increasing mph

[Ry9770]

How do you increase your mph speed?(throwing)

[beisbolcrazy22]

long toss and conditioning. Great mechanics make a huge difference too.

[Ry9770]

long toss and conditioning. Great mechanics make a huge difference too.

what type of conditioning?

[Ry9770]

also does making your rotator uff stronger increase arm strength and speed? if so what exercises are there for rototar cuffs?

[EdmondsFan#1]

also does making your rotator uff stronger increase arm strength and speed? if so what exercises are there for rototar cuffs?


Yes. I have an article that I printed out a long while ago and it said they took a group of pitchers and had them do rotator cuff excercises for about 2 monthes and on average their velocity increased about 3 mph.

Use a 3 lb. weight for rotator cuff exercises or instead of using weights you can use resistance bands which I have also heard good things about.

But I don't know the specific exercises.

[XFactor]

You increase MPH by (and this is considering good mechanics, which helps transfer the elastic energy)
1) Moving faster (ie. Moving explosively leading with front hip, ala Ryan, Koufax)
2) Increase momentum
3) Throwing from the mound
4) Having good general fitness in which specific fitness is superimposed on

[Ry9770]

How do i long toss myelf?

[GFK]

How do i long toss myelf?

Start with a bucket of balls at home plate. Throw them as far as you can (with minimum arc) into center field. Go out to center field and throw them back into the backstop. Listen to your arm. Don't go blowing out an elbow or shoulder.

[Maxx]

2 words: weight room

[XFactor]

13 words and 1 number:
Throwing a 5 ounce object doesn't require much strength. It is called elastic energy

[ace.3]

13 words and 1 number:
Throwing a 5 ounce object doesn't require much strength. It is called elastic energy



Buuut.... The weight room you see can increase a pitcher's leg, core, and arm strength allowing him to possess more elastic energy.

[Maxx]

Throwing a 5 ounce object doesn't require much strength.

Oh really??? Maybe not strength, but definitely requires power, at least if you want to throw it at an optimal velocity.

Next you're going to tell me it doesn't require any strength, or power, to swing a 30 oz. bat. I mean, cmon, it's not even 2 pounds!! :disbelief:

[ace.3]

13 words and 1 number:
Throwing a 5 ounce object doesn't require much strength. It is called elastic energy


So Xfactor you're telling me if you were coaching a teenage pitcher you would not have him do drills, lift weights, or play long toss. Just throw off the mound??

[Baseball gLove]

Start with a bucket of balls at home plate. Throw them as far as you can (with minimum arc) into center field. Go out to center field and throw them back into the backstop. Listen to your arm. Don't go blowing out an elbow or shoulder.

Sorry GFK, But bad advise. Before throwing long toss, warm up first. Warm up to throw, don't throw to warm up. This means take a jog around the field. Then perform arm circles forward and backward. If you have the Jaeger bands perform those exercises. Then you play easy catch gradually lengthening the throws; keep it easy and relaxed, take your time. You will need to arc the ball and crow hop to get more distance, it is important that you do both. Your arm should feel good and relaxed. Don't worry if you are not throwing 200 feet, it will come in a month or so. Once you reach your maximum distance, start coming back 5 feet a throw, BUT now you are pulling down on the ball. You are looking to eliminate the arc as quickly as possible at distance even though you are no longer throwing maximum distance. You are looking to get your maximum power with each throw. You should look to throw strikes with each throw. You may seen an increase in velocity from just 1 session.

[XFactor]

As have been stated (Jobe, 1983), velocity of a pitched ball comes from elastic energy.

General fitness is good, I'm all for that, but then work on specific fitness. Even then, it's most important to pitch off the mound more than anything else to improve in velocity and control.

Muscles and muscle fibers have to be conditioned to withstand anticipated and surprise laods. This is one of the justifications for a general conditioning program for pitchers. It will allow them to perform secondary skills such as fielding, hitting, and running, without much threat of injury. Baseball does not involve slow strong efforts and so conditioning activities need not include exercises of that type, despite most weight training facilities being equipped to promote only those activities. General training for baseball should be of endurance and explosive exercises across the whole body. Endurance training promotoes faster recovery from fatigue, is the best form of activities for active recovery, facilitates a greater volume of non-endurance activity training, strengthens connective tissues, and increases heat tolerance.
Explosive training conditions the body to respond in different postures with maximum speed and effort.

Baseball is essentially an activity where the main resistance is body weight, and the effect of multiplications of body weight in eccentric contractions. The sport requires explosive movements as well as the attainment of unusual body positionsm such as diving to catch a ball, or changing direction very quickly. Baseball players need to be conditioned and prepared to move very fast to control their bodies, arms, and legs, and to be aware of what is evolving in every play. None of those demands is related to slow resistance training.

Training effects are, in the main, so specific that even minor departures from movement forms, velocities, and intensities result in undesirable training effects. Inccorectly designed training activities, no matter how well-intentioned, will have no carry-over value for a particular movement form, and may even have the potential to negatively influence pitching activites.

The ability to use strength is inversely proportional to the velocity of the performance action. Thus, strength training would seem to be of greater value for slower forms of movement even within a sport. Since baseball involves particularly fast skill executions, traditional strength training would have no specific conditioning value but could contribute to a pitcher's general fitness state.

When light resistances are involved (ie. 5 oz), the speed factor dominates and unusual strength is not required. This is the case for baseball pitching, football kicking, and javelin throwing. The generation of muscular power is dependent on the coordination of both the fibers within muscles and groups of muscles.


Elastic strength releates to those properties of muscle-tendon tissue which allow it to be stretched rapidly, thereby increasing internal muscular tension (stored elastic energy), and subsequently facilitating a rapid forceful shortening of the muscle (Chu, 1984). Thus, explosive power improvements can only be accomplished by performing explosive-speed movements. Explosiveness is mainly in the contracile properties of the muscle, not in energizing physiological characteristics. It is not the biochemical energy production that produces explosive power, but the contracile properties of the connective tissues.

The importance of strength, power, and acceleration were investigated in baseball fastball pitching (Kluckhuhn, Signorile, Miller, Webber, & Garcia, 1997). The only variables related to pitching were those associated with speed. Acceleration and power at the fastest movement speeds accounted for almost all faseball pitching variance (99%). Strength was not related to speed of movement and therefore, should not be a variable considered when training for high-velocity movements. To improve pitching speed it is necessary to train for speed first. This is best done by consistently trying to move and exceed previous maximum velocity. Any training that does not allow maximum speed in a trial will be useless.




To sum this all up.. because I understand it's long and some of you probably skipped through a lot of it:


When light resistances are encountered in performing a maximum velocity efforct, the speed factor dominates and great strength is not required. Large forces cannot be exerted in high speed movements. The development of speed movements is subject to all the factors that surround effective learning (Behm & Sale, 1993).

I'm not saying GENERAL fitness nor specific fitness should be ignored, because it shouldn't. But, the main focus should be on the skill you're trying to improve in, and that is pitching.

All the muscle groups involved in pitching should have a well conditioned level to accommodate very rapid stretching of the muscles in the prparatory phase and in the preparation of each segment movement within the release phase of the total action.
Stretch-shortening invokes an increase in stored elastic energy during the eccentric contraction of a muscle action. Training this capacity is required as a hedge against injury that could occur if tissues are unfamiliar with the maximal stimuli that provoke speed movements.
Such training will not improve the velocity of a pitched baseball. It will only contribute to injury prevention.

The complex sequence of segments in the total pitching motion should be performed as effectively as possible with each segment being initaied at the time the previous segment has acheived its maxmimum momentum (velocity). Thus, pitching velocity is dependent upon the precision of coordination of movement segments rather than any singular muscular property such as strength or explosive strength.

A feature that distinguishes pitching from many other sporting activities is that it is a very high-velocity movement. Consequently, pitching coaches need to be wary of applying movement principles and activities that are appropriate for low- or moderate-velocity movements.

[Maxx]

Sorry GFK, But bad advise. Before throwing long toss, warm up first. Warm up to throw, don't throw to warm up. This means take a jog around the field. Then perform arm circles forward and backward. If you have the Jaeger bands perform those exercises. Then you play easy catch gradually lengthening the throws; keep it easy and relaxed, take your time. You will need to arc the ball and crow hop to get more distance, it is important that you do both. Your arm should feel good and relaxed. Don't worry if you are not throwing 200 feet, it will come in a month or so. Once you reach your maximum distance, start coming back 5 feet a throw, BUT now you are pulling down on the ball. You are looking to eliminate the arc as quickly as possible at distance even though you are no longer throwing maximum distance. You are looking to get your maximum power with each throw. You should look to throw strikes with each throw. You may seen an increase in velocity from just 1 session.


That's good long toss protocol!

[XFactor]

Ace, you are correct sir!

Drills don't work (except for beginners, even then, teaching backwards is better), neuromuscular patterns are different.

I tell my pitchers (and I, myself) if you want to long toss, do it for the purpose of building up your intensity before you head to the mound.

And no, they'd do weight lifting (but not heavy, something to just build general fitness before working on specific fitness, then of course they'd do this to keep the general fitness up) to get a good general level of fitness. Sprints, long distance running, and sport specific exercises

But most importantly they'd be pitching off the mound while being videotaped and throwing blocked sets. Utilizing mental imagery (mapping the pitch) and positive self-talk

[Maxx]

I agree that specific performance is important, but I place an equal, and sometime greater, emphais on general training.

X, here is a link to 12 articles that I think shed a bit more light on training for strength and power in baseball players and pitchers:

http://www.maxxtraining.com/misc.htm

[ace.3]

Ace, you are correct sir!

Drills don't work (except for beginners, even then, teaching backwards is better), neuromuscular patterns are different.

I tell my pitchers (and I, myself) if you want to long toss, do it for the purpose of building up your intensity before you head to the mound.

And no, they'd do weight lifting to get a good general level of fitness. Sprints, long distance running, and sport specific exercises

But most importantly they'd be pitching off the mound while being videotaped and throwing blocked sets. Utilizing mental imagery (mapping the pitch) and positive self-talk



Well I agree with you about the videotaping, visualization, and self-talk all key elements. But, again, I disagree about the drills.

[Ry9770]

Sorry GFK, But bad advise. Before throwing long toss, warm up first. Warm up to throw, don't throw to warm up. This means take a jog around the field. Then perform arm circles forward and backward. If you have the Jaeger bands perform those exercises. Then you play easy catch gradually lengthening the throws; keep it easy and relaxed, take your time. You will need to arc the ball and crow hop to get more distance, it is important that you do both. Your arm should feel good and relaxed. Don't worry if you are not throwing 200 feet, it will come in a month or so. Once you reach your maximum distance, start coming back 5 feet a throw, BUT now you are pulling down on the ball. You are looking to eliminate the arc as quickly as possible at distance even though you are no longer throwing maximum distance. You are looking to get your maximum power with each throw. You should look to throw strikes with each throw. You may seen an increase in velocity from just 1 session.

Whats a Jaegar band? Also whats crow hop?Whats pulling down on the ball?

[Maxx]

Whats a Jaegar band? Also whats crow hop?Whats pulling down on the ball?

Oh boy....Ry, you need to do a little research on your own. I'm not trying to be cruel, but you can find the answer--and a more complete, detailed answer if you do a search, either here, or on the internet in general. Seek out resources that provide pictures or video, cause you will definitely need that to understand what a crow hop is!!

[Ry9770]

Oh boy....Ry, you need to do a little research on your own. I'm not trying to be cruel, but you can find the answer--and a more complete, detailed answer if you do a search, either here, or on the internet in general. Seek out resources that provide pictures or video, cause you will definitely need that to understand what a crow hop is!!

Oh i know what a crow hop is now lol. I knew what it was before but i didnt know what it was called lol.

[Baseball gLove]

Whats a Jaegar band? Also whats crow hop?Whats pulling down on the ball?

Here is a crow hop with a great looking pull-down to boot:

http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/throwing/pro/ichiro_throw.gif

Here are the J-Bands. My son had the benefit of getting hands on instruction on using the bands so you might want to get the DVD with it.
http://www.jaegersports.com/images/store/bands_pic.gif
My son had 21 days of baseball including 10 innings of pitching with only 3 days off. On the days off he does light J-bands.

[kylebee]

Ace, you are correct sir!

Drills don't work (except for beginners, even then, teaching backwards is better), neuromuscular patterns are different.

I tell my pitchers (and I, myself) if you want to long toss, do it for the purpose of building up your intensity before you head to the mound.

And no, they'd do weight lifting (but not heavy, something to just build general fitness before working on specific fitness, then of course they'd do this to keep the general fitness up) to get a good general level of fitness. Sprints, long distance running, and sport specific exercises

But most importantly they'd be pitching off the mound while being videotaped and throwing blocked sets. Utilizing mental imagery (mapping the pitch) and positive self-talk

This is all very Dick Mills-ish type stuff, and I pretty much agree in general. There is no substitution for throwing off the mound to figure out what you need to fix and to increase velocity/control of your pitches.

[GFK]

Sorry GFK, But bad advise. Before throwing long toss, warm up first. Warm up to throw, don't throw to warm up. This means take a jog around the field. Then perform arm circles forward and backward. If you have the Jaeger bands perform those exercises. Then you play easy catch gradually lengthening the throws; keep it easy and relaxed, take your time. You will need to arc the ball and crow hop to get more distance, it is important that you do both. Your arm should feel good and relaxed. Don't worry if you are not throwing 200 feet, it will come in a month or so. Once you reach your maximum distance, start coming back 5 feet a throw, BUT now you are pulling down on the ball. You are looking to eliminate the arc as quickly as possible at distance even though you are no longer throwing maximum distance. You are looking to get your maximum power with each throw. You should look to throw strikes with each throw. You may seen an increase in velocity from just 1 session.

See your point. I assumed he would know to warm up prior to throwing and do some light throwing to warm up the muscles specific to throwing.

[Chris O'Leary]

Start with a bucket of balls at home plate. Throw them as far as you can (with minimum arc) into center field. Go out to center field and throw them back into the backstop. Listen to your arm. Don't go blowing out an elbow or shoulder.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not follow this advice.

If you were to start chucking balls as far as you can without first warming up your arm, you will destroy your shoulder.

You have to gradually and smoothly work up to a long distance.

Start out at the pitcher's mound and throw 5 balls to home. Than back up ten feet and throw 5 more balls to home.

[GFK]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not follow this advice.

If you were to start chucking balls as far as you can without first warming up your arm, you will destroy your shoulder.

You have to gradually and smoothly work up to a long distance.

Start out at the pitcher's mound and throw 5 balls to home. Than back up ten feet and throw 5 more balls to home.

Chris, see my post above. I didn't give enough detail. I assumed a proper warm-up.

[Ry9770]

I just tried a new thing now. When i pitched i rotated my hips a bit earlier and held the pitch more loosely. The pitch went up 5-7 mph or higher. :)