All About Pitching

Facts Pitchers Should Know About Off-Season Training

Now that the most boring World Series of the past 20 years is over, even though my team won it, pitchers at the high school, college, and professional levels will go to work getting ready for next Spring…which is only 3½ months away.

I use the beginning of Spring Training as the beginning of spring because I live here in Scottsdale, Arizona, where today it will be 94º again. The problem is that the large majority of pitchers will waste valuable time during the off-season on activities that will not help them improve their overall pitching performance, whether it's for gaining more velocity or better control.

What most will do is hit the weight room to get bigger and stronger because that's what their coaches told them to do in order to improve their velocity. That won't work.

Or they will do a lot of long toss for improved velocity. That won't work either.

Some are even encouraged not to throw or pitch at all and just give their arm a rest. That won't work to become better.

Imagine if a golfer took three months off. His swing mechanics and overall skills would quickly deteriorate. Playing winter ball is encouraged in places like Florida where pitchers end up playing just about all year long. This is good for coaches who need players, but it is not good for pitchers who need to improve their skills since they will have no time away from competition where these new found skills can be deeply embedded.

Game competition forces the pitcher to go back to his old ways, so trying to make changes in mechanics is much more difficult when playing. To make changes in mechanics, it's best to get away from competition. Most pitchers I have seen could use a mechanical makeover if they want to improve their velocity. Pitching in games is not going to allow that to happen.

So what's left that works to get pitchers quickly to the next level with improved velocity, far better command of all pitches while reducing the risk of injury? Pitching from a mound at least twice a week at full game intensity, while being videotaped. Now that works.

My recommendation is to throw two 75 pitch, game intensity bullpens twice a week once the pitcher has most of his mechanical faults ironed out. That's 150 pitches per week minimum, or 600 a month. If every pitch is focused on producing a specific result, whether it's fixing a mechanical issue or focusing on mastering down and away or throwing inside strikes, any pitcher will dramatically improve doing that 600 times per month.

The problem is that many high school pitchers will be pitching off a mound at some indoor baseball facility under the watchful eye of a professional instructor who has no intention of videotaping his mechanics regularly, if at all. This really means that nobody is paying much attention except eyeballing his delivery without being able to give specific instruction on exactly what must be changed in order to improve.

I don't know how much money is wasted on a national basis on pitchers who parents believe their sons are getting sound instruction…when many are actually getting worse from week to week. Without videotaping and knowing what each pitcher needs to change, pitching improvement is unlikely.

Things to keep in mind for the off-season:

1. After about four or five weeks of weight training to build some general strength, any additional strength training is a waste of time and may increase the risk of injury. After some general strength training get to work on more productive fitness by doing explosive full body exercises such an lower body plyometrics and upper body medicine ball.

2. Long toss can be used during the off-season as a general full body exercise but will have little to no effect on improving velocity.

3. Pitching drills of any sort are the biggest time wasters for pitchers of all ages and are responsible for creating slow, robotic and mechanical pitchers who end up over-thinking about their mechanics.

4. Never waste time pitching at less than game intensity or on flat ground. Both of those activities have no benefit when a pitcher is required to pitch from a mound. Flat ground throwing is actually more stressful than mound pitching…by a long shot. Throwing at less than game intensity such as 75-80% is actually like a completely different skill and does not transfer to improving full game intensity so it is virtually a waste of time.

Ultimately the most important fact that parents, coaches, and pitchers should understand is that when pitchers learn how to use their body to produce velocity the arm takes on far less stress. For improved velocity pitchers need to move faster away from the rubber and reach stride lengths 100% of their height. Not only does velocity improve but so doesn't control. Pitchers can use the off-season to improve or they can waste time and end up wondering in the Spring what happened.

Don't Forget - My Complete Pitching Instruction program is the only complete "pitching clinic" home study course available that is backed by real sports science research. It's designed for parents, coaches, and players of all ages. Whether you're a pitcher just starting out, or an advanced pitcher looking for answers, we make it simple to understand for both the parent and pitcher.

"Dick’s program has given me the knowledge I need as a pitching coach to help young people succeed. I highly recommend it to any pitcher Little League through college. From mechanics to conditioning to the mental aspect, everything he does is top notch. His program helped our pitchers go 29-1, have a 0.80 ERA last season, and win a State Championship."

Banks Faulkner, Gilbert Indian Baseball, Gilbert, SC

If you're serious about improving pitching performance without risking arm injury or worse reserve your copy of the Complete Pitching Instruction DVD Set today!