A little over a year ago on August 1st, one of the current TNL Fam came through the doors for his initial assessment. It was the first time I had seen this individual in 9 months. He was going into his senior year of high school ready to make some changes to his current training routine. When he walked through the doors, he stood 6’4” and 174 lbs. At the time, he was also dealing with elbow tendonitis (which was a reoccurring issue) upon the completion of his summer season, where he also topped out at 84 mph/sitting 80-82. This athlete was none other than our own, Drew Smiley. Starting his off-season training in the beginning of August gave him a whopping 30 weeks to get ready for next high school season.
For the month of August, Drew trained four times a week before getting a car at the beginning of the school year, and then transitioning to a five days per week routine. Once he got his car from the beginning of September on, there were 5 consistencies with his training: commitment, effort, consistency, self-awareness, and patience. During the time period of August 1st, 2018 through March 1st 2019 Drew complete over 125 training sessions!! It was a rarity when Drew did not make it for his scheduled training session. The routine was - everyday immediately after school between 2:30 & 3pm, Drew would show up to TNL in his prep school uniform, change into his training clothes, eat a little snack, and then get after his session.
Fast forward to the start of the 2019 high school baseball season in the beginning of March, MOST IMPORTANTLY, Drew pitched this high school season pain-free, with no elbow issues, AND sat 84-86 mph in his first bullpen of the season…eventually hitting 88 mph during the season! Some factors that helped reach that point were putting on 33 lb weighing in at 207 just before the season (that was 1 lb a week!), his deadlift increased to 425 lb for multiple repetitions (after starting out in the high 200s and low 300s), he set the old TNL HS broad jump record of 9’2.5” (now it’s up to 9’5.5”), and previously owned the 10yd sprint record with a 1.492 sec split. In my opinion, Drew embodies the saying “Trust the Process”. He is as coachable of an athlete there is, makes no excuses, works his tail off, does all the little things, and enjoys the journey.
Drew will be attending The Hun School for a post-grad year, and will also be filling a leadership void at TNL that was left by the college-bound high school seniors. Looking forward to another HUGE off-season for Drew, while continuing to help guide him with his athletic and career goals. If you want to be our next success story, click the link below to sign up for our Fall training block starting September 3rd!
Happy gaining, Connor