All About Pitching

How To Train Pitchers To Build Pitching Velocity During The Off-Season

All pitchers have the same problem, and that is time. What will they do with their time during the off-season to improve pitching velocity and control so that by spring they will have greatly improved.

Weight Training Does Not Improve Pitching Velocity

If weight training was so important for improving pitching or reducing pitching arm injuries, then how did pitchers prior to weight training improve velocity and not get injured? Weight training is a relatively new activity for pitchers…about 1990 it came into vogue. It is working? I don't see how.

High school pitchers will improve velocity mostly from growth and development…not from weight training or long toss. Most pitching coaches or strength coaches will tell high school or college pitchers to get bigger and stronger in the weight room. However, although weight training may have a place in a conditioning program for building some general body strength, weight training will not help a pitcher improve his velocity. In fact, weight training may actually make that pitcher slower since weight training exercises are done at a slow pace while the pitching delivery is an explosive movement.

After about four to six weeks of general weight training, a pitcher will not be able to use any of the additional strength he has gained since pitching is not a strength activity. After all, pitchers are only trying to move a 5 oz. baseball…not a 300 lb. lineman. That's why 10-year-old pitchers are able to throw 70 mph plus…without much strength.

Pitching velocity is much more about speed of movement and momentum than arm strength or overall body strength. So for pitchers who want to get into better condition for pitching doing explosive full body exercises is a far better choice. Conditioning the pitcher for power is a far better choice.

Pitchers Must Practice From A Mound

What then should most high school, college or minor league pitchers do during the off-season to improve their velocity and control? There is only one practice activity that makes sense and that is pitching from the mound while constantly videotaping their mechanics in order to make needed adjustments. While doing this they can also work on improving all their pitches while expirementing using different pitching grips.

Pitching drills

Pitching drills are not a sensible way to help a pitcher improve since drills create slow robotic movements. Pitching drills are the cause of pitchers not being able to improve their velocity. For example doing the towel drill, balance drill or kneeling drill will insure that pitchers remain slow.

Don't Practice On Flat Ground

Probably the best pitching tip I can give a pitchers is that if they want to improve their fastballs, their control or all their pitches then they must practice pitching from the mound at least twice a week during the off-season. Pitching from flat ground makes little sense since pitching from a mound is what pitchers do during games. Plus pitching mechanics are much different when throwing on flat ground.

What To Practice For Improved Pitching Velocity

If pitchers can practice at least twice a week from a mound while slowing building their volume of pitches and intensity, they can make significant increases in pitching velocity by Spring. I would prefer they practice three times a week during the last four to six weeks prior to their practice season beginning.

If pitchers don't practice then how will they improve their skills? Do professional golfer take three of four months off each year. Of course not. If they did they would not be able to remain on the pro tour. Do tennis players take three or four months off. Of course not. How about other sports like tennis, gymnastics or swimming. None takes time off because they all know that to improve you must practice more often.

Pitching Has Little To Do With Arm Strength

The problem today in baseball is that pitching coaches believe that pitching is all about arm strength. And if a pitcher pitches too much he will hurt his arm. The fallacy with that thinking is that coaches do not consider pitching mechanics where the body provides the energy and the arm is along for the ride. As long as pitchers are first of all "fit to pitch" while using their bodies to produce velocity and are monitoring their pitching mechanics, the likelihood of an arm injury is slim.

Actually, I believe that not pitching enough volume of pitches from a mound is one of the big reasons why there are so many arm injuries today because the pitcher's body cannot remain fit to deliver his arm…therefor his arm is at risk since the body is not fit to pitch.

What Can Boost Velocity

I have already mentioned that pitching drills are mostly a waste of time for pitchers who are not rank beginners because they produce slow robotic pitchers. The only sensible way to improve velocity is by improving the ability of the pitchers body to produce more momentum, more elastic energy into a stride that is at least a pitcher's height.

Pitchers with slow tempo or any hesitation in their delivery will not reach their velocity potential. By focusing on building more momentum into a longer stride while constantly videotaping and making adjustments, most pitchers should be able to improve their velocity anywhere from 6-12 mph during the off-season…all without long toss, weight training or wasting time throwing weighted balls.

I saw this recently with one of our clients, a 6' 160 lb. RH 16-year-old RH pitcher from Temecula, CA. By focusing on his speed of movement and increasing his stride length nearly 20 inces, by understanding how to build more momentum, he was able to increase his velocity from 78-87 mph in just under six weeks. No long toss, weighted balls or foolish drills. He simply focused on building more momentum into a longer stride while eliminating his high leg lift which actually slowed him down.

I will be talking more about this subject in future articles. But here is the bottom line…do not waste the off-season. Do get into pitching shape by doing functional explosive exercises while deemphasizing weight training.

If you really want to improve you must pitch and pitch a lot but you must make sure you are using your body to produce velocity…not your arm. Improve your pitching mechanics, become more explosive, build momentum into a longer stride while monitoring your mechanics using a camcorder…and watch your velocity jump by next spring.

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