Latest / The Layback Podcast / Layback's One Year Anniversary w/ Adam Moreau and Gavin Keipp-Stroud (Ep. 53)

Transcript

Layback's One Year Anniversary w/ Adam Moreau and Gavin Keipp-Stroud (Ep. 53) · The Layback Podcast

0:00
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Lay Back podcast.
0:03
This is a monumental moment for us as you are joining us for
0:08
episode 53, which means this is officially the anniversary
0:14
episode. We have one year in the books.
0:16
We did an episode a week, 52 episodes done. close the book on
0:21
it. Year one complete.
0:23
So we figured the best thing to do was bring on Director of
0:26
Operations Gavin Kipe Stroud and talk through some of the things
0:30
we learned from the past year, maybe what we hope to accomplish
0:34
going forward, and just review what we have done.
0:38
So thanks everyone for coming on this ride with us.
0:42
We're going to chat about it a little bit today, so hopefully
0:45
you can just strap in. Maybe if you have some
0:47
additional thoughts, throw them our way.
0:49
We'd love to hear what you guys have thought from the past year.
0:52
So Gavin, I'm going to kick it over to you.
0:54
I know there's no questions in there right away, but I'd love
0:58
maybe if you could take the reins for a little bit, talk
1:02
about what you've learned from the past year, maybe what you
1:05
expected from the podcast. I know you're more working on
1:08
the behind the scenes, occasionally throwing questions
1:10
my way or talking about who we should try to have on or what we
1:14
should try to hit on. So Gavin, please, over to you.
1:18
Yeah, thanks for having me on again.
1:20
I'm glad to be on for my my second time here now.
1:23
That's right. And before we even start,
1:27
obviously a big thing for Flex Pro grip, but congratulate you
1:32
for being a full time podcaster now and being really taken taken
1:37
taking the lead on this and and driving us with the podcast
1:40
here. So pretty cool.
1:42
We we made it for a year. Thanks a ton.
1:44
Yeah, I guess it. That's even funny to hit on
1:47
that. This now puts us in the.
1:49
I don't know the exact percentage, but certainly like
1:52
the upper 5% of all podcasts because there's some weird
1:57
statistics out there that if you make it past episode 10, you are
2:00
then in like top 25% of podcasts that have ever been done and
2:05
probably even higher if you make it past 20.
2:08
If you make it past 50. And granted, like a year isn't
2:12
actually an episode mark, but I mean, hey, episode 53.
2:16
So we're we're trending upwards still as far as I'm concerned.
2:20
Yeah, for sure. And I know how much work you've
2:22
put in this. So pretty cool, pretty cool to
2:25
see. Yeah, maybe this is more of a
2:27
social episode for us, so I guess I apologize for anyone
2:31
that's really looking for some deep in depth content, but it
2:34
certainly is fun to review. And yeah, I appreciate the, I
2:40
guess congratulatory wishes on this because I, I don't know how
2:45
much work I expected it to be. I do really enjoy it though.
2:49
It's been a lot of fun. Selfishly, I've gotten to learn
2:51
a ton in the process, and I just tried to ask questions.
2:56
One yeah, to provide a good environment for a listener.
3:00
But I try to ask things that are interesting to me, things that
3:04
can help advance my knowledge or help us with Flexpro Grip.
3:09
And often times these are things that I think are good for the
3:13
audience to hear. Anyways, I I feel like I heard
3:17
Ed Sheeran say this, which is funny because I'm not the
3:20
biggest Ed Sheeran fan by any means, but somebody interviewed
3:25
him and they said, how does it feel to know that your music
3:28
impacts so many people? And Ed Sheeran's response was
3:32
like, kind of, I think it's funny to to hear, but he was
3:36
like, yeah, it's actually surprising for me to hear how
3:40
much my music impacts others because I just kind of write it
3:44
for me. And it's my experiences.
3:46
And I think it's awesome that people align with it, but I
3:51
don't know, it's, it's like my expression.
3:55
And there's, there's a piece of that with this podcast, like,
3:58
yes, I'm, I am. And we as a whole are trying to
4:02
educate the baseball world. But as I, as I alluded to, a lot
4:09
of this is things that I just enjoy talking about or enjoy
4:13
hearing about and it's helped me advance.
4:17
So anytime I hear from somebody else say, oh, like, I love that
4:20
episode or talking about this specific topic, I learned a ton.
4:24
Oh, sweet, thanks. Like me too.
4:28
I'm I'm glad we were able to share that together.
4:31
Well, I mean, off of that, is there anything, is there
4:34
something that you you can point to and OK, it's OK if not, but
4:40
like, is there a certain episode or even a certain topic that
4:45
that moves through a few episodes that was sort of your
4:48
favorite thing to either learn or just discuss over this past
4:53
year? OK, So you might need to keep
4:57
reminding me as we work through this question because there's
5:00
obviously a lot of different things I can hit on here.
5:02
Yeah, or to me it's obvious, I suppose, might not be to
5:05
everybody else, but a big one that was really eye opening
5:12
right off the bat was the Austin Marchisani episode.
5:15
As I encourage people to go back and check on that, specifically
5:19
talking about stuff plus pitch models, projections, anything
5:25
that actually comes out to grading pitches.
5:29
Yes, that might not be the number one arm care topic or UCL
5:34
injury stuff like that, which I think is another topic that we
5:38
can discuss of like where the podcast is kind of gone in some
5:42
regards. But I knew so little about how
5:46
these models work and why some pitches graded out well in some
5:51
systems and look terrible in others and kind of the biases
5:56
that go into these different stuff plus models or stating
6:00
what's important. That was just illuminating to me
6:04
on the topic and I feel like I can speak the language a little
6:09
bit better now I understand what people are saying.
6:12
Or I can look at a model and understand what that model
6:17
prefers, what it doesn't like, and maybe go look at something
6:21
else where a pitch might perform better.
6:23
So it's kind of in a sense like I, I now can find like my
6:27
preferred statistics where where I can look for something that I
6:31
care about most or just have a better idea of that concept as a
6:37
whole. So I just want to hit on that
6:39
topic first. I don't know if you have any
6:42
questions or call outs from even that episode before I move on to
6:46
other topics. No, you can keep going.
6:49
I want to hear hear what you have to say.
6:50
And then I have another question for you based on something you
6:53
just said, but. Another one that I think was a
6:58
little bit for me, this is, this is definitely an audience driven
7:02
topic that I would say is the whole idea of return to throw
7:06
programs, workload management and we obviously are working
7:11
behind the scenes a little bit. I say we, and obviously they're
7:14
more just speaking to what you and I are doing on the daily,
7:18
which might not be obvious to the audience, but talking
7:21
through workload management is something that we do regularly
7:27
and just hearing the different perspectives on it or how it's
7:31
grown. I love to know that workload
7:34
management as a whole is now kind of in the common vernacular
7:39
for our industry. It almost surprises me when it
7:42
gets presented on now as if it is a new topic because the
7:46
people that we're interacting with have been preaching it for
7:50
years. Like, I was just listening to an
7:53
episode on Brandon Golden's podcast with him and Casey
7:57
Mulholland, in case he was talking about the work that he
8:00
started doing back in 2018. And it's like, yeah, like, that
8:05
is how long this stuff has been around.
8:08
I guess in the grand scheme of things, that's still kind of
8:10
new. But at least in the baseball
8:12
world, it's been around for over five years is 7 plus years.
8:16
And that's just when Casey started working on it.
8:19
Ben Hanson was doing it before then.
8:21
So I love that that topic is becoming more, I guess every day
8:28
in a sense. It's a part of the regular
8:31
baseball discussion now. But I think there's so many
8:36
things that we can still learn about it and change and make
8:41
better improve because I think there are still some
8:46
shortcomings when we look at workload management as a whole.
8:50
So yes, I loved talking about those topics for spreading the
8:54
current gospel, but I feel like it also gave us insights on
8:59
Flexpro Grip of where can we make the next change on this?
9:04
Where can we interject ourselves to better the system?
9:09
So I thought that continued topic was certainly a fun one as
9:13
well. Something you said in there was
9:18
kind of where the podcast has started and then where it's
9:21
gone. I have vivid memories of us even
9:24
like discussing the the reasoning for us starting a
9:29
podcast and what we kind of thought it would be or what our
9:34
our purpose was or who our audience we thought would be.
9:37
I'd love for you to kind of touch on, even if it's like a
9:40
small recap of like our intro episode of like what our
9:43
intention was and then kind of talk about who you've seen the,
9:48
the audience become and who you've seen the the topics
9:52
become. Yeah, OK, so maybe I can hate on
9:57
myself for a quick minute because on the intro episode I
10:00
definitely said that I wanted to talk to parents of players.
10:06
We've spoken to one parent so far, and that was a combo
10:09
episode with Andrew Bennett and his father Tommy.
10:12
I thought it gave great context to what a high school player is
10:17
going through as he's getting back on the field and I guess
10:21
that entire journey. But I stepped away from that, I
10:27
guess from really like trying to find parents to interview
10:30
constantly more because of what I learned about our
10:35
listenership. And I would love to have more
10:40
parents or families tell their stories.
10:42
But for example, when we were at the Wake Forest Player
10:45
Development Seminar, we were approached by big league scouts
10:50
and super high level people across organizations that said
10:55
that they were listening to the podcast in learning, not just
10:59
checking it out because they thought it was fun to listen to.
11:02
And when I heard that, it kind of gave me this kick in the butt
11:08
of like, all right, who's the audience?
11:11
Who do I need to keep in mind? Yes, selfishly, like, where can
11:15
I learn? Where can I improve?
11:17
But also who around us or in our sphere is checking us out
11:24
regularly? So that, that was a, a small
11:28
shift or maybe where I've dropped the ball slightly.
11:31
Yes, I do want to hear from families going forward.
11:33
I don't want to neglect that market.
11:36
But I, I've kept that in mind as we've continued to record then
11:42
gosh, others or maybe where things have shifted a little bit
11:46
is when we got started. I wanted everything to be about
11:51
UCL arm care, arm health. Yeah, some performance stuff in
11:56
there, but just how it all relates back to the rehab world
12:01
or the Tommy John world or what is going on at the medial elbow.
12:05
I wanted everything to be super niche.
12:08
And then I have had to, I guess, allow myself to go beyond it a
12:15
little bit. And then constantly trying to
12:17
reassure myself that like, no, this is connected to arm care.
12:21
This is connected to arm health. And I can tell myself it is when
12:26
we have discussions about strength or performance or maybe
12:31
an episode like the Jack Berry episode where Jack isn't himself
12:36
doing a lot of return to throw. He's working with guys who are
12:40
healthy. He's helping guys through things
12:42
and different ailments that they might experience in their
12:45
career. But he would be the first to
12:47
tell you it's not that he is presenting as a doctor.
12:50
That's probably the easiest way to say it.
12:52
And quite frankly, the majority of the people that we talked to
12:56
are not doctors. They are working in a very
13:00
specific role. But all of these people play a
13:03
major role in the athlete experience.
13:06
And I believe the athlete experience is important to
13:10
discuss when it comes to arm care, arm health performance.
13:15
And really what it comes back to for me is I just didn't want the
13:21
Lay Back podcast to be the same as every other baseball
13:27
performance podcast. As long as we maintain our
13:32
individuality, I can sleep at night.
13:36
That's kind of what it boils down to for me.
13:39
I think something that you kind of you hit on it.
13:42
I think prior to episode 1, we kind of thought it was going to
13:46
be this tunnel very specific niche podcast, very focused on
13:52
the elbow and UCL tears. And I think it's expanded beyond
13:56
that, which I find really cool. And I think I probably enjoy it
13:59
more because of that. But I I also think it's, it's
14:02
kind of cool to see like before we did this, I was kind of
14:05
scrolling through the episodes just to refresh myself on some
14:08
of the stuff in the past, but just to see kind of the, the
14:11
spider web of guests. We've had it on all, all
14:16
stemming from flex programs. So whether it be guys that have
14:19
used it, guys we've met, seminars or something else or
14:24
whatever, it might be it. It's just it's cool to see where
14:27
Flexible Grip has connected to so many different people.
14:31
I think that's a great point and I'm really glad you brought it
14:33
up because I I didn't want to hit on that with the direction
14:36
that we've gone. So thank you for bringing me
14:38
back in on this. I know we talked about it before
14:44
we got started. The mission of the Lay Back
14:47
podcast was not just to be like self-serving marketing, like we
14:51
were only going to have Flexpro Grip users on the podcast.
14:54
They're only people like who help us in the industry.
14:58
We have people beyond our immediate network.
15:02
There's people that we've talked to that aren't users that I
15:07
don't know. It's, as you said, just people
15:09
that we have met or that we interact with or we might share
15:12
information, but they don't have their athletes using Flexpro
15:16
Grip or they might not be a specific user of it.
15:20
They have a touch in this arm care or baseball performance
15:25
industry. And I think that's really more
15:29
important than anything else because it's what what are we
15:35
all doing as a whole to better baseball and better the people
15:39
that throw for a living? It's amazing, I think to see how
15:43
broad our network has gone from getting started and thinking 5
15:48
episodes in, oh shoot, who am I going to interview now?
15:51
It is pretty cool scrolling through like prepping for this
15:54
next year and thinking about who is a who is a goal to have on
16:01
the podcast and thinking of reaching out to these people now
16:05
versus the thought of reaching out to them then a year ago when
16:09
we got started, wow, crazy, very different.
16:13
I was like, fingers crossed that we weren't being a pest by
16:17
reaching out to people or asking them to do us a favor.
16:21
And now I feel we have found this comfortable spot in the
16:25
industry where we do have a respected name and people do
16:29
want to come on the show to share their story or just have a
16:34
conversation that that certainly does feel good.
16:37
Hopefully that doesn't feel like I'm pumping my tires there or
16:39
pumping our tires. But I, I do have a new sense of
16:43
belonging just by, I don't know, maybe some of the content that
16:49
we have put out. Yeah, for sure, totally.
16:53
Is there anything that I'd love to hear either in the past year
16:58
that you learn flex, pro grip related or something that
17:02
somebody has shared with you? I'd love to hear that.
17:04
And then I'd love to hear something you're excited about
17:08
on the horizon for the next year going forward.
17:11
OK, the the thing we learned this was talked about relatively
17:16
recently, I think on the Ryan Yoshida podcast.
17:22
So it's, it's weird to think about this as like a major
17:25
breakthrough, but it's stuff that we get better at constantly
17:28
with just iteration, iteration of seasons and users.
17:33
But the right times to use Flexpro Grip.
17:36
Yes, we've always had our ideas there.
17:38
We talked about workload consolidation, so keeping the
17:41
high days high and the low days low.
17:43
So we we go hard on Flexpro Grip on the same days that athletes
17:50
go hard on their throwing. We encourage Flexpro Grip to be
17:54
a part of the post throw routine.
17:57
Really like increasing that communication aspect of what we
18:02
do. I think has been a big
18:04
breakthrough for more individualization in the process
18:09
or making sure that the individual is dialed in, locked
18:14
in on what their program needs to be for their success in
18:19
understanding the differences between a starter and a
18:22
reliever. Like how many high days that
18:25
they might be using in season or even beyond that.
18:29
Like looking at a reliever. How does it change when we know
18:32
a guy's a fireman and can get used three times a week versus a
18:37
dude that's going to have more scheduled outings or might not
18:41
make as many appearances? So they're, there's been some
18:45
massive like learning moments there.
18:47
I think those there's been some big breakthroughs.
18:50
Additionally, you can kind of call back on the research.
18:53
So the episode that Darrell and I did together talking about
18:56
what we have coming down the line and there's been some big
19:00
breakthroughs on that when we look at fingertip strength
19:03
versus mid finger strength. So we see kind of the ratio that
19:08
we want athletes to fall into with flexor digitorum per fundus
19:14
output versus flexor, sorry, flexor digitorum, superficialis
19:19
output. The Latin names even still give
19:21
me fits. So I apologize to everyone on
19:24
that. So don't feel bad if you mess it
19:26
up. It's just easier to say FDP and
19:28
FDS or fingertip muscle and mid finger muscle.
19:30
But those breakthroughs have been huge because now we can use
19:34
Flex Pro Grip not just as an odd, that's interesting tool or
19:39
as a strengthening tool on top of what's being done in the
19:43
weight room, but we can use it as something that is super
19:47
predictive. And it isn't just like
19:50
predictive because we think it's predictive or we think it could
19:54
be. There is now hard evidence to
19:56
show that we can use Flexprogrip as a predictive or preventative
20:02
tool to avoid these injuries that are so catastrophic,
20:06
whether it's flexor issues or a ligamentous issue.
20:11
At the elbow or forearm, I, I would say those have been like
20:14
massive learning moments. And really it's the community
20:18
that has helped us get there and having these constant
20:22
conversations. And I mean, I'm going to throw
20:24
this back at you. I know there was a Part 2 to
20:26
that question, but are there other things that you feel maybe
20:32
that I didn't tap into that have been big learning moments over
20:36
the past year? I think you, you hit on the, the
20:40
mid finger deficits that we, we kind of learned at some point in
20:44
the year. I don't even remember when that
20:45
was, but I feel like when that happened, that was sort of a big
20:49
breakthrough for us and to focus on.
20:51
I definitely think just as a group and us having more
20:56
clients, we've gotten better at programming for guys and you
20:59
know, sort of we've always customized programming for
21:03
players, but I think we, we've just kind of fine tune what
21:06
works for different guys. And, and also I think even speak
21:11
for myself, but I don't know about you, but I think I've
21:14
gotten more flexible than I was before.
21:18
I think I sort of when we started, we were programming
21:20
with guys, I tried to, you know, how to add a sort of framework
21:25
and then I would deviate slightly from it.
21:26
I think I've gotten much more flexible and I think that's
21:30
produced better outcomes for our guys.
21:34
So kind of understanding the individual and their specific
21:37
needs. Yeah.
21:38
And then being being able to to understand that and then
21:43
understand what we're capable of with the device and marrying the
21:48
two rather than trying to stick guys on sort of this or this or
21:52
these three things are my choices.
21:53
I feel we've we've gone beyond that and it's been been good.
21:57
And that's, that's been for me a learning experience for sure.
22:00
Maybe another piece in there is the advancements of rehab.
22:04
We're obviously still working on that narrative.
22:07
I, I feel like I want to kick myself every time I say it
22:11
should be in a couple months because I've been saying it's a
22:13
couple months for a while. But I, I guess that's the issue
22:18
with kind of being a perfectionist oriented group
22:21
that we refuse to put out anything that is incomplete.
22:25
But what we have learned about the introduction of Flexpro Grip
22:30
in the rehab process and how it can be used to add objective
22:33
measures to each step to ensure that when we pick up a ball to
22:38
throw again with an athlete, they're going to be OK to cut
22:41
back on the risk of a set back. Those kind of things I believe
22:46
are really powerful. So we we've started to leak some
22:49
of that stuff out. So the groups that we work with
22:53
have reference and we're still in the process of finalizing the
22:58
narrative. So everybody that is impacted by
23:02
a medial elbow injury or forearm injury has, I guess, the data in
23:10
the story behind how impactful objective measurement can be to
23:18
ensure that you can come back not just as good as you were,
23:23
but possibly better than you ever have been.
23:27
So this terrible return or risk of failure is no longer a thing.
23:32
You look at Doctor MoD's research and yeah, the the
23:36
traditional research will show 90 to 95% of those who get TJ
23:42
come back. We we have been saying for years
23:45
that that is a completely false narrative.
23:47
And even take offense to when people say that 90 to 95% of
23:52
dudes come back. That has always bothered me
23:55
because you look at it, just making a pitch again to me has
23:59
never meant you return. I guess that's what the
24:01
literature was OK with, but I've never been OK with that.
24:05
So I was so happy to see Doctor Mods Group published literature
24:08
that showed that returning to play and returning to prior
24:12
performance are two entirely different things.
24:15
I think going forward that's what we really want to hit on,
24:20
not just showing that those two are very different things, but
24:23
actually giving individuals a plan.
24:26
So returning to prior performance if not exceeding it
24:29
is actually possible. So I, I think I was able to tie
24:33
back in that Part 2 to your question earlier of what do I
24:36
look forward to? And I guess that's more
24:39
internally, what do I look forward to now are, are there
24:43
other things that you look forward to?
24:46
I I I might have stolen the big one there when I talk about
24:49
rehab and returns. Yeah.
24:51
I mean, I think for for me, and this goes to my operational
24:56
focus on the business, but I think we have some dashboard
24:59
changes coming here. And then I think throughout the
25:02
year, we'll we'll even have some further improvements on the
25:05
dashboard and within the app. And I'm excited to see our users
25:10
be able to sort of interact and digest the data that we're
25:13
producing a bit better, especially on the, the team and
25:17
organizational scale where managers might be looking at 50
25:22
dudes. I, I think a lot of the changes
25:24
we're making and that we'll have over the next few months or even
25:28
the year, I think we'll make users be able to, to find data
25:34
and use the data on their own without having to interact with
25:37
us as much. And then I also think it'll
25:40
allow them to dig in some more and come with, come to us with
25:43
some questions that we'll be able to step in and help with.
25:46
And I think it'll make the relationship and the end product
25:50
and results better. I, I think that's a, a great one
25:55
and it has me already thinking about like future guests that I
26:01
want to have on in a sense, because one of the markets that
26:04
we really haven't tapped into yet in conversation.
26:07
Granted, it's tough because I think some of these people are
26:11
the hardest work people in the industry as a whole, but college
26:16
or pro level athletic trainers, I want to start to have more of
26:21
those conversations. You look at our past guest list,
26:27
we haven't had a dedicated athletic trainer on the podcast
26:33
yet. And my mind goes to like Chris
26:35
Monterazo at Vanderbilt or Jeff Strong at Wake Forest.
26:40
And I don't even know if those guys would have the opportunity
26:43
to come on given how busy they are during a given week.
26:47
And I, I would just love to talk to those individuals about not
26:52
only how are they managing athletes, the prevention work
26:55
they're doing, but then having their hand on the rehab side as
26:59
well. And how are they managing all
27:01
this information that's coming in from all these different
27:04
places. So, alluding back to what you
27:06
were saying, we are going to continue to iterate our systems
27:12
and our dashboard and our information to ensure that we
27:15
can make their lives easier. And in turn makes their lives
27:19
easier so that they can get more out of it and and even ask us
27:23
some more things and push, push the product that the players are
27:27
getting. Right.
27:28
That symbiotic relationship, how how can we get better to help
27:32
them get better, which helps the players get better.
27:35
And then just that cycle continues to I guess raise the
27:39
standard. I definitely am excited for that
27:43
time. And what what is kind of funny
27:45
is the offseason is a little bit busier for us on player
27:50
interfacing. So now that the season has gone
27:54
on its way, we we've seen first pitch already occur at so many
27:58
levels from trainings off and running.
28:00
Can we can we take our foot off the gas pedal?
28:03
Not necessarily, but instead of every waking hour being athlete
28:10
or coach meetings, we can at least turn our heads a little
28:13
bit more back to development and making our process better, which
28:19
in turn I think can make the process of our clientele better.
28:24
So yeah, I'm glad you called that one out.
28:26
I think that's a good one. Gavin, I'm going to throw back
28:29
the question that you asked me earlier, whether it was topics
28:33
that I thought were super impactful or that I learned a
28:37
lot about. What are some episodes that you
28:41
recall that you particularly enjoyed or some topics that you
28:45
felt were, I guess, impactful for you?
28:49
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think broadly, first
28:52
of all, I think I always love hearing players stories just
28:57
because I can relate to it, even if it's something that they talk
29:01
about, something that I didn't necessarily experience.
29:03
Just the, the the player's story is always fun to me, especially
29:07
players that I I know too. I think that's that's cool or
29:11
that I've worked with because I kind of know a bit of their
29:14
story. And then when they come on the
29:15
podcast, they dig in some more. So like JJ Almeida is one that
29:19
just sticks out to me. Hedge has been on and some other
29:23
players too. And then the second broad bucket
29:26
I would say is I really enjoy hearing people kind of even it
29:32
could be almost almost any topic there.
29:35
There is a limit, but almost any topic that somebody's an expert
29:39
on in any field, I enjoy hearing them talk about something
29:44
they're passionate about and something they know a lot about,
29:46
even if it's something that the topic I'm not even really
29:49
interested in. I just, I, I, I like hearing
29:52
that, which is kind of like, I think you're sort of the same
29:54
way. I think we why we like some of
29:55
the seminars and stuff, just as we can hear somebody who's
29:59
devoted a ton of their time into something, but we want to go
30:04
specific on a few podcasts. I think I enjoyed Casey's
30:10
appearance just because I always like hearing him talk and I like
30:15
his workload stuff and workload management in general.
30:17
I know you talked about a little bit earlier, but I find that
30:20
very interesting. Think another one to probably
30:23
highlight is when Tim Campos was on.
30:26
I enjoyed him. Just another guy I like, but I
30:30
enjoyed hearing him just because we interact with facility so
30:33
much. So hearing his his sort of his
30:37
perspective and the way he thinks about flexible grip.
30:42
But even just like working with players and his player
30:46
development plan, because I know he has so many guys who come
30:49
through there. I think adding on to that, I
30:53
would say I certainly enjoy player stories as well.
30:56
An awesome one that I even told you I wanted to highlight before
31:00
we got on is the only other two time guest, Miller Hogan.
31:04
So you joined some incredible company there, Gavin, but going
31:09
through Miller Hogan's complete rehab process was one awesome as
31:15
a company two, such a feel good Story 3 The fact that we were
31:19
able to document where he went. I think we had him on five weeks
31:25
post op. It was either four or five weeks
31:27
post op all the way to the review of his first outing in
31:32
the Puerto Rican winter league is insane to me.
31:36
And to think that his entire process to get back on the mound
31:40
to becoming talking about the return to prior performance,
31:45
getting back at the same Vela with the same stuff.
31:47
Like yeah, his walk total might have been a little elevated in
31:50
the first couple outings coming back, but he finished the Puerto
31:54
Rican winter league this past year.
31:56
Is the same pitcher. If not, well, I don't know if he
32:00
would say a little better because he was their Cy Young
32:02
candidate the year prior when he blew out.
32:05
But the fact that he was able to get back 91 and 94, throw his
32:09
crazy ten pitch arsenal again, make dudes look silly every time
32:14
he stepped up on the rubber is so I guess inspiring to me that
32:22
these are the stories that we can help tell and that we can be
32:24
a part of. So it's feel good on our end.
32:27
And then also giving a platform to a guy like that and a dude
32:32
who is basically off grid, aside from when you see him on on a
32:36
streaming service throwing a baseball like that.
32:39
That's a guy that I, I know his future is so bright in this
32:43
game. So just play your stories that.
32:46
That was an incredible moment to me.
32:48
Yeah, without a doubt, super cool.
32:51
Another topic that I wanted to hit on maybe, maybe some fun
32:54
stuff here is highlighting some of the episodes.
32:57
I joke about this with some of the people we have on, but I do
33:01
want to highlight some of our some of the episodes maybe run
33:05
through the top five in total listens or total views.
33:10
Coming in at #5 is Bob Keller, our conversation with him about
33:15
motor preferences. Kind of an interesting one for
33:17
sure that that was a hot topic certainly throughout all of 2024
33:22
in baseball and is only seem to take off further #4 maybe as
33:29
expected. Casey Mulholland we we
33:32
definitely had him tab for a top five appearance #3 Dylan
33:37
Newcomer, who probably hasn't gotten enough love on this
33:41
episode based on how much we interact with him and how much
33:44
he's helped us in the process. But Dylan Newcomer is doing some
33:48
incredible things with driveline and the physical therapy world.
33:51
Then number two all time, Sean Fisher, the current pitching lab
33:58
coordinator at Wake Forest. I don't know if I have had him
34:02
tab for a top 2, but that was a really fun discussion for sure.
34:07
He he's an awesome guy in a bright mind in the baseball
34:09
world. And then number one all time.
34:14
And really it's almost not even close.
34:17
So shout out to him in his following.
34:20
Peyton Lobdell, the founder of Backyard Bullpens and pitching
34:24
coach at Hope International. Maybe a highlight from Peyton's
34:28
episode that I didn't expect to talk about this topic.
34:33
And Gavin, feel free to comment on this one.
34:36
But Peyton talked about who baseball content is made for and
34:43
why it's important for these big companies, whether it's
34:47
driveline or tread or anybody with a finger on the pulse in
34:52
the baseball performance space, to be mindful of what they're
34:57
creating, who's viewing it, and who the intended audience
35:02
actually is. I thought that was a very unique
35:06
take, and it's not something that I had thought of
35:10
previously. And the reason I bring that up
35:13
is we can get this incredible information about pitch design
35:18
or biases of an individual or how pitchers move.
35:22
And then you have 12 to 14 year olds showing up to their local
35:26
coach saying, I think I'm a supinator.
35:29
These are the pitches that I want to throw.
35:31
Is that the fault of these major baseball industry staples?
35:36
They're not to be blamed for the problem, I don't think.
35:39
But also, if they weren't so good at what they do in so good
35:44
at spreading this information, I don't know if these 12 to 14
35:47
year olds would be thinking about what is going on with
35:50
their fingers at the Mona Ball release.
35:52
And I don't know if that's good or bad, but we're certainly
35:57
getting smarter as a whole, as an industry.
35:59
So I don't know if you have any response to any of that stuff or
36:03
take on it, but please feel free to chime in.
36:06
Something you just said was we're getting smarter as a
36:08
whole, as an industry, which I think is reflected in the the
36:14
podcast guest. But even just to your point, if,
36:17
if there are topics that are being spoken about at a seminar
36:22
or anything like that, or even a topic that you know, takes some
36:26
very bright minds to debate on and, and, and come to an
36:32
understanding of that are being talked about by 14 year olds.
36:37
I think that's a good thing in the game, even if they might not
36:40
fully understand it when they go to their coach like you gave the
36:43
example of. But I think if it's being talked
36:46
about, that has to be a positive because I mean, I, I think about
36:52
when I was 14, J Bands were kind of revolutionary at that point.
36:58
Pretty cool to see where the world has gone.
37:02
There's no question about that. And while you were answering, I
37:06
was scrolling back through episodes for maybe some others
37:10
that stood out to me that maybe didn't get, I don't know, maybe
37:14
maybe they weren't as in vogue topic wise, or maybe maybe they
37:19
strayed away slightly from like the original intention or focus
37:24
of what we do. And one of the ones that I
37:26
stumbled on that selfishly was actually one of the most
37:30
impactful for me was the episode with Adam Katz.
37:35
Adam Katz, the data scientist from MIT who helps athletes kind
37:39
of optimize their routines and overall readiness.
37:43
I mean shoot him talking to me about like post workout routines
37:48
and how can I recover and how can I be my best for the next
37:52
day was awesome. I was doing cold showers at 8:00
37:57
PM if I had a night time workout or something like that and I
38:01
couldn't figure out why I couldn't fall asleep.
38:02
I thought those were going to help me recover and they were
38:05
waking me up. So I was just throwing my sleep
38:09
further off, not realizing how to actually improve my sleep
38:14
hygiene and different things like that.
38:16
Say I shout out Adam. That was super impactful for me.
38:21
I I was obviously a dunce on that topic going in, but he
38:25
provided some awesome information and Adam is a
38:29
baseball player and he's pursuing his own career in
38:34
baseball. But also you think about what he
38:37
does beyond the baseball field and how he's helping athletes
38:42
and really individuals live better, happier, healthier
38:47
lives. I think that's a very, very
38:51
impactful episode in really mission that he has.
38:55
No doubt. Any any other episodes for you?
38:59
Like you, you talk about the player stories, some some
39:02
different ones. I know we've had a few episodes
39:04
that have kind of strayed away in a sense from the original
39:07
mission or maybe weird stories that have kind of expanded what
39:12
we do. I I don't know if there is
39:14
certain ones that you think have shaped the podcast in a sense or
39:19
maybe gave you food for thought. I feel like we've hit a lot of
39:24
the ones that immediately come to mind.
39:26
I know when we get off of this, I'll go back and scroll through
39:28
the list and be like, oh, I should have talked about this
39:31
and some more. But right now there's I, I mean,
39:34
I think it's like we've hit, hit most of the big ones for me.
39:39
There there is one that I want to call out.
39:42
Maybe shameless plug, I did a solo episode last summer when I
39:46
was just like screwed. I didn't have a gasp.
39:48
Poor planning on my part. So maybe not fully understanding
39:52
what happens with planning and running a podcast.
39:55
That episode, ironically enough, which I thought was a complete
40:01
struggle. Led to an awesome connection and
40:06
a guy named Matt Tomitz, who I've now become pretty close
40:08
with and we we talk a good bit even beyond what's going on in
40:13
the sports performance world or the health world or any of this
40:17
kind of stuff. And I think it goes to show what
40:24
one, just like putting yourself out there can do and then two,
40:27
like reaching out. Matt reached out from that
40:30
episode because we talked or I guess I talked on that one about
40:34
the origin story of Flex Pro Grip and that led to me getting
40:38
to appear on his podcast. One of the reasons I bring that
40:42
up, and it's a call back to what you brought up earlier, is just
40:46
how doing this has built a larger network for us and just
40:54
maybe put us in front of people or gotten eyes from places that
40:59
I'd never expected. And it's resulted in friends,
41:04
colleagues, individuals that I never imagined speaking with.
41:09
And now I have back and forth dialogue with them regularly.
41:14
So I know Gavin, we, we didn't plan to run a normal episode on
41:18
this one. I don't think it, this has been
41:20
anywhere close to normal for what we normally do.
41:23
But are there things that maybe you hope to accomplish going
41:27
forward with what we're doing here or I guess the wish list of
41:34
guests? What do you think would be an
41:36
awesome goal for us, whether it's in the next year, the
41:39
coming years, for what we do? I think just continuing to
41:42
expand the network and expand both the, the, the two buckets,
41:46
the, the player stories. I've, as we expand the network
41:49
of players on there, I think always hearing cool stories and
41:53
then expanding our Flex program network and having experts come
41:57
on and share their expertise and.
42:00
With that, I would say I want I want to tap back into the world
42:06
of surgeons. We had Matt Fury on surgeons are
42:10
probably another one of the busiest groups or the hardest to
42:13
schedule. So that that does get a little
42:15
bit difficult. But Matt Fury's a guy that I I
42:18
definitely want to have on again.
42:20
He he's making some major advancements in the way baseball
42:26
players elbows are treated and operated on and he he's got some
42:32
amazing research coming down the line.
42:34
So they is another guy, like I said, that I, I want to bring
42:38
back on or that market as a whole I think is very worth
42:42
tapping into. Another group that we haven't
42:44
spoken to yet is biomechanists. They certainly have stories to
42:49
tell. So I, I want to bring on some
42:51
biomechanists, but then I even think of some of the people
42:55
coming forward. So I'm going to tease a couple
42:57
guests coming down the line, 2 in particular, Will Carroll, who
43:03
has been writing about injuries in the world of athletics for
43:07
years. He has made a name for himself
43:10
with whether it's breaking news or discussing injuries and
43:15
really shedding light on some of the research that happens behind
43:18
the scenes and how we've advanced as an industry.
43:21
Another Gary McCoy, who has worn many hats in the performance
43:28
world, the strength and conditioning world in baseball
43:32
and even beyond. But he was, we would say,
43:37
responsible for the only injury free season ever recorded in
43:42
professional baseball. He would say, which I of course
43:46
respect and I think most people would as well, that many people
43:50
played a role in that. But he had a group in the, I
43:55
want to make sure I get this right.
43:56
I think it was KBO, but it could have been Taiwan.
44:01
But he had a professional baseball team go through an
44:04
entire season with no recorded soft tissue injury, which is
44:09
unbelievable. And I can't wait to have him
44:12
tell his story. So those are some of the guests
44:14
that we have coming down the line, and I'm excited to bring
44:18
people in to this world that we really haven't spoken to yet or
44:24
I guess, as you said earlier, expand our network.
44:28
Gavin, before I let you go, any closing thoughts?
44:33
No, I mean I, I appreciate you having me on for the second
44:36
time. I'm looking forward to
44:38
appearance #3 in the future. Yeah, I, I guess we're, we're
44:42
going to have to find reason for it.
44:44
Or maybe in classic fashion, it will come down to me not
44:48
planning in advance enough and saying, Gavin, I need you bud.
44:56
Not that that's ever happened before.
44:57
I've I've never done that. No, but just in case it does,
45:01
right? Yeah, nobody could see me wink
45:03
while I said that, right? But Gavin, thanks a ton.
45:08
This has been awesome. I love the back and forth.
45:10
And in I guess classic fashion, I will talk to you in a matter
45:14
of minutes when we get offline. For sure.
45:17
Yep, and everyone out there, thanks for laying back with us
45:21
for this past year. Here's to another and many more.
45:26
Shoot, we're over. We're over the 50 mark century
45:29
mark. We're coming for you.