November 1, 2024 • 40 mins
Ever wondered what it takes to bounce back from a sports injury and return stronger than ever? Professional baseball player Brendan Hardy joins us to reveal the secrets behind his remarkable journey from dealing with rotator cuff issues to maintaining peak performance on the field. Brendan's story is a testament to the power of sports medicine, trust, and a reliable support system. Together, we explore how the right team can make all the difference in an athlete's career, and why every setback is an opportunity for a comeback.
Brendan doesn't just share his physical recovery strategies; he also opens up about the mental resilience required to thrive in professional sports. The road to success is as much about overcoming mental hurdles as it is about physical ones. We discuss the role of sports psychologists, the necessity of a supportive environment, and the art of crafting personalized treatment plans. Brendan sheds light on the delicate balance between maintaining a competitive edge and preserving the love for the game, reminding us that passion is the ultimate driving force.
In this episode, listeners get an exclusive peek into Brendan's daily routine and offseason strategies that keep him in top form. From structured morning rituals to strategic training regimens, Brendan offers insights into the disciplined lifestyle of a professional athlete. We also touch on the timeless wisdom of legends like Kobe Bryant, illustrating how a relentless pursuit of improvement can inspire both seasoned pros and aspiring players. As Brendan looks ahead to future successes, we celebrate his achievements and emphasize that the journey of growth and learning is never truly over.
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Thank you for tuning in to "Beyond the Game"! We hope you found valuable insights into the world of sports medicine and the importance of health and wellness in athletics. Remember, whether you're an athlete, a parent, or a sports enthusiast, this podcast is designed for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (00:04):
Game podcast .
It's your host, dr BrandonHarden, and I have a very
special guest with me today,brendan Hardy, who is a
professional baseball player andgreat friend of mine.
Brendan's been with me for along time, right, man?
Yeah, yeah, going on five years, five years, yeah, you go back,
right, yes, yeah, man.
So I asked Brendan to come onthe show because he has a very
(00:27):
special journey when it comes tobaseball and a journey he'd
like to share with everybody,especially as part of, like
therapy and how sports medicinehas kind of changed the game for
him as a young ballplayer tocollege and then now
professional.
So we'll talk a little bitabout your personal journey, man
.
So can you share a little bitabout becoming that professional
(00:49):
baseball player and, like, whatwere some of the key moments
that shaped your career as itstands today?
Brenden Hardy (00:56):
I mean, first and foremost, you come in as a
young guy and you're competingday in and day out against grown
men.
It's like some guys might havea wife and kids at home and then
you're just over here playingfor fun.
So it's like you put thingsinto perspective and it forces
you to mature.
Yeah, and uh, I would sayeverything was really good and I
(01:21):
would say rolling smooth upuntil my 2021 season, where I
realized that I wasn't.
I wasn't securing every aspectof my job as far as coming in,
uh, making sure my body is right, eating healthy, doing the
correct lifts, not just in thegym, working hard but working
(01:44):
toward a purpose, and then alsoletting that translate into just
the pt aspect, just making surethat my body is feeling right.
I ran into my first injury in2021 yeah dealing with elbow,
and then at the end was a littlebit of shoulder going on, but
we didn't really worry about ittoo much, just took a couple
(02:05):
weeks off.
And then I came in in 2022, hada breakout spring training in
the first half of the season,and that's when everything
really looked up for me.
Then I ran into some rotatorcuff stuff.
That was the first time, Iwould say.
It dawned on me like hey,you're not a kid anymore.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (02:27):
You got to get right, man, exactly yeah.
Brenden Hardy (02:29):
So, and then just dealing with some issues here
and there, the past couple years, I mean it just really made me
want to reconnect with you,especially being back on the
coast for this offseason, yeah,and just having somebody I could
trust, yeah, yeah, that was key.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (02:47):
I think that's huge.
You know that's a big statement.
Having somebody you can trust,I think in athletics I don't
want to come off in the wrongway, but think about people who
are just trying to make moneyoff you.
You know what I'm saying, andthat's the hard part about when
you get to the professionallevel is who can I trust to get
me right so that I can succeedand go where I need to go?
(03:08):
Exactly, you know what I'msaying Exactly.
So, yeah, man, I think a few ofthose key moments will help
shape anybody's career andsometimes, hey, injuries can
take you out of the game too.
So getting right is just asimportant as your lifts, as your
nutrition.
Just, you know, I mean everydaythings that we all look at as
(03:29):
lay people like.
Yeah, I think you know.
I wonder what I'm going to havefor lunch today.
Brenden Hardy (03:33):
You guys are like this is what I'm having for
lunch today.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (03:35):
This is my routine.
This is what I'm going to doRight.
Got to make time for doc.
Got to make time for food.
Got to make time for the gym.
Brenden Hardy (03:43):
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, no, I mean sometimes it'sokay to have some McDonald's
every now and then yeah, you gotto treat the soul.
You got to plug.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (03:50):
McDonald's in right.
Yeah, man, that's funny.
That's right, you got to treatthe soul sometimes.
So, talking about those keymoments and injuries, let's talk
a little bit about injurymanagement, bit about injury
management.
So injuries are obviously a bigpart of sports and I always
tell my kids, because thepsychology of sport is so
important.
I have kids come in and say,doc, this is career ending.
(04:11):
I'm like, no, it's not careerending.
It's maybe a little bit of asetback because you're not on
the field right now.
But think about this.
Think about the kid who ridesthe bench 24 seven.
Are they getting hurt?
No, no, cause they're ridingthe bench.
So be, grateful you got hurt.
You know it's a circumstance,but hey, you know what I'm
saying.
So talk about a specific injuryyou face, like your rotator
(04:31):
cuff, and how your sports teamor your sports doctor played a
role in your recovery to get youback um, I would say so, back
to 2022 right I missed the lastmonth and a half of the season
due to infra.
I don't want to say the wholeword infra spinatus.
Brenden Hardy (04:54):
Yeah, infra spinatus but yeah, just dealing
with some infra stuff and thengoing on to bicep tendonitis and
then they said it was slightstrain of your rotator cuff.
So basically, good thing Istopped throwing or else it was
going to tear.
So, gotcha, once I got back toflorida I was there until
(05:16):
october uh, early october andjust my rehab process in program
was just like we wereoverworking it yeah, overworking
it to get it back.
Where were you at at that point?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:32):
So I was in high A, you were in high A, yeah
, so where was your sports medteam based?
Brenden Hardy (05:38):
So we had one in Florida.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:40):
One in Florida.
Brenden Hardy (05:41):
And then one in New.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:41):
York and one in New York.
Brenden Hardy (05:43):
Yeah.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:43):
So Brennan was with the Mets.
So you know this guy's been allover and you can imagine, like
you're saying, trusting peoplewhen you're all over.
You got to find that trustreally quick, right?
Yes.
Yeah, man, you do, and it'smore so like the character
traits that everybody puts offwhere it's like okay this seems
(06:06):
to be like my dog right here, soit's like, all right, I'm gonna
come in and you're like oh, drharden's wearing jays.
Brenden Hardy (06:09):
We're cool, you know it's like okay, we call him
dr drip yeah, dude, you knowit's it's about having fun too,
especially when you're goingthrough stuff like that man.
Yes, because it is a setback,yeah, and like you see us
athletes at a vulnerableposition, 100 man and you never
know if you're going to comeback as good as you were yeah,
or if you or you might even comeback even better, just
(06:32):
depending on the right person inthe right process, that you
take right and I will say, like,coming out of 2022, during that
off season, I was still dealingwith some shoulder stuff, but I
didn't really speak on itbecause I was like it'll wear
off whenever it warms up.
I'll be a little bit looser, soI'll be able to go.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (06:50):
Yeah, that's what everybody says.
Right, I'll let it go away.
I'm young, exactly.
And then dad bought over there.
You know, with four kids athome, making them big league
money is just killing it, yes,so then you get frustrated and
you're like what the heck?
Brenden Hardy (07:04):
And you're like man, I swear I'm working harder,
and working harder than thisguy.
I'm putting in more work here,and it's like that might not be
what you exactly need at thatmoment.
And that was the biggest thingthat I've learned.
Coming off of these injurieswas all because you're working
doesn't mean that you're doingas much as you need to.
You might be doing more, yeahso, and then you might not be
(07:27):
working the right spots, youknow.
So that's why.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (07:31):
That's been a big contention in sports
medicine.
Man, you can go online and viewall these papers about
therapies, like, are we doingtoo much, are we doing too
little?
Where is that middle line, likethe playing field?
Where can we meet in the middle?
That is so hard to do.
You know what I'm saying andyou're not going to be the same
(07:51):
as another pitcher who comes insame age, same height, same
build.
Dude, they could have somethingthe same but totally different
outcome.
A thousand percent.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's, that's the hard part.
So, knowing that and knowing,hey, my nutrition's got to be
right.
I need to see my guys every day.
You're in the off season.
(08:11):
Right now you're at hardenedsports medicine.
How does the treatment umbecome part of your daily
routine and how have you foundthat to be most beneficial to
baseball?
Brenden Hardy (08:24):
Dude.
I mean, it's just as simple asgetting your body right and just
with my injury history, onething I don't want well, going
into free agency and just tryingto pitch myself to the next
team is, oh okay, well, you'vebeen injured.
Obviously, whenever you're good, like whenever you're healthy,
(08:47):
you're good, so we see that butinjury history.
I've already talked to my agentabout it too.
He said like that could be theonly downfall as far as, like,
payroll-wise.
But I just want the next teamto know that hey, like I've
taken the time, we're putting inwork.
Yeah, we're putting in work andwe're going to come back fully
(09:09):
healthy next season and we'renot going to have any issues.
Yeah exactly so just buildingthat trust.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (09:15):
Yeah, and do you ever really know?
You just made a profoundstatement, right?
So like, when you're good,you're healthy, you're good,
you're on the roster, but areyou?
You know what I'm saying.
How do you know that when we goout there and pitch, you're
feeling great, that you're notgoing to throw your elbow, that
you're the next for Tommy John,you don't right?
(09:35):
No, so you know, that's just it.
That's the part of being aprofessional.
You know, athlete, you neverknow.
Living in that gray area,living in that gray area, man,
just push the envelope as far asyou can.
Amen, yeah, we just had thisconversation, Brendan and I in
the office, because I'm doingone million things, he's doing
one million things and hey,guess what?
(09:55):
We still get to meet up and dowhat's good, right For sure man,
yeah man.
Even though we just got startedfor this off season.
Yeah, like night and daydifference, yeah, crazy right.
We were taking uh photosyesterday, uh brendan's shoulder
and his back, and I was showinghim the differences, uh off of
(10:15):
one treatment and that onetreatment.
I mean huge differences, andbernie can attest.
Man, you know, it didn't takeus an hour and a half to do that
, right, no, it maybe took us 15, 20 minutes yesterday, 15
minutes today.
Brenden Hardy (10:28):
You got you right , man, I'm telling you, and it's
like, even as athletes, we comein and we're like, okay, man,
we gotta go get some work donemy shoulder or back, like
whatever it is.
And you're sitting there andyou're like, oh, I'm being here
for about an hour, hour and ahalf, and then I come in.
You're like, oh, oh, here we go, this is all we need to do.
Boom, boom, boom, yeah, man,and we're in and out of there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (10:50):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right, and it's
like no time wasted, justcompletely productive.
Brenden Hardy (10:54):
And now, like I feel myself starting to, even
after just one day yesterdaystarted, I'm like, dude, I
already I was in the gymyesterday and I'm feeling my arm
get up and back again and I'mlike, oh my God, this is crazy.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (11:10):
He unlocked me again.
Yeah, man, Just findingpeople's potential.
It goes back to what we justtalked about in the beginning is
finding your potential.
How do you do that?
And you do that by creating aroutine right being regimented
on what you do.
So you're in your off season,You're here, I'm helping you get
(11:31):
right.
You're helping you get right,which is hey more important.
I know a lot of athletes get intheir head.
You're just living it up, man.
I love that about you, man.
You always have a positiveattitude.
Brenden Hardy (11:43):
That's so good, because I am an absolute head
case when it comes to this, youhide it.
well, yeah, I'm glad you don'thave a good poker face, but no
man, I am an absolute head case.
But the reason being these pastcouple years was like.
So I will say, going back tolast spring training in 23, I
(12:08):
ended up in another setbackbecause I just knew something
wasn't right with my shoulder.
I told that trainer that Itrusted and he went ahead.
He brought it up to the headtrainer and they were like all
right, we're going to give himan MRI.
They took an evaluation of myrehab program from the previous
year and they were like, dude,they realized and they took
(12:30):
accountability that they had medoing way too much to my
shoulder so it was just going tobe even more fatigue.
Like, yeah, it's generallygetting stronger, but if it
hurts we're no good to compete.
It's just that simple.
And then we re-evaluated it,changed up some stuff and they
had me doing a lot less, butmore.
(12:51):
I guess you could say moreparticular work, more specific
to what your injury was Exactly.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (12:59):
You know, I see that all the time, man, it's
hard for me, especially as asports doc, to hear somebody say
yeah, you know, my other doctorsaid I just need to stop
working out in somecircumstances.
I agree with it only becauseyou don't want to overwork your
player, right?
(13:19):
If I have you in physicaltherapy and then I have you with
me and we're doing a lot ofrehab stuff, and then you're
going to the gym and then you'rethrowing BP, dude, that
shoulder's never going to getbetter.
Exactly, you know, exactly.
So I totally get that, man.
I totally get that, especiallywith overhead sports.
That shoulder is not like yourhip.
No, that shoulder is this big,that hip is that big, you know,
(13:42):
thank you.
Brenden Hardy (13:42):
The potential there is endless, but we got to
treat it right a thousandpercent and that was the game
changer going into last seasonyeah like we treated it right,
we attacked it correctly, towhere last season you could go
look at the numbers.
It was by far my best.
Yeah, man, you know.
And it was just like, well, yousee what happens whenever you
(14:03):
feel good, yeah, it translates.
And then I wasn't a head case.
And then this year I startedfeeling some stuff creep back up
and I'm like okay, that'swhenever the wheels kept on
turning and everything like that, yeah, man.
But no, I mean, we still triedto hide it well.
Yeah, yeah, we still tried tohide it well.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (14:20):
Dude speaking of head case.
What about mental healthconnection in professional
sports?
So let head case.
What about mental healthconnection in in professional
sports?
So let's talk about, likebeyond physical therapy um, how
do you think your mental healthplays a role in recovery?
Brenden Hardy (14:35):
oh, I mean it's.
I would say it's the mostprominent, especially once you
get to the pro level, becausethe the talent gap isn't as big,
that margin margin is not asbig.
So, everybody is good enough,especially once you start
getting the double A and tripleA, because at that point they
already tell you like dude, youhave the talent to make it.
(14:58):
It's just how consistent areyou going to be, which is the
physical?
And then how well do youovercome adversity?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (15:08):
Wow.
Brenden Hardy (15:09):
That's a big one, right?
Yes, and it's like, how do youtake on failure and how quickly
can you bounce back?
And that's what they'reconstantly testing you on.
And I would just say, like, ifyour mental is so clouded which
I can admit to having this pastyear like it's hard, it's hard
to go out there and justconstantly trust yourself to be
(15:31):
good and be dominant every time.
But whenever you see a littlebit of success, then that's when
you start hunting more, huntingmore, and whenever you can keep
yourself from going down thatrabbit hole of what you did
wrong so much and just startfocusing on, start seeing it as,
oh, okay, it's a challenge tomake that better, and then you
(15:54):
just constantly just add on toyour strengths and next thing
you know you don't have anyholes in your game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (16:00):
Yeah, man, yeah, you're filling the gaps,
right exactly.
Brenden Hardy (16:03):
But mental health for sure is like up there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (16:08):
Yeah, that's why we're seeing sports
psychologists like we have here.
Dr Ferris man, you know there'sso many avenues people take
after they sustain an injury,and sometimes not very healthy,
you know.
So you need somebody like thatto talk to, who understands how
you're feeling.
You know what I'm saying.
Brenden Hardy (16:28):
Cause I mean, dude, you know what I'm saying.
Because I mean, dude, you know,playing a sport like you have
to hang your cleats up at somepoint.
Yeah, and there's no, there'sno real stability until you're
that 100 million dollar player,right, stuff like that right and
you make it to where you wantto be exactly so up until then,
I mean on your bad days you canget over analytical on yourself
or hypercritical, but it's justlike you just have to dial it
(16:52):
back and remind yourself hey, Iplayed this game originally just
because I loved it, and you'restill doing it.
Yeah, the stakes are higher, butit's still a game.
It's still a game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:04):
Still a game For the love of the game?
Exactly yeah, man.
Still a game For the love ofthe game?
Exactly yeah, man.
Now I hear you.
Let's talk about that, buildingtrust again.
We'll hit that one more timebecause I think that's really
important, really reallyimportant.
So developing a relationshipwith your sports med doctor, I
would say, is 100% crucial toyour success as an athlete,
right, oh yeah.
So what qualities do you thinkare important in that
(17:29):
relationship, or what do youlook for and how do you build
that?
Brenden Hardy (17:31):
trust.
What do I look for?
Yeah?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:35):
Minus the jetties on my feet, you know
what I'm saying.
Brenden Hardy (17:38):
Yeah, I got you, I got you.
I mean, that is up there.
You need to shoot contactsometimes before you make eye
contact.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:44):
Right, let's see what he's got.
Brenden Hardy (17:45):
Yeah, okay, yeah he's cool, yeah he's cool, but
uh, I mean just honestly, justto understand it, and somebody
who's willing to admit that, hey, I might not have the answer
right now yep but or I haven'tdealt with a case like yours,
right, but I'm willing to figureout what we need to do in order
(18:08):
to get you back to that nextlevel.
Yeah, man, just like.
That just plays a huge part init, because, like I'm not gonna
be, I'm not gonna be a knownperson walking into everybody's
sports sportsman like I'm not.
So that's exactly right.
So, like for people who come inor I might go to them and then
(18:30):
they're like oh yeah, that'sjust this, this, this.
Yeah, I saw a case like thatlast year and it's like.
The person you showed me thatyou worked on is the dad, and
he's four inches shorter than me.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (18:42):
I'm like um yeah, no, we're not the same
we're, and that's exactly rightand that's my thing, and I'm
just gonna say this boldly.
You know, um, I have physicaltherapy friends, good, good
friends.
A lot of them like to look atpaper and go all right, you met
that goal, you met that goal,check, check, check, check,
check.
Then I have uh, friends who areoutside of the box, things
(19:06):
outside of the box thinkers.
There we go and uh, one of themis up in wiggins man and, and
ryan harrell is his name.
And I tell you what, man, whenyou get together with somebody
who is 72 years old, againtalking about the same rotator
cuff injury, and then you have aprofessional baseball player
and they're doing the sameprogramming, that's a problem.
(19:27):
That's a problem, right?
So you want to find that trustin your sports doc.
Enough to know like, okay, mydoc knows that he's treating me
a lot differently, that this maygo a lot different than
according to plan, right, I hateplans, I hate plans.
And my wife even knows thatshe's like he's so spontaneous.
(19:50):
Yeah, I don't stick to the plan, I like to do things that you
know are spontaneous.
Hey, you come in and you'relike doc dude, you won't believe
it After first session, thatsupra that infra it feels so
good.
Can we work on the pack?
I'm not going to go'm in.
This is the plan.
We gotta work off the plan.
I'm gonna go.
Let's do it like let's hit thatpack.
Let's go, you know, let's let'ssearch in the rotator cuff,
(20:13):
make sure that's good, but thenwe're moving on.
Brenden Hardy (20:15):
You know what I'm saying yeah, I mean it's like
you have the basis, buteverything is not always gonna
go according to plan.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (20:20):
Yeah, that's right, because if it did, then
you wouldn't be injured.
Exactly, exactly.
Brenden Hardy (20:26):
You know what I'm saying and I feel like that's
where, like that's where me andyou like are where we get along
at the most, because I'm kind ofI'm kind of spontaneous yeah,
like I have my set routine whereit's like I know this is gonna
make me feel good to grow, yeah,but as far as like treatment
and everything, like dude, weplay 160 games.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (20:49):
I mean, that is a lot.
Brenden Hardy (20:51):
Like your body is not going to feel the same
every day.
No, and you're going to wake up.
You might sleep wrong.
At one hotel you got adifferent problem than what
you've ever dealt with beforeand it's like oh well, this is
outside your program, so I don'tknow if we should do it.
No, you've got to attack it.
You've got to fix the problemExactly before it becomes a
bigger issue.
Right?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (21:10):
Yeah, that's exactly what I've been telling
them, and they'll be in the NFLall along.
Just you need me, you know.
You wake up off the plane andyou're like, oh, crick in my
neck, oh, where's Harden?
And I'm right there, you know,let's get it.
Thank you, right.
No, I'm only kidding man.
There's plenty of people whoknow what they're doing out
there.
I just hope that they have theopportunity to have a
(21:33):
relationship, like you and Ihave, man.
I honor that relationship.
I know that, at the end of theday that you've done your best,
I've done my a thousand percent.
Brenden Hardy (21:42):
you know what I'm saying I mean dude, I can't
wait to see what what thingslook like come february me
either, because we're gonna dosome heavy work this off season.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (21:51):
Oh yeah, we already have in two days.
I know, can you imagine shoot,let's go you know, brennan said
today oh my god, I had a heavyleg day yesterday, first day off
season.
I'm surprised it's not workingon my legs.
Guess what, brennan?
It's happening.
We're gonna work to work oneverything, bro.
Sounds good, sounds good, I'mall for it.
Man, that's called theassessment.
Right, when you assess thepatient, it's not just their
(22:12):
chief complaint.
You know, I was talking to apatient earlier about some elbow
issues and she's a cheerleader.
I had another cheerleader comein and talk about hamstring
issues.
You know where that translates.
Well, how are your lifts going?
Hamstring issues you know wherethat translates.
Well, how are your lifts going.
Well, what do you mean?
Lifts?
I mean you're lifting up thesepeople in the air and you're not
doing pushups, you're not doingcalisthenics, you're not doing
(22:34):
any type of pressing movements.
No, sir, I'm just.
That's the problem.
We got to fix the foundationbefore we can fix the problem.
A thousand percent, you knowwhat I'm saying.
A thousand percent.
So, yeah, no, that's good stuff.
So what about your dailyroutine, man?
Can you walk us through atypical day in the life of a
professional baseball player,highlighting how you know how it
(22:54):
starts and how it ends?
Brenden Hardy (22:56):
Okay, During the season?
Oh, okay, I have a question foryou.
Yeah, in season or off season?
So in season, in season, yeah,typically so, typically so with
baseball, you know we play latergames, yeah, and I mean it's
same with every sport, so youtry to.
You're big on your sleep, so Iwake up around like 10, 10, 30
(23:17):
every day and I'll make sure toget me.
I'll try to eat a heavy lunchbecause I've already slept
through that breakfast, so wakeup around 1030.
I'll read my devotional first.
Cool man, I'll try to get upwithin the first 30 minutes.
I love that.
Yeah, I have to stay grounded.
Same the moment I don't read it.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (23:38):
Like you feel scattered, yeah, yeah, man,
this is going to sound funny,but the only peaceful time I
feel like I have is in theshower in the morning.
Literally when I walk into theshower, I say good morning, god,
it's Brandon, I'm here to talkto you, man, you know what I'm
saying.
Brenden Hardy (23:53):
I promise you I'm that same way.
Yeah, I'm that same way, yeah,because the moment you get out
of the shower it just bam Right,everything is going.
That's right.
So, yeah, I try to get that inby 11.
And then 11.30 to about 12.30,lunchtime, eat a heavy lunch.
My favorite is sriracha.
(24:14):
I love me some sriracha.
I'll eat that.
And then normally you have toroll into the field around 1 or
1.30.
So get there, stretch out, dowhatever personal work.
I need to as far as like, ifsomething's tight, go to the
trainer, probably, get thatrubbed out.
And it just depends on, like,if I have a light day or a heavy
(24:39):
day.
But if I need to be prepared topitch, I'm not doing too much
as far as like that pre-practice, because we have we have our
throwing program that startsaround 3 o'clock and you have a
miniature practice that you gothrough.
Hitters take VP and ground balls, all that.
Pitchers, we get our throwingin.
(25:00):
You throw your bullpen if youneed to.
Then you go back in about 2hours before game time, and
those 2 hours before game time,those are my most crucial.
So it's like all right ifsomething was kind of bothering
me out there at practice and Iwasn't going that hard.
Okay, we got time to fix it.
And then I go into mypre-pitching routine, which is
(25:23):
my more specific stretches, justmovement pattern, just getting
ready to throw, yeah, and dothat all pregame and then you
roll out for the game come 7o'clock.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (25:36):
Yeah, man, I'm sitting here writing down
more questions for Brendanbecause as he talks, I'm like
dude.
Yes, this is great.
How often are you throwing BP?
Brenden Hardy (25:47):
Normally I throw one bullpen per week and then
you're probably pitching twiceor even three times.
I had a couple weeks this pastyear where I pitched four times,
but also at the same time.
How I told you, I'm a head caselike whenever I'm pitching four
times in a week.
I have no time to think.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:07):
So those are my best weeks.
Brenden Hardy (26:09):
Yeah, yes, so just saving that group.
But uh, yeah, no, it's what isyour?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:14):
what is your your throwing program?
Look like.
How's your arm care?
Brenden Hardy (26:18):
in season.
So arm care I'm hitting armcare about at least five times a
week, Like there are very fewdays where I'm not doing
something.
And more so.
For me it's stabilizationBecause like, yeah, I know, if I
don't stay up on my arm careroutine, everything just starts
(26:38):
getting slowly weaker and thenrange of motion starts
increasing in places.
We don't stay up on my arm careroutine, everything just starts
getting slowly weaker, yeah,and then range of motion starts
increasing in places.
We don't need it to, so justconstantly making sure the
shoulder is like stable.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:49):
Yeah, and just locked in Nice, nice, okay,
no, that's cool man.
So what happens after the game?
Let's just talk about a littlebit of off season.
How does that look like?
Brenden Hardy (27:00):
Off season.
So what happens after the game?
Let's talk about a little bitof offseason.
How does that look like?
Offseason?
First three weeks, don't doanything.
Yeah, I was showing you breathe.
Yes, I can finally breathe.
I can finally breathe, I canwake up every day and I don't
have to be like, all right, wegot three hours till I go to the
field, right, but offseasonjust honestly, I should have
(27:23):
came in to you earlier but I waslike I'm not doing anything
baseball related.
No, yeah, I totally get that.
Yeah, I totally get the break,but just take some time off.
Definitely, take some time offof throwing.
I'll start that beginning ofNovember, but just basically
giving your body a break,because you did just go at it
(27:43):
every day for eight months, yeah, yeah, since February.
Really, man, yeah, so I meanit's like it's a long season.
You have to give your body sometime to rest and then now it
also gives me more room forgrowth rather than like last off
season.
I came in.
Well, I went to the fall leagueand I didn't get back until the
(28:07):
week before thanksgiving.
So I only had a week and a halfoff, and then december 1st
right back to it.
So I didn't have much rest atall.
So it was good, it was good totake that time off and then just
coming in, getting right withyou before I go to the gym and
then, like, also, I could bouncethings off of you.
(28:29):
As far as, like today, I toldyou it was supposed it was
supposed to be an upper body dayyeah but like we're really
digging into my shoulder.
So right, just giving it a dayto breathe.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (28:41):
Yeah, I could hit that tomorrow yeah,
yeah, being specific about it,right, yeah, yeah, man,
absolutely.
So.
What are some of the biggestlessons you've learned?
Um moving along as a youngathlete to a well-developed
professional athlete and um,what do you think could benefit
(29:01):
a young athlete trying to get towhere you are today?
Brenden Hardy (29:06):
basically I would have to say working smarter,
like obviously work hard, likeyou have to work hard, mm-hmm,
no about it, but I feel like Iwas working hard in the wrong
ways.
Oh wow, yeah, I was just overhere just trying to get as
strong as possible and thatshould equal VLO and it's like
(29:29):
no.
Like if you do more movementpatterning training, then that
will play better whenever you'reon the field, because you've
already trained those patternsLike you know how it goes.
So just being more, I guess youcould say player-specific to
(29:51):
your craft and also listen toyour body.
If you're a dog, tired anddrained.
That probably means you need totake a break that doesn't mean
that you aren't conditioned todo what you're doing.
Like your body, it takes wearand tear every day.
Listen to your body, take somerest days like yeah, whenever
(30:15):
they say oh, if you're notworking, somebody's getting
better than you, they might begetting better than you just by
resting and they come back freshthe next day.
That is exactly right.
And you're overworked andyou're not at the top of your
game.
So, work smarter, not harder.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (30:32):
There you go , man.
No, I like that message, Ireally do.
You know, it's funny because,excuse me, I have patients who
are retired professionalathletes who come in and they're
like, doc, I beat up my body.
What have you been doing, man?
Just going nonstop in the gymjust trying to keep up?
I'm like, bro, your cells, okay, aren't the same as they were,
(30:54):
you know, in your 20s, as theyare in your 60s?
Brenden Hardy (31:01):
You know it's like come on, give yourself,
give yourself a break.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (31:04):
Yeah and then talk about.
I'm trying to keep up.
Yeah, you're already way ahead,right, exactly.
At least you're in the gym anddoing things right.
You know what I'm saying, man.
Yeah, I bet that's funny thatyou say that, yeah, so, uh, what
about young athletes dealingwith injuries?
Could you give them any adviceand how they can start now by
(31:24):
incorporating therapy into theirroutines?
You know, I think what I'mfinding is a lot of parents are
coming to them like, oh my gosh,dr Harden, I didn't realize we
could do this.
What would you say if you couldgo back in time and find an
office like this one, one againbuilding trust there, but two
helping you along the way as ayoung professional?
Um, what, what advice would yougive a young person today if
(31:47):
they can find that?
Brenden Hardy (31:50):
use it like honestly use it.
Yeah, use any resource that youreally can, one that you trust
and you find really beneficialfor you.
Yeah, but I mean, as far asdon't just see it as, oh, I
don't need that right now, likeI'm not hurt, but it's like you
can you can use these resourcesin order to stay away from
(32:12):
injury or to just try to furtherprevent it as much as possible
that's it, prevention, right.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (32:19):
I think a lot, of a lot of people, even
our uh, athletic trainers andtherapists and even some
physicians, will go.
If it's not hurt, we're notgoing to fix it.
Well, it doesn't take atraumatic incident for somebody
to have something wrong, exactlyright.
If you get smashed in the faceby a baseball and knock your
teeth out, that's trauma.
(32:40):
You gotta fix that right.
But let's talk about yourthrowing mechanics.
You're feeling good, but you'relike you know what, doc, my
velo's going down, but I feelfine.
Obviously something's notworking right because you were
here and now you're here,exactly Right.
So it doesn't take pain, itdoesn't take one, not hurt for
you to go to that professionalto seek advice.
(33:00):
Take advantage of your sportsteam.
Thank you, right, that's whatwe're here for.
Thank you, and trust me, I loveit.
I absolutely love it.
When I see my guys coming in,I'm like yo, let's do this Like
this is going to be fun.
You know it's exciting for me.
And then you get to see us on TVin a matter of time and you're
going to be like, hey, that's myguy, that's why he's doing good
(33:22):
yeah, man, you know it makeseverybody proud and that's one
of the biggest things for youngpeople is we have to realize
while we're here now somebody'sgot to take over.
So what advice can we givethose people so that they can
start developing now right, worksmarter, not harder.
The quicker you learn it, thebetter you'll be later on down
people, so that they can startdeveloping now.
Brenden Hardy (33:40):
Right, true Work smarter, not harder.
The quicker you learn it, thebetter you'll be later on down
the road.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (33:44):
Yeah, man, absolutely, absolutely.
So, uh, you collaborate with,with your team, as far as a
holistic approach to your health.
You're not in there.
You know getting surgeries andand getting poked by needles and
not by any means.
Is that a bad way?
(34:05):
If you're in a bad way but youknow seeking help, like you say,
prior to an injury, um, how doyou take that approach?
Do you look at it like this iswhat I need to do to maintain,
this is what I need to do to getahead?
How do you look at the approachwe take as as your sports team?
Brenden Hardy (34:24):
I would have to say um, I feel like this is how
we get ahead yeah because, Imean, does an athlete ever
really want to maintain?
no, I hope not.
Lebron constantly tries to finda way to get better, so why
can't we?
That's right.
So I mean, it's just basicallylike whatever you can use to
(34:46):
your advantage.
Kobe Bryant said it.
He said he literally used theworld as his playground or his
classroom in order to get betterat his sport.
Man, what a missed athlete dude.
I know, man, I'm missed athletedude, I know.
I know I'm telling you RIPMamba Dude.
Yeah, but just listening to theway that he talked about his
(35:12):
sport and his craft and just hiswork ethic, like it really
gives you.
He breaks it down.
He breaks down greatness andall you have to do is just be
willing to do it.
Yeah, I mean, that's thehardest thing.
Yeah, because obviously itcomes with timeless just
timeless hours in the gym, andit's just like if, if you're
(35:34):
willing to put in that work,you'll see some of the same
results that he had.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (35:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly right, man,
you can't sit on the couch andwatch somebody else do it and
live through it.
You got to know it.
You got to get up and do it.
Exactly Right.
Brenden Hardy (35:46):
Thank you, cause if anybody else, don't, do it
for you?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (35:49):
Yep, exactly .
So what about future goals?
Man, like in closing, I want toknow looking ahead, how do you
see yourself Um, um, and and canwe talk about your agency?
Yeah, okay, so brendan's onfree agency right now.
So whoever's listening, guys,you need him, trust me, you need
him.
Um, how does that look like?
(36:10):
What?
What's ahead of you?
What are you looking forward?
Brenden Hardy (36:12):
to.
What I'm looking forward to isjust getting an opportunity,
yeah, to prove to every MLBorganization that the kid
finally got it right, dude, Ilove that.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (36:25):
I'm going to write that down.
The kid finally got it right.
Brenden Hardy (36:30):
So I'm just ready to really come off of a great
offseason, put in the time, putin the work and just really hone
in and solidify all aspects ofmy game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (36:45):
Yeah, how old are you, brendan?
24.
24.
So when he says the kid finallygot it right, how long have you
been in the professional world?
Seven years, do you guys hearthat?
I mean that speaks a volume.
The kid finally got it right,dude.
I love that In a volume.
The kid finally got it right,dude.
I love that in closing, I do.
That's a profound statement.
I like that.
We need to make a t-shirt allright with your face on it.
(37:06):
The kid finally got it right.
Yeah, where do you see yourselfending up?
Uh, after baseball, what after?
Brenden Hardy (37:13):
baseball.
The dream is to open up my ownmega facility.
Let's do it.
I already told you and I don'twant to put it out there too
much but me and you will talkafter this.
But, yeah, I just want to own amega facility to where,
(37:35):
hopefully, we can have the bigthree sports.
Where you have a turf areamarked out for football, where
you have a turf area marked outfor football players, yeah, you
have a court well, multiplecourts for basketball players
coming in and just having thosecorrect trainers and then
hopefully we have you in there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (37:52):
Yeah, multi-sport, fully integrated,
exactly, just fully integrated.
Watch these kids grow, exactly.
Isn't that the most?
That that's to me?
So I'm a dad of four brendan.
It doesn't have any kids yet.
Brenden Hardy (38:05):
No, okay, yeah we just want to let y'all know
that right.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (38:10):
Being a dad has is so fun and it's such an
experiment, man, to watch themgrow mentally right, but to to
listen to them, uh, when they'rein the gym with me even.
You know I work out a lot andand, hey, you are what you eat,
you are what you preach.
My kids love to work out.
I love watching them grow, uh,in the athletic realm, in a
(38:32):
sense that they know dad'salways got their back right, so
that's always awesome.
But they have people like youto look up to and I love hearing
whenever they listen to this.
My 11 year old will go Dad, youhad Brennan Hardy on your show
today.
I'm like, yeah, he'll say whydidn't?
you invite me up there.
You know, it's just so fun towatch them on and off the field
(38:54):
because they literally they lookup to you guys so much.
So I just want to say, man,thank you for coming on the show
today.
I really appreciate yourfriendship and I'm ready to see
you do big things because,you're right, the kid finally
got it right.
Brenden Hardy (39:09):
I love that yeah dude, absolutely so.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (39:14):
Those questions today were there to
create a deep and engagingconversation with Brendan about
shedding some light on hispersonal experiences and the
insights of him as a player, asa professional athlete, while
highlighting my role as hissports med doctor and I want to
thank you for coming on today.
(39:34):
I want to say that you'vealready done big things.
You're going to do even greaterthings.
Say that you've already donebig things.
You're going to do even greaterthings.
Keep up your faith, man.
Keep your faith intact.
I really hope to see yousucceed in everything you do.
Yes, sir.
Brenden Hardy (39:48):
I appreciate it.
I just appreciate you beinghere.
I'm so ready to get to work,Absolutely.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (39:57):
Hopefully we can have you over here just
flying private that'd be fun,man, that would be a lot of fun.
So, as you guys know, on everypodcast we end.
The journey truly never endsright.
So keep up the good work andwe'll see you next time.
Thanks for tuning in.
Game podcast .
It's your host, dr BrandonHarden, and I have a very
special guest with me today,brendan Hardy, who is a
professional baseball player andgreat friend of mine.
Brendan's been with me for along time, right, man?
Yeah, yeah, going on five years, five years, yeah, you go back,
right, yes, yeah, man.
So I asked Brendan to come onthe show because he has a very
(00:27):
special journey when it comes tobaseball and a journey he'd
like to share with everybody,especially as part of, like
therapy and how sports medicinehas kind of changed the game for
him as a young ballplayer tocollege and then now
professional.
So we'll talk a little bitabout your personal journey, man
.
So can you share a little bitabout becoming that professional
(00:49):
baseball player and, like, whatwere some of the key moments
that shaped your career as itstands today?
Brenden Hardy (00:56):
I mean, first and foremost, you come in as a
young guy and you're competingday in and day out against grown
men.
It's like some guys might havea wife and kids at home and then
you're just over here playingfor fun.
So it's like you put thingsinto perspective and it forces
you to mature.
Yeah, and uh, I would sayeverything was really good and I
(01:21):
would say rolling smooth upuntil my 2021 season, where I
realized that I wasn't.
I wasn't securing every aspectof my job as far as coming in,
uh, making sure my body is right, eating healthy, doing the
correct lifts, not just in thegym, working hard but working
(01:44):
toward a purpose, and then alsoletting that translate into just
the pt aspect, just making surethat my body is feeling right.
I ran into my first injury in2021 yeah dealing with elbow,
and then at the end was a littlebit of shoulder going on, but
we didn't really worry about ittoo much, just took a couple
(02:05):
weeks off.
And then I came in in 2022, hada breakout spring training in
the first half of the season,and that's when everything
really looked up for me.
Then I ran into some rotatorcuff stuff.
That was the first time, Iwould say.
It dawned on me like hey,you're not a kid anymore.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (02:27):
You got to get right, man, exactly yeah.
Brenden Hardy (02:29):
So, and then just dealing with some issues here
and there, the past couple years, I mean it just really made me
want to reconnect with you,especially being back on the
coast for this offseason, yeah,and just having somebody I could
trust, yeah, yeah, that was key.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (02:47):
I think that's huge.
You know that's a big statement.
Having somebody you can trust,I think in athletics I don't
want to come off in the wrongway, but think about people who
are just trying to make moneyoff you.
You know what I'm saying, andthat's the hard part about when
you get to the professionallevel is who can I trust to get
me right so that I can succeedand go where I need to go?
(03:08):
Exactly, you know what I'msaying Exactly.
So, yeah, man, I think a few ofthose key moments will help
shape anybody's career andsometimes, hey, injuries can
take you out of the game too.
So getting right is just asimportant as your lifts, as your
nutrition.
Just, you know, I mean everydaythings that we all look at as
(03:29):
lay people like.
Yeah, I think you know.
I wonder what I'm going to havefor lunch today.
Brenden Hardy (03:33):
You guys are like this is what I'm having for
lunch today.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (03:35):
This is my routine.
This is what I'm going to doRight.
Got to make time for doc.
Got to make time for food.
Got to make time for the gym.
Brenden Hardy (03:43):
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, no, I mean sometimes it'sokay to have some McDonald's
every now and then yeah, you gotto treat the soul.
You got to plug.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (03:50):
McDonald's in right.
Yeah, man, that's funny.
That's right, you got to treatthe soul sometimes.
So, talking about those keymoments and injuries, let's talk
a little bit about injurymanagement, bit about injury
management.
So injuries are obviously a bigpart of sports and I always
tell my kids, because thepsychology of sport is so
important.
I have kids come in and say,doc, this is career ending.
(04:11):
I'm like, no, it's not careerending.
It's maybe a little bit of asetback because you're not on
the field right now.
But think about this.
Think about the kid who ridesthe bench 24 seven.
Are they getting hurt?
No, no, cause they're ridingthe bench.
So be, grateful you got hurt.
You know it's a circumstance,but hey, you know what I'm
saying.
So talk about a specific injuryyou face, like your rotator
(04:31):
cuff, and how your sports teamor your sports doctor played a
role in your recovery to get youback um, I would say so, back
to 2022 right I missed the lastmonth and a half of the season
due to infra.
I don't want to say the wholeword infra spinatus.
Brenden Hardy (04:54):
Yeah, infra spinatus but yeah, just dealing
with some infra stuff and thengoing on to bicep tendonitis and
then they said it was slightstrain of your rotator cuff.
So basically, good thing Istopped throwing or else it was
going to tear.
So, gotcha, once I got back toflorida I was there until
(05:16):
october uh, early october andjust my rehab process in program
was just like we wereoverworking it yeah, overworking
it to get it back.
Where were you at at that point?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:32):
So I was in high A, you were in high A, yeah
, so where was your sports medteam based?
Brenden Hardy (05:38):
So we had one in Florida.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:40):
One in Florida.
Brenden Hardy (05:41):
And then one in New.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:41):
York and one in New York.
Brenden Hardy (05:43):
Yeah.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (05:43):
So Brennan was with the Mets.
So you know this guy's been allover and you can imagine, like
you're saying, trusting peoplewhen you're all over.
You got to find that trustreally quick, right?
Yes.
Yeah, man, you do, and it'smore so like the character
traits that everybody puts offwhere it's like okay this seems
(06:06):
to be like my dog right here, soit's like, all right, I'm gonna
come in and you're like oh, drharden's wearing jays.
Brenden Hardy (06:09):
We're cool, you know it's like okay, we call him
dr drip yeah, dude, you knowit's it's about having fun too,
especially when you're goingthrough stuff like that man.
Yes, because it is a setback,yeah, and like you see us
athletes at a vulnerableposition, 100 man and you never
know if you're going to comeback as good as you were yeah,
or if you or you might even comeback even better, just
(06:32):
depending on the right person inthe right process, that you
take right and I will say, like,coming out of 2022, during that
off season, I was still dealingwith some shoulder stuff, but I
didn't really speak on itbecause I was like it'll wear
off whenever it warms up.
I'll be a little bit looser, soI'll be able to go.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (06:50):
Yeah, that's what everybody says.
Right, I'll let it go away.
I'm young, exactly.
And then dad bought over there.
You know, with four kids athome, making them big league
money is just killing it, yes,so then you get frustrated and
you're like what the heck?
Brenden Hardy (07:04):
And you're like man, I swear I'm working harder,
and working harder than thisguy.
I'm putting in more work here,and it's like that might not be
what you exactly need at thatmoment.
And that was the biggest thingthat I've learned.
Coming off of these injurieswas all because you're working
doesn't mean that you're doingas much as you need to.
You might be doing more, yeahso, and then you might not be
(07:27):
working the right spots, youknow.
So that's why.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (07:31):
That's been a big contention in sports
medicine.
Man, you can go online and viewall these papers about
therapies, like, are we doingtoo much, are we doing too
little?
Where is that middle line, likethe playing field?
Where can we meet in the middle?
That is so hard to do.
You know what I'm saying andyou're not going to be the same
(07:51):
as another pitcher who comes insame age, same height, same
build.
Dude, they could have somethingthe same but totally different
outcome.
A thousand percent.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's, that's the hard part.
So, knowing that and knowing,hey, my nutrition's got to be
right.
I need to see my guys every day.
You're in the off season.
(08:11):
Right now you're at hardenedsports medicine.
How does the treatment umbecome part of your daily
routine and how have you foundthat to be most beneficial to
baseball?
Brenden Hardy (08:24):
Dude.
I mean, it's just as simple asgetting your body right and just
with my injury history, onething I don't want well, going
into free agency and just tryingto pitch myself to the next
team is, oh okay, well, you'vebeen injured.
Obviously, whenever you're good, like whenever you're healthy,
(08:47):
you're good, so we see that butinjury history.
I've already talked to my agentabout it too.
He said like that could be theonly downfall as far as, like,
payroll-wise.
But I just want the next teamto know that hey, like I've
taken the time, we're putting inwork.
Yeah, we're putting in work andwe're going to come back fully
(09:09):
healthy next season and we'renot going to have any issues.
Yeah exactly so just buildingthat trust.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (09:15):
Yeah, and do you ever really know?
You just made a profoundstatement, right?
So like, when you're good,you're healthy, you're good,
you're on the roster, but areyou?
You know what I'm saying.
How do you know that when we goout there and pitch, you're
feeling great, that you're notgoing to throw your elbow, that
you're the next for Tommy John,you don't right?
(09:35):
No, so you know, that's just it.
That's the part of being aprofessional.
You know, athlete, you neverknow.
Living in that gray area,living in that gray area, man,
just push the envelope as far asyou can.
Amen, yeah, we just had thisconversation, Brendan and I in
the office, because I'm doingone million things, he's doing
one million things and hey,guess what?
(09:55):
We still get to meet up and dowhat's good, right For sure man,
yeah man.
Even though we just got startedfor this off season.
Yeah, like night and daydifference, yeah, crazy right.
We were taking uh photosyesterday, uh brendan's shoulder
and his back, and I was showinghim the differences, uh off of
(10:15):
one treatment and that onetreatment.
I mean huge differences, andbernie can attest.
Man, you know, it didn't takeus an hour and a half to do that
, right, no, it maybe took us 15, 20 minutes yesterday, 15
minutes today.
Brenden Hardy (10:28):
You got you right , man, I'm telling you, and it's
like, even as athletes, we comein and we're like, okay, man,
we gotta go get some work donemy shoulder or back, like
whatever it is.
And you're sitting there andyou're like, oh, I'm being here
for about an hour, hour and ahalf, and then I come in.
You're like, oh, oh, here we go, this is all we need to do.
Boom, boom, boom, yeah, man,and we're in and out of there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (10:50):
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right, and it's
like no time wasted, justcompletely productive.
Brenden Hardy (10:54):
And now, like I feel myself starting to, even
after just one day yesterdaystarted, I'm like, dude, I
already I was in the gymyesterday and I'm feeling my arm
get up and back again and I'mlike, oh my God, this is crazy.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (11:10):
He unlocked me again.
Yeah, man, Just findingpeople's potential.
It goes back to what we justtalked about in the beginning is
finding your potential.
How do you do that?
And you do that by creating aroutine right being regimented
on what you do.
So you're in your off season,You're here, I'm helping you get
(11:31):
right.
You're helping you get right,which is hey more important.
I know a lot of athletes get intheir head.
You're just living it up, man.
I love that about you, man.
You always have a positiveattitude.
Brenden Hardy (11:43):
That's so good, because I am an absolute head
case when it comes to this, youhide it.
well, yeah, I'm glad you don'thave a good poker face, but no
man, I am an absolute head case.
But the reason being these pastcouple years was like.
So I will say, going back tolast spring training in 23, I
(12:08):
ended up in another setbackbecause I just knew something
wasn't right with my shoulder.
I told that trainer that Itrusted and he went ahead.
He brought it up to the headtrainer and they were like all
right, we're going to give himan MRI.
They took an evaluation of myrehab program from the previous
year and they were like, dude,they realized and they took
(12:30):
accountability that they had medoing way too much to my
shoulder so it was just going tobe even more fatigue.
Like, yeah, it's generallygetting stronger, but if it
hurts we're no good to compete.
It's just that simple.
And then we re-evaluated it,changed up some stuff and they
had me doing a lot less, butmore.
(12:51):
I guess you could say moreparticular work, more specific
to what your injury was Exactly.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (12:59):
You know, I see that all the time, man, it's
hard for me, especially as asports doc, to hear somebody say
yeah, you know, my other doctorsaid I just need to stop
working out in somecircumstances.
I agree with it only becauseyou don't want to overwork your
player, right?
(13:19):
If I have you in physicaltherapy and then I have you with
me and we're doing a lot ofrehab stuff, and then you're
going to the gym and then you'rethrowing BP, dude, that
shoulder's never going to getbetter.
Exactly, you know, exactly.
So I totally get that, man.
I totally get that, especiallywith overhead sports.
That shoulder is not like yourhip.
No, that shoulder is this big,that hip is that big, you know,
(13:42):
thank you.
Brenden Hardy (13:42):
The potential there is endless, but we got to
treat it right a thousandpercent and that was the game
changer going into last seasonyeah like we treated it right,
we attacked it correctly, towhere last season you could go
look at the numbers.
It was by far my best.
Yeah, man, you know.
And it was just like, well, yousee what happens whenever you
(14:03):
feel good, yeah, it translates.
And then I wasn't a head case.
And then this year I startedfeeling some stuff creep back up
and I'm like okay, that'swhenever the wheels kept on
turning and everything like that, yeah, man.
But no, I mean, we still triedto hide it well.
Yeah, yeah, we still tried tohide it well.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (14:20):
Dude speaking of head case.
What about mental healthconnection in professional
sports?
So let head case.
What about mental healthconnection in in professional
sports?
So let's talk about, likebeyond physical therapy um, how
do you think your mental healthplays a role in recovery?
Brenden Hardy (14:35):
oh, I mean it's.
I would say it's the mostprominent, especially once you
get to the pro level, becausethe the talent gap isn't as big,
that margin margin is not asbig.
So, everybody is good enough,especially once you start
getting the double A and tripleA, because at that point they
already tell you like dude, youhave the talent to make it.
(14:58):
It's just how consistent areyou going to be, which is the
physical?
And then how well do youovercome adversity?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (15:08):
Wow.
Brenden Hardy (15:09):
That's a big one, right?
Yes, and it's like, how do youtake on failure and how quickly
can you bounce back?
And that's what they'reconstantly testing you on.
And I would just say, like, ifyour mental is so clouded which
I can admit to having this pastyear like it's hard, it's hard
to go out there and justconstantly trust yourself to be
(15:31):
good and be dominant every time.
But whenever you see a littlebit of success, then that's when
you start hunting more, huntingmore, and whenever you can keep
yourself from going down thatrabbit hole of what you did
wrong so much and just startfocusing on, start seeing it as,
oh, okay, it's a challenge tomake that better, and then you
(15:54):
just constantly just add on toyour strengths and next thing
you know you don't have anyholes in your game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (16:00):
Yeah, man, yeah, you're filling the gaps,
right exactly.
Brenden Hardy (16:03):
But mental health for sure is like up there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (16:08):
Yeah, that's why we're seeing sports
psychologists like we have here.
Dr Ferris man, you know there'sso many avenues people take
after they sustain an injury,and sometimes not very healthy,
you know.
So you need somebody like thatto talk to, who understands how
you're feeling.
You know what I'm saying.
Brenden Hardy (16:28):
Cause I mean, dude, you know what I'm saying.
Because I mean, dude, you know,playing a sport like you have
to hang your cleats up at somepoint.
Yeah, and there's no, there'sno real stability until you're
that 100 million dollar player,right, stuff like that right and
you make it to where you wantto be exactly so up until then,
I mean on your bad days you canget over analytical on yourself
or hypercritical, but it's justlike you just have to dial it
(16:52):
back and remind yourself hey, Iplayed this game originally just
because I loved it, and you'restill doing it.
Yeah, the stakes are higher, butit's still a game.
It's still a game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:04):
Still a game For the love of the game?
Exactly yeah, man.
Still a game For the love ofthe game?
Exactly yeah, man.
Now I hear you.
Let's talk about that, buildingtrust again.
We'll hit that one more timebecause I think that's really
important, really reallyimportant.
So developing a relationshipwith your sports med doctor, I
would say, is 100% crucial toyour success as an athlete,
right, oh yeah.
So what qualities do you thinkare important in that
(17:29):
relationship, or what do youlook for and how do you build
that?
Brenden Hardy (17:31):
trust.
What do I look for?
Yeah?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:35):
Minus the jetties on my feet, you know
what I'm saying.
Brenden Hardy (17:38):
Yeah, I got you, I got you.
I mean, that is up there.
You need to shoot contactsometimes before you make eye
contact.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (17:44):
Right, let's see what he's got.
Brenden Hardy (17:45):
Yeah, okay, yeah he's cool, yeah he's cool, but
uh, I mean just honestly, justto understand it, and somebody
who's willing to admit that, hey, I might not have the answer
right now yep but or I haven'tdealt with a case like yours,
right, but I'm willing to figureout what we need to do in order
(18:08):
to get you back to that nextlevel.
Yeah, man, just like.
That just plays a huge part init, because, like I'm not gonna
be, I'm not gonna be a knownperson walking into everybody's
sports sportsman like I'm not.
So that's exactly right.
So, like for people who come inor I might go to them and then
(18:30):
they're like oh yeah, that'sjust this, this, this.
Yeah, I saw a case like thatlast year and it's like.
The person you showed me thatyou worked on is the dad, and
he's four inches shorter than me.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (18:42):
I'm like um yeah, no, we're not the same
we're, and that's exactly rightand that's my thing, and I'm
just gonna say this boldly.
You know, um, I have physicaltherapy friends, good, good
friends.
A lot of them like to look atpaper and go all right, you met
that goal, you met that goal,check, check, check, check,
check.
Then I have uh, friends who areoutside of the box, things
(19:06):
outside of the box thinkers.
There we go and uh, one of themis up in wiggins man and, and
ryan harrell is his name.
And I tell you what, man, whenyou get together with somebody
who is 72 years old, againtalking about the same rotator
cuff injury, and then you have aprofessional baseball player
and they're doing the sameprogramming, that's a problem.
(19:27):
That's a problem, right?
So you want to find that trustin your sports doc.
Enough to know like, okay, mydoc knows that he's treating me
a lot differently, that this maygo a lot different than
according to plan, right, I hateplans, I hate plans.
And my wife even knows thatshe's like he's so spontaneous.
(19:50):
Yeah, I don't stick to the plan, I like to do things that you
know are spontaneous.
Hey, you come in and you'relike doc dude, you won't believe
it After first session, thatsupra that infra it feels so
good.
Can we work on the pack?
I'm not going to go'm in.
This is the plan.
We gotta work off the plan.
I'm gonna go.
Let's do it like let's hit thatpack.
Let's go, you know, let's let'ssearch in the rotator cuff,
(20:13):
make sure that's good, but thenwe're moving on.
Brenden Hardy (20:15):
You know what I'm saying yeah, I mean it's like
you have the basis, buteverything is not always gonna
go according to plan.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (20:20):
Yeah, that's right, because if it did, then
you wouldn't be injured.
Exactly, exactly.
Brenden Hardy (20:26):
You know what I'm saying and I feel like that's
where, like that's where me andyou like are where we get along
at the most, because I'm kind ofI'm kind of spontaneous yeah,
like I have my set routine whereit's like I know this is gonna
make me feel good to grow, yeah,but as far as like treatment
and everything, like dude, weplay 160 games.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (20:49):
I mean, that is a lot.
Brenden Hardy (20:51):
Like your body is not going to feel the same
every day.
No, and you're going to wake up.
You might sleep wrong.
At one hotel you got adifferent problem than what
you've ever dealt with beforeand it's like oh well, this is
outside your program, so I don'tknow if we should do it.
No, you've got to attack it.
You've got to fix the problemExactly before it becomes a
bigger issue.
Right?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (21:10):
Yeah, that's exactly what I've been telling
them, and they'll be in the NFLall along.
Just you need me, you know.
You wake up off the plane andyou're like, oh, crick in my
neck, oh, where's Harden?
And I'm right there, you know,let's get it.
Thank you, right.
No, I'm only kidding man.
There's plenty of people whoknow what they're doing out
there.
I just hope that they have theopportunity to have a
(21:33):
relationship, like you and Ihave, man.
I honor that relationship.
I know that, at the end of theday that you've done your best,
I've done my a thousand percent.
Brenden Hardy (21:42):
you know what I'm saying I mean dude, I can't
wait to see what what thingslook like come february me
either, because we're gonna dosome heavy work this off season.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (21:51):
Oh yeah, we already have in two days.
I know, can you imagine shoot,let's go you know, brennan said
today oh my god, I had a heavyleg day yesterday, first day off
season.
I'm surprised it's not workingon my legs.
Guess what, brennan?
It's happening.
We're gonna work to work oneverything, bro.
Sounds good, sounds good, I'mall for it.
Man, that's called theassessment.
Right, when you assess thepatient, it's not just their
(22:12):
chief complaint.
You know, I was talking to apatient earlier about some elbow
issues and she's a cheerleader.
I had another cheerleader comein and talk about hamstring
issues.
You know where that translates.
Well, how are your lifts going?
Hamstring issues you know wherethat translates.
Well, how are your lifts going.
Well, what do you mean?
Lifts?
I mean you're lifting up thesepeople in the air and you're not
doing pushups, you're not doingcalisthenics, you're not doing
(22:34):
any type of pressing movements.
No, sir, I'm just.
That's the problem.
We got to fix the foundationbefore we can fix the problem.
A thousand percent, you knowwhat I'm saying.
A thousand percent.
So, yeah, no, that's good stuff.
So what about your dailyroutine, man?
Can you walk us through atypical day in the life of a
professional baseball player,highlighting how you know how it
(22:54):
starts and how it ends?
Brenden Hardy (22:56):
Okay, During the season?
Oh, okay, I have a question foryou.
Yeah, in season or off season?
So in season, in season, yeah,typically so, typically so with
baseball, you know we play latergames, yeah, and I mean it's
same with every sport, so youtry to.
You're big on your sleep, so Iwake up around like 10, 10, 30
(23:17):
every day and I'll make sure toget me.
I'll try to eat a heavy lunchbecause I've already slept
through that breakfast, so wakeup around 1030.
I'll read my devotional first.
Cool man, I'll try to get upwithin the first 30 minutes.
I love that.
Yeah, I have to stay grounded.
Same the moment I don't read it.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (23:38):
Like you feel scattered, yeah, yeah, man,
this is going to sound funny,but the only peaceful time I
feel like I have is in theshower in the morning.
Literally when I walk into theshower, I say good morning, god,
it's Brandon, I'm here to talkto you, man, you know what I'm
saying.
Brenden Hardy (23:53):
I promise you I'm that same way.
Yeah, I'm that same way, yeah,because the moment you get out
of the shower it just bam Right,everything is going.
That's right.
So, yeah, I try to get that inby 11.
And then 11.30 to about 12.30,lunchtime, eat a heavy lunch.
My favorite is sriracha.
(24:14):
I love me some sriracha.
I'll eat that.
And then normally you have toroll into the field around 1 or
1.30.
So get there, stretch out, dowhatever personal work.
I need to as far as like, ifsomething's tight, go to the
trainer, probably, get thatrubbed out.
And it just depends on, like,if I have a light day or a heavy
(24:39):
day.
But if I need to be prepared topitch, I'm not doing too much
as far as like that pre-practice, because we have we have our
throwing program that startsaround 3 o'clock and you have a
miniature practice that you gothrough.
Hitters take VP and ground balls, all that.
Pitchers, we get our throwingin.
(25:00):
You throw your bullpen if youneed to.
Then you go back in about 2hours before game time, and
those 2 hours before game time,those are my most crucial.
So it's like all right ifsomething was kind of bothering
me out there at practice and Iwasn't going that hard.
Okay, we got time to fix it.
And then I go into mypre-pitching routine, which is
(25:23):
my more specific stretches, justmovement pattern, just getting
ready to throw, yeah, and dothat all pregame and then you
roll out for the game come 7o'clock.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (25:36):
Yeah, man, I'm sitting here writing down
more questions for Brendanbecause as he talks, I'm like
dude.
Yes, this is great.
How often are you throwing BP?
Brenden Hardy (25:47):
Normally I throw one bullpen per week and then
you're probably pitching twiceor even three times.
I had a couple weeks this pastyear where I pitched four times,
but also at the same time.
How I told you, I'm a head caselike whenever I'm pitching four
times in a week.
I have no time to think.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:07):
So those are my best weeks.
Brenden Hardy (26:09):
Yeah, yes, so just saving that group.
But uh, yeah, no, it's what isyour?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:14):
what is your your throwing program?
Look like.
How's your arm care?
Brenden Hardy (26:18):
in season.
So arm care I'm hitting armcare about at least five times a
week, Like there are very fewdays where I'm not doing
something.
And more so.
For me it's stabilizationBecause like, yeah, I know, if I
don't stay up on my arm careroutine, everything just starts
(26:38):
getting slowly weaker and thenrange of motion starts
increasing in places.
We don't stay up on my arm careroutine, everything just starts
getting slowly weaker, yeah,and then range of motion starts
increasing in places.
We don't need it to, so justconstantly making sure the
shoulder is like stable.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (26:49):
Yeah, and just locked in Nice, nice, okay,
no, that's cool man.
So what happens after the game?
Let's just talk about a littlebit of off season.
How does that look like?
Brenden Hardy (27:00):
Off season.
So what happens after the game?
Let's talk about a little bitof offseason.
How does that look like?
Offseason?
First three weeks, don't doanything.
Yeah, I was showing you breathe.
Yes, I can finally breathe.
I can finally breathe, I canwake up every day and I don't
have to be like, all right, wegot three hours till I go to the
field, right, but offseasonjust honestly, I should have
(27:23):
came in to you earlier but I waslike I'm not doing anything
baseball related.
No, yeah, I totally get that.
Yeah, I totally get the break,but just take some time off.
Definitely, take some time offof throwing.
I'll start that beginning ofNovember, but just basically
giving your body a break,because you did just go at it
(27:43):
every day for eight months, yeah, yeah, since February.
Really, man, yeah, so I meanit's like it's a long season.
You have to give your body sometime to rest and then now it
also gives me more room forgrowth rather than like last off
season.
I came in.
Well, I went to the fall leagueand I didn't get back until the
(28:07):
week before thanksgiving.
So I only had a week and a halfoff, and then december 1st
right back to it.
So I didn't have much rest atall.
So it was good, it was good totake that time off and then just
coming in, getting right withyou before I go to the gym and
then, like, also, I could bouncethings off of you.
(28:29):
As far as, like today, I toldyou it was supposed it was
supposed to be an upper body dayyeah but like we're really
digging into my shoulder.
So right, just giving it a dayto breathe.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (28:41):
Yeah, I could hit that tomorrow yeah,
yeah, being specific about it,right, yeah, yeah, man,
absolutely.
So.
What are some of the biggestlessons you've learned?
Um moving along as a youngathlete to a well-developed
professional athlete and um,what do you think could benefit
(29:01):
a young athlete trying to get towhere you are today?
Brenden Hardy (29:06):
basically I would have to say working smarter,
like obviously work hard, likeyou have to work hard, mm-hmm,
no about it, but I feel like Iwas working hard in the wrong
ways.
Oh wow, yeah, I was just overhere just trying to get as
strong as possible and thatshould equal VLO and it's like
(29:29):
no.
Like if you do more movementpatterning training, then that
will play better whenever you'reon the field, because you've
already trained those patternsLike you know how it goes.
So just being more, I guess youcould say player-specific to
(29:51):
your craft and also listen toyour body.
If you're a dog, tired anddrained.
That probably means you need totake a break that doesn't mean
that you aren't conditioned todo what you're doing.
Like your body, it takes wearand tear every day.
Listen to your body, take somerest days like yeah, whenever
(30:15):
they say oh, if you're notworking, somebody's getting
better than you, they might begetting better than you just by
resting and they come back freshthe next day.
That is exactly right.
And you're overworked andyou're not at the top of your
game.
So, work smarter, not harder.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (30:32):
There you go , man.
No, I like that message, Ireally do.
You know, it's funny because,excuse me, I have patients who
are retired professionalathletes who come in and they're
like, doc, I beat up my body.
What have you been doing, man?
Just going nonstop in the gymjust trying to keep up?
I'm like, bro, your cells, okay, aren't the same as they were,
(30:54):
you know, in your 20s, as theyare in your 60s?
Brenden Hardy (31:01):
You know it's like come on, give yourself,
give yourself a break.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (31:04):
Yeah and then talk about.
I'm trying to keep up.
Yeah, you're already way ahead,right, exactly.
At least you're in the gym anddoing things right.
You know what I'm saying, man.
Yeah, I bet that's funny thatyou say that, yeah, so, uh, what
about young athletes dealingwith injuries?
Could you give them any adviceand how they can start now by
(31:24):
incorporating therapy into theirroutines?
You know, I think what I'mfinding is a lot of parents are
coming to them like, oh my gosh,dr Harden, I didn't realize we
could do this.
What would you say if you couldgo back in time and find an
office like this one, one againbuilding trust there, but two
helping you along the way as ayoung professional?
Um, what, what advice would yougive a young person today if
(31:47):
they can find that?
Brenden Hardy (31:50):
use it like honestly use it.
Yeah, use any resource that youreally can, one that you trust
and you find really beneficialfor you.
Yeah, but I mean, as far asdon't just see it as, oh, I
don't need that right now, likeI'm not hurt, but it's like you
can you can use these resourcesin order to stay away from
(32:12):
injury or to just try to furtherprevent it as much as possible
that's it, prevention, right.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (32:19):
I think a lot, of a lot of people, even
our uh, athletic trainers andtherapists and even some
physicians, will go.
If it's not hurt, we're notgoing to fix it.
Well, it doesn't take atraumatic incident for somebody
to have something wrong, exactlyright.
If you get smashed in the faceby a baseball and knock your
teeth out, that's trauma.
(32:40):
You gotta fix that right.
But let's talk about yourthrowing mechanics.
You're feeling good, but you'relike you know what, doc, my
velo's going down, but I feelfine.
Obviously something's notworking right because you were
here and now you're here,exactly Right.
So it doesn't take pain, itdoesn't take one, not hurt for
you to go to that professionalto seek advice.
(33:00):
Take advantage of your sportsteam.
Thank you, right, that's whatwe're here for.
Thank you, and trust me, I loveit.
I absolutely love it.
When I see my guys coming in,I'm like yo, let's do this Like
this is going to be fun.
You know it's exciting for me.
And then you get to see us on TVin a matter of time and you're
going to be like, hey, that's myguy, that's why he's doing good
(33:22):
yeah, man, you know it makeseverybody proud and that's one
of the biggest things for youngpeople is we have to realize
while we're here now somebody'sgot to take over.
So what advice can we givethose people so that they can
start developing now right, worksmarter, not harder.
The quicker you learn it, thebetter you'll be later on down
people, so that they can startdeveloping now.
Brenden Hardy (33:40):
Right, true Work smarter, not harder.
The quicker you learn it, thebetter you'll be later on down
the road.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (33:44):
Yeah, man, absolutely, absolutely.
So, uh, you collaborate with,with your team, as far as a
holistic approach to your health.
You're not in there.
You know getting surgeries andand getting poked by needles and
not by any means.
Is that a bad way?
(34:05):
If you're in a bad way but youknow seeking help, like you say,
prior to an injury, um, how doyou take that approach?
Do you look at it like this iswhat I need to do to maintain,
this is what I need to do to getahead?
How do you look at the approachwe take as as your sports team?
Brenden Hardy (34:24):
I would have to say um, I feel like this is how
we get ahead yeah because, Imean, does an athlete ever
really want to maintain?
no, I hope not.
Lebron constantly tries to finda way to get better, so why
can't we?
That's right.
So I mean, it's just basicallylike whatever you can use to
(34:46):
your advantage.
Kobe Bryant said it.
He said he literally used theworld as his playground or his
classroom in order to get betterat his sport.
Man, what a missed athlete dude.
I know, man, I'm missed athletedude, I know.
I know I'm telling you RIPMamba Dude.
Yeah, but just listening to theway that he talked about his
(35:12):
sport and his craft and just hiswork ethic, like it really
gives you.
He breaks it down.
He breaks down greatness andall you have to do is just be
willing to do it.
Yeah, I mean, that's thehardest thing.
Yeah, because obviously itcomes with timeless just
timeless hours in the gym, andit's just like if, if you're
(35:34):
willing to put in that work,you'll see some of the same
results that he had.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (35:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly right, man,
you can't sit on the couch andwatch somebody else do it and
live through it.
You got to know it.
You got to get up and do it.
Exactly Right.
Brenden Hardy (35:46):
Thank you, cause if anybody else, don't, do it
for you?
Dr. Brandon Hardin (35:49):
Yep, exactly .
So what about future goals?
Man, like in closing, I want toknow looking ahead, how do you
see yourself Um, um, and and canwe talk about your agency?
Yeah, okay, so brendan's onfree agency right now.
So whoever's listening, guys,you need him, trust me, you need
him.
Um, how does that look like?
(36:10):
What?
What's ahead of you?
What are you looking forward?
Brenden Hardy (36:12):
to.
What I'm looking forward to isjust getting an opportunity,
yeah, to prove to every MLBorganization that the kid
finally got it right, dude, Ilove that.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (36:25):
I'm going to write that down.
The kid finally got it right.
Brenden Hardy (36:30):
So I'm just ready to really come off of a great
offseason, put in the time, putin the work and just really hone
in and solidify all aspects ofmy game.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (36:45):
Yeah, how old are you, brendan?
24.
24.
So when he says the kid finallygot it right, how long have you
been in the professional world?
Seven years, do you guys hearthat?
I mean that speaks a volume.
The kid finally got it right,dude.
I love that In a volume.
The kid finally got it right,dude.
I love that in closing, I do.
That's a profound statement.
I like that.
We need to make a t-shirt allright with your face on it.
(37:06):
The kid finally got it right.
Yeah, where do you see yourselfending up?
Uh, after baseball, what after?
Brenden Hardy (37:13):
baseball.
The dream is to open up my ownmega facility.
Let's do it.
I already told you and I don'twant to put it out there too
much but me and you will talkafter this.
But, yeah, I just want to own amega facility to where,
(37:35):
hopefully, we can have the bigthree sports.
Where you have a turf areamarked out for football, where
you have a turf area marked outfor football players, yeah, you
have a court well, multiplecourts for basketball players
coming in and just having thosecorrect trainers and then
hopefully we have you in there.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (37:52):
Yeah, multi-sport, fully integrated,
exactly, just fully integrated.
Watch these kids grow, exactly.
Isn't that the most?
That that's to me?
So I'm a dad of four brendan.
It doesn't have any kids yet.
Brenden Hardy (38:05):
No, okay, yeah we just want to let y'all know
that right.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (38:10):
Being a dad has is so fun and it's such an
experiment, man, to watch themgrow mentally right, but to to
listen to them, uh, when they'rein the gym with me even.
You know I work out a lot andand, hey, you are what you eat,
you are what you preach.
My kids love to work out.
I love watching them grow, uh,in the athletic realm, in a
(38:32):
sense that they know dad'salways got their back right, so
that's always awesome.
But they have people like youto look up to and I love hearing
whenever they listen to this.
My 11 year old will go Dad, youhad Brennan Hardy on your show
today.
I'm like, yeah, he'll say whydidn't?
you invite me up there.
You know, it's just so fun towatch them on and off the field
(38:54):
because they literally they lookup to you guys so much.
So I just want to say, man,thank you for coming on the show
today.
I really appreciate yourfriendship and I'm ready to see
you do big things because,you're right, the kid finally
got it right.
Brenden Hardy (39:09):
I love that yeah dude, absolutely so.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (39:14):
Those questions today were there to
create a deep and engagingconversation with Brendan about
shedding some light on hispersonal experiences and the
insights of him as a player, asa professional athlete, while
highlighting my role as hissports med doctor and I want to
thank you for coming on today.
(39:34):
I want to say that you'vealready done big things.
You're going to do even greaterthings.
Say that you've already donebig things.
You're going to do even greaterthings.
Keep up your faith, man.
Keep your faith intact.
I really hope to see yousucceed in everything you do.
Yes, sir.
Brenden Hardy (39:48):
I appreciate it.
I just appreciate you beinghere.
I'm so ready to get to work,Absolutely.
Dr. Brandon Hardin (39:57):
Hopefully we can have you over here just
flying private that'd be fun,man, that would be a lot of fun.
So, as you guys know, on everypodcast we end.
The journey truly never endsright.
So keep up the good work andwe'll see you next time.
Thanks for tuning in.
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