With all the buzz about the Mitchell report and baseball's drug issues, young players should know that there are other ways to improve throwing velocity and hitting power than through the use of illicit performance enhancing drugs. Indeed, while baseball was mired in denial throughout the 1990s, John Frappier and his colleagues were conducting research and developing patented training tools and protocols that would offer baseball players safe and legal alternatives to drug use.
One player to take advantage of Frappier's training program was Rick Helling, who first trained with Frappier in preparation for the 1998 season. Following an off-season of Acceleration and ThrowingCord™ training, Helling went on to win 20 games with the Texas Rangers, tying him with David Cone and Roger Clemens for most wins by an American League pitcher that year. Other highlights of Helling's career, which concluded with his retirement last February, include winning the 1997 and 2003 World Series with the Florida Marlins.
In a recent interview about the Mitchell report, published in The Fargo Forum, Helling had this to say about his major league accomplishments: "Actually, if anything, I feel better about my years in the league because I was one of the clean guys. I can look back on my career and know I did everything myself and didn't use any outside agent. I'm proud of the career I had and how I did it."
"The ThrowingCord is like nothing else I have seen for training pitchers, says Helling. "I loved how it helped me finish my delivery. It made me focus on balance and the proper mechanics throughout my throwing motion. There is nothing else that I know of that can strengthen your throwing muscles as safely and effectively while allowing you instant feedback from the execution of each throw. The treadmill program that John Frappier has developed is also tremendous. Every off-season that I was able to do the program I went in to spring training in great shape. It develops the power and explosiveness throughout your core and lower body that you need as a pitcher. To stand up to a 162 game season while making 35 starts is hard to do, and a physical grind. I was very healthy and strong throughout my career, I believe John's Athletic Republic training programs were a vital part of the process."
According to Frappier, President of Athletic Republic, "For two decades we've been backing up our belief that there is a better way to train athletes, a better way to rehabilitate and a better way to maintain peak athletic performance. By seamlessly integrating science into sports training, our intensive, individualized sport-specific training programs and state-of-the-art, proprietary equipment give real athletes a competitive advantage at every level--naturally."
Athletic Republic's research, training tools and protocols run the gamut of sports, from figure skating to football. But much of the work has focused on baseball. The first prototype of a hitting harness was developed in 1994, in 1995 there was a research study titled Velocity Changes in Throwing a Baseball after Training with the "Throwing Cord" Versus a Traditional Throwing Protocol, and a patent on the ThrowingCord™ was granted in 1996. Since 1996, updates to the ThrowingCord and PowerCord® Baseball training regimens have been numerous; so, too, have research studies that validate Frappier's original theories about improving both throwing and bat speed.
Frappier concludes: "Our patented cord technologies allow us to provide resistance at 'game speed' without altering movement mechanics or the movement patterns of key muscles. This proprietary training approach is essential to making meaningful improvements in throwing or kicking velocity, bat or club head speed, or any complex, high-speed movement that is key to a sport."
About Athletic Republic:
Athletic Republic, formerly Frappier Acceleration® Sports Training, is the world's premiere provider of scientifically based, athletic development training programs. Founded in 1990 on the continuing research of exercise physiologist John Frappier, M.S., and Stephen C. Swanson, M.S., Athletic Republic's training programs are available at more than 160 facilities throughout North America, United Kingdom and Japan.