The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast · Mike Reinold

Sprints and Training with Max Intent with Zach Dechant - Episode 32

·47 min·3 clips

Zach says TCU sprints every week and uses 90% to 95% work in warmups and base running.

1. The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast episode with Zach Dechant focuses on sprints, training with max intent, and baseball performance at TCU. 2. Mike Reinald hosts the interview, and Zach Dechant is the assistant athletic director of human performance at TCU who oversees baseball and the sports performance internship program. 3. The episode asks how Zach trains baseball athletes and why he keeps returning to speed, movement quality, and max-velocity work. 4. Zach says he came into baseball from college football, first working with the LA Angels in Arizona and later taking a football strength coach job at the University of Wyoming. 5. He says baseball became his niche because he trained players like athletes, including sprinting, acceleration, and track-and-field-style work. 6. Zach recalls that in 2006 and 2007 some minor league facilities in Arizona had no weight room attached at all. 7. He says the training culture at the time centered on one set of 20 reps on 15 Hammer Strength machines rather than speed or athletic development. 8. Zach describes using barefoot warmups and temple runs, which drew complaints from an older coach worried about glass or nails in the outfield. 9. He says baseball-specific work needs feel, especially in pro-ball locker rooms and training settings. 10. He also says pars fractures are a major spine issue for high school and junior college baseball players, and he gives the example of six out of 12 athletes in one incoming class having current or previous pars fractures. 11. Zach says the pelvis is the foundation in his system, and that his foundation program in Movement Over Maxes starts there. 12. He says the shoulder matters because baseball places different demands on the scapula and rotator cuff than football does. 13. Zach explains that earlier in his career he did not know how to screen pars fractures correctly, so he would miss injuries that later flared up once athletes started throwing and lifting on campus. 14. He says coaches often blamed squats and deadlifts when athletes got hurt, but a spine orthopedic specialist helped the staff trace the problem back to pars fractures. 15. Zach says the key change was asking better questions before athletes ever step under a bar or pick up a bat. 16. He says he shifted away from back squats and more extension-based lifting and became a big front squat advocate. 17. Zach says his current incoming athletes usually arrive with better training age, and he uses the phrase that strength is a by-product of consistent habits. 18. He also says the show’s speed work is built around fresh, fast, and frequent, with weekly exposures because speed stays in the system for about seven days. 19. Listeners who coach baseball players or track athlete readiness will likely get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for general sports talk without training detail may skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded look at training baseball athletes, with sprint intent, movement quality, and the realities that shape consistent work.

Zach Dakin's conversation with Mike Reinald stays practical, centering on how baseball athletes are trained with sprints, velocity work, and movement quality treated as the first priority.

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Why you'd press play

You want sprint and velocity work to sharpen baseball training, not just fill a program.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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