Has Long Toss Helped Barry Zito With His Pitching Velocity?

Does long toss help baseball pitchers improve their throwing velocity?

If you ask 100 high school, college or professional coaches whether long toss will improve pitching velocity more than likely they will all tell you…absolutely. If you ask all professional baseball pitchers if long toss is part of their training routine you will find they all do it. If you check the sports science research about the value of long toss to improve pitching velocity, or arm strength or as a tool to reduce injury it will tell you there is ABSOLUTELY no evidence that it works.

I am sure most are astounded by this.

Here is an email I got from a high school pitcher on June 5, 2008.

Mr Mills,

“Today my high school baseball coach stated that “the only way you will increase velocity is by long tossing.” Is that true at all? Please answer.”

I gave him my answer, told him why the research did not support long toss for improving velocity or performance and why it did not reduce arm injuries. (Actually there are studies that have proven long toss over 180 ft. increases elbow injuries.) I also invited his coach to read some of the articles I had written on my website and if he was really interested to look at our book The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching which fully explains the reasons why long toss will not work.

I got this email back from him the next day:

Mr. Mills,

“Thanks for answering my question. Isn’t it amazing how almost every accepted method of pitching training really wont help you at all? Many of my coaches (past and present) have had me doing pointless little drills that don’t seem to have an effect.” _______________________________

College Pitchers Fully Understand That Long Toss Does Not Improve Velocity

It seems that more and more pitchers at the high school and college levels are beginning to realize that of their practice time is totally wasted on activities that are “pointless” for improving pitching performance.

If long toss worked, why is it that the most asked question I get from high school and college pitchers is – How can I boost my velocity? These college pitchers especially, have long tossed all through high school and college and they fully understand it did not work to improve their velocity.

Let met illustrate a point about long toss and why it may be preventing thousands of pitchers from improving their velocity, their overall performance and leading to more arm injuries than ever before.

Why Has Barry Zito’s Velocity Dropped 8-10 mph?

Here’s a case in point. Barry Zito, the Giants’ left-hander, who was given the second highest contract for a baseball pitcher in history, has always been a strong advocate of long toss. I have known Barry for over ten years since his father purchased my original program when he was just finishing his senior year of high school. At that time Barry’s velocity, according to his father Joe, was 82-84 mph. Within six months Barry was throwing 91 mph and by the end of his freshman year of college he was hitting 93 mph. He still holds the NCAA consecutive strike-out mark. In 2002 Barry Zito won the Cy Young Award and his velocity at that time was still in the low 90′s. http://pitching.nexcess.net/product/complete-pitching-instruction-program/

Let’s fast forward to right now. Barry Zito’s velocity is right now normally showing on TV in the 83-85 mph range. Last year it averaged about 85 mph. So in the past ten years his velocity has dropped 8-10 mph. And Barry has continued with long toss and all the other practice activities such as flexible tubing, flexibility and off-season conditioning under a top trainer.

If long toss was important for improving or maintaining velocity, why is it that Barry Zito cannot improve his velocity? Because his velocity has little to do with how far he can throw a baseball as he can still throw it a very long distance. His throwing distance has not decreased and yet his throwing velocity from the mound is down 8-10 mph.

This should throw up some red flags for every coach and pitcher about the value of long toss. If long toss is not working for Barry Zito, then all coaches who advocate its use should explain why it will work to improve any pitcher’s velocity. I have challenged many coaches about this very issue and not one has ever been able to explain why long toss works. They just believe it does. And yet there is no evidence nor is there a good explanation at to why it should work. The idea that it improves arm strength is not valid. Arm strength has little to do with throwing velocity. Read on.

Barry Zito’s Mechanics Changed From When He Was In College

So what happened to Barry’s Zito’s mechanics over the years? I personally have videotape of Barry, which he had sent me when he pitched on the Cape Cod League in college. If you compared his delivery then to right now you would see two things that stand out.

1. The overall tempo and speed of movement of his delivery toward the plate in college was much faster. He simply moved his body faster from the back leg to the front leg.
2. His stride length was at least a foot longer in college…maybe more based on being able to develop better momentum.

A faster tempo or moving the body faster toward the plate increases forward momentum and will produce a longer stride. A longer and faster stride will put more muscles of the body on stretch to produce more elastic energy so that upon landing there is more energy to transfer from the lower body to the upper body which is the impulse for triggering fast rotation of the hips and trunk which whips the arm through.

It Is Not About Conditioning

Barry works very hard at his off-season training doing a very specific routine of explosive full body exercises which I fully endorse for pitchers. So conditioning is not the problem. http://pitching.nexcess.net/product/conditioning-the-pitcher-for-power/

Why am I so adamant against activities such as long toss, weighted balls or weight training….all advocated my many coaches for improving velocity. Because if you waste time on activities that are not proven to work even though coaches believe them to work…then as a pitcher you will never reach your full potential. You will have wasted a lot of very valuable practice time on activities that do not work to improve velocity or overall performance.

There are two very good reasons why long toss does not work:

• Trying to build additional arm strength by throwing long does not improve arm strength since studies have proven that the non-throwing arm is just about as strong as the throwing arm.
• Velocity is produced by forward momentum and the speed of movement of the pitcher’s body into a long stride. Arm strength is not the reason why some pitchers throw at higher velocity.

The question that every parent coach or player should be asking is – how will practicing one activity such as long toss help the improvement of a dissimilar activity such as pitching from the mound at 60’6″?

Long toss and pitching from the mound use totally different mechanical actions. In long toss you can use a crow-hop and you are releasing the ball in an upward trajectory with no fine intended target. In pitching you cannot use a crow-hop but only one step while moving downhill throwing skilled pitches to a distinct fine target.

Long Toss And Mound Pitching Are Two Very Dissimilar Activities With Different Mechanics

I know of no sport that has athletes practice something as dissimilar as long toss while expecting their pitching to improve.

There are no muscles in the arm that produce velocity. So there are no certain arm exercises which will produce more velocity such as flexible tubing, Jobe’s light weight exercises and certainly not weighted balls. The body produces velocity…the arm is along for the ride and is the control device of the ball.

Barry Zito continues to long toss. Barrry Zito has not lost his ability to throw a baseball a long distance. However, he has lost 8-10 mph from his fastball while pitching from the mound…while continuing long toss and flexible tubing.

When more coaches begin to study the science of pitching by reading the current research that is available for all to read, they should more fully understand how pitching velocity is produced…by the speed of movement of the body, and by increasing forward momentum into a longer stride.

Only when that starts to happen, will more pitchers have an opportunity to improve their pitching velocity and reach their full God-given potential.

Until then coaches will continue to teach what they believe works instead of what has proven to work.