Is Weight Training For Baseball Pitchers Necessary To Throw Hard And Perform Better?

by Dick Mills on December 09, 2004

The question is can baseball pitchers who do not engage in formal weight room training routines be as successful as those who engage in offseason and inseason weight room training?

Since the book Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible was written back in the early 90's by Tom House and Nolan Ryan, showing Nolan Ryan doing a weight training routine, baseball has certainly jumped on the "get stronger" bandwagon. The erroneous conclusion drawn by pitchers and sadly many coaches is that after seeing Nolan Ryan weight train…is that the weight room training is what made Nolan Ryan a Hall of Famer or aided him in pitching into his forties.

If that statement were true then we would have to assume that all players during Nolan Ryan's career or those pitchers who played before him and did not weight train could not have had long and productive careers. Remember we are talking about a true rarity in major league baseball…a pitcher who pitched until the age of 45. And weight training must then be the reason…along with good mechanics but certainly not good genes.

The lage majority of major league and professional pitchers prior to the late eighties or early 90's did little if any formalized weight training. That means that for well over 125 years of major league baseball…pitchers were successful while doing little if any weight training. And do we have evidence that pitching has overall become better and less injury prone today since the advent of all this formalized weight training? I have not seen it. In fact, it is my belief… because I do not think they have done any formal research…that pitchers are less effective and more injury prone than ever while actually pitching less than they did just 15 years or so.

There may be a number of reasons for this however what I see pitchers doing more of today than ever is spending a good part of their offseason training in the weight room and weight training during the season. And there is zero evidence available that weight training will improve performance but there is a large body of sports science evidence that proves that weight training does not improve baseball or even football performance. I know that is very difficult for players and coaches to believe…even in light of all the sports science evidence but they will continue to philosophize, develop and recommend programs that are all "belief based" rather than "evidence based."

Here is the gist of a headline of a an article written by a former minor league pitcher…who is trying sell his professional experiences online.

"Pitchers, If You Don't Lift Weights, You Won't Maximize Your Full Potential." He goes on to say that if anyone tells you that weight lifting has limiting benefits then you are being lied to…plain and simple.

Based on the two studies that appear below…it seems that this instructor is misleading himself and his potential customers. He also mentions that strength training is an essential element of becoming a complete pitcher. He obviously doesn't believe that baseball has produced any complete pitchers prior to the advent of weight training. I believe there is ample evidence to prove that there were far more complete pitchers then… than there are now. Actually hundreds more if not thousands.

He also mentions that strength training is not only essential but is one of the proven ways to build throwing arm strength to increase velocity. Where I would ask is his "proof" since baseball cannot produce it since sports science cannot produce it from evidence based studies.

In fact, it has been proven in sports science studies that in explosive activities such as pitching…strength is not a key component…however speed of movement is. That means that little if any of the strength derived from weight training will tansfer to throwing velocity from the mound.

Unfortunately from all of his statements we must conclude that he too is using "belief based" coaching and more than likely most of his knowledge comes from his experiences…which have proven not to be a reliable form of maximizing a pitcher's potential.

He then goes on to use anecdote to point out three high level major league pitcher (out of over 300 plus per year) who he "believes" are now throwing harder because of weight training. We must then conclude that all successful major league pitchers are throwing harder because of weight training and out of the 297 others the unsuccessful ones must not be involved in a formalized weight training routine?

I know several who do not believe in formalize weight training.

It has been proven that baseball pitching is an explosive activity. For pitchers who expect to throw harder they must be able to put more muscles on stretch as fast as possible in order to do so. Pitchers should then engage in training routines that are designed with explosive full body exercises as their foundation. Weight room training will not transfer to the act of throwing explosively from the mound and may actually prove to slow a pitcher down since weight training teaches movements that must be performed mostly at slow speeds.

I would immediately stop reading anything else that this former minor league pitcher has produced because all you will get apparently is his experience of pitching mechanics, throwing programs or training and conditioning which sports science has proven to be a poor way to instruct. For instruction to be meaningful it must be based on solid sports science principles…of studying biomechanics and proven training routines rather than more baseball dogma.

Or if an instructor tells you that because he threw 90 mph plus then that should be enough for you to believe that he can help you throw harder…go find another instructor. He is using experience as evidence. Sports science has proven that following what even successful athletes do is a poor means of instructing or training.

When coaches or instructors tell you that something works ask them why and then make them prove it. Do not let them use their past experience as proof. If what they say is not based on proven sports science principles…whether it has to do with baseball pitching or hitting…then more than likely they are followiing their beliefs rather than real evidence.

STRENGTH AND POWER TRAINING IN YOUNG MALE BASEBALL PLAYERS DOES NOT IMPROVE FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE

Hetzler, R. K., DeRenne, C., Buxton, B. P., Ho, K. W., Chai, D. X., & Seichi, G. (1997). Effects of 12 weeks of strength training on anaerobic power in prepubescent male athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 11, 174-181.

Two groups of 10 prepubescent and pubescent male baseball players trained three times per week for 12 weeks using a variety of general free-weight and machine exercises designed for both strength and power acquisition. One group was experienced in strength training while the other comprised novices. A comparable control group (N = 10) did not perform the training program but did participate in all other non-experimental activities.

For the experienced, novice, and control groups respectively, the following gains were recorded: leg press—41%, 40%, and 14%; and bench press—23%, 18%, and 0%. Both training groups were significantly better than the control group. Similarly, the two training groups improved in vertical jump. However, the control group improved to a significantly greater degree in peak and mean anaerobic power and the 40-yard dash.

The training regime improved the training activities but did not transfer to functional performance measures. One could argue that the training actually caused anaerobic power and 40-yd dash measures to decrease, particularly in the experienced strength-training group.

The metabolic changes in training groups did not transfer changes in energy potential to dynamic cycling, supporting the principle of specificity. In particular, the high force/low velocity aspects of the training did not transfer to high velocity activities.

Implication.

Strength and power exercises in pubescent males improved training exercises but produced worse performances in functional strength and power activities than in a non-training comparable group. Performance benefits from such training for this class of athlete are unlikely.

TRADITIONAL WEIGHT TRAINING OF NO BENEFIT TO FOOTBALL LINEMEN

Harney, R. G., Purcell, M., Martinez-Arizala, G., Reed, E., & Serfass, R. (2001). Relationship between anthropometric measurements, traditional modes of testing and training, and blocking performance in collegiate football linemen. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(5), Supplement abstract 1387.

The performances of blocking and charging football skills were correlated with their traditional weight-training activities (bench press, squat, and power clean). College football linemen (N = 10) performed the skills against an instrumented blocking sled as well as maximal assessments of the weight-training activities.

Low, non-significant correlations between the training activities and skill effectiveness showed that training on those weight activities does not transfer to skill performance. Training would have to be more specific to be of value.

Implication

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 from my website www.pitching.nexcess.net. Just click on the link and fill out the form. http://pitching.nexcess.net/free_pitching_report.php We won't waste your time. We show you how to recognize exactly what is holding back most pitchers…find the problem—fix the problem. I show you a comparison between two high school pitchers and a major league pitcher who throws mid to upper nineties. You will see the biggest problem that reduces velocity in the majority of pitchers.

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Copyright 2004 Dick Mills and All About Pitching. All rights reserved. With credit given all parts of these articles may be quoted. Do not reproduce without written permission.