Why Focusing On Baseball Pitching Velocity Can Keep Pitchers Stuck

We all realize that baseball pitching velocity is important in baseball pitching and it’s something that should be worked on just like other important areas such as command, changing speeds, and ball movement. At the pro level, if you want to be successful…pitching velocity comes in #4 after the other three. In fact, what is the biggest single reason that more minor league pitchers don’t make it to the higher levels of the minor leagues or eventually to the big leauges? It is not a lack of pitching velocity but a lack of fastball command and the ability to change speeds.

What about developing a fastball in the first place? That is certainly important, but again it is only one piece of the pitching puzzle.

The reality is only a few baseball pitchers will reach the magic 90 mph or plus number anytime let alone at the high school level and yet with many online baseball pitching websites you would think that accomplishing that was a walk in the park. So hopeful parents and youth pitchers buy into the magic bullets such as long toss or even weighted baseballs that have been around for nearly 30 years with little or any success or stickability.

Why Weighted Balls Cannot Improve Pitching Velocity

There is not one person who can explain how weighted baseballs can possibly increase throwing velocity since science has proven that velocity is developed before the pitching arm starts into acceleration. Arm speed comes from how fast the trunk moves. And how fast the trunk moves is deterimined by how much momentum the pitcher can build while moving down the mound from his back leg to his front leg. A weighed anything cannot help improve velocity since velocity comes from the body…not the arm

Weighted baseball seem to surface every five years or so but fall by the wayside when the success that they are supposed to produce does not come up to the level of the hype that is being sold.

Parents who watch the Little League World Series and see the few pitchers who are throwing 70 mph want the same thing for their kids so they will go to just about any extreme to help their son thinking that just maybe they too could have the next Billy Wagner throwing 95 mph plus.

But unfortunately most are being led to believe that their sons can have that instant pop right now. In many cases you can see substantial velocity increases just by fixing baseball pitching mechanical fualts and then getting the pitcher on a baseball pitching specific functional strength training program that emphasizes explosive training not general strength building. That is the safe way for not only the youth pitchers arm but also for his mental functioning which should also be addressed. But gaining velocity it is mostly a process that happens over time…not over a twelve week period.

If it did work the word would certainly spread and yet as always it goes by the wayside in favor of what has always worked in the past…build a baseball pitcher one brick at a time if you want long term success.

Those who are selling instant baseball pitching velocity increases of 10 mph in just 12 weeks by throwing weighted baseballs are bilking the gullible public. One such baseball pitching website has been touting this for nearly five years and yet few are jumping on the “instant baseball pitching velocity” bandwagon.

Dr. James Andrews, the world renown orthopedic for most big league baseball pitching arm surgeries says that the emphasis on velocity is one of the reasons why he is seeing so many youth and high school arm surgeries. He has also seen arm surgeries skyrocket increasing 1000% of a recent 7 year period. Even Little League pitchers are having elbow surgery.

Unfortunatley, the arm injuries come as a result of pitchers believing that the arm is the source of power instead of the body. Thus why long toss or towel drills are emphasized by misinformed coaches and instructors. When the body is used correctly the arm is simply along for the ride as is always stated by Giants RH pitcher Tim Lincecum.

Are these instant baseball pitching velocity magic bullets ethical or realistic and how might this emphasis on baseball pitching velocity actually hold kids back from being the very best they can be as pitchers. And how many who buy into it will go under the knife before they get out of high school.

Growth and Development Is A Big Factor In Velocity Improvement

Keep in mind that some pitchers will mature much later than others. For example, Roger Clemens, Billy Wagner and Braves closer of the late 90′s Mark Wohlers were not hard throwers in high school. Clements was reported to be throwing 83-84 mph and Bill Wagner 78 mph. Clemens finally hit the 90 mph mark in high school and Wagner as a pro hit 100 mph plus.

Was it their lack of pitching arm strength? More than likely not. In the case of Mark Wohlers, who ended up throwing 103 miles per hour as a major leaguer, did not throw above 83-84 mph as a high school baseball pitcher. What stopped him was not a lack of pitching arm strength but rather poor pitching mechanics along with growth and development. Late developers perform better later.

The other question that is never addressed and should be looked at very closely is how will focusing on baseball pitching velocity effect the youth pitcher’s confidence and self-esteem? Imagine a Little Leaguer or a 13, 14 or 15 year old high school pitcher whose father thinks he should be throwing harder so he goes out and purchases a radar gun or a set of weighted baseballs. He tells his son that his pitching velocity is not where it should be so they are going to work on improving his baseball pitching velocity.

What will kids do in their minds to increase theif pitching velocity. They will focus on their arms

As the father of former frail Little League pitcher—the runt of the pack growing up, who later on did end up throwing with above average velocity, I can tell you that until my son reached his junior year of high school that there was very little emphasis on pitching velocity in and of itself. Gun readings were not the topic of discussion on or off the field. My focus was on building the total package as a baseball pitcher emphasizing functional strength, fastball command, movement, changing speeds and watching pitch counts and recovery times.

My son built his fastball a few mile per hour per year. And yet he did have a big boost of velocity between the end of his freshman year of high school and the end of his sophmore summer. His fastball went from about 70 mph to 83 mph. How? Growth and development and constant work on improving mechanics. But no magic bullets or weighted baseballs.

There seems to be so much emphasis on pitching velocity today…especially with the advent of the internet. Everybody wants a piece of the baseball pitching market so those who do not have a complete pitching instructional program to offer because they have little real knowledge of pitching biomechanics or the value of baseball pitching specific strength will use pitching velocity as the lead in or the “smoke and mirrors” of a groundless pitching instruction program.

Those that recommend the use of weighted impliments such as weighted balls or weighted vests should be a red flag that they do not know how to really help a pitcher improve. Or those who advocate long toss or some hyped up conditioning program or strength training program…neither of which by itself can improve velocity.

Believe me, I have been studying this for many years. If weighted baseballs or training aids worked…I would be selling them by the truckload. Or if long toss improved velocity and reduced the risk of injury I would recommend it. However, we only sell instruction that is based on sports science training principles and has proven to work over many years.

This is what I have been focusing on in our Explosively Pitching DVD program since 2004. We teach parents how to help their sons use their bodies to pitch instead of just their arms. Not only does this improve velocity but reduces the risk of arm injuries. http://www.pitching.com/products/