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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