How Science Is Changing Baseball Training and Recovery

 By: Michael Laba

Back in the day, the baseball world believed whoever could lift the most, run the fastest, and throw the hardest would come out victorious. Today, new technology and methods have produced better results than ever before. From force plates that measure the exact amount of force players are using to high end machines that use electromagnetics to help with recovery, college baseball programs are using science to train smarter, prevent injuries, and maximize performance on the field. 

At the college level strength coaches do not have to rely on guesswork anymore and can focus on data. Georgia Southern Baseball’s strength and conditioning coach Hunter Lakey explains how the game has evolved so much from twenty years ago.

“Instead of guessing how ready a player's body is, programs can now use advanced technology to measure performance and recovery in real time.”

Tools like force plates, velocity based training systems, and recovery devices allow coaches to see exactly how an athlete is producing force and how fatigued they really are. 

Lakey says that “Every day is different, some days a guy feels strong, some days he doesn’t. We adjust the weight and training based on how their body is performing that day.”

It used to be that if a player was lifting less one day they were regressing in strength but now even if a player doesn't feel 100% they can still maximize their effort and strength building by seeing how their body is performing. 

University of Georgia pitcher Luke Wiltrakis explains how some of the machines they hook him up to are so far past his comprehension level. 

“Some of these machines are so advanced that I wouldn’t even know how to explain what they do, but they’re supposed to help your body recover and reset.”

A couple decades ago after a game an ice pack was thought to be a way to get back to 100% but nowadays some technology helps players regenerate their own cells. 

Wiltrakis says “We have this machine where you put a cylinder on your stomach and just lay there for about 20 minutes, and it’s supposed to help your cells regenerate in your body.”

Programs like Georgia have been able to put millions of dollars into their program to purchase these advanced pieces of technology. But what happens with a small Division II school that doesn't have the budget of a top college program?

Barrett Eldrige, a pitcher for Young Harris University, doesn't have the amenities of schools like UGA and Georgia Southern but that doesn't mean his play is severely worse.

 

Eldridge says “Playing at multiple different size colleges throughout my career has shown me the massive imbalance of technology different programs have, playing at a smaller school has shown me that we have to find ways to be competitive without the impressive technology.”

Being a college baseball player means you are very talented on the diamond but programs with higher budgets have been shown to have the most success by far. 

This philosophy is very similar to the British Cycling team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. The British hired Dave Brailsford as their head coach before the games.

Stepping into a program where they have had a gold metal drought for more than a century meant Brailsford had to change up their training. He introduced “marginal gains,” which meant improving every part of training by just one percent over the competition. This included everything from what they wore, how they slept, and what they ate. 

In the 2008 and 2012 games they were able to win 14 out of the 20 gold medals. This was not because their cyclists' skills were miles ahead of the competition, it was because they wanted to gain any sort of edge on the competition. 

That same philosophy is now reflected in college baseball. Modern programs are not relying on a single piece of technology to guarantee success. Instead, they are stacking small advantages, better recovery tools, more precise strength data, and individualized training plans to improve performance over time. Wiltrakis explained the investment Georgia has made. 

“We use a wide range of recovery technologies, contrast therapy with hot and cold, electromagnetic muscle stimulation, scraping and cupping, massage tools, and devices aimed at cellular recovery, along with things like the icicle grip for nervous system reset. Individually they’re small things, but together they give us slight edges that help us recover faster and stay ahead.”

While tools like recovery devices or advanced monitoring systems do not automatically win championships, they can provide athletes with an edge when competing at the highest level.

As a result, programs across college baseball are increasingly focused on finding any measurable advantage they can. Whether at a Power Five school or a smaller Division II program, the goal is the same: use science, technology, and data to maximize performance in every possible way.

A 23-hour Day: The Negative Health Effects Of Spring Forward

 By: Daisy Davis

When the clock on the wall skips ahead one hour in March, it's our body's internal clock that has a harder time adjusting. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the master circadian clock in our brain is what synchronizes and controls our circadian rhythm, which regulates our body’s 24-hour sleep/wake cycle. 

Kelly Sullivan, an associate professor at Georgia Southern and neuroepidemiologist, said the cycle relies on sunlight to reset.  

“Getting natural light as soon after waking as possible,” Sullivan said. “This sets the body’s internal clock for the day and helps you wake and sleep.” 

Sullivan said that a few hours of missed sleep every once and a while won’t do much, but repeated loss of sufficient sleep can interfere with the production of dopamine and serotonin, leading to challenges with emotional regulation. 

“During deep sleep, the brain clears ‘waste’ such as beta-amyloid, a protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease,” Sullivan said. “If sleep is frequently disrupted or short, these toxins don't get cleared out and can cause cognitive decline over time.” 

To put it simply, insufficient sleep can affect our mood and energy levels. When this happens, our social and physical and social function will pay the price along with our brain. 

Susan Averett, an applied microeconomist and professor at Lafayette College, recently co-authored a paper in the “American Journal of Health Economics” addressing the negative effects of daylight saving time on mental health. 

“I have never liked the clock switching and came across some research on its effects on the body and wondered how it affected mental health,” Averett said. “I worked on a paper with two other economists to address this question.” 

Averett said that her findings suggest that standard time is more beneficial for alignment with the natural day-night cycle.  

“When clock time diverges from solar time (time determined by the sun’s position), it can disrupt an individual’s circadian rhythm,” Averett said. “The circadian rhythm is closely tied to the natural day–night cycle; it plays a central role in regulating physiological functions such as sleep–wake behavior.” 

Averett said daily activities are organized around clock time, which does not always align with solar time, and this discrepancy can lead to circadian misalignment and potential consequences for our health.  

“We find that there are negative impacts on human mental health from misalignment that is likely driven by sleep deprivation,” Averett said.  

Sleep deprivation is not only concerning because of its short-term impacts on our social and physical function. Insufficient sleep has also been linked to long-term mental health issues. 

“We all have experienced feeling groggy after a late night or early morning,” Sullivan said. “But chronic circadian rhythm disruptions have been linked to major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.” 

Logan Cowan, an associate professor at Georgia Southern and a cardiovascular disease epidemiologist, says that daylight saving time seems to have modest effects on cardiovascular health, but it’s hard to calculate the impact. 

“There was a study published eight years ago that found relatively significant increases to heart attack risk in the days following losing an hour of sleep and lower risk in the days following gaining an hour,” Cowan said. “That study has been broadly disseminated now.” 

Cowan says that wealth of studies and meta-analyses have revealed only a small percent increase in cardiovascular heart attack risk following “spring forward.” 

“The cardiovascular effects of time change on the body is a relatively hotly debated topic,” Cowan said. “I know this is sort of a typical scientist cop out but we probably need to study it more to really understand.” 

Although it’s uncertain if our hearts are negatively impacted by the one-hour time change, there are certainly other impacts to consider. 

Sullivan said that while most people may enjoy an extra hour of sunlight in the evening, there are trade-offs.  

“There are a multitude of problems that can arise from insufficient sleep,” Sullivan said. "Increased risk of depression and anxiety, continued sleep disturbances, neurodegenerative diseases, drastic hormonal shifts and metabolic issues that could lead to type 2 diabetes.” 

According to Sullivan, there also seems to be an increase in fatal car accidents and workplace injuries in the days following the “spring forward” time change.  

Although the disruption of our circadian rhythm can have negative implications for our physical and mental wellbeing, there are ways to ease the impact of this annual disruption. 

“Good sleep hygiene is helpful year-round and even more important when adjusting to schedule changes,” Sullivan said.   

This good sleep hygiene can include getting natural light as soon as possible after waking, avoiding blue light from screens close to bedtime, and maintaining a consistent schedule. 

“Some people prefer to ‘spread’ the time change over several days,” Sullivan said. “For example, they go to bed 15 minutes later and get up 15 minutes earlier each day for four days leading up to the time change.” 

As of April 2026, The Georgia Sunshine Protection Act- a bill to make a permanent time zone switch and make daylight saving time permanent- was not approved before Sine Die. 

As for now, the clock will continue to move ahead one hour in the spring and go back one hour in the fall annually.