The Origin Story
2018
As a 27 year old free-lance trainer fresh off my own playing career in 2018, I began renting space at a local sports performance facility. As fate would have it, this performance group ran a very specific training system which I was introduced to. When the company closed its doors for good later that year, I continued collaborating and training one of their former employees who was attempting to prolong his career in professional (Indy) baseball.
From my perspective at the time, this converted pitcher (formerly an NCAA shortstop) was utilizing mechanics that were unnatural and did not compliment his anatomy. I began devising a solution for the athlete which included a combination of familiar drills and a constraint lead approach to address physical characteristics. At that point in late 2018, early 2019 I began constructing a training environment from scratch that would facilitate the “buy-in” I was looking for, enabling the athlete to explore and learn optimal positioning. The theory at the time was that the athlete’s new movement skills would be naturally incorporated on the mound for a more sound mechanical delivery.
The results were nearly immediate, with a higher tolerance for velocity and throwing volume after approximately 10 weeks. The converted pitcher with virtually no mound experience signed his first professional contract in the spring of 2019. That’s when I decided to pursue the patent and commercial design for The Hyper Stride.
2019
The final critical design feature came in the early spring of 2019, right before I set out to travel the east coast to test and validate my idea. My vision for the Hyper Stride from the inception was to create a movement system that was not only adjustable to match the skill of the individual, but also portable to support the traveling athlete (as I once was). My theory was that if the current design was able to create adaptation for an aged, somewhat polished athlete, perhaps the system could be developed to improve athletic performance for athletes of all ages and backgrounds.
Actually, it had to.
My intention was never to create 1 tool for 1 specific purpose. In my mind, if the design was too niche in practice, it likely would have minimal, short term impact even for the intended population and purpose. Universal usage would ensure the device could provide a platform for long term development for all athletes, and therefore entire teams/staff.
Thus, the journey began to not only create a novel design to support athletes and fitness enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds,, but to develop the definitions and programming to support long-term athletic development.
2020
Initially, the programming for the Hyper Stride was limited by design and by necessity. When the world was locked down at the beginning (and majority) of 2020, my own personal training could only be held outdoors and primarily in a sport specific setting. It was a pivotal time for all, and the phrase, “limitation breeds creativity” never rang more true for my development of methods. A small crew of various ages and skills were assembled to continue training, meeting roughly 2-4 times per week for simulated practice, otherwise known as “live rounds”. The crew was effectively running our own personal Spring Training, and was utilizing various prototypes in combination with other general and specific performance methods. Among this training group was the original “Patient Zero” (I prefer “Athlete Zero”), who continued to improve his pitching performance and recovery in a truly fulfilling collaborative effort. Our work together evolved into myself, a 3-years retired outfielder, picking up the ball and training myself on the mound in and around coaching the other athletes attending these sessions. This personal practice accelerated my understanding of the possibilities and definitions that existed within the Hyper Stride design.
2021
Through continued research and development of training methods, I began to see the possibility of a higher end commercial design with features that would solve 3 key problems:
Durable
Utilizing materials and components that can tolerate a “lifetime of mileage”, and then some (whereas other iterations might require replacement components over time)
Portable
gym owners and coaches with limited space/high foot traffic often need to make adjustments on the fly that support all athletes
the traveling athlete who relies on training continuity in season cannot always “bring the gym with them”
Modular (Adjustable)
An adjustable design that would allow for long term usage and variable application
Compliment standard industry training practices such as movement screens*, contextual learning** and contrast training***
*For more on movement screens, see the reference link on the How It Works page.
**Contextual learning involves the implementation of a drill for a specific outcome during sport specific practice, serving the overall purpose to increase learning speed (training transfer) also referred to as a constraint lead approach
***Contrast training in this case refers to provoking a specific motor ability by preceding a high speed, low strength exercise with a low speed, high strength exercise (alternating between the 2 with sufficient rest) for the overall goal of increasing power output (rate of force development). If you’re inclined to do more research on this method, you can find multiple scholarly studies on the effects of “Post-Activation Potentiation Training”.
By the end of 2021, I made the decision to travel south and land in an unfamiliar area free from referral bias, putting the merit of my prototypes and systems to the test.
2022
A lot of things came together for me in 2022, where I not only exposed prototypes and training systems as a complete unknown, but began to make connections for the manufacturing effort to come. I was validating my findings with a clientele of various athletic backgrounds, as well as in the general population.
In the Spring, I made my first presentation to a Coach and business owner, with an immediately enthusiastic response to a crude prototype. This was a pivotal moment for me, as an expert with a vast background in functional strength and coaching at the professional (NFL and Olympic) level wanted to begin implementing and collaborating to further develop my design. It was at this moment that I knew for sure there would be a need for my idea industry wide. I began aggressively researching different manufacturing options, from materials, to crowd-funding agencies to one stop shops.
By the end of the summer of 2022, I had made key connections to support early prototyping, and began to build a network of early adapters. In the fall, I was connected via multiple referrals with a player development specialist back up north, where I initially began my journey. After 1 phone call, I was hired to be a lead instructor. 10 days after I took the position, I was notified by my attorney that my patent was going to be granted before the end of the year.