Episode #28 - Zach Dechant & Dr. Stephen Osterer: All Things Baseball

Zach Dechant is the assistant director of Strength & Conditioning at TCU. He heads up the baseball S&C and also works with the QBs and WRs for the football team. Zach previously spent time at the University of Wyoming, Los Angeles Angels, and Missouri State University. He has his CSCS, CSCCa, and USAW certifications. While his main role is handling the baseball and football duties at TCU, he also handles dozens of pro guys that come back to train with him during the off-season because of their trust in him. 

Dr. Stephen Osterer is the co-owner for the Baseball Development Group in Toronto, Ontario. He pitched at Cornell University, but dealt with an elbow injury, and that set him down the path to where he is today. Dr. Osterer is a chiropractor and strength coach at BDG and he his CSCS, SFMA, FMS, DNS, and FRC certifications. He is very well-versed in the medical literature and takes that knowledge and applies it, practically, to the performance world. 

Quotes

• "We assess everyday that they move"
• "The assessment process drives our decisions in the weight room and movement training"
• "We noticed that removing the DB bench and focusing on scapular control relieved a lot of anterior shoulder stress and pain"
• "We train the push-up from day 1"
• "We have a general warm-up, then our pitchers have another 10min where they go through individual "correctives" that our staff gives them"
• "The biggest difference between pitchers and position players in the weight room tend to be the upper body - more focus on serratus, lower trap, less pressing"
  
• "After pitchers throw, we pretty much shut them down - we don't like to do more work after they throw"
• ""During the off-season, we don't want to throw our athletes on 15 different recovery modalities and almost creating a dependency on them"
• "Recovery for our starting pitchers typically takes place the next day - we will get soft-tissue work, regain ROM, and then lift"
• "There is a big negative connotation with ice and adaptation, but the research also shows psychological benefits from ice"
  
• "We put a lot of emphasis on controllable range of motion, especially at end ranges"
• "Many kids are focused on weighted balls, but they are icing on a cake that hasn't been baked yet"
• "We've found that if you clean up arm work, many other technique issues fall into place"

Social Media:

• Zach Dechant
  • Twitter - @zachdechant
  • Instagram - baseballdevelopmentgroup
• Dr. Stephen Osterer
  • Twitter - drsosterer
  • Instagram - zachdechant