Baseball Pitching Velocity Camp—Be Skeptical

There is a baseball pitching velocity camp being promoted online. I am sure there will be promises of 5-10 mph of velocity as long as you follow their menu of velocity boosting activities such as the perfect long toss program, certain conditioning activities, throwing weighted baseballs, crow-hopping down the mound, balance beam exercises, towel drills, strapping on weighted vests and a host of other newly invented and great sounding ideas which will be presented in a pseudo-scientific manner.

All designed to sound highly scientific. Another popular tool for improving velocity is something called “scapula loading.” This may eventually be proven to be the most dangerous piece of advice for improving velocity since weighted baseballs. Scapular loading may help you increase your velocity maybe 2-3 mph but will also help you to quickly become friends with an orthopedic surgeon. (my next article will explain this in detail.)One self-professed “velocity guru” who has copycated most of his techniques, recommends both weighted balls and scapula loading. You should ask yourself why you would listen to any of his other advice if he is recommending any dangerous activities. But you should be highly skeptical. And you might ask—where’s the evidence? Not opinion but real evidence.

Instead they will just tell you remarkable stories how such and such pitcher improved his fastball 10-20 mph using these activities. I would also look very, very closely at the money back guarantee of that camp. Ask how long these velocity increases will keep coming? Why would they stop? The first thing that any pitcher who wants to improve velocity should ask is—where does pitching velocity come from? How is it actually produced by the body? And will I be able to continue to improve my velocity forever using these techniques? And lastly, why is it that these techniques only work for growing and developing high school or college pitchers but don’t continuously improve in fully grown pitchers such as professionals or major leaguers. That last question is important. Why these velocity techniques don’t work to continuously improve velocity for pro pitchers? It seems clear that long toss and weight lifting do not keep improving a fully grown and developed pitcher’s velocity.

Why not? Get a good explanation of that question. If any activity works to improve velocity then it should work for everyone in all cases…shouldn’t it?For example, it has been proven that velocity increases occur for growing and developing pitchers…mostly high school.

In other words it is not the activity that improves the velocity but it is mostly natural growth and development. For example, my own son was 5’9″ 135 lbs. as a high school freshman throwing 73 mph. As a sophomore he was hitting 83 mph by the end of that summer.

That’s a 10 mph increase. None of that came from long toss or weight lifting and certainly not weighted balls. Junior year he hit 87 mph and as a skinny 176 lbs senior he was hitting 93 mph. Why? He grew and developed from 5’9″ 135 to 6’5″ 176. Yes, he was well trained by my wife Ginny (whose a certified trainer) but not from weight lifting. So watch for remarkable stories of a certain conditioning program that works better than another one. Or that flexible tubing exercises help increase velocity. Conditioning only prepares the body to pitch.

It does not improve velocity on its own…unless a pitcher is extremely unfit. But once a pitcher is fit no additional conditioning can help him. There is no secret pitchers conditioning program beyond a good full body program that includes plyometrics, medicine ball and just plain good explosive full body exercises. Watch out for “secret” arm exercises that are supposed to work. Zero proof on that one. So my son got 20 mph gain in just four years time.

He got even more after he went to college finally hitting 97 mph as a 207 lb. junior. Notice he developed more but not from weight training. He was still a bit on the skinny side. Now if he was also doing those velocity boosting activities at the same time, can you see how people could link up his velocity increases with those activities?But what about all the high school and young college pitchers of the past, going back twenty or thirty plus years ago? They did not have any of the current “benefits” of boosting velocity and yet they too had similar gains.

I am a good example. I was a skinny 6’3″ 170 lb. high school senior and never lifted weights, long tossed or threw weighted balls, or did towel drills or crow hopped down a mound. But I developed similarly to my son. I was skinny, grew and developed and threw harder along the way. This means that velocity increases by high school pitchers from long toss, weighted balls or from weight training are pure fantasy. But they are being sold as the reason for velocity increases. This is not only unethical but fraudulent because new sports science research has proven that those activities do not work to improve velocity…despite what all the pitching authorities say. They do not read research.

They invent ideas that sound good. The other question that the velocity gurus should be able to answer is: what is it that limits pitchers to finally reach a certain velocity and no more. That question was put to one of those so called “velocity gurus” and he said he didn’t think there were any limits. This could only indicate one thing: he does not know how velocity is attained in the first place. He thinks it comes from the arm. Otherwise why would he endorse throwing weighted balls or doing long toss or crow hopping down the mound as a drill?He also wants every pitcher to believe they can throw 90-100 mph.

Some can but most won’t. Actually every pitcher has a velocity limitation. That limitation is all based on every pitcher’s speed of movement ability…not his arm strength. In other words any pitcher who can improve his momentum and speed of movement toward the plate which will automatically lengthen his stride length to well beyond his body height, will be able to increase his velocity as long as his other mechanics are good. Focusing on what the arm does is largely a waste of time since the arm is designed for control of the ball. What we have learned is that building forward momentum into a long stride (well beyond 100% of the pitchers height) is a sure way of how to improve pitching velocity very quickly without doing anything else except pitching from the mound. Flat ground throwing is largely a waste of time. What power pitchers had a long stride? Nolan Ryan…over 100% of his height. Sandy Koufax.

How about the San Francisco Giants first round pick from last year Tim Lincecum. Tim Lincecum is 5’10″ and weighs 170 lbs. He also throws 95-100 mph. Doesn’t appear he is hitting the weight room very much! And yet his stride length is 86″. That’s 122% of his body height. Most coaches, some so-called pitching gurus say to “let stride length just happen.” In other words don’t try to stride out further. Just fall toward the plate and whatever stride length you reach is your “natural” stride length. Tell that to Tim Lincecum who uses every fiber of his body to build forward momentum in order to force his body out into that long stride. I watched him this Spring Training and he tries like heck to get out there as far as he can. Nothing slows him down.

I even heard that the Giants pitching coaches wanted to shorten his stride. That’s a big red flag right there. If they shorten his stride his velocity will go down and his arm injury risk will increase because the loss of energy from the long stride will have to be made up by his arm. In over thirty years of being a pitching instructor I have never asked a pitcher to shorten his stride. If your coach or instructor tells you to shorten his stride, you know you have found someone who does not understand how velocity is produced or how to reduce arm stress. Get away from this guy fast because he will limit your pitching performance potential. God only knows what other “great ideas” he has up his sleeve. Most coaches recommend a stride length of 80-90% of height.

I used to recommend 90% or more. But recently, after learning how to improve a pitcher’s forward momentum, now recommend going well beyond 100% of height. And for a good reason. Velocity improves remarkably at the longer stride lengths. I am currently working with a 5’9″ 150 lb. 18 year old pitcher. His velocity two months ago was 73-75 mph. In just a six week span we lengthened his stride to 80″.

That’s 115% of his body height…well beyond what most coaches or instructors teach. His velocity jumped to 80 mph pretty quickly and then finally hit 86 mph. I believe he will eventually throw well beyond 90 mph because we are still working on improving his mechanics and some little things that are slowing him down a bit. He doesn’t long toss or throw weighted balls. He pitches from the mound 100% of the time. He does no pitching drills at all.

What we do during a session is videotape every pitch and constantly watch the video so we know he is improving and making the required adjustments. So when he is not with me, he always has his camcorder on a tripod to videotape his practice sessions. This was one of the first things I taught him to do.

His camcorder is his pitching coach when I am not around. What should that Velocity Camp that is being promoted online include? Only the following things. How to videotape a pitcher’s mechanics while pitching from a mound. Helping the pitcher remove any hesitations or slow movements in his delivery such as hitting a balance position. The balance position kills velocity. Pitching drills kill velocity. Tim Lincecum does not have a balance position or any slow movements or hesitations. He only knows how to move his body quickly from the back leg to the front leg with every fiber of his skinny body.

Next they must teach the pitcher how to increase his forward momentum into a long stride several inches beyond 100% of his height. That’s it. That’s how you improve pitching velocity. And yet, notice what extra stuff you will get at this “velocity camp.” Extra stuff that will waste every pitcher’s time. And in order for every pitcher to improve, valuable practice time is the most important single element. Don’t buy the hype of velocity increases. They are fiction. Dick Mills www.pitching.nexcess.netIf you have questions about this blog post or on any phase of pitching—mechanics, strength and conditioning, mental training, strategy send those questions to:
dickmills@gmail.comGet my free 30-page pitching report. Click the link below. 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, a Little League pitcher 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. If you want an explosive body and 6-12 mph of velocity you need to get my 30-page free report.

It will explain much of the misinformation about pitching that is ruining pitchers and stopping them. Or read about our new book The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching written for high school, college and professional coaches (and sports writers) who want answers backed up by science. This is not a beginner’s book for how to teach pitching but a reference book that is 624 pages, contains over 500 scientific references and covers 58 pitching topics.30-page free report mailed by first class mail.