RedLine Takes Athletes to the Next Level

That’s the title of an Orange County Register article featuring RedLine Athletics. Below is the text of the entire article, written by Paul Bersebach of the Register:

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Being able to run an athletic training facility was a dream of Lyndsey Simmons’ since he was a young boy.

With RedLine Athletics in San Juan Capistrano, he is able to live it as the facility’s owner. Simmons, a 27-year-old former Mets and Nationals minor-leaguer, was on the Mets’ spring-training roster as a catcher. Lyndsey Simmons is the owner of RedLine Athletics in San Juan Capistrano.

“Being in baseball and having a wife and two kids was very taxing on my family,” Simmons said. “I would be gone for about 10 out of 12 months. So I decided to retire. I was right on the brink of breaking into the big leagues. I hung it up when my daughter was born.”

Simmons’ passion for baseball has been channeled into his passion for the gym, which opened in 2005 in Laguna Niguel and moved to its current location on Calle Perfecto this year. The business is planning on opening a second facility in January somewhere in south Orange County.

“We’re definitely not comfortable, we’re not complacent,” Simmons said. “Being new, we have a chip on our shoulder. You’re not going to beat our youth or our energy … our kids feel like they belong to a club.”

Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback Carson Palmer, who starred at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and USC, is a RedLine client, as is his younger brother and Bengals third-string QB Jordan.

RedLine has helped athletes excel in sports like baseball, football, tennis, golf, basketball, softball and volleyball, to name a few.

“I feel way more satisfied owning this gym than I did in all my years playing baseball,” Simmons said. “We’re an all-sport gym. There really hasn’t been a sport we haven’t done.”

It has helped produce results for local area athletes. Consultant Neal Schultz estimates that 80 percent of the members are between the ages of 12 and 22. They include Oregon State linebacker Ben Terry, who played at Saddleback College, and pitcher John Lamb, a fifth-round pick in 2008 of the Kansas City Royals.

Another example is starting pitcher Jeff Kaplan of the St. Lucie Mets, a single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. Kaplan played at Cal-State Fullerton and at Irvine Valley College. Kaplan finished 7-7 with a 2.45 earned-run average this season.

“I needed a place to step up and complete at the next level,” Kaplan said. “RedLine has been the place that’s done that. They have a good relationship with the Mets, they know what I’m doing. They help me do my strength and agility work. It gives me all the aspects I need to be a pro athlete.”

Two more recent examples are Dana Hills’ starting pitcher, Aflac All-American and UCLA verbal commit Peter Tago, projected to be a first- or second-round pick in next year’s Major League Baseball Draft; and left-handed pitcher Zach Johnson, who accepted a full-ride scholarship to play at San Diego State University. There are various clients from lacrosse to even a professional race car driver, Connor De Phillippi.

“I want to make a positive impact on the kids’ lives,” Simmons said. “We’ve helped them land 30 athletic scholarships in three years.”

The training involves a personal trainer at nearly all times. Simmons gives free one-hour evaluations himself and is on the premises nearly every day. The athletes are first put through a series of tests, like vertical jumps, strength and flexibility tests.

“What makes us unique is we work on very specific areas,” Simmons said. “If someone has a tight hamstring, we make sure he’s loose so he doesn’t injure himself later on. We have an arm care device, which strengthens a quarterback’s rotator cuff so he’s used to throwing over and over and doesn’t get hurt.”

Simmons did not necessarily go into too much detail talking about the equipment, which includes a Vertimax machine, which involves resistance plyometrics and a Bungie cord that connects to the person to provide resistance. There is also overspeed training, in which a Bungie cord is tied to the waist and springs the runner forward. There are also free weights and kettle bells.

But he boasts about his staff. They include former Mets strength and conditioning coach Eric Korop, head baseball and softball coach Dan Cumins, who played for five years in the Mets’ organization, and Brad Hinkle, who pitched for the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.

“My staff has had the highest amount of training and they’ve played at the highest level,” Simmons said. “That’s my secret weapon is our staff. My first question in some of our job interviews is, ‘What’d you play?’ If they’ve played high school or community college, or they’ve only read about it in a book, we’re not going to hire them.”