Does Long Toss Really Improve Pitching Velocity

by Dick Mills on October 22, 2008

Is long toss for pitchers valuable for improving pitching velocity or for decreasing the risk of injury.  There is no evidence that supports either.  But the beliefs about how valuable long toss is for pitching continues to be perpetuated by coaches and instructors.

Some of the reasons you will hear about why long toss is valuable actually make no sense. The beliefs about long toss benefits have been circulating for years and years without anyone challenging whether they even make sense or not.

Here is a quote from my coauthor Dr. Brent Rushall regarding pitching practice:

"What are the skill elements in long-toss that match those of pitching? If there are similar elements how does the body learn to transfer those elements between the two activities? What is the mechanism that provokes the body to make such a transfer? Of course, the answer is that there is no transfer. The body is equipped to tell the difference between activities and is not equipped to realize similarities. Because of this, similar activities lead to performance confusion/degradation rather than performance refinement. When activities are similar, such as with different pitches, many specific trials with discriminatory feedback are required to teach the pitcher the subtle differences between the activities so that the individual pitches can be thrown with admirable levels of control and not display irrelevant elements of the others."
Dr. Brent Rushall, Ph.D

When it comes to long toss, you will hear that the throwing arm muscles must be lengthened and strengthened. My response is which muscles in the arm need to be lengthened and strengthened? No one seems to know this. 

Or other coaches will say that you do not get the same full stretch in the arm while pitching from the mound that you do while long tossing?  Why not?  But why is stretching the arm valuable? Actually in a study from 2004 it has been proven that stretching the arm more actually reduces velocity and increases the risk of injury. Doesn't the arm go through the same range of motion while pitching from the mound as when doing long toss?

Pitching  Is Not A Distance Throwing Activity Like Throwing A Javelin

What is most important to understand is that pitching is not a distance activity. Throwing a javelin is. Pitching a baseball must be performed at a specific distance whether 46 feet in Little League or 60'6" in high school, college or professional baseball.  A pitcher is not able to crow hop down the mound. He must learn by many, many repetitions who to shift and transfer his weight explosively from the back leg to the front leg.

Where does the throwing arm release point have to be positioned to throw a low strike?  Certainly not where the arm is positioned to throw the ball 150-300 feet.  So the release point trained from long toss cannot help a pitcher throw a strike from the mound.  Thus we have a pitcher teaching his arm to have two different release points.  If the pitcher employs his long toss release point while pitching, the ball will go well about the catcher and into the screen.

Does anyone care  about how far a pitcher can throw the ball? Throwing far means nothing in terms of your ability to improve velocity from the mound. They are separate activities. Different skills completely.  Pitching from the mound is not a general activity. It is a highly defined mechanical skill where several types of pitches must be practiced so that these pitches can be properly located in and around the strike zone.   This is a highly defined skill that requires thousands of repetitions. 

Long Toss Has Little Value According The This Principle

Based on one of the most important sports science principles...which baseball ignores - the Principle of Specificity, long toss will have no benefit transfer to pitching. None!

The real question is why would you not invest the time and energy into pitching from the mound instead of in doing long toss?

Wouldn't all pitchers get better since the goal of pitching is getting hitters out with all their pitches at varying speeds into different locations. This is a defined skill. Any time not spent on pitching from the mound cannot possibly improve your ability to improve your mechanics, your control or your velocity. Or for getting hitters out which will determine how much pitching you actually do. 

Do coaches want pitches who can throw far or who can get hitters out consistently.  It seems baseball has not examined this question. 

Do we really want to train the pitcher's body to have several different feelings...long toss, flat ground, pitching at different intensities, different release points, varying distances, and different stride lengths? These are all different activities.

Which practice activity will the body rely on when it's time to get hitters out?

Some coaches believe long toss helps a pitcher improve the ability to control his body. How will doing one activity like long toss help you control your body while pitching from a mound which does not allow a crow hop and is moving the body down a slop at a different rate of speed. The deceleration upon landing (bracing action of the knee and hip) must be learned by pitching from the mound. Deceleration on flat ground is not the same. Thus why pitching on flat ground will never provide the feel of pitching from the mound.

The bottom line is that any time spent on long toss or any other practice activity such as flat ground pitching, cannot improve pitching or reduce the risk of injury.

This, by the way, will be part of my topic when I speak in January 2009 at The American Sports Medicine Institutes 27th annual Course On Baseball Injuries in Houston - Why non-specific practice does not improve performance and how it leads to more injuries.

Show me the evidence that long toss has improved performance and reduced injuries. That evidence does not exist today.

Dick