If Throwing A Football Doesn’t Work To Improve Arm Strength For Baseball Pitchers Why Would Weighted
Baseball pitching velocity is not about arm strength but about pitching arm speed.
I had an interesting discussion today with the father of a senior high school baseball pitcher and quarterback.
His boy had recently attended a college clinic on baseball pitching instruction where the pitching coach was recommending that for this boy to increase his pitching velocity 2-3 mph by January that he should throw weighted baseballs. I obviously did not agree because there is no reason why weighted balls can work and only one flawed study that says they do.
The father didn't think that that throwing weighted balls for more baseball pitching velocity made much sense either. After all, he said that his son has been throwing a weighted ball—a football—for the past four years and all during the current fall football season and that it didn't seem to be making much difference in his son's pitching velocity. So he didn't believe that weighted baseballs made much sense.
Intelligent fathers are beginning to understand and question the "why" and the "how" of some of the baseball pitching strength training and other techniques such as throwing weighted baseballs for developing pitching velocity that are being recommended by many coaches or baseball pitching websites. These baseball pitching websites should be a "red flag" that these baseball website owners do not understand baseball pitching training principles or the biomechanics of baseball pitching.
This boy is a superior athlete proven by the fact that he is a quarterback. He has been throwing a football and has been working in the weight room. But his father doesn't believe that either of these activities are going to help his son improve his baseball pitching velocity.
This boy's high school coach told him to long toss for more pitching velocity. The coach never explained why he should.
This father could not understand how this would work either. He said his boy can already throw a football pretty long.
I asked this father if the coaches who were giving this pitchilng velocity advice explained why these activities would work. He said they did not. And I explained that none of them could explain the reason these things would work because there was absolutely no scientific reason why they would.
I explained that baseball pitching was not about arm strength but about pitching arm speed and that no amount of weight training was going to increase pitching arm speed or the ability of the body to help create it because in baseball pitching the speed factor is dominant over the strength factor. And you can't have both working at the same time. Even sprinters can only use the strength they gain to get out of the starting blocks but not once they are up and sprinting. This is just an example of sports science principles that have been fully proven over the years just like the law of gravity or Newton's laws.
I also explained why weighted balls do not work because the "overload principle" which weighted baseball advocates say is the reason that they work…does not apply. This simply means that even using the heaviest weighted ball (14 oz I believe) is not enough to make a physiological change within any muscle of the arm or the shoulder that could possibly contribute to creating more arm speed. After all even if the weighted balls did work ( which they cannot) the added strength won't have an effect because baseball pitching is about speed not strength.
If long toss worked to improve pitching velocity then you would be able to take any outfielder with an average arm such as Barry Bonds, have him long toss more and he would end up with an arm like Vladimer Guerrero, the Angels strong armed MVP. Is that likely to happen. No.
If we put Vladimer Guerrero on the mound would he necessarily throw 90 mph plus? Not necessarily. Why? Because he has not trained his body using baseball pitching mechanics throwing downhill which is a completely different movement, skill and activity than throwing from the outfield. With practice could he? Maybe—maybe not.
Could all football quarterbacks with great arms throw 90 mph plus? I seriously doubt it. And yet they have strong arms. Strong arms that are specific to throwing a football…not a baseball. It doesn't necessarily transfer.
Baseball however, does not understand most of this. And clearly most baseball pitching websites don't either. They will however take your money when you order their baseball pitching training aid or their program that shows you how to increase arm strength. All unproven foolishness.
I suggest that whenever anyone gives you baseball pitching training advice or advice about pitching mechanics that you ask "why does that work." And if they tell a pitcher to do something like "push off the rubber" harder just ask them to demonstrate it. Most will not be able to demonstrate it to your satisfaction.
You see in any sport for things to work better there must be a sports science principle or biomechanical principle behind it. You can't just pull ideas out of thin air such as using a weighted vest to improve baseball pitching posture. Will that work? Why would it? What it will do though is slow a pitcher down since baseball pitching is an explosive activity. When you strap on a weighted vest for whatever purpose you are teaching the body to be slow.
Do these coaches or instructors just believe it works or do they have evidence that it works in every case. Most do not have evidence but rather have anecdotal belief. It may have worked for three pitchers here…but there are another 1000 that it did not work for or got results without using it.
Remember it's hard to change people's beliefs.
If you have questions on any phase of pitching—mechanics, strength and conditioning, mental training, strategy send those questions to dickmills@gmail.com and I will answer them here.
If you want an explosive body and explosive mechanics you need to get my Free Report at www.pitching.nexcess.net. We won't waste your time. We show you what works and what has been proven to work. I show you a comparison between two high school pitchers and a major league pitcher who throws mid to upper nineties. Find out why you do not have "explosive mechanics" that produce more velocity.
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!