Today’s podcast is with Devin Hayes. Devin is the Pitching Performance Coordinator with the Detroit Tigers. He has worked in both baseball coach and physical preparation roles at Middlebury College, and has worked in the private sector, training athletes from high school to major league All-Star level. Devin currently plays for the Irish National Baseball Team and has included javelin throwing in his athletic repertoire.
When we learn skills in one area of human performance, we can become more understanding of them all. A key area of development in human performance is found in the realm of overhand throwing. By understanding the rotational and linear aspects of the throwing pattern, we can not only achieve better throwing results, but we also gain awareness of an important element of athletic function in general.
On today’s episode, Devin shares his experiences transitioning from baseball pitching to javelin throwing. He gives the lessons learned from various forms and constraints of overhead throwing, and digs into the elastic and rotational aspects of pitching. A main point of discussion is that of letting athletes find their path versus when and how to intervene in coaching, and finally Devin chats about relaxation techniques, and shaking movements to enhance throwing performance.
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Timestamps and Main Points
| 3:20 | Transition from Baseball Pitching to Javelin Throwing and the Initial Challenges Faced |
| 8:38 | Differences between the Motion and Arm Positioning in Baseball and Javelin Throwing, and the Influence of Natural Feel and Rotation |
| 11:39 | Exploring the Concepts of Movement Transferability from Pitching to Other Sports and the Role of Track and Field Training |
| 17:01 | Application of Motor Learning Principles in Pitching and the Impact of Sprinting on Musculature |
| 20:06 | Experimentation with Linear and Rotational Movements in Training and the Progression from Coil to Clear Drills in Pitching |
| 22:05 | Exploration of Movement Transferability from Other Track and Field Events to Pitching and the Complexity of Transition Skills |
| 29:13 | Self-organization and the Role of Spine in Throwing Motion, as well as the Influence of Side Bending in Throwing Athletes |
| 33:37 | Exploration of Arm Slots and Movement Solutions in Throwing, and the Value of Trying New Approaches in Baseball Throwing |
| 41:38 | The Impact of Lever Length on Throwing Velocity and the Importance of Coaching Stages and Approaches in Athletic Development |
| 54:12 | Importance of Building a Relationship and Adapting Coaching Style, Effective Communication in Coaching, and the Use of Entertainment in Learning |
| 59:16 | Creating Levels and Containers for Learning and Development and the Expectation of Instruction in Private Sector Settings |
| 1:02:10 | Discussion on Different Types of Athletes and the Importance of Reputation and Proof in Self-Organization |
| 1:06:08 | The Ability to Switch Between Competition Mode and Normal Mode, Withholding Energy, and the Importance of Staying Low in Athletic Movements |
| 1:08:56 | Exploration of Turn and Burn in Dunk Takeoffs, and the Role of Momentum and Side Bending in Athletic Motions |
| 1:12:10 | General Activities for Throwing Harder and the Benefits of Overload and Underload Training in Throwing |
| 1:15:10 | The Use of Shaking and Relaxation Techniques in Throwing Motions, and Manipulating the Brain’s Feedback for Relaxation |
| 1:22:07 | Importance of Focus and Task Orientation in Training, and the Impact of Coaching and Athlete Relationship |
Devin Hayes Quotes
1. Devin Hayes- 54:12
“So I’m learning Spanish now and the teacher that I have uses emojis or my style of learning. So I’m way more into it than I would be if I was taking a Spanish class and just some writing and I’m trying to figure it out. So I think how a coach coaches, which kind of allowed me to be more of a broad, like build a relationship, not have a specific style of like, I need to tell you my way. It’s more so, like, build a relationship and you’re going to tell me how you want to learn over time and then we’ll figure it out together.”
2. Devin Hayes- 56:01
“Yeah, there’s a podcast I listened to about people who 90% of people voted they want to be entertained when they learned. And so it’s more so like, how can you entertain someone while they’re learning? And so acronyms like Coiler, clear. Something super simple that a guy can just remember when they need to. Especially for pitchers, when guys are on the mound during a game yelling a cue on them, like internal twerk or something like that. Whereas they’ve had this repetitive either cue or some sort of thing they can go back to when things go wrong. And that’s kind of again, what I’ve been big on with a lot of guys is just here’s a couple of things that you can remember. So when things go wrong, you have this blueprint or map and they’re usually simple like fire and ice, things like that, that you can go back to when you need to. So that when you’re stuck or it’s the middle of the season and shit hits the fan or things go wrong, just keep it simple, go back to it and you have your few things that you know you need.”
3. Joel Smith- 57:27
“Yeah, the brain can only handle one, maybe two things at a time. And anything beyond that, it’s like a logarithm. How ineffective everything instantly becomes. So it’s almost if you can just have that one little even like a symbol, it’s like a myth. Not like a myth, like a false reality, but like something that’s just a lot of information condensed into one small story or one small thing. There’s a lot of value with that.”
4. Devin Hayes- 1:00:03
“Yeah, I think I have three comments on that. One would be two. I think people like the level one self organization. I think people kind of get to a point where they don’t think that a guy can get to a high level just by self organizing, where I have seen that before. Like, you don’t have to do any coaching. A guy can self organize. And you have a high school or college kid that has no coaching ever.”
5. Devin Hayes- 1:03:10
“Yeah, we have the athletes type of athletes that I’ve coached in the past have been the more like cerebral I wouldn’t say overthinkers, but like to think a lot and need a lot of explanation. Whereas some of the better athletes are literally just like and I think people have said this about some of the best big leaguers in baseball. They’re just the like they don’t think. They don’t need to think. They kind of have figured it out, have had it.”
6. Devin Hayes- 1:04:06
“Yeah, intellectual resistance gets in the way of what you’re trying to do, the movement. So just, like, don’t think. And then the best athletes are the ones that are able to turn it off when they need to. Like the think mode and just go. Which is cool to see when guys flip the switch, the differences they can make. Even in a trading setting where you can see some guys literally, it’s as if they’re pitching in the 9th inning of a World Series where they’re not thinking about anything, and if anyone talks to them, to yell at them or freak out on them, it’s like they are able to go there.”
7. Devin Hayes- 1:11:34
“And so those dead arm, for me, a lot of times, it does like the dead arm kind of shimmies shakes and just a couple of those into, like, a throw to feel like the arm is actually a whip and you can crack the whip.”
8. Devin Hayes-1:23:00
“In my professional opinion, mullets and mustaches equal plus one and a half to 2 miles an hour velocity. So if you’re willing to put in the time to grow both of those things, you will throw harder. Yes.”
Show Notes
Shakeout work
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwxXnDbNKPd/
Transcripts
About Devin Hayes
Devin spent 4 years at Castleton University studying Sports Management & minoring in Business, Mathematics & Statistics. After graduating, he spent two years at Middlebury College coaching strength & conditioning as well as outfielders and pitchers. During COVID, Devin moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to work at Tread Athletics where he spent three years coaching athletes ranging from HS to MLB All-Stars. This summer Devin took a job as a Pitching Performance Coordinator with the Detroit Tigers. In addition to coaching, Devin currently plays for the Irish National Baseball Team & is training to throw Javelin.
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