We're excited to announce that on March 4, 2018, Christian Wonders and John O’Neil will be delivering a one-day seminar, “In-Season Training Strategies for Baseball.” This event, which will take place at our Hudson, MA location, is a great chance for baseball coaches to learn about the training process and how communication between a strength coach and a sport coach can help take performance to the next level. Both Christian and John have experience working as on-field baseball coaches and as strength coaches, and they’ve used their ability to speak a common language with great success. It’s also a valuable event for strength and conditioning professionals to learn more about integrating performance training and skill development.
This one-day seminar combines pitching and training information and how to optimally blend the two during the in-season period. The goal is to preserve – and build upon – the athleticism that was built in the off-season while ensuring that players are fresh for the quality work that must take place in practices and games.
Split into both a lecture and practical format, the event will provide attendees with detailed information on both the pitching and training ends, including multiple practical portions that will cover drill work, a bullpen, and technique demonstrations on valuable exercises geared with the idea of not only healthy but also increasing performance.
Additionally, Christian and John will cover how to structure in-between start routines built around both training and throwing, and how such a routine could be individualized and changed throughout the season. Furthermore, they'll touch upon the pitfalls of many in-season training programs and how to better structure yours.
Agenda:
9:00-10:15am: Training Fundamentals: What The Baseball Coach Needs to Know about Performance Training. In this presentation, we cover an overview of relevant physiology, stress application, training specificity and why certain age-long practices in the baseball community don’t correlate with an improvement in on-field performance. (John- Lecture)
10:15-10:30am: Break
10:30-11:45am: Overview of Elite Pitching Development Philosophies: this presentation includes a breakdown of how Christian teaches mechanics and how he uses his knowledge learned from the gym to his advantage. (Christian - Lecture)
11:45am-12:30pm: Lunch
12:30-1:15pm: Designing an In-Season Training Routine: learn how to structure everything from pre-game warm-ups to team lifts on a daily, weekly, and season-long basis. This talk will cover specific markers the baseball coach can identify to help modify a team program to fit individual needs. (John - Lecture)
1:15-2:00pm: Designing an In-Season Throwing Routine: we'll break down the components of catch play, long toss, and throwing bullpens - both for starters and relievers. (Christian - Lecture)
2:00-2:15pm: Break
2:15-3:00pm: Training Power and Speed Discussion: this presentation includes a breakout of a sprint mechanics and how to coach them. This practical component will also cover a sample team pre-game warm-up. (John - Practical)
3:00-3:45pm: Live Throwing Demonstrations: this segment includes how to coach specific drill work and optimize your pitchers’ bullpen work. (Christian - Practical)
4:00-5:00pm: Q&A
Date/Location:
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Cressey Sports Performance
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749
Note: we’ll be capping the number of participants to ensure that there is a lot of presenter/attendee interaction – particularly during the hands-on workshop portion – so be sure to register early.
John O'Neil (@ONeilStrength) is a Strength & Conditioning Coach at Cressey Sports Performance. John not only has experience training baseball players, but has also coached high school baseball and interned in player development with the Baltimore Orioles. He graduated from Dickinson College with a B.S. in Mathematics. You can contact him by email at joh.oneil@gmail.com.
Christian Wonders (@CSP_Pitching) is the pitching coordinator as Cressey Sports Performance-MA and the owner of Elite Pitching Development. Christian previously worked as a strength coach at CSP-Florida, where he also coached high school baseball. He graduated from Georgia College and State University with a B.S. in Exercise Science. You can contact him at elitepitchingdevelopment@gmail.com.
Today's guest post comes from former Cressey Sports Performance intern, James Cerbie. In this post, James builds on a point I'd made a few weeks ago in an installment of Random Thoughts on Sports Performance. Enjoy! -EC
Everyone wants to throw gas.
If you throw 80mph, you want to throw 85mph. If you throw 85,mph you want to throw 90mph. If you throw 90, you want to throw 95mph…and so on and so forth.
For a pitcher, it’s the ultimate attention grabber. The radar gun doesn’t lie, and lighting one up is the quickest way to turn heads.
Assuming you have any semblance of control, throwing hard helps you get a college scholarship, helps you get drafted, and helps you toward the big leagues.
Sorry, but they aren’t handing out many signing bonuses for an 85mph fastball.
Think of it like the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine—everyone is looking for that 4.3 speed because it’s a game changer.
Due to the high premium baseball places on velocity, and the paychecks that can come along with it, weighted ball programs have gained a tremendous amount of popularity over the past several years. Not only that, they can deliver great results. By playing with the force velocity curve, you can see some pretty impressive jumps in velocity over a relatively short period of time.
Eric has written about weighted ball programs in the past, and I’ll just refer you here if you want to read more on the subject.
Unfortunately, a lot of high school and college athletes are jumping into aggressive weighted ball programs without asking the right questions—they end up chasing short-term gains as opposed to setting themselves up for long-term success.
Building a Pyramid
If I asked you to build a pyramid, how would you do it?
Would you start with the base of the pyramid, also known as your foundation, and gradually work your way up? Slowly adding on a layer at a time until you arrive at the top?
Or, would you skimp on the base and spend the majority of your time building the top of the pyramid?
I’m no expert in building pyramids, but I think we can all agree that the first example wins out: a pyramid without a base may get up in the beginning, but it’ll lose out over the long haul.
General vs. Specific Training
The above example illustrates the difference between general and specific training.
The base of pyramid represents general fitness qualities, while the top of the pyramid represents specific fitness qualities (specific in relation to your sport of choice):
For example, a deadlift represents a general fitness quality for a baseball player because we’re developing strength and stability in the sagittal plane while working on the ability to “hip hinge.” None of those qualities are necessarily specific to throwing a baseball, but they lay the foundation for higher-level performance.
A weighted ball program, on the other hand, is about as specific as you can get: you’re performing the exact skill from your sport and doing so with heavier and lighter implements.
This is why so much effort goes into the assessment process before an athlete starts a training program. It gives us a good feel for where they are on the pyramid:
How’s their baseline movement capacity?
Are they lacking scapular upward rotation?
Can they get their hands overhead without driving into extension?
Are they strong and stable in the sagittal plane?
Can they get “in” and “out” of both hips sufficiently?
Do they have appropriate amounts of “core” control?
Do they have the capacity to control movement in multiple planes of motion?
Can they stand on one leg?
Do they have symmetrical total shoulder motion and shoulder flexion?
These represent only a few of the questions we want answers to, but they are all important because it tells us what an athlete is prepared to do at this moment in time, and what they need to work on to progress further up the pyramid.
What can happen in the world of performance training, however, is the inverted pyramid:
This is what it looks like when people rush straight for the weighted ball program. They skip over the all-important base of pyramid and go straight to the top because that’s what’s sexy. Although this structure will produce results in the short run, it doesn’t bode well for long-term success.
General Expresses Specific
If you walk away from this article remembering one thing, please let it be this: your general fitness qualities (the base of your pyramid) puts you in a position to express your sport specific skill.
In other words, they put you in a position to be successful—they give you the ability to get your body in the best position to throw a baseball.
For a baseball player, building up those qualities usually happens off the baseball field. It’s the free play you engaged in and the multiple sports you enjoyed growing up. And, it’s what you do in the weight room. It means doing deadlifts, lunges, push-ups, prone trap raises, and a host of other exercises because it builds your body up towards the ultimate goal: throwing a baseball to best of your ability.
If you skip over that stage and rush straight towards the top of the pyramid, then you’re not only setting yourself up for injury, you’re also leaving gobs of untapped performance on the table.
Tying it All Together
It’s incredibly tempting to jump into the latest and greatest program on the market that’s boasting to add 8mph to your fastball in two months. Before jumping into that program, you have to ask yourself if you’re physically prepared to do so.
Aggressive throwing programs are not bad. In fact, they are one of the more exciting developments in baseball over the past several years. But, it’s vital to remember where they fall with regards to development.
If you’ve put in the time and built yourself a solid foundation, then by all means get on a well-managed weighted ball program. If you haven’t put in the time building yourself a foundation, then start there and work your way up. Your performance and arm will thank you down the road.
About the Author
James Cerbie (@JamesCerbie) is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Precision Nutrition, USA Weightlifting, and Crossfit, and is the owner ofRebel Performance. He has worked with athletes at all levels, and currently coaches in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can also find him on him on Facebook.
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The other day, the following comment/question was posted as a reply to one of my articles:
"How does an elite pitcher take 2-3 months off from throwing and stay an elite pitcher? I can see shutting down for one month from any throwing, but any more than that and atrophy and loss of neuro patterns kick in."
The short answer is, "They just can - and have - for a long time." I absolutely appreciate the question, and think it's an excellent one. Unfortunately, high level throwers have shown time and time again that they can do it. I'll give you a few examples among Cressey Sports Performance guys from the 2014 season.
Corey Kluber (Indians) made his last appearance of 2013 on September 27, and he didn't start his off-season throwing program until December 9. According to FanGraphs, his average fastball velocity was up from 92.9mph in 2013 to 93.2mph in 2014 - in spite of the fact that he threw 235 innings in 2014, which was 47 more than he's ever thrown in his career. Corey's saw his average fastball velocity increase in each of his four seasons in the big leagues - and he took 2-3 months off from throwing in each of those off-seasons. Clearly, the time off didn't hurt him, as he won the American League Cy Young in 2014.
Sam Dyson (then Marlins, now Rangers) made his last appearance of 2013 on September 22, and also didn't start a throwing program until mid-December. Check out his FanGraphs velocity improvement from 2013 to 2014 "in spite of" his lengthy time off in the fall/winter.
Corey and Sam are just a few examples, and I've got dozens more. Elite pitchers don't struggle to stay elite; in fact, time off from throwing allows them to recharge and get their strength and mobility back to prepare for becoming "more elite" in the subsequent season.
With that point made, there are three perspectives I think are important to consider on this front.
1. Health vs. Mechanics
As I've written previously in 7 Reasons Pitchers Shouldn't Do Year-Round Throwing Programs - Part 1 and Part 2, there are a lot of physical adaptations that simply can't happen (at least not optimally) when an athlete is still throwing. You can't regain passive stiffness of the anterior shoulder capsule or ulnar collateral ligament. You can't make significant improvements to elbow and shoulder range-of-motion. You can't get rotator cuff strength/timing up, or improve scapular control. Trying to fix these things when a guy is always in-season is like trying to teach a 16-year-old to drive in the middle of the Daytona 500; things might get a little better, but don't expect great results when stressful situations are still in play.
Conversely, we can't optimize mechanics if a pitcher isn't throwing; we know that. However, I'd argue that having a healthy, strong, powerful, and mobile athlete is an important prerequisite to learning correct mechanics. Most players are really tired at this time of year - even if they don't appreciate it (more on this later). Motor learning never happens optimally under conditions of fatigue. I'm all for aggressive throwing programs and meticulous video analysis, but if mechanics and throwing programs are the only tools you have in your toolbox, then you're like a carpenter who only has a hammer: everything looks like a nail. If you understand structure, function, and adaptation, though, you've got a many resources at your fingertips to make an athlete better - and do so safely.
2. The Psychological Component
An example likely best illustrates this point. I recently saw a minor league pitcher who had an outstanding season: an ERA under 3.00 and a career high of 170+ innings. You'd think a guy like that would be wildly enthusiastic about baseball after such an awesome season, and even want to continue playing in any way possible.
That wasn't the case, though. He told me that for the first five days after the season, he avoided everything baseball. In fact, he was so worn out on baseball that he didn't do anything except watch TV and relax for two days. Only after that did he even feel like going for walks with his girlfriend - and he just started up his off-season training three weeks later. This is not uncommon.
It might come as a surprise, but a lot of players are completely "over" baseball by this time of year, particularly if they played for a team that wasn't in a playoff race, or pitched a career high in innings. Forcing them to continue throwing is a quick way to make them really apathetic to baseball and your coaching. If you need proof, ask any minor leaguer how he feels about being sent to Instructional League. A lot of necessary work happens there, but that doesn't mean they enjoy it.
3. Athletes might not know the difference between feeling "good" and "bad."
I'd argue that there are a lot of pitchers who say they feel great at the end of the season, but actually present really poorly in their post-season evaluations. I think a big part of the problem is that we can't necessarily perceive the issues - mobility and stability deficits - that lead to baseball injuries on a daily basis, as most arm injuries involve mechanical pain. In other words, they usually don't hurt unless you're throwing. I've seen athletes who claim they feel awesome at the end of the season, but they actually have experienced big losses in range of motion, stability, and power.
To apply this to kids who play year-round baseball, I think it's safe to say that we have a generation of kids who legitimately have no idea what it's like to feel good/fresh. They've never thrown a baseball with excellent rotator cuff strength or full scapular upward rotation. They don't know how to effectively create separation because their hip and thoracic mobility is so subpar, and even if they actually had good mobility, their poor core control wouldn't allow them to make use of it. You could make the argument that it's a "subclinical epidemic;" we just have a lot of "unathletic athletes" who aren't willing to take a step back to set themselves up for many steps forward. Build a big foundation and stay healthy, and you'll always pick up the specific mechanics corrections much easier.
Wrap-up
This article was a long response that could have been summed up with the sentence, "Don't be afraid to take time off from throwing." The research is very much in support of it helping to keep pitchers healthy, but the anecdotal evidence also supports the notion that it supports the long-term baseball development process, too.
Are you an athlete looking to learn more about Cressey Sports Performance's services at our Hudson, MA or Jupiter, FL locations? Check out www.CresseySportsPerformance.com.
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Here's this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading/viewing:
Thrive on Throwing - This is an outstanding DVD set from Alan Jaeger that thoroughly teaches the science and practice of long tossing. Alan has generously offered to provide my readers with a 25% off discount (which applies to his other products as well). I highly recommend this throwing resource, as long toss sometimes gets a bad rap in large part due to the fact that many players and coaches implement it incorrectly.
Making the Case for Long Toss in a Throwing Program - While we're on the topic of long toss, I thought I'd bring this old article back from the archives, especially since a lot of our professional baseball clients started throwing this week.
5 Holiday Diet Tips that Don't Suck - This is a quick read from Nate Miyaki over at T-Nation, but it packs some good information and strategies for you to employ this holiday season.
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Today's guest blog comes from current Cressey Performance intern, Landon Wahl.
By its very nature, the life of a pitcher avails itself to many hours of pondering the game. Fresh out of my senior year of pitching at the collegiate level and having time to reflect upon my experience, overall I can say it was the best time of my life. However, there were many times during practice where I felt like I should have stayed home because nothing was accomplished. I would often stand in the outfield gaps behind the position players wondering: “how is this making me a better pitcher?”
After 2-3 hours of batting practice, our coach would have us bring it in and that was the end of practice. Summary: a 3-hour practice that consisted of a 10-minute warm-up, 5-10 minutes of throwing, and 2 hours and 40 minutes of standing around listening to my teammate tell me how sure he was that all of his teachers were trying to fail him (go to class, buddy). Some practices involved the pitchers more than others, but for the most part, practice time could have been used much more efficiently. Below are some ways practice time can be used to make pitchers more involved at practice as well as some things to avoid!
1. Set aside time in practice to have a proper warm up.
Too often, players come to practice and will disregard the warm-up or perhaps not warm up at all! Players grab a ball and start throwing with no physical or mental preparation. Every program is different in regard to warm ups. As a coach, make sure that regardless of what style warm-up you prefer, that you stick to it! At Cressey Performance, all athletes go through a foam rolling series as well as a dynamic warm-up before even touching a baseball, medicine ball, or weight. If you are a coach looking for inspiration, watch the video below and have your guys do it for a warm up. It almost goes without saying that it will help your guys feel and move better as well as prevent future injuries.
2. Make sure throwing - especially the long toss component - isn’t rushed.
Some programs are pretty good about this, but others aren’t. It is understandable that as a coach you have a lot to cram into a 2-3 hour practice and you want your guys to get as many swings in as possible, too. Think of long toss as a pitcher’s BP. It is important to let your pitchers get their arm speed up to help improve performance and stay healthy throughout the season. Try not to rush through the throwing to get to batting practice; it will help everyone be more prepared for your big weekend conference series.
3. Stop making pitchers stand around during batting practice.
First of all, I understand that sometimes pitchers are needed to help shag fly balls and make sure that the hitters get their work in, but this doesn’t have to be ALL the time! Sure, it’s nice to talk with fellow teammates and occasionally track down a fly ball, but overall there is little to no value to preparing your pitchers. Instead of having the pitchers stand around during the early parts of the week at batting practice, send them to the weight room for resistance training, athletic training room for manual therapy or stretching, or elsewhere on the field to do movement training or plyos.
4. Set aside time in practice to work on pick-offs, 1st/3rd defensive plays, PFP, live situations, and bunt defenses.
Too often, basic pitching defense gets brushed aside on the daily practice schedule. All of these essential parts of the game could take a full week just to cover, not master. For incoming freshman, these situations may not have been covered very thoroughly or even at all in high school! Have the coaching staff split up and cover these situations often; they may arise at any time during your important conference series! For your players to have confidence in the plays and skills that they will develop in practice is crucial, and will directly relate to confidence on the mound during in-game situations. This is also a good time to break away from the monotony of an extended batting practice session and get the pitchers involved.
5. Don’t enforce “punishment” running.
As a coach, it is understandable that players can upset you in many ways: poor play, off-field offenses, or on-field offenses. Nothing as a player is worse than hearing, “on the line,” not just because the punishment is usually miserable to complete, but also because nothing productive is being accomplished!
Consuming alcohol at the collegiate level is what unfortunately gets lots of guys into trouble. Having to participate in “punishment runs” was an absolute nightmare, usually because I was always running for someone else's screw-up. And, it didn’t matter how many times we were punished; guys would still go out to the bars later that night, not having learned a thing. It brings team moral down and creates problems between teammates. Believe me, there were some guys with whom I was not happy.
Some of the most successful teams win games because they're close-knit groups, not because they have the most talent! A prime example was my high school baseball team during my senior year of 2008. One could debate whether we were the most talented team in comparison to teams in the past, but we made it all the way to the state championship game. This was due to the fact that we did absolutely everything together as a team, and never had situations that compromised our positive team dynamic.
Punishment runs not only wreck your players physically, but also destroy them mentally. Sometimes discipline is in order, but try and find another way to do it! There is only one thing you need. Bench the player until behavior improves. Negative reinforcement such as running only deals with issues temporarily. Benching a player might cause some player-coach tension, but that’s part of being a coach. Make the best decision for the whole team and ensure that every player represents your college or university in a proper manner.
6. Don’t make pitchers catch bullpens.
This is just my personal opinion. I understand that some programs do this and others don’t. Hopefully, I can provide insight for just one coach, at any level. Coming from a previous program who endorsed this, I saw firsthand how it can really end up injuring a pitcher. I’ll relate a personal account...
One afternoon during freshman year at practice, I walked up to the field and my coach informed me that I would be catching every single pitcher, and then I would get to throw my bullpen. Unfortunately, I had never caught an inning in my entire life. Still, I suited up. The first few fastballs went well. The first curveball, however, didn't. It bounce in front of me by about two feet and you can probably guess what happened next.
The whole team thought it was funny (and in hindsight, it was), but at the time, it was not. In the months after that experience, I was afraid of the ball, shying away whenever it got close to the mitt. This not only was physically taxing on me, but the pitchers couldn’t get in a rhythm and their bullpens suffered as a result. There is something to be said for having a catcher who sticks your pitches, moves back and forth across the plate, gives feedback on your pitches, and encourages you because they are confident; this was not happening with me. After I caught all of the bullpens, I began to throw mine. You can also be sure that another fellow freshman caught me; the practice was a total waste, for everyone.
7. Talk to each player one-on-one.
Every coach could do this more often. I know that after a game in which I performed well (or not so well), it was nice to have my coach tell me things I could improve upon while highlighted things I executed correctly. This is also important for players who are not regular starters, or kids who have never played an inning. It is essential to provide hope for these players; at any time they can be a cornerstone in the lineup! Too often, good baseball players don’t receive the proper mental reinforcement. It sounds cliché and simple, but even telling a player “good job” can carry them a long way. It is also important to have meetings with players outside of practice and listen to their thoughts and concerns, both academically and athletically.
8. Have fun.
Having fun is what the game is all about. Winning is fun. Having fun at practice is fun, too! Create competitions between the players. Let pitchers take batting practice. Create incentive for your players to be excited and ready to go when practice time rolls around! Most of all, be supportive of every player. Playing college ball and going to class is quite a workload. There is nothing better in the world that blowing off some steam and forgetting about school responsibilities by playing some baseball.
Questions or comments? Please post them below. Also, Landon Wahl can be reached at landonwahl@yahoo.com.
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In collaboration with Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, here are some tips to get just a little more awesome this weekend.
1. Hard start, easy finish.
This phrase applies to almost everything in training and in life. In short, putting in the work up front is going to benefit you ten-fold throughout the rest of your...
Exercise Set: Put the time in to set up a lift correctly (bar placement, spotters, foot position, etc) and you will make the entire set go off smoothly.
Training Session: Don't skimp on your warm-ups. Make sure you spend the 15 minutes to hit self massage, mobility, and activation work.
Training Block: Make the time to make a plan. If you do not have the time (really?!), or the knowledge (fair enough), then seek out someone to make a plan for you.
Training Career: If you're new to the game, take the proper amount of time to learn correct movement patterns, build general work capacity, and understand technique. If you're not, and these sound like foreign concepts, have you considered pressing rewind?
2. Meet the bar.
3. Address lagging body parts with frequency.
If you have a body part that isn't making the grade, the answer could very well be to adjust the frequency in which you train it. Training variables such as volume and intensity are household names, even if their application is often butchered. Frequency is a less-considered variable in your training program. The frequency at which you train a muscle group can have a profound effect on its growth. Additionally, high frequency protocols can produce major surges in strength when programmed correctly. Using high frequencies to make gains in strength is definitely more complex. The more demanding the exercise selections (think deadlifts, squats, cleans, etc), the more tinkering you'll need to do in the overall management of volume and intensities. Luckily for you, using higher frequencies to illicit gains in "size" isn't as involved.
Here is a good place to start: choose an area (i.e. arms) and add a specialization day to your strength training program. Make this days short, but challenging. This is a good time to utilize drop sets, forced reps, pre-exhaustion etc. Stick with the same area for three weeks, back off a week, and either choose a new area for three weeks or continue with the previous selection. Maybe you'll do calves like Tony does?
4. Appreciate that various characteristics relate to throwing velocity.
A study conducted in 2009 by The Open Sports Medicine Journal looked at the relationship between six anthropometric (body height, body mass, body mass index (BMI), arm span, hand spread and length) and four physical fitness (aerobic capacity, explosive power of the lower limbs, flexibility and running speed) characteristics and their relationship to throwing velocity in female handball players. The study found that "throwing performance is significantly correlated with all variables calculated in this study except of the body mass index. This suggests that high performance requires advanced motor abilities and anthropometric features."
This isn't revolutionary, and the study does not go into details (that have been found important to velocity) such as joint mobility, stiffness and laxity. However, it is interesting to note that the researchers ranked each characteristic in order of importance in terms of the effect on velocity:
1. Hand Spread
2. Playing Experience
3. Arm Span
4. Body Height
5. Standing Long Jump
6. 30m Sprint
7. Sit and Reach
8. Body Mass.
9. VO2max
10. Body Mass Index
As you’ll see, the recipe for success will always be a combination of genetic pre determents, mechanical skill (sport practice), and physical performance traits (explosiveness, strength, etc). Two out of three of those you have control over, and if you are willing to put the work in, you can make up for quite a bit that Mommy and Daddy didn't pass on to you.
EC’s notes: three interesting asides to this…
First, it’s interesting that body mass index wasn’t more highly ranked, as body weight has been shown to have a significantly positive association with throwing velocity in baseball pitchers. The primary difference between these two populations, of course, is that the handball players aren’t throwing downhill on a mound, so perhaps having a greater body mass benefits pitchers because they’re more “gravity-aided?”
Second, this is friendly reminder that your silly long distance running won’t do anything for throwing velocity.
Third, the researchers only tested straight-ahead (sagittal) plane measures of power development. If they’d tested power development in the frontal and transverse planes, I’d expect to see a greater value for these measures.
5. Don't limit yourself.
Have you heard this before?
If I do everything you say, and work as hard as possible, do I have a shot at: making it, losing 10lbs, benching 315?
The answer is always YES; why would it be NO? We are all capable of impressing - and even surprising - ourselves with what we are capable of doing. Not everyone (even with an insane work ethic) is going to look like Captain American or play on ESPN. It doesn't matter.
What matters is that you never shot for something less than that. You gave everything you had, and you ran that course until it was over. Wherever that point may be, you arrived there knowing that you didn't leave anything in the tank. This is the absolute most you could do, given the tools you had, and you can be happy and fulfilled knowing that. If you attack everything with that mentality, you will be successful and happy with the result, even if that result isn't exactly what you thought it was when you got started.
This is an important lesson to remind young athletes and adult clients alike. Teach them to respect the process, and find value in the journey. Remind them that many variables are not within their control, but their effort is.
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In the first half of this two-part installment on why pitching velocity changes during the course of a season, I outlined 9 Reasons Pitching Velocity Increases Over the Course of a Season. As you'll appreciate after reading today's post, there are actually a lot more ways by which pitching velocity can decrease over the course of a season. Let's examine them individually:
1. Body weight reductions
This is far and away the most prominent reason pitchers lose velocity as a season goes on. In fact, it's so big a problem that I devoted an entire blog to it: The #1 Cause of Inconsistent Pitching Velocity.
2. Strength loss
As I discussed in my first book, The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, strength is an important foundation for power. And, taking it a step further, power is certainly an important part of pitching. As the season goes on, many guys just don't get in the quality weight room work they need to maintain strength, and power on the mound tails off.
3. Injury
It goes without saying that if you're hurt, you won't throw as hard. This isn't just a shoulder or elbow thing, either; sprained ankles, sore hips, tight lower backs, oblique strains, and stiff necks can all wreak havoc on velocity. If something is bothering you, get it fixed before it causes you to develop bad habits.
4. Loss of mobility
When people hear the word "mobility," they typically just of tissue length. However, mobility is simply one's ability to get into a desired position or posture. In other words, it's a complex interaction of not just actual tissue length, but also strength/stability, tissue quality, and kinesthetic awareness. If you don't continue working on mobility drills, static stretching (when appropriate), foam rolling, and your strength training program, one of the components of this equation can suffer.
Obviously, as I wrote previously What Stride Length Means and How to Improve It: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, stride length is the best example of this phenomenon. However, what happens at the shoulder is another great example, too. One who loses thoracic mobility or scapular stability may stiffen up at the glenohumeral (ball-and-socket) joint; it's possible to gain range of motion without even stretching at the "stiff" joint!
5. Excessive workload
This is the time of year when a lot of guys start hitting all-time highs for innings in a season. And, with the games getting more important at the end of the high school and college seasons, pitch counts often rise when the innings really matter. It's very simple:
Fatigue masks fitness.
If you're dragging and the velocity is down, a short-term reduction in throwing volume is often the quickest path to getting velocity back - particularly in pitchers who are throwing more innings than ever before. Throwing an easy flat-ground instead of a bullpen between starts is one way to stay fresh, or you may opt to alternating higher pitch counts with shorter outings. If I hear about one of our high school pitchers who has an exceptionally high pitch count (105+), I usually tell him to make sure the next one is in the ballpark of 80 pitches. At that age, arms always seem to be dragging if kids go over 100 pitches in back-to-back outings.
6. Cumulative effect of bad throwing programs
This is best illustrated by a "hypothetical" example that actually happens far too often.
a. Pitcher makes great velocity gains in an off-season with comprehensive throwing program that includes long toss.
b. Pitcher goes in-season and encounters pitching coach that doesn't believe in long toss as part of a throwing program.
c. Pitcher has a velocity loss.
This scenario doesn't just happen because a specific modality (long toss) is removed, but also because of the effect it has on a pitching routine. This, for me, is why it's so important to have conversations with pitchers on what throwing programs they've done in the past. What's worked? What hasn't? It's all about tinkering, and rarely about overhauling.
These researchers divided a collegiate pitching staff into two groups of eight pitchers over the course of a season, and each group did everything identically – except the running portion of their strength and conditioning programs. Three days per week, the “sprint” group did 10-30 sprints of 15-60m with 10-60s rest between bouts. The endurance group performed moderate-to-high intensity jogging or cycling 3-4 days per week for anywhere from 20-60 minutes.
Over the course of the season, the endurance group’s peak power output dropped by an average of 39.5 watts while the sprinting group increased by an average of 210.6 watts. You still want to distance run?
Of course, there are still the tired old arguments of "it flushes out my arm" (much better ways to do that), it clears my head (go see a psychologist), "it keeps my weight down" (eat less crap, and do more lifting and sprinting), and "it helps me bounce back better between starts" (then why are so many players in MLB living on anti-inflammatories?). The system is broke, but instead of fixing it based on logic, many coaches continue to change the oil on a car with no wheels.
8. Insufficient warm-ups
While there are definitely some outstanding opportunities out there to develop in the summer, the truth is that summer baseball is notorious for sloppy organization. Guys are allowed to show up ten minutes before game time, do a few arm circles, and then go right to it. If you're walking directly from your car to the mound, don't expect your velocity to be too good in the first few innings.
9. Cumulative effect of altered sleep patterns
Early in my training career, I realized that missing sleep the night before a training session really didn't have any effect on my next training session. However, if I had consecutive nights of little to no sleep, it crushed me. I know of a lot of people who are the same way.
Now, imagine an entire season of red-eye flights, 3AM bus departures, and going to bed at 1am every night. Beyond just the sleep deprivation component, you have the dramatic change in circadian rhythms that takes place. Just head over to Pubmed and look at the hundreds of studies examining the health impact of working night shifts (shift work disorder); you'll see preliminary research linking it to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and a host of other issues. I firmly believe it's one of many reasons injuries in baseball are on the rise - and certainly one potential culprit when velocity declines as a season progress.
10. Pitching off a crappy mound
Many players wind up pitching off terrible mounds during summer ball, and when the mound isn't groomed nicely, you get into "oh crap, I don't want to get hurt" mode with your landing leg. If you aren't comfortable landing, you shorten your stride, or reach for a "safe" part of the mound, messing with your mechanics in the process. Additionally, velocity is going to be lower when the mound height isn't as elevated; it's just how gravity works.
11. Mechanical tinkering for the bad
In part 1, I noted that mechanics changes in the summertime can be a source of velocity improvements. They can also, however, be a reason for guys losing velocity. Not all changes are new changes, and it's important to be careful about overhauling things on the advice of each new coach you encounter. Repetition is important, and it's hard to get it if you're always tinkering with something.
12. Dehydration
Dehydration can have a dramatically negative effect on strength and power. Most athletes are chronically dehydrated at rest, and certainly during pitching outings in the summer heat. Hydration status is an important thing to monitor if you want to throw gas.
13. Throwing to a new catcher
Being comfortable with the guy who is catching your pitches is a big part of success on the mound. When the catcher is constantly changing, there is more hesitation - especially if his pitch-calling tendencies are different from those of your previous catcher. If you're constantly shaking him off, it'll mess with your pace on the mound and slow you down.
14. More erratic throwing schedule
One of the biggest adjustments a pitcher will ever have to make is switching from starting to relieving or vice versa. While going to the bullpen can often lead to an increase in velocity, it can make other guys erratic with their delivery, as they've learned to rely on the pre-game period to get everything "synced up."
Meanwhile, thanks to an increased pitch count, guys who go from the bullpen to the starting rotation sometimes see a drop in velocity. As examples, just compare John Smoltz or Daniel Bard out of the bullpen to what they have done in the starting rotation.
The only thing tougher than making that switch is to constantly bounce back and forth between the two, as it really hurts your between-outings preparation. How you prepare to throw seven innings is considerably different than what you do if you're just going to go out and throw 10-15 pitches.
These are only 14 reasons velocity may dip, and their are surely many more. Maybe your girlfriend cheated on you with the bat boy and you got distracted, or you decided to just throw knuckleballs. The point is that - as if the case with many things in life - it's a lot easier to screw up (lose velocity) than it is to thrive (gain velocity). Plan accordingly!
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Everyone wants to improve pitching velocity, but unfortunately, the answer to the question of "how" is different for everyone. To that end, I pulled together a quick list of 101 strategies you can use to improve pitching velocity. They aren't the same for everyone, but chances are that at least a few of these will help you. I'd encourage you to print this off and highlight the areas in which you think you can improve.
1. Optimize mechanics (this could be 100 more ways in itself; I will leave it alone for now).
2. Gain weight (if skinny).
3. Lose weight (if fat).
4. Get taller (shorter throwers can’t create as much separation, and are further away from homeplate)
5. Get shorter (taller throwers have more energy leaks).
38. Change footwear (guys usually throw harder in cleats).
39. Throw less.
40. Throw more.
41. Pitch less.
42. Pitch more.
43. Politely ask your mom to stop yelling, “Super job, kiddo!” after every pitch you throw.
44. Do strength exercises outside the sagittal plane.
45. Take all the money you were going to blow on fall/winter showcases and instead devote it to books, DVDs, training, food, and charitable donations. If there is anything left over, blow it on lottery tickets and sketchy real estate ventures, both of which have a higher return-on-investment than showcases in the fall and winter.
46. Switch from a turf mound indoors to a dirt/clay mound outdoors.
51. Improve glute activation so that you can fully extend your hip in your delivery.
52. Stop thinking that the exact workout a big league pitcher uses is exactly what you need to do.
53. Subcategory of #52: Remove the phrase "But Tim Lincecum does it" from your vocabulary. You aren't Tim Lincecum, and you probably never will be. Heck, Tim Lincecum isn't Tim Lincecum anymore, either. You can learn from his delivery, but 99.9999% of people who try to copy his delivery fail miserably.
54. Read more. This applies to personal development in a general sense, and baseball is certainly no exception. The guys who have the longest, most successful careers are usually the ones who dedicate themselves to learning about their craft.
55. Stay away from alcohol. It kills tissue quality, negatively affects protein synthesis, messes with sleep quality, and screws with hormonal status.
56. Incorporate more single-leg landings with your plyos; you land on one leg when you throw, don't you?
57. Be a good teammate. If you aren't a tool, they'll be more likely to help you when you get into a funk with your mechanics or need someone to light a fire under your butt.
58. Respect the game. Pitchers who don't respect the game invariably end up getting plunked the first time they wind up going up to bat. Getting hit by a lot of pitches isn't going to help your velocity.
59. Train the glutes in all three planes (read more HERE).
60. Remember your roots and always be loyal. You never know when you'll need to go back to ask your little league, middle school, high school, or AAU coach for advice to help you right the ship.
61. Get focal manual therapy like Active Release.
62. Get diffuse manual therapy like instrument-assisted modalities or general massage.
63. Make sweet love to a foam roller.
64. Throw a jacket on between innings to keep your body temperature up.
65. Pitch from the wind-up.
66. Drink magical velocity-increasing snake oil (just making sure you were still reading and paying attention).
67. Pick a better walkout song.
68. Get on a steeper mound (expect this to also increase arm stress).
69. Train hip mobility and core stability simultaneously.
70. Get around successful people in the pitching world and learn from them. Find a way to chat with someone who has accomplished something you want to accomplish. If you hang around schleps who complain about their genes and have never thrown above 75mph, though, expect to be a schlep who throws 75mph, too.
71. Pick the right parents (sorry, genes do play a role).
74. Get 8-12 weeks off completely from throwing per year. Read more about why HERE and HERE.
75. Be candid with yourself about how hard you’re really working (most guys talk about working hard when they should actually be working hard).
76. Take the stupid sticker off your hat.
77. Stop thinking so much.
78. Think more.
79. Stop stretching your throwing shoulder into external rotation (read more on that HERE).
80. Get in a better training environment.
81. Surround yourself with unconditionally positive and supportive people.
82. Talk to a different pitching coach to get a new perspective.
83. Stop talking to so many pitching coaches because too many cooks are spoiling the broth.
84. Lengthen your stride (learn more HERE, HERE, and HERE).
85. Shorten your stride.
86. Get your ego crushed when you realize that no matter how strong you think you are, there is a girl somewhere warming up with your max. And, my wife might even be able to do more pull-ups than you!
87. Stop trying to learn a cutter, knuckle-curve, slider, and “invisiball” when you can’t even throw a four-seam where you want it to go.
88. Play multiple sports (excluding cross-country).
89. Stay healthy when other pitchers are getting hurt.
90. Stop pitching for five different teams in the same season.
91. Pre-game routine: dynamic warm-up, sprinting progressions, long toss, pull-down throws, flat-ground, bullpen. Post-game routine: make out with prom queen after complete game shutout.
92. Do rhythmic stabilizations before you throw (if you’re a congenitally lax/”loose” guy) to "wake up" the rotator cuff.
104. Breath better (less shoulder shrug and more diaphragm).
105. Train the rotator cuff less.
106. Change the day on which you throw your bullpen.
107. For relievers, stay loose and warm throughout the game (read more about that HERE). Staying entertained is also important, as CP athlete Joe Van Meter demonstrates.
108. Here and there, between starts, skip your bullpen and throw a flat-ground instead to give your arm a chance to bounce back.
109. Consider creatine (the most researched strength and power supplement in history, yet surprisingly few people in baseball use it)
110. Work faster (the fielders behind you will love you).
111. Work slower (recover better between pitches and self-correct).
112. Stop ignoring your low right shoulder and adducted right hip.
113. Pick a college program where you’ll have an opportunity to play right away and get innings.
114. Move from a 5-day rotation to a 7-day rotation.
115. Decide to wake up in the morning and piss excellence!
These are really just the tip of the iceberg, so by all means, feel free to share your own strategies and ask questions in the comments section below.
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With an old post, Strength Training for Pitchers, I *thought* I had put to rest the silly idea that strength training doesn't help with improving throwing velocity. Unfortunately, some pitching gurus are still insisting that weight training is the devil when it comes to pitching velocity.
To that end, I thought I'd use today's brief post to highlight some newly published research from (among others) the bright folks at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI). This research showed that strength training doesn't just improve throwing velocity, but also that ANY type of strength training does!
Researchers looked at the effects of three different six-week strength training programs on velocity in 14-17 year-old baseball players, and found that all three programs led to significant improvements (1.2-2.0%) in throwing velocity over controls.
And, as is usually the case in the research, the programs were less than comprehensive. Just imagine if you borrowed the best bits and pieces from several programs and put them together in a comprehensive program that lasted an entire career, rather than just six weeks!
So, the next time you hear a pitching coach say that strength training for pitchers doesn't work, please rock a "face palm" and then inform him that even crappy strength training works in most scenarios (especially high school athletes).
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Last week, I contributed on a pitch counts roundtable for ESPN Boston. You can read it HERE.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below, as it is a certainly a heated debate that has come to the forefront in recent years with pitching injuries on the rise.
