global System”, as the SpeedChain training device and training methodology fits seamlessly into one of the most fundamental training principles and goals of Porta’s vision of high-performance tennis: to maximize a player’s capacity to generate speed, acceleration and power in all facets of their physical game.

Jofre told me that the SpeedChain will enable him to break through many of the existing barriers and limitations of current training and conditioning methods and he sees the benefits of training of the SpeedChain extending well beyond increasing a player’s speed and power to helping train and develop, among other things, an athlete’s kinesthetic sense, proprioceptive capacity, balance, coordination, anaerobic fitness and other fundamental athletic skills and attributes.”

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• University of Tennessee-Knoxville Men’s Tennis (SEC)
• University of Tennessee-Knoxville Women’s Tennis (SEC)
• Boise State University Men’s Tennis (WAC)
• University of Colorado Women’s Tennis (Big 12)
• Syracuse University Women’s Tennis (Big East)
• UCLA Men’s Tennis (Pacific 10)
• University of California-Riverside Women’s Tennis (Big West)

Willamette Striders is a track and field club in Portland, Oregon focusing specifically in the pole vault.  Director/Coach Rick Baggett has begun using SpeedChains to train the Willamette Striders club athletes.

About Rick Baggett Director/Coach of Willamette Striders
Rick is the USA T&F Northwest Director of Pole Vault Development. He has coached 14 state prep champions in a 22 year span in Washington/Oregon. As well as 12 of the last 16 Male Community College champions and all of the womens champions. His vaulters dominate the Northwest standings for both male and female. He has spoken at many clinics and seminars during the last 22 years. In 2001 he was named the National Womens C.C. coach of the year by USATF Development. And in 2003 was named Club Coach of the year by USATF-Oregon. 
Rick’s training methods are used by many of the top developmental coaches. He uses an athletic and holistic approach so the development is appropriate to the age and skill level of the individual athlete. 
Rick is without a doubt the single most influential coach in the Northwest today. His dynamic teaching methods have made the Willamette Striders Pole Vaulting facility the place to be if you are interested in becoming a successful pole vaulter.

Ryan Schmidt: New certified SpeedChain speed and quickness trainer. Ryan graduated from Cornell University and is a conference champion in his specific events. He is now training in the pole vault event at the open level.