Parents, players, coaches, and scouts are often very focused on injury prevention today, particularly as it relates to throwing and pitcher workloads. Longshots Baseball is at the national forefront of player health and injury prevention. Many amateur sports teams and programs (travel and high school) hold themselves to be focused on the best interests of the player, but often other organizational goals are often in direct conflict with this (winning at all costs). Longshots Baseball is a clear leader in protecting and maintaining the health and welfare of its players above all else.  We will still very effectively compete, and be successful, but not at the expense of a player’s career.  Feel free to ask any pitcher who has ever pitched here.

This goes well beyond throwing today, as more leg and back injuries have been seen nationally with the added emphasis on speed and swing strength, along with improper weight-lifting.

Our program is built on the core concepts of skill development integrated with age-appropriate physical development.  From when a player enters the program, as early as 4th grade, all the way until he graduates high school, the program is very focused on teaching and monitoring proper skill and physical development mechanics.  Obviously, using proper throwing mechanics is the best way to prevent arm and shoulder injuries.

Not all injuries can be prevented purely by using proper mechanics. The Longshots work closely with two Chicago-area physical therapists with baseball specialties: Brynn Nahlik and Ryan Mertz.  Both were former collegiate athletes.

Ryan is the current Physical Therapist for the Chicago Cubs, having served in the role since the beginning of the 2012 season. Ryan has worked extensively Jake Arrietta and Kyle Schwarber, among many others. Prior to that, he was with the Chicago White Sox organization as an intern, working with the likes of Mark Buerhle. Ryan executes the therapy programs for the Cubs, working directly with major league players on a daily basis from Spring Training to season-end.  

Brynn, while at Athletico in the Bulls Sox Academy in Lisle, specialized in overhead motion (throwing), as well as core development.  She has worked with many high-profile athletes from the Chicago area.  Today, she is an Assistant Professor at NIU, running the NIU PT Clinic, along with leading NIU PT students’ clinical work.

Brynn has tested and implemented an injury risk-assessment and consultation program that is truly state-of-the-art.

Both have worked and studied with the training staffs of both the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs, as well as Dr. James Andrews, the most prominent baseball surgeon in the world.  

Brynn and Ryan continue to work with the Longshots Baseball to study optimal baseball-specific functional strength and development. They also have spent extensive and continuing hours studying common baseball injuries for players at different stages in their growth processes. In addition to their using their baseball experience, both spent time consulting baseball medical experts, prominent baseball coaches, and breaking down video to study the biomechanics of throwing.

Brynn and Ryan recently collaborated with the Longshots staff to develop a comprehensive, year-round strength, development, and injury prevention program.  In addition to building general strength, the program is specifically designed to focus on areas of the shoulder, arms, and back that are typically underdeveloped in high school-aged kids.  These underdeveloped areas often take significant stress from throwing and are the primary areas that break down and lead to injury.  Properly strengthening these areas at the appropriate ages helps to avoid injuries that may otherwise occur.  A number of our alumni who have reviewed the program, have noted that it is more comprehensive and baseball-specific than the physical development programs offered within many Division I baseball programs.

In the unfortunate circumstance when an injury does occur, Brynn and Ryan are able to help recommend doctors they trust and who have the proper expertise and experience for a specific injury.  

To the upper right is a photo of Ryan involved with an athlete working on results from a video throwing analysis.