Erstad: Breathing Can Be Baseball's Best Friend

Huskers Open 2017 Against Highlanders in Tempe

By Randy York, The N-Sider

For Nebraska Baseball Coach Darin Erstad, who helped his beloved Angels win a World Series nearly 15 years ago, the importance of breathing is all about air supply and knowing when to exhale.

Erstad believes breathing is a big part of baseball’s passion. He also believes that breathing influences training and affects the odds to play at your highest level. Erstad is so into breathing, it is the top priority before his team begins practice or plays a game.

No wonder Erstad’s first point in his inaugural press conference this season was the importance of learning how to control your heart rate and explaining how breathing affects almost every aspect of the game, especially if you’re on the mound pitching or in the batter’s box.

Luensmann Almost Passed Out When He Came Off the Field in Charleston

Breathing is one of Nebraska Baseball’s biggest challenges, especially for the young guys. “Did you know that Chad Luensmann (pictured above) almost passed out last year at the College of Charleston when he came off the field?” Erstad asked.

“The guy’s throwing 90 to 94 miles-an-hour indoors, then goes out and pitches his first outing throwing 84 miles an hour,” Erstad said. “We think he’s broken and blowing out. When he came in, his face was so white I thought he was going to pass out.”

Erstad is confident his 2017 team will be better prepared to open this season with eight games in Arizona the first two weekends, plus three games in Texas the third weekend of the season.

“Breathing is part of our routine at the start of practice," Erstad sad. “We make sure they understand when things start going sideways, they will recognize that and breathing will be your best friend.”

Jake Schleppenbachshares his head coach’s confidence.“Duringthe game, certain things speed up on you and breathing is the best thing that can help slow you down,” he said. “We go into a little huddle every day, spread out and then close our eyes. We breathe three seconds into our nose, our throat and through our belly.

“We only do it for two or three minutes, but it makes a big difference,” Schleppenbach said. “That’s what we do before we start practice – drop the bag and remind yourself that it’s time for baseball and get into the present. We also breathe before and during games.

“It slows down process in your brain and helps you relax to optimize performance,” Schleppenbach said. "Breathing is something you should never take for granted. You see a lot of young players take the mound and breathe to reduce the pressure. Same with hitters. It’s harder than you think to slow down and breathe deep.”

Meyers Practices Breathing a Lot; Says Staying Relaxed the Best Advantage

“We practice breathing a lot,” said Jake Meyers (pictured above). “Baseball is a pretty mental sport, so we use breathing in multiple ways. As a pitcher, breathing is huge. You have to be able to slow down your breathing almost every pitch because you have the ball every pitch. When you’re pitching, staying relaxed is your best advantage.”

On the hitting side, “it’s kind of the other way around,” Meyers said. “You need to breathe while you’re walking up to the plate, but once you’re in the box, you can’t think about it as much. It is still there to help you relax and use it to your advantage. To me, breathing is a small and simple thing, but absolutely vital to be successful.”   

Nebraska’s strength and conditioning expert Mike Arthuracknowledges that breathing means different things. “When I do deep breathing, I go into the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down my heart rate and my breathing,” he said. “It relaxes my body.

“If I get hyperventilated breathing, the sympathetic nervous system releases adrenaline and gets my heart pumping and speeds up my breathing,” Arthur said. “You need both, but at the right time. When you relax, you need to take a deep breath, so you know things are okay. That resets your mind, which is the idea behind it and the result we want. You see it with pitchers all the time before they pitch. They breathe, relax and focus on what they have to do, then they do it.”

Boyd Epley Watched Phelps on TV at Olympics; Breathing Right Led to Gold

Nebraska’s Boyd Epley (pictured above with Tom Osborne) helped pioneer strength and conditioning in collegiate athletics. Epley describes an experience that simplifies the subject. “Everyone who watched the Summer Olympics on television saw how Michael Phelps relaxes before every competition,” Epley said. “He was breathing while his competitors were jumping up and down, trying to get him psyched out. Every fan watching could see that Michael Phelps was focused on one thing – breathing right.”

Nebraska assistant strength coach Lucas Novotny (pictured below) says breathing is important because regardless of how good a program is, buy-in from the coaches and athletes is priority No. 1 to be successful. "The emphasis on breathing was totally Darin's idea, and his entire coaching staff bought into this idea," Novotny said. "So did all the players. They were 110-percent supportive of what we're trying to do.”

In the summer, when the season’s over, Husker baseball players “stay here and train to develop physically,” Novotny said. “They need that, so having their trust is huge. Having me mesh my culture here into their training culture is critical.

“We’re one big family and all in this together," Novotny said. “Our players respect Darin. They came here to play for him. Having that relationship and support is huge because the NCAA counts lifting sessions as practices. Our players treat lifting with timeliness, great attitudes and exceptional energy every day they practice. That's how it has to be if we’re going to get better.”

Lucas Novotny Met with Toronto Bluejay Coaches; Huskers on Same Page

Novotny (pictured above) is grateful to work with a great staff and players who want to improve. “We’re all on the same page,” he said. “We recruit well and all know how important the essence of breathing really is.”

Novotny recently talked to three coaches with the Toronto Bluejays. “They talked about multiple ways to improve breathing,” he said, pointing out that breathing can be a cool-down to shut down the parasympathetic nervous system and allow yourself to relax and return to a homeostatic state as you would at rest.

“You can use breathing to get your central nervous system and your body prepared to work out and to move,” Novotny said. “Using the diaphragm to breathe can do so many things. It influences what’s going on in your mind and you can control it."

Breathing is So Popular Now that It Parallels Meditation and Yoga Regimen

“Breathing right is so popular, it fits right in there with things like meditation and yoga,” Novotny said. “Breathing also can stabilize athletes in the weight room. It’s cool when we’re out on the field and Darin talks to the guys and goes over the plans for the day.

“The first thing they do is step back and concentrate on their breathing,” Novotny said. “It’s important to breathe air into your belly. That’s exactly what I teach. Before we squat, we get air into our belly to stabilize our lumbar and have support. If you’re not doing that, you have a greater risk for injury.”

Husker players are very strong and used to breathing to stabilize themselves. “If you grab an average person off the street and ask to inflate your belly with air, they have no idea what you’re talking about and they can’t do it,” Novotny said. “You really have to think about it.

“I was a chest breather, but that causes more stress,” Novotny said. “If you allow yourself to breathe in through your nose, that’s going to relax you. Breathing is absolutely essential."

Scott Schreiber is Tight, Locked In and Loaded to Deliver Explosive Hitting

“If you ever stand by or are in decent range to see a guy like Scott Schreiber (pictured above, tipping his helment) you hear the sound of his swing,” Novotny said. “Scott has that pressure. He’s tight, he’s locked and he’s loaded and you hear the explosion when it happens.

“Scott gets it. He understands how important breathing is and how holding that pressure in is part of that swing. When he moves his hips and rotates on a baseball, releasing is all part of engaging through breathing.

“Scott is very loud with it, but you hear the same sounds from Jake Meyers and all these other guys. They know to breathe and they know how to stabilize throughout their swings and their throws on the mound. It’s huge. It really is.”

The mantra is so important, “We have Sequential Breathing on our wall in our warm-up area,” Novotny said. “It’s there for everyone to view, so they understand what we’re talking about and emphasizing. Most do not need a reminder. For them, it’s clockwork. But every now and then, a visual keeps reminding you of what you already know.”

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