Major league

Published: 01/25/2008 By Donna Harris
Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

Kelly Johnson was pretty happy with his first season of playing second base for the Atlanta Braves, and he attributes much of his success to his off-season training.

Johnson, 25, spent last winter working out at Rapid Sports Performance, an athletic training center on Highway 92 in Woodstock, to increase his agility, flexibility, speed and strength.

And he has no doubts that the training helped him make a smooth transition to his new position.

"When I went to spring training, I was more flexible, more agile and faster," the former outfielder said Monday before his workout. "There's no question, everything I needed to do, I was able to do."

"With Kelly, we're working on strength and flexibility," said Mike Berenger, the center's founder and director of training. "His ability to take ground balls, get down low, stay down low. And we're working on agility and speed."

After missing the entire 2006 season due to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, Johnson played his first full major league season last year while also transitioning to second base.

He ended the season with a .978 fielding percentage - only making 14 errors in 624 total chances while playing in 133 games, 127 of them as a starter.

"I thought it went well," he said. "I didn't play the infield for three or four years, and I was coming off a year when I didn't play at all. As I got a little more comfortable, I got better. Not playing the position since my freshman year of high school, I feel pretty happy."

Johnson, who began his training in November, said he had never done a lot of off-season workouts until teammate Blaine Boyer told him about Rapid.

Before he could call about it, Berenger had already gotten his phone number and "invited me to come in," he said.

"They put me through the wringer," he said. "I felt a little tired."

Johnson said it's "nice to have somebody get real hands-on" with planning his workout program.

"(Mike) sits down and makes out a workout, and it changes," he said. "He tailors it to what everybody needs. Everybody is different. I've found a lot of places you go want everybody to do the same thing. Finding a spot like this really helps."

Working with Berenger is good for people who need motivation to come to the gym, as well as the ones who need motivating once they get there, Johnson said.

"I'm a self-starter, and I want to come out," he said. "But once I get here, I need help pushing myself as hard as I can go and to do other things I normally wouldn't do."

This winter, he's driving from his Atlanta home to Rapid three or four times a week for a two-hour workout with free weights, pulleys, elastic bands, stability balls, balance boards and computerized training equipment.

"Last year, coming off surgery, I couldn't do the strength training," he said. "But this year, a lot of emphasis is put on being stronger than I was and feeling good. It's a long season. It wears you down so you have to prepare more to get through it."

He also sharpens his footwork with ladder drills, practices his batting in the indoor hitting cage and increases his speed in the 70-yard outdoor sprint lane.

"Kelly will drop two- or three-tenths seconds off his 40-yard from doing speed work," Berenger said.

Johnson got married Saturday and is taking time off for his honeymoon, but after he returns, he said he'll work out until about mid-February, then head to spring training in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

"(Kelly's) a hard worker," Berenger said. "Baseball players are tough. They play a long season and have a small amount of off-season time. He has a great work ethic, and that's why he's going to be great this year."

Berenger, who lives in southwest Cherokee, opened the two-story, 12,000-square-foot facility in 2003 after "opting to get laid off" from an engineering job at Lucent Technologies.

"I wanted to pursue this," he said. "This is what makes me happy, not sitting in a cubicle doing engineering work."

Certified trainers provide customized workouts, modeled after National Association of Sports Medicine guidelines, for clients as young as 9 years old.

"Every age range has goals to work on balance, coordination, motor skills, footwork," Berenger said. "The higher-level guys, we find out what their weaknesses are and design a program for that."

His association with the Braves came after meeting director of scouting Roy Clark and being invited to spring training camp.

"They look at me as a trusted training facility," he said. "They know I'm not going to get these guys hurt."

Besides Johnson, Berenger also works with Kevin Slowey, a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins; Tyler Flowers and Travis Jones, infielders for the Rome Braves; Tim Ladd, a pitcher for the Rome Braves; Terry Evans, an outfielder in the Los Angeles Angels organization; Andrew Pinckney, a third baseman in the Boston Red Sox organization; and Cedric Hunter, a center fielder in the San Diego Padres organization.

Several college players from Georgia Tech, Georgia and Clemson also train there.

"Every year I hope to get more guys," he said. "Kelly's doing a great job, definitely improving. Hopefully people will see that, and if they live in the area, they'll want to see what he's been doing."

He also has a large number of high school athletes coming in from seven different schools, which is one reason he wanted to open the center in Woodstock.

"It's amazing how many schools in this area are within driving distance," he said. "There's a great need for this in this area."