Matt Tupman Bio

Matt Tupman is a Concord native that graduated Concord High School in 1999. Matt attended UMass Lowell which he earned All American Honors in 2002. He led the team to back to back College World Series appearances in 2001 and 2002.

Matt was also named to the All New England Team as a catcher every season he attended UMass. Matt was selected in the 9th round of the 2002 Major league Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals. Matt spent 9 seasons in the Royals Organization making his Major League Debut in September of 2008. In his only at bat at the Major League Level Matt singled of Kevin Gregg of the Marlins.

In 2009 Matt played in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization before suffering a shoulder injury forcing him to miss part of the season. In 2006 Matt played for Team USA in Havana, Cuba to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Matt spent three seasons in the Caribbean Winter League for Los Tigres Del Licey in the Dominican Republic. In 2008 Matt helped lead his team to the Caribbean World Series Championship. Matt was named the All Star Catcher of the league.

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June 1st, 2012.

My name is Matt Tupman and I created MT Elite in 2011 following my playing career to offer player's in the area an opportunity to learn from my life and playing experiences. We are going to offer Blogs every few weeks with information that is important to remember when training and preparing for the game of baseball. I just left the Concord High School first round High School game and I thought it would be a good time to offer my first blog entry.

This time of year it's important to try and maintain some off the field training. It doesn't  take much during the year. Just taking a little time to pay attention to three areas. I feel these areas very important in maintaining consistent play and strength well into the summer.  First is stretching. Making sure that your stretching all the time. Using a band or a tope to help stretch the legs can help push beyond normal limits.  Second is weight training. When weight training in season keep in mind we are just trying to maintain what strength you have, especially pitchers need to stay away from anything heavy with the shoulders. For example you should still do dumbbell bench but, lower the weight and do more repetitions. Thirdly, cardio. This is often overlooked. This doesn't mean just running.

There are several ways to condition: biking, swimming, hiking, kayaking. Essentially anything that gets your heart rate up. It may seem like a lot but spending a little time in each of these areas will raise your game on and off the field.

October 2012 - Concord Cannons Philosophy on Sport Specific Training.

We believe that sport specific training is crucial to the betterment, and overall wellness, of an athlete. It is utilized by professional athletic organizations throughout the world. These exercise programs are implemented to help increase skill level. Through developing and refining these athletic skills, sport specific training will help the athlete to improve fundamental movements and gain strength overall, or in weakened areas, thus helping to prevent injury.

First, we must look at what types of movements are specific to the sport of baseball/softball. This will help us understand why we need to focus on some areas more than others. Simultaneously, we are also assessing the movement patterns of the athlete to determine any areas that may be weak, potentially leading to risk of injury.

Baseball/softball is a game of short bursts of speed, like running out a ground ball to short. Lateral movement, moving side to side; for example, taking a secondary lead a first base. We are constantly changing direction. Body control, being able to go in one direction and field or catch a ball and stop yourself, plant and throw all require the strength to be able to control these movements flawlessly. Lastly, twisting at the core, when we throw or hit we twist at the stomach or core. These examples show that baseball is game of short explosive bursts of power centering on a strong core or midsection, followed by a brief rest period.

Looking at the game from a perspective like this helps to understand the philosophy behind the Cannons workout program. Bryan and I feel it is important to educate our players on how to work out properly and what areas are focused on in a baseball/softball specific workout. These are techniques that we have utilized ourselves through our careers and have implemented with success in our training programs.

The shoulder program we use, known as the Elite 8, was designed to help prevent arm injuries by focusing on shoulder strength. The philosophies and exercises used in the Cannons offseason training guide are the same or similar to those used by Major League teams throughout their systems. Our basic plan is the same however we have substituted in different exercises and weights for our younger players.

The Cannons philosophy for baseball/softball specific training revolves around a strong core, powerful legs, the Elite 8 and lastly the rest of the upper-body. Most of the exercises we have chosen the core gets involved, giving you a good core- body connection. This activation of the core during exercise helps create better balance. Body control on the field starts with the core and the lower-half. Strong legs allow us to get low and stay in position while the core allows us to bend over and field the ball with our hands. And while hitting, your legs is where your power comes from, a strong core is going to help turn on balls.

When working the upper-body we have to keep throwing in mind with the exercises we choose. We will stay away from heavy jarring chest exercises, biceps and most importantly no overhead presses. For the upper-body the main focus is on the back and triceps. The Elite 8 is a series of 8 different exercises used to strengthen and prevent arm injuries, and not to mention, it will add mph's to your throws. This is the only area where weights will be implemented.

Flex ibility is a large part of our philosophy. It is very important but most commonly overlooked. Being flexible is a simple way to prevent injury. Certain plays in a game put our bodies in vulnerable positions. By having loose limber muscles we are less likely to experience pulls or strains. Stretch before, during and after exercising. It is also a great way to relieve tension and stress, both of which also contribute to unnecessary strain of your body and muscles. Lack of flexibility can have significant impact on our overall performance by limiting the extent of our motion. Bottom line: stretch.

Lastly, cardio is kept to a minimum until six weeks from the season. Sprints are the only running that should be done. The idea behind cardio is to lose weight, as players in the off-season we need to put weight on for the season ahead. During our workouts we should never rest more than 90 seconds, this keeps the heart rate up during exercise taking the place of long distance running until the 6 week mark.

The workout is designed in order of importance, always starting with the lower half and working your way up finishing with the upper half of the body. What we have done for the younger kids, 13U and under, was create a very basic workout within the guidelines previously outlined. The younger teams will only use med-balls and body weight during the workout. We don’t recommend weight training until high school. One exception is the Elite 8. A 1-5lb weight will be used along with bands. Each athlete will be evaluated to determine which weight size would be appropriate.

Our hopes are for our athletes to gain core level knowledge of how to work out like a baseball/softball player in a safe and healthy way. Our goal is to have several things happen for you while learning how to train properly. Not only will you get better at baseball or softball, but your overall health will improve. These are exercises that you can do for the rest of your life. There are many more exercises that can be done within the plan that has been provided. If you have any questions, or concerns, please see Bryan or I so we can make modifications that are specific for you.

We are here to provide motivation and accountability. This is a good beginning for young players, but it’s like everything in life, YOU get out of it what YOU put into it. In order to succeed, you must excel.

It’s in your hands now.

Visit Concord Sports Center to sign-up or email bcaruso@concordsportscenter.com