Kyle- While I think you are well-intentioned, I suggest you are being somewhat misleading with this post about youth strength training. Here’s why:
1) The picture you show appears to be a weightlifting event – from Turkey? What relevance does this have to baseball?
2) Perhaps make it clear that there is a difference – a BIG difference – between baseball development, or “athletic development” (Vern Gambetta) – and strength training. The difference lies in what is the purpose? Is it see how much weight one can lift, or become a better baseball player?
3) Baseball is a dynamic, explosive , rotational sport that is clearly NOT trained via “traditional” Olympic lifts. This should be obvious if you simply watch the movements associated with each. Research confirms, as well as historical evidence in the form of great players
4) Do not think I am condemning “strength training” – I am not. Look at the medicine ball work suggested by many, and the “crazy” wrist-weight/iron ball methods of Dr. Mike Marshall. These are appropriate activities to develop baseball players.

Kyle-
1) Yes, I would perhaps disagree with Eric Cressey – if his focus with his athletes is improving maxes in a risky manner. The point is that using Olympic lifts with HEAVY weight is dangerous to many athletes, especially baseball players.
2) You are looking at the wrong side of the power (speed-strength) equation. Focus on the speed side, not strength. What good does it do a pitcher to lift more weight slowly, even if it produces more power? Go back and read some of Fleisig’s work and you will see that ALL pitchers release the baseball .15 seconds after footstrike (+/- .015), therefore we must train speed. A baseball weighs 5 oz!
3) Read more of Dr. Mike Marshall.

As for research to support my position, here are several items:

In athletes who are experienced in strength-training, cellular damage can occur through hard resistance training despite modest to minimal post-exercise soreness. This leads to a substantial threat to a pitcher’s health when weight training occurs amongst pitching practices and games. If a player is suffering micro-tears in tissues due to high-strain strength training or stretching, the explosive actions of a pitch can overload the damaged tissues causing greater or significant injury. This is one reason why modern baseball conditioning and practices appear not to have reduced injuries. Despite claims that strength training and stretching prevent injury, that claim is unsubstantiated by any research. On the other hand, excessive exercising of tissues that are predisposed to injury because of their damaged state is an hypothesis that also has not been evaluated. McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I., & Katch, V. L. (2004). Exercise physiology (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Two groups of 10 prepubescent and pubescent male baseball players trained three times per week for 12 weeks using a variety of general free-weight and machine exercises designed for both strength and power acquisition. One group was experienced in strength training while the other comprised novices. A comparable control group (N = 10) did not perform the training program but did participate in all other non-experimental activities.
For the experienced, novice, and control groups respectively, the following gains were recorded: leg press — 41%, 40%, and 14%; and bench press — 23%, 18%, and 0%. Both training groups were significantly better than the control group. Similarly, the two training groups improved in vertical jump. However, the control group improved to a significantly greater degree in peak and mean anaerobic power and the 40-yard dash.
The training regime improved the training activities but did not transfer to functional performance measures. One could argue that the training actually caused anaerobic power and 40-yd dash measures to decrease, particularly in the experienced strength-training group.
The metabolic changes in training groups did not transfer changes in energy potential to dynamic cycling, supporting the principle of specificity. In particular, the high force/low velocity aspects of the training did not transfer to high velocity activities. Hetzler, R. K., DeRenne, C., Buxton, B. P., Ho, K. W., Chai, D. X., & Seichi, G. (1997). Effects of 12 weeks of strength training on anaerobic power in prepubescent male athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 11, 174-181.

The importance of strength, power, and acceleration were investigated in baseball fastball pitching. The only variables that related to pitching were those associated with speed. Acceleration and power at the fastest movement speeds accounted for almost all fastball pitching variance (99%). Strength was not related to speed of movement and therefore, should not be a variable considered when training for speed.
Implication. To improve pitching speed it is necessary to train for speed first. This is best done by consistently trying to move and exceed previous maximum velocity. Any training that does not allow maximum speed in a trial will be useless and could be detrimental.
The use of strength training, which does not allow maximum movement speed, will not enhance speed of movement. Kluckhuhn, K. L., Signorile, J. F., Miller, P. C., Webber, B. C., & Garcia, M. (1997). An analysis of high-speed isokinetics and pitching. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29(5), Supplement abstract 1273.

Kyle-
While I understand that your ego is threatened by someone questioning you, perhaps you need to read my initial post again. I don’t think you are trying to hurt anyone, but rather am questioning you – and others that believe in the conventional wisdom.

1) I am simply saying if Eric Cressey – or anyone, insists upon using heavy loads with O lifts in baseball players, they are taking excessive risks. Why is Mike Boyle now coming out against traditional heavy squats? Does he not have “proof”?

2) You must understand the limitation of all research is its context. But funny how you dismiss “my” research when it was done by one of same authors – Coop DeRenne – you cited, and who is widely known as baseball training expert.

3) You need to learn the difference between absolute, starting, and accelerating strength. Of course traditional O-lifts improve “power”, but at what other costs – tendon, ligament integrity is just one example.

4) As for the speed of the movement in O-lifts, who cares? It is in one plane, ok , hang cleans are two. Baseball pitching is triplanar and requires rapid change of direction as well. There is close to zero correlation between the MOVEMENTS. We need to train movements, not isolated muscles.

5) Try reading more of Vern Gambetta’s work, and understand Marshall, not just read it.

6) I actually like what you are doing here, but grow up and engage in an intellectual discussion. And don’t use pictures of Turkish weightlifters to illustrate a post about baseball.

As for anecdotal evidence, let’s just look at injury rates among baseball players being trained “conventionally”. Something isn’t working because injuries are epidemic. And, if training methods are so great, why do MLB teams keep signing so many skinny-ass Latin Americans? Who of course eventually break down after getting on a great S & C program here.

Kyle-
Again, go back to my original post. You do good things here, but my original point meant to indicate that you are missing a major point, and perhaps could misinform readers by displaying a picture of Turkish weightlifters.

When did I ever say I thought Marshall was end-all-be-all? He is but ONE source to learn from. Agreed he is missing some pieces.

Bench and squat do not come even close to training baseball movements. Hang cleans? When do baseball players ever move straight up? Perhaps YOU need to understand specificity of training, and watch the movements of elite baseball players closer.

Thanks for reiterating my premise about using LIGHT resistance within the movement – I was probably using DeRenne’s concepts with over/under weight baseballs when you were in diapers. And the traditional strength training community does not use these principles.

As for Boyle, he is but one example of someone who came to his senses. Note however, it is HEAVY traditional, two-legged slow squats that are a waste of time.

Perhaps you should get out of exercise science classrooms and spend more time in the real world.You are in denial about heavy O-lifting developing tendons/ligaments – is that why the DL is so full? And why HS pitchers are getting TJ and labrum surgery?

In fact, I will go out of my way to explicitly say that I do not endorse how they are traditionally trained. If this is the case – and again, I LIKE what you do here – then stop using Turkish weightlifters and get some better examples.