Remote Working from M&E

[Ben Stephens]

Ben,
MLB Baseball pitchers throw harder than NFL Quarterbacks.  Should NFL QBs start using MLB pitcher mechanics and training? Tom Brady is pretty good, maybe he'd be better if he threw like Max Scherzer?

Ben's from the UK, so those names probably just whizzed over his head, much like all of my points.

Hi Tom and Don,


I am actually an avid follower of the Bears (don't mention Trubisky!) and the Cubs we have Baseball and American Football on TV in the UK. I compare the MLB pitchers with test cricket fast bowlers who bowl at a similar speed and how the arm moves.


Just read an article about Patrick Mahomes by the NFL pundit in UK - Jason Bell said he is more like a MLB pitcher with his style of throwing the ball/his body mechanics as the reason why he is ahead of the other quarterbacks and yet he has just signed a contract of $500m for 10 years which is like WOW! The NFL has a good few years ahead with the quality of QBs coming through especially with Trevor Lawrence coming through in the next few seasons.


Biomechanics is becoming a huge part of all types of sport that elite sportspeople are using that particular technology to help them improve their actions plus using other sports as a reference and not to put too much stress on the body. JCB Country Club in UK has biomechanics lessons which was a first I have seen from a pro golf facility in UK


Tom I have taken on board regarding your comments and do understand where you are coming from as I have pretty much done most of my course design/construction work by hands on. You are hard to convince when it comes to technology so from the points I have put forward in that area has wizzed over your head    you rely on your band of brothers (and sister not forgetting Angela) to keep your business going however it seems to be different for M+E as they have a small workforce and try to cover as much work they can using a drone as a part of their future business approach.

[Ben Stephens]

Ben,
MLB Baseball pitchers throw harder than NFL Quarterbacks.  Should NFL QBs start using MLB pitcher mechanics and training? Tom Brady is pretty good, maybe he'd be better if he threw like Max Scherzer?

Ben's from the UK, so those names probably just whizzed over his head, much like all of my points.

Hi Tom and Don,


I am actually an avid follower of the Bears (don't mention Trubisky!) and the Cubs we have Baseball and American Football on TV in the UK. I compare the MLB pitchers with test cricket fast bowlers who bowl at a similar speed and how the arm moves.


Just read an article about Patrick Mahomes by the NFL pundit in UK - Jason Bell said he is more like a MLB pitcher with his style of throwing the ball/his body mechanics as the reason why he is ahead of the other quarterbacks and yet he has just signed a contract of $500m for 10 years which is like WOW! The NFL has a good few years ahead with the quality of QBs coming through especially with Trevor Lawrence coming through in the next few seasons.


Biomechanics is becoming a huge part of all types of sport that elite sportspeople are using that particular technology to help them improve their actions plus using other sports as a reference and not to put too much stress on the body. JCB Country Club in UK has biomechanics lessons which was a first I have seen from a pro golf facility in UK


Tom I have taken on board regarding your comments and do understand where you are coming from as I have pretty much done most of my course design/construction work by hands on. You are hard to convince when it comes to technology so from the points I have put forward in that area has wizzed over your head    you rely on your band of brothers (and sister not forgetting Angela) to keep your business going however it seems to be different for M+E as they have a small workforce and try to cover as much work they can using a drone as a part of their future business approach.

By the way Greg Maddux was pretty quick in his time. 

[Mike_Young]

Ben,
MLB Baseball pitchers throw harder than NFL Quarterbacks.  Should NFL QBs start using MLB pitcher mechanics and training? Tom Brady is pretty good, maybe he'd be better if he threw like Max Scherzer?

Ben's from the UK, so those names probably just whizzed over his head, much like all of my points.

Hi Tom and Don,


I am actually an avid follower of the Bears (don't mention Trubisky!) and the Cubs we have Baseball and American Football on TV in the UK. I compare the MLB pitchers with test cricket fast bowlers who bowl at a similar speed and how the arm moves.


Just read an article about Patrick Mahomes by the NFL pundit in UK - Jason Bell said he is more like a MLB pitcher with his style of throwing the ball/his body mechanics as the reason why he is ahead of the other quarterbacks and yet he has just signed a contract of $500m for 10 years which is like WOW! The NFL has a good few years ahead with the quality of QBs coming through especially with Trevor Lawrence coming through in the next few seasons.


Biomechanics is becoming a huge part of all types of sport that elite sportspeople are using that particular technology to help them improve their actions plus using other sports as a reference and not to put too much stress on the body. JCB Country Club in UK has biomechanics lessons which was a first I have seen from a pro golf facility in UK


Tom I have taken on board regarding your comments and do understand where you are coming from as I have pretty much done most of my course design/construction work by hands on. You are hard to convince when it comes to technology so from the points I have put forward in that area has wizzed over your head    you rely on your band of brothers (and sister not forgetting Angela) to keep your business going however it seems to be different for M+E as they have a small workforce and try to cover as much work they can using a drone as a part of their future business approach.

By the way Greg Maddux was pretty quick in his time. 

GM was not really quick/fast etc but  “Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3–0 count. 177 of those were intentional walks,” 

[Ben Stephens]

Ben,
MLB Baseball pitchers throw harder than NFL Quarterbacks.  Should NFL QBs start using MLB pitcher mechanics and training? Tom Brady is pretty good, maybe he'd be better if he threw like Max Scherzer?

Ben's from the UK, so those names probably just whizzed over his head, much like all of my points.

Hi Tom and Don,


I am actually an avid follower of the Bears (don't mention Trubisky!) and the Cubs we have Baseball and American Football on TV in the UK. I compare the MLB pitchers with test cricket fast bowlers who bowl at a similar speed and how the arm moves.


Just read an article about Patrick Mahomes by the NFL pundit in UK - Jason Bell said he is more like a MLB pitcher with his style of throwing the ball/his body mechanics as the reason why he is ahead of the other quarterbacks and yet he has just signed a contract of $500m for 10 years which is like WOW! The NFL has a good few years ahead with the quality of QBs coming through especially with Trevor Lawrence coming through in the next few seasons.


Biomechanics is becoming a huge part of all types of sport that elite sportspeople are using that particular technology to help them improve their actions plus using other sports as a reference and not to put too much stress on the body. JCB Country Club in UK has biomechanics lessons which was a first I have seen from a pro golf facility in UK


Tom I have taken on board regarding your comments and do understand where you are coming from as I have pretty much done most of my course design/construction work by hands on. You are hard to convince when it comes to technology so from the points I have put forward in that area has wizzed over your head    you rely on your band of brothers (and sister not forgetting Angela) to keep your business going however it seems to be different for M+E as they have a small workforce and try to cover as much work they can using a drone as a part of their future business approach.

By the way Greg Maddux was pretty quick in his time. 

GM was not really quick/fast etc but  “Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3–0 count. 177 of those were intentional walks,”

Wasn't Maddux pretty consistent and most MLB pitchers are fast to the mere mortals - I can remember watching Randy Johnson throwing fast for the Diamondbacks and losing his mind  [size=78%]. [/size]

[Jeff Schley]

Ben,
MLB Baseball pitchers throw harder than NFL Quarterbacks.  Should NFL QBs start using MLB pitcher mechanics and training? Tom Brady is pretty good, maybe he'd be better if he threw like Max Scherzer?

Ben's from the UK, so those names probably just whizzed over his head, much like all of my points.

Hi Tom and Don,


I am actually an avid follower of the Bears (don't mention Trubisky!) and the Cubs we have Baseball and American Football on TV in the UK. I compare the MLB pitchers with test cricket fast bowlers who bowl at a similar speed and how the arm moves.


Just read an article about Patrick Mahomes by the NFL pundit in UK - Jason Bell said he is more like a MLB pitcher with his style of throwing the ball/his body mechanics as the reason why he is ahead of the other quarterbacks and yet he has just signed a contract of $500m for 10 years which is like WOW! The NFL has a good few years ahead with the quality of QBs coming through especially with Trevor Lawrence coming through in the next few seasons.


Biomechanics is becoming a huge part of all types of sport that elite sportspeople are using that particular technology to help them improve their actions plus using other sports as a reference and not to put too much stress on the body. JCB Country Club in UK has biomechanics lessons which was a first I have seen from a pro golf facility in UK


Tom I have taken on board regarding your comments and do understand where you are coming from as I have pretty much done most of my course design/construction work by hands on. You are hard to convince when it comes to technology so from the points I have put forward in that area has wizzed over your head    you rely on your band of brothers (and sister not forgetting Angela) to keep your business going however it seems to be different for M+E as they have a small workforce and try to cover as much work they can using a drone as a part of their future business approach.

By the way Greg Maddux was pretty quick in his time. 

GM was not really quick/fast etc but  “Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3–0 count. 177 of those were intentional walks,”

Great stat and a huge Maddux fan.  There is a deeper dive into that stat where apparently of those 133 that weren't intentional, during his Braves years he averaged about 2.5 a year, so most were from his early career with Cubs. Most accurate pitcher I have seen, only other that rivals him of an all-star caliber with his command was Bret Saberhagen.

[Kalen Braley]

While Maddux could hit the low 90s in his younger years, he was a mid to high 80s guys for most of his career.  So he certainly wasn't "fast" compared to the best Major League pitchers.

Where he beat you was between the ears combined with pin point accuracy on the corners.  Constantly playing a cat and mouse game and as a hitter he was just brutally difficult to predict which pitch was coming next...and you don't need raging fast balls to win that battle.

[Jeff Schley]

While Maddux could hit the low 90s in his younger years, he was a mid to high 80s guys for most of his career.  So he certainly wasn't "fast" compared to the best Major League pitchers.

Where he beat you was between the ears combined with pin point accuracy on the corners.  Constantly playing a cat and mouse game and as a hitter he was just brutally difficult to predict which pitch was coming next...and you don't need raging fast balls to win that battle.

Accurate he was, but his greatest asset was the movement he had on his pitches.  He had tremendous movement on his 2 seam fastball that would move and catch the corner.  Then a great circle change that would freeze guys or make them look silly.  When he left the Cubs in early 90's I remember being so pissed at the Tribune Company that I would throw it away from our driveway for at least a week. My dad was wondering where the Tribune was and I said I have been throwing them away. CHEAP was what the Tribune Company was when they ran the Cubs big time.  My grandfather retired from the Trib as well, but hated them.

[Kalen Braley]

While Maddux could hit the low 90s in his younger years, he was a mid to high 80s guys for most of his career.  So he certainly wasn't "fast" compared to the best Major League pitchers.

Where he beat you was between the ears combined with pin point accuracy on the corners.  Constantly playing a cat and mouse game and as a hitter he was just brutally difficult to predict which pitch was coming next...and you don't need raging fast balls to win that battle.

Accurate he was, but his greatest asset was the movement he had on his pitches.  He had tremendous movement on his 2 seam fastball that would move and catch the corner.  Then a great circle change that would freeze guys or make them look silly.  When he left the Cubs in early 90's I remember being so pissed at the Tribune Company that I would throw it away from our driveway for at least a week. My dad was wondering where the Tribune was and I said I have been throwing them away. CHEAP was what the Tribune Company was when they ran the Cubs big time.  My grandfather retired from the Trib as well, but hated them.

Exactly Jeff,

He had several different pitches in his aresnal and his throwing motions was always the same, so it was near impossible to pick up the pitch, until it was too late..

"Maddux alternated his two-seam fastball with an excellent circle changeup. Though these served as his primary pitches, he also threw a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a curveball, a slider, and a splitter."

[Don Mahaffey]

Ben, you answer my question with a lecture on bio mechanics? 40 years ago when I was a college freshman we used video and a radar gun to work on my form (it was all about legs and core rotation) throwing a water polo ball to get the highest velocity and accuracy while not destroying my shoulder. It’s not a new science.
And that’s why threads like these drive many of us in this business crazy. Tell me something newsworthy.  Like are they using this technology to design better golf courses that can be built with fewer resources and constructed/maintained with a smaller carbon footprint. If so, show me a result of that, not another story on who’s using the latest, coolest tools.
We’ve been using GPS tech for 15 years. We just renovated a golf course in Houston. We had an old set of plans From the previous renovation in ‘96 (38 page plan set) and it was somewhat helpful with storm drainage - somewhat because what was drawn and planned was not built in most cases. What I did find interesting was an irrigation plan with every sprinkler located with GPS coordinates.  I’ve seen that in as staked plans after a hole is mostly built, but never had seen that detail before a shovel ever hit the dirt.  Pretty cool right? Great planning right? Except on the plan you had this perfect gridding, but in the ground, the heads were everywhere from 50’ apart to 120’.  How could that happen when the planners and designers were so advanced for their time.
I love technology and we are always trying to find tools that make our process better. But the one greatest piece of technology we use is the human brain. And while I realize how that may sound, I’ll take someone with a proven record of success over the guy promoting his latest cool process every time.

[Tom_Doak]

Ben:


Good on you for knowing a bit about baseball -- probably more than I know about football or cricket -- but those who know me well will be laughing at the idea of you telling me about baseball history.  You'll do better with golf!


P.S.  Greg Maddux was indeed a great pitcher, but I was fortunate to watch the Yankees beat him twice, in the last game of the 1996 World Series, and the first game in 1999.  I don't know whether he didn't get the calls off the outside corner that he generally got through his regular season career, or whether it just wasn't enough to get the Yankees to chase pitches they couldn't hit, but they had to have a hell of a team to beat him.

[Ira Fishman]

While Maddux could hit the low 90s in his younger years, he was a mid to high 80s guys for most of his career.  So he certainly wasn't "fast" compared to the best Major League pitchers.

Where he beat you was between the ears combined with pin point accuracy on the corners.  Constantly playing a cat and mouse game and as a hitter he was just brutally difficult to predict which pitch was coming next...and you don't need raging fast balls to win that battle.

Accurate he was, but his greatest asset was the movement he had on his pitches.  He had tremendous movement on his 2 seam fastball that would move and catch the corner.  Then a great circle change that would freeze guys or make them look silly.  When he left the Cubs in early 90's I remember being so pissed at the Tribune Company that I would throw it away from our driveway for at least a week. My dad was wondering where the Tribune was and I said I have been throwing them away. CHEAP was what the Tribune Company was when they ran the Cubs big time.  My grandfather retired from the Trib as well, but hated them.

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I share Jeff's bitterness about the decision to let Maddux go. As a footnote, he apparently is quite a good golfer.


On the point that started the baseball mechanics posts, it is interesting that one of the best regarded NFL quarterback "gurus" is a former MLB pitcher, Tom House. I have no idea if that means he teaches different mechanics. It also is interesting that Patrick Mahomes' father was a successful MLB pitcher, but once again I have no idea if that influenced his mechanics.


Ira

[Ben Stephens]

Ben, you answer my question with a lecture on bio mechanics? 40 years ago when I was a college freshman we used video and a radar gun to work on my form (it was all about legs and core rotation) throwing a water polo ball to get the highest velocity and accuracy while not destroying my shoulder. It’s not a new science.
And that’s why threads like these drive many of us in this business crazy. Tell me something newsworthy.  Like are they using this technology to design better golf courses that can be built with fewer resources and constructed/maintained with a smaller carbon footprint. If so, show me a result of that, not another story on who’s using the latest, coolest tools.
We’ve been using GPS tech for 15 years. We just renovated a golf course in Houston. We had an old set of plans From the previous renovation in ‘96 (38 page plan set) and it was somewhat helpful with storm drainage - somewhat because what was drawn and planned was not built in most cases. What I did find interesting was an irrigation plan with every sprinkler located with GPS coordinates.  I’ve seen that in as staked plans after a hole is mostly built, but never had seen that detail before a shovel ever hit the dirt.  Pretty cool right? Great planning right? Except on the plan you had this perfect gridding, but in the ground, the heads were everywhere from 50’ apart to 120’.  How could that happen when the planners and designers were so advanced for their time.
I love technology and we are always trying to find tools that make our process better. But the one greatest piece of technology we use is the human brain. And while I realize how that may sound, I’ll take someone with a proven record of success over the guy promoting his latest cool process every time.

Don


It was not my intention to lecture you in biomechanics. I was raising a point that it is becoming more common and it is relying more on computers and used in a number of different sports such as baseball, golf, tennis, cricket etc.


I used to play water polo whilst I was at school and to keep your foot off the shallow end to throw the ball was rather tricky and I did have quite a good arm scoring goals but was small compared with others so got dunked in the water a few times it was a great game like a water version of rugby.


The latest BIM systems are able to set new coordinates and levels using GPS for setting out points of new green slopes potentially. I have used this to set out the damp proof courses levels and outline of buildings in the UK to enable builders to set them correctly as per the BIM model.


It is the human brain using a complicated BIM tool which helps to solve problems or gain information quicker. The same for communications on phones would we have known 10 years ago that most of us would be using video phones and video meetings.


Cheers
Ben

[Ben Stephens]

Ben:


Good on you for knowing a bit about baseball -- probably more than I know about football or cricket -- but those who know me well will be laughing at the idea of you telling me about baseball history.  You'll do better with golf!


P.S.  Greg Maddux was indeed a great pitcher, but I was fortunate to watch the Yankees beat him twice, in the last game of the 1996 World Series, and the first game in 1999.  I don't know whether he didn't get the calls off the outside corner that he generally got through his regular season career, or whether it just wasn't enough to get the Yankees to chase pitches they couldn't hit, but they had to have a hell of a team to beat him.

Along side golf - Rugby Union is my main sport especially when it come to Wales. Dai Thomas is the same we could go on about Welsh Rugby for hours.


When I first went to USA and saw the Cubs on TV I wanted to be like Andre Dawson boy thats in the 1980s. Then came Sammy Sosa and now Kris Bryant. Was pleased that they finally broke the curse in my lifetime. My favourite football (soccer) team is Liverpool and they won the league title for the first time in 30 years in last few weeks. 

[Ben Stephens]

While Maddux could hit the low 90s in his younger years, he was a mid to high 80s guys for most of his career.  So he certainly wasn't "fast" compared to the best Major League pitchers.

Where he beat you was between the ears combined with pin point accuracy on the corners.  Constantly playing a cat and mouse game and as a hitter he was just brutally difficult to predict which pitch was coming next...and you don't need raging fast balls to win that battle.

Accurate he was, but his greatest asset was the movement he had on his pitches.  He had tremendous movement on his 2 seam fastball that would move and catch the corner.  Then a great circle change that would freeze guys or make them look silly.  When he left the Cubs in early 90's I remember being so pissed at the Tribune Company that I would throw it away from our driveway for at least a week. My dad was wondering where the Tribune was and I said I have been throwing them away. CHEAP was what the Tribune Company was when they ran the Cubs big time.  My grandfather retired from the Trib as well, but hated them.

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I share Jeff's bitterness about the decision to let Maddux go. As a footnote, he apparently is quite a good golfer.


On the point that started the baseball mechanics posts, it is interesting that one of the best regarded NFL quarterback "gurus" is a former MLB pitcher, Tom House. I have no idea if that means he teaches different mechanics. It also is interesting that Patrick Mahomes' father was a successful MLB pitcher, but once again I have no idea if that influenced his mechanics.


Ira

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/53318257


This is the article that mentioned Mahomes baseball background

[Jeff Schley]

When I first went to USA and saw the Cubs on TV I wanted to be like Andre Dawson boy thats in the 1980s. Then came Sammy Sosa and now Kris Bryant. Was pleased that they finally broke the curse in my lifetime.

Your lifetime???  People much older than us suffered for 2x's as long. How about my grandfather's lifetime. He passed away in 2015 at 98 and came up a year short.

[Ira Fishman]

When I first went to USA and saw the Cubs on TV I wanted to be like Andre Dawson boy thats in the 1980s. Then came Sammy Sosa and now Kris Bryant. Was pleased that they finally broke the curse in my lifetime.

Your lifetime???  People much older than us suffered for 2x's as long. How about my grandfather's lifetime. He passed away in 2015 at 98 and came up a year short.

Jeff,


I am blessed that Mom saw the win at age 83. One of the most joyous calls of my life was that night.


Ira

[Jeff Schley]

When I first went to USA and saw the Cubs on TV I wanted to be like Andre Dawson boy thats in the 1980s. Then came Sammy Sosa and now Kris Bryant. Was pleased that they finally broke the curse in my lifetime.

Your lifetime???  People much older than us suffered for 2x's as long. How about my grandfather's lifetime. He passed away in 2015 at 98 and came up a year short.

Jeff,


I am blessed that Mom saw the win at age 83. One of the most joyous calls of my life was that night.


Ira

Ira,
That is so great. It was such a weight that was lifted from so many. I know it is just a game, but when they won everyone who had suffered for so many years felt like a winner.

I just hope Da Bears don't have to wait for 108 years, which would put it at 2093 til the next Super Bowl Shuffle.
Only 73 more years.

 

[Joe Zucker]

As a Clevelander living on the north side of Chicago at the time, this was anything but a good day.  Not only did they blow a 3-1 lead and lose another World Series, I had to listen to fireworks through the entire night.  My dad is 72 and the last title was when he was 6 months old.  We're getting into Cubs territory at this point.