Athlete Case Study: Jagger Schattle
- Alexander Fotioo
- Dec 30, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 3
How Strength, Mobility, and Patience Led to a Late Speed Breakthrough
At Arkansas Speed Lab, we track everything—speed, strength, bodyweight, and movement quality—because development is rarely linear.
Jagger Schattle’s story is a perfect example of why patience and the right priorities matter, especially for bigger athletes.
This is not a “before-and-after miracle” story.
This is a three-year development arc that shows how speed actually improves.
Athlete Profile
Name: Jagger SchattleSport: Baseball
Position: Division I First Baseman
Program: University of Central Arkansas
Height: 5’11”
Weight Range: 226–242 lbs
Training Age: Advanced
Throws/Bats: Left / Left
On-Field Production
2024 Season: 37 games (30 starts), .232 average, 17 RBI
2025 Season: 46 games (41 starts), .273 average, 27 RBI
2026 Season: TBD
Over this span, Jagger went from a backup role to an everyday starter—and his physical development played a major role in that transition.
Where He Started (Fall 2023): Strong but Slow
When Jagger arrived in Fall 2023, he fit a profile I see often with corner infielders and big-bodied athletes:
Strong. Competitive. Productive. But not yet efficient or fast.
Baseline Metrics (Fall 2023)
Bodyweight: 226 lbs
Hatfield Squat: 545 lbs
Flying 10: 1.08 sec (18.9 mph)
Vertical Jump: 26.5"
Movement & Mobility Findings
Excessive lumbar flexion (using the low back to create motion)
Tight ankles
Poor ability to separate hips from the upper torso
For parents and athletes reading this:
This doesn’t mean “bad genetics.”
It means the engine was strong, but the transmission wasn’t working well yet.
Year 2 (Fall 2024): When More Isn’t Always Better
In 2024, Jagger did what many athletes do when they want to get better:
He got bigger and stronger.
Fall 2024 Metrics
Bodyweight: 242 lbs
Hatfield Squat: 565 lbs
Flying 10: 1.10 sec (18.6 mph)
Vertical Jump: 28.7"
Strength improved.
Jump height improved.
But speed actually went down slightly.
This is where many athletes (and parents) panic.
They assume:
“He’s getting slower.”
“Strength training is hurting speed.”
“This program isn’t working.”
In reality, this was a temporary mismatch:
Strength increased faster than mobility and coordination
Extra bodyweight changed how force was absorbed
Jagger still couldn’t brake and re-apply force efficiently
This year taught an important lesson:
Speed isn’t just about how much force you can produce — it’s about how well you can use it.
Training Philosophy (What We Actually Focused On)
Throughout this entire process, we never chased speed recklessly.
What We Prioritized
Maximal strength (but relative to bodyweight)
Mobility and flexibility
Linear sprint mechanics
Jumps and plyometrics
Daily micro-dosed speed work (10 minutes per session)
What We De-Emphasized
Excessive lifting volume
Fatigue-based training
“More for the sake of more”
Speed was trained frequently, but never to exhaustion. The goal was quality, consistency, and confidence.
The Breakthrough Year (Fall 2025): Late Developer
By Fall 2025, everything finally lined up.
Fall 2025 Metrics
Bodyweight: 235 lbs
Hatfield Squat: 626 lbs
Flying 10: 1.00 sec (20.4 mph)
Vertical Jump: 26.8"
That’s a 1.5 mph increase in top speed from his earlier years—a massive change at the Division I level.
But here’s the key point for parents and athletes:
His vertical jump didn’t skyrocket.
His speed did.
That tells us the improvement wasn’t about jumping higher — it was about moving better.
Why the Speed Finally Showed Up (Force Plate Evidence)
To understand why Jagger’s speed jumped in 2025, we analyzed his force plate data during countermovement jumps.
This data helps us see how an athlete uses force, not just how much they produce.
1. He Learned How to Absorb Force
Force plate data showed improved braking efficiency.
In simple terms:
He could hit the ground
Accept force quickly
And reverse direction without “leaking” energy
Earlier, his body took too long to slow down and re-accelerate. By 2025, that delay was gone.
This matters because fast athletes don’t spend much time on the ground.
2. Strength Became Usable
Jagger always had strength. In 2025, he finally learned how to apply it.
Force plate data showed:
Better transition from braking to propulsion
More efficient use of elastic energy
Balanced contribution between left and right sides
That’s why his speed improved without a big jump increase.
The weight room finally transferred to the field.
3. Mobility Was the Missing Link
Earlier testing showed:
Excessive low-back movement
Limited hip and trunk separation
By 2025:
Lumbar compensation was minimal
Hip–torso separation was clean
Ankles stayed mobile
This allowed force to travel where it was supposed to go—into the ground, not into compensation.
Force Plate Visualization: What Jagger’s Body Was Actually Doing
Below is a countermovement jump force–time curve taken from Jagger’s force-plate testing during Fall 2025.
This graph shows how force was absorbed and produced over time, not just how high he jumped.
How to Read This Graph
This graph is split into three important phases that directly affect sprint speed:
1. Braking Phase (Left Side of the Curve)
This is where the athlete absorbs force.
Earlier in Jagger’s career:
He took too long to slow down
Energy leaked through the low back and hips
Ground contact times were longer
In 2025:
Force drops and rebounds more efficiently
The curve is smoother
Less wasted movement
This matters because fast athletes stop and re-accelerate quickly.
2. Transition Phase (Middle of the Curve)
This is the most important phase for speed.
This section shows how quickly Jagger:
Changed direction
Stored elastic energy
Redirected force upward and forward
In Fall 2025, the transition is:
Shorter
Cleaner
More elastic
This aligns directly with his improved mRSI (reactive strength) and is a major reason his sprint speed jumped.
3. Propulsive Phase (Right Side of the Curve)
This is where force is applied.
What stands out here:
Strong total force output
Smooth force decay (no abrupt drop-offs)
Balanced contribution between right and left sides
For sprinting, this means:
Less “leaking” force
More usable force per step
Better translation from the weight room to the field
Why Jump Height Didn’t Skyrocket (And Why That’s OK)
One important point for parents and athletes:
Jagger’s vertical jump height did not dramatically increase in 2025 — but his speed did.
This force-plate data explains why:
He didn’t just produce more force
He used force more efficiently
Speed improved without unnecessary fatigue or injury risk
This is a hallmark of late developers — the system becomes coordinated before numbers explode.
Outcome
Over three years, Jagger:
Increased squat strength by 81 lbs
Increased top speed by 1.5 mph
Improved movement quality and symmetry
Stabilized bodyweight at a productive level
Transitioned from backup to everyday starter
Most importantly, he stayed healthy and available.
Training Evolution Across Three Falls
To fully understand Jagger’s development, it’s important to recognize that his improvement did not come from a single program or sudden change.
It came from intentional progression across multiple training cycles, each with a slightly different emphasis.
Rather than constantly overhauling the plan, the focus each fall was refined based on what Jagger needed at that time.
Fall 2023: Building the Foundation
The 2023 fall program emphasized:
Consistent full-body lifting
Daily dynamic warm-ups and mobility
Structured linear speed exposure
CNS priming before sprint work
Simple, repeatable routines done as a team
The goal during this phase was not to chase speed numbers, but to:
Establish movement consistency
Expose Jagger to frequent sprinting
Identify mobility limitations early
This laid the groundwork for future progress, even though immediate speed gains were modest.
Fall 2024: Strength Increased Faster Than Speed
By Fall 2024, training still included:
Daily speed work
Full-body lifts
Mobility and prep work
However, this phase revealed an important reality:
Strength and bodyweight increased faster than Jagger’s ability to absorb and redirect force
Rather than panicking or removing strength work, the program continued to emphasize:
Movement quality
Daily exposure over high volume
Staying healthy and available
This season was critical because it allowed strength to accumulate without rushing speed expression.
Fall 2025: Refinement and Expression
By Fall 2025, the structure of training looked familiar—but execution was different.
Key characteristics of this phase:
Mobility work was cleaner and more intentional
Sprint work was sharper and more elastic
Lifts supported speed instead of competing with it
Fatigue was managed more precisely
Nothing about the program was flashy.
The difference was that Jagger’s body was finally ready to express what had been built over the previous two years.
This is when the speed jump occurred.
Why This Matters for Athletes
From the outside, it may look like:
“He just got faster in 2025.”
From the inside, it was:
Two years of preparation
Hundreds of sprint exposures
Gradual mobility improvements
Strength that finally became usable
This is why we emphasize process over promises.
Late developers don’t need shortcuts — they need time, consistency, and the right priorities.
Coach’s Perspective
Jagger’s story reinforces something we believe strongly at Arkansas Speed Lab:
Development is cumulative.
Speed is expressed, not forced.
The fall training blocks from 2023–2025 didn’t change dramatically — Jagger did.
And when the athlete changes, performance follows.
Coaching Takeaways:
What This Case Reinforced
Strength relative to bodyweight matters
Mobility is not optional — it’s a performance multiplier
Speed development takes time
Posting numbers and tracking progress motivates athletes
This force-plate visual confirms what we saw on the field:
Strength was already present
Mobility unlocked better force pathways
Braking efficiency improved first
Speed expression followed naturally
Speed wasn’t forced — it emerged.
What This Changed in My Thinking
Athletes need to believe they can get faster
Bigger athletes often develop later
Speed breakthroughs usually happen after movement quality improves
What People Commonly Get Wrong
“Mobility is a waste of time”
“More training equals better results”
“If an athlete isn’t fast early, they never will be”
Jagger’s story proves all three wrong.
Final Message to Athletes
Development is not a straight line.
Speed is not built in a month. And late bloomers are real.
Jagger didn’t get faster because we rushed the process.
He got faster because we respected it.
That’s how long-term development works at Arkansas Speed Lab.
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