Hey SC Mafia,

Welcome to Episode 11 of the Podcast! On this episode, we speak with Joe Hudson of the Boston Red Sox organization of Major League Baseball. Joe has recently been promoted to Major League S&C Coach after 8 years within the minor league system at every level.

Joe's perspective is unique to a Strength and Conditioning Coach because he's grown within the organization along with many of the players he's worked with, with many approaching and reaching the big leagues during his time.

In part one of our conversation, we speak more about specific programming implications of technology in S&C. With force plates and VBT becoming more prevalent in the field and some level of uncertainty regarding how to effectively integrate those tools seamlessly, we speak about our thoughts on using data to make informed decisions and produce more specific training adaptations for professional baseball players.

Every player's path to the big leagues is different, and baseball players present very different physical profiles between individuals. In answering the question "how do we drive this player's performance up?" we arrive at the conclusion that a small margin of adaptation in targeted metrics can actually help, while producing more questions than answers. We discuss how athletes respond differently to stimuli, and falling down the rabbit hole is all too easy, so after working through how to identify data that is important to performance, we speak about creating the desired change while never losing the art of coaching.

Hope you enjoy the episode, and as always, please reach out with any feedback to scmafiapodcast@gmail.com or either Instagram account associated with the show (@sc_strength or @Connor_Ryder33).

Joe's Instagram: @hudson_jr12