stronger arm

[thenextalexrod]

I want to devolp a very strong arm, but i really dont have anybody to throw with every day I mean i have practice and games monday-thursday but i think i need to do more work durning the weekend what are some things i can do to bulid strength in my arm with actually throwing a baseball?

[Buczilla]

Back in the day we used to long toss to build arm strength.

You can find more information on it @

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=long+toss+program&search_type=&aq=1&oq=long+toss+

http://www.google.com/custom?q=long+toss

When I didn't have a bud to toss with I would mark off an area on a fence with white tape and took aim at that. A bucket of balls was my friend.

This here is a good foundation for starting out:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2050270_play-long-toss.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Step 1 Begin by stretching. Stretch the muscles of the shoulder by doing range of motion exercises. In addition, the back and lower extremities must be stretched because these muscle are a crucial part of the throwing motion.

Step 2 Pair off with another player.

Step 3 Start throwing with short toss. This is a catch done at a distance of 20 to 30 feet. During this time, exaggerated attention should be paid to the mechanics of the throwing motion. The throwing motion may even be completed in virtual slow motion to emphasize its components.

Step 4 Move to 60 feet. Throw for 4 minutes at 60 feet.

Step 5 Move to 90 feet. Throw for 3 minutes.

Step 6 Move to 130 feet. Throw for 2 minutes.

Step 7 Move to 160 or 180 feet. Throw for another 2 minutes.

Step 8 Cool down with 3 minutes of short toss.

Tips & Warnings

Try to throw with as little arc as possible.

Play long toss several times a week to build up muscles.

At any point in the session, if a player experiences arm or shoulder pain, the session should be discontinued.

Long tossing does work. Like everything in life you have to work at it. Results don't happen over night.

[Chris O'Leary]

Step 1 Begin by stretching. Stretch the muscles of the shoulder by doing range of motion exercises. In addition, the back and lower extremities must be stretched because these muscle are a crucial part of the throwing motion.

Stretching is a waste if time, if not dangerous.

All that is needed is a warm-up period, which is accomplished by the short toss phase.

[mudvnine]

Stretching is a waste if time, if not dangerous.

All that is needed is a warm-up period, which is accomplished by the short toss phase.

Chris, this is interesting and I haven't heard it before . . . can you expand on it a bit (the dangers of stretching, I get the short toss phase)? What's your thoughts on Jaeger's stuff and his bands?

[korp]

Stretching a waste of time and dangerous? What a false statement. I think I know what your talking about but thats stated poorly. Static stretching (standing still) doesn't properly warm up the muscles for a good day of work. You should warmup by doing dynamics to get the blood flowing and muscles moving together. Realistically you should do static stretching after activity to increase flexibility after the muscles are warm but I have seen some do it after dynamic warmups to get a better stretch in. The point is to do it after the muscles are warm, do not stretch a cold muscle .... I think a cold rubberband is the example where it will snap if you don't warm it up first.

[brian920]

Do you think you could explain, or show examples of dynamic stretching?

[TG Coach]

I want to devolp a very strong arm, but i really dont have anybody to throw with every day I mean i have practice and games monday-thursday but i think i need to do more work durning the weekend what are some things i can do to bulid strength in my arm with actually throwing a baseball?

You can set up a tarp in your backyard or garage, get a bucket of balls and throw to the tarp. Also check out "throwers ten" at asmi.org.

[korp]

Do you think you could explain, or show examples of dynamic stretching?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvIGjwZ25YA .... that video has some examples of a dynamic routine but I am sure there are one's it doesn't cover but I did not watch it all the way through.

[Chris O'Leary]

Stretching a waste of time and dangerous? What a false statement. I think I know what your talking about but thats stated poorly. Static stretching (standing still) doesn't properly warm up the muscles for a good day of work. You should warmup by doing dynamics to get the blood flowing and muscles moving together. Realistically you should do static stretching after activity to increase flexibility after the muscles are warm but I have seen some do it after dynamic warmups to get a better stretch in. The point is to do it after the muscles are warm, do not stretch a cold muscle .... I think a cold rubberband is the example where it will snap if you don't warm it up first.

Static stretching increases joint laxity, which is a bad thing.

Studies done by the Australian army have shown that pre-exercise stretching increases injury risk rather than decreases it.

Dynamic stretching works, but b/c it works the muscles and gets them warmed up.

[Chris O'Leary]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvIGjwZ25YA .... that video has some examples of a dynamic routine but I am sure there are one's it doesn't cover but I did not watch it all the way through.

This routine would work because it gets the blood flowing.

So too would good old jumping jacks (or softly tossing the ball around).

[Oilcanbland]

Stretching a waste of time and dangerous? What a false statement. I think I know what your talking about but thats stated poorly. Static stretching (standing still) doesn't properly warm up the muscles for a good day of work. You should warmup by doing dynamics to get the blood flowing and muscles moving together. Realistically you should do static stretching after activity to increase flexibility after the muscles are warm but I have seen some do it after dynamic warmups to get a better stretch in. The point is to do it after the muscles are warm, do not stretch a cold muscle .... I think a cold rubberband is the example where it will snap if you don't warm it up first.

I agree with Korp on this one. Chris I think I would definitely like to hear a thorough explanation on why you are so opposed to stretching. I'm interested in this one because you made similar comments on my previous post, and I'm not quite understanding why you're making this argument that stretching is a "waste of time" or even dangerous. Granted, I and most athletes agree that cold/static stretching before a workout isn't beneficial. However, I've never heard of anyone saying that improving flexibility is a bad thing or dangerous. Where are you getting this info from?? I'm not saying you're wrong, but from my personal experience, after my workouts are complete, and the blood is flowing well, I feel I've always benefited from a good stretch afterwards.

[Maxx]

Chris is correct that there are a lot of studies that show that pre-performance static stretching may lead to an increase in injury. Even more studies show that static stretching on its own causes a decrease in performance. My pre-performance routine for my athletes includes the following: 1/4-1/2 mile jog, dynamic exercises, static stretching for no more than 3-5 seconds on their own, agilities, sprinting, throwing.

[Chris O'Leary]

I agree with Korp on this one. Chris I think I would definitely like to hear a thorough explanation on why you are so opposed to stretching. I'm interested in this one because you made similar comments on my previous post, and I'm not quite understanding why you're making this argument that stretching is a "waste of time" or even dangerous. Granted, I and most athletes agree that cold/static stretching before a workout isn't beneficial. However, I've never heard of anyone saying that improving flexibility is a bad thing or dangerous. Where are you getting this info from?? I'm not saying you're wrong, but from my personal experience, after my workouts are complete, and the blood is flowing well, I feel I've always benefited from a good stretch afterwards.

A lot of people's theories about stretching are wrong.

You can't permanently stretch/lengthen muscles. All you can do is warm them up. You can stretch/lengthen tendons and ligaments. However, that tends to reduce the stability of the joint. Barring injury or some congenital problems, joints are usually tight for a reason. That tightness holds the joint together.

The Australian army did a controlled study of pre-exercise stretching a few years ago. They had some platoons do static stretching before exercise and others just warm up before exercise. The platoons who stretched had a higher incidence of problems than did the platoons who warmed up.

See...

- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is_200306/ai_n9247099/pg_4

[Chris O'Leary]

Chris is correct that there are a lot of studies that show that pre-performance static stretching may lead to an increase in injury. Even more studies show that static stretching on its own causes a decrease in performance. My pre-performance routine for my athletes includes the following: 1/4-1/2 mile jog, dynamic exercises, static stretching for no more than 3-5 seconds on their own, agilities, sprinting, throwing.

This is all dynamic, warm-up stuff that IMO is good because it gets the blood flowing.

[Maxx]

I meant to add that that is the exact order which we perform them every day.

[baseballdad]

Back in the day we used to long toss to build arm strength.

You can find more information on it @

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=long+toss+program&search_type=&aq=1&oq=long+toss+

http://www.google.com/custom?q=long+toss

When I didn't have a bud to toss with I would mark off an area on a fence with white tape and took aim at that. A bucket of balls was my friend.

This here is a good foundation for starting out:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2050270_play-long-toss.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Step 1 Begin by stretching. Stretch the muscles of the shoulder by doing range of motion exercises. In addition, the back and lower extremities must be stretched because these muscle are a crucial part of the throwing motion.

Step 2 Pair off with another player.

Step 3 Start throwing with short toss. This is a catch done at a distance of 20 to 30 feet. During this time, exaggerated attention should be paid to the mechanics of the throwing motion. The throwing motion may even be completed in virtual slow motion to emphasize its components.

Step 4 Move to 60 feet. Throw for 4 minutes at 60 feet.

Step 5 Move to 90 feet. Throw for 3 minutes.

Step 6 Move to 130 feet. Throw for 2 minutes.

Step 7 Move to 160 or 180 feet. Throw for another 2 minutes.

Step 8 Cool down with 3 minutes of short toss.

Tips & Warnings

Try to throw with as little arc as possible.

Play long toss several times a week to build up muscles.

At any point in the session, if a player experiences arm or shoulder pain, the session should be discontinued.

Long tossing does work. Like everything in life you have to work at it. Results don't happen over night.

I agree that long toss is a good way to increase throwing arm strength and performance. But I don't agree with the general instruction to "throw with as little arc as possible". Based on my understanding of the Jager long toss program and what makes sense to me, during the initial throwing as you move apart you should throw with arc. You are stretching out the arm muscles as you throw for progressively more distance. Then as you move back in you should try and use all the power of the longest throw at shorter distances- ie throwing faster/harder and with as little arc as possible.

[rkbenn]

A lot of people's theories about stretching are wrong.

You can't permanently stretch/lengthen muscles. All you can do is warm them up. You can stretch/lengthen tendons and ligaments. However, that tends to reduce the stability of the joint. Barring injury or some congenital problems, joints are usually tight for a reason. That tightness holds the joint together.

The Australian army did a controlled study of pre-exercise stretching a few years ago. They had some platoons do static stretching before exercise and others just warm up before exercise. The platoons who stretched had a higher incidence of problems than did the platoons who warmed up.

See...

- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is_200306/ai_n9247099/pg_4

Darn Chris, seems that some want to jump right out and say you're wrong. You are absolutely right as Maxx said. For the reasons you said above.

[baseballdad]

One of my sports is surfing. You paddle alot during a session and over the years develop shoulder problems. I have learned to exercise to avoid these problems, but only if I static stretch out the arms/shoulders prior to surfing. If I static stretch, no pain. If I forget to static/stretch pain. I rarely forget now. ;). Static can accomplish something, in my experience.

[BallCoach06]

The only time we static stretch is following our workouts (game or practice). Everything we do before a practice or game are dynamic movements. So, I agree with what Chris and Maxx are stating.

[Oilcanbland]

Never said he was wrong, I just wanted to know where he got this information from. I'm sure he has done much more research on the subject than I have. I think it's settled that dynamic stretching is better before, static is better after the workout.

[halfguard]

chris o'leary is prettyt much on. it still makes me cringe when im at the park and see these coaches warming up their kids with static stretches. here is what i do with my son and teameates (9yo)

1 lap around the field (300 ft fence) or 30 jumping jacks.
knee ups/toe touchers/hula hoop/shrugs/ neck rolls
arm circles big and small/lunges/mountain climbers
i do mix in a few strecthes but for reps not a static time.

then we start throwing.

ive benn looking at the jeager program for a long time. do you guys young kids (9yo) are ready for this type of thing?

[halfguard]

here are 2 links to throwing programs

http://www.pikproducts.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=21

http://baseballtips.com/jaeger.html

[Chris O'Leary]

I think it's settled that dynamic stretching is better before, static is better after the workout.

As I said, I think static stretching is pretty much ALWAYS a bad idea.

[korp]

I'd like to know how one will increase flexibility in say the groin if they don't static stretch .... because dynamics is basically warming up not increasing flexbility.

[thenextalexrod]

how did we become way off topic with static stretching mabye start a new thread or something all i care about is speed

[Chris O'Leary]

I want to devolp a very strong arm, but i really dont have anybody to throw with every day I mean i have practice and games monday-thursday but i think i need to do more work durning the weekend what are some things i can do to bulid strength in my arm with actually throwing a baseball?

You can long toss by yourself. Just throw into a backstop of a field.

[rkbenn]

how did we become way off topic with static stretching mabye start a new thread or something all i care about is speed

a poster said you should stretch your muscles in your shoulder to add flexibility as a means of training to increase arm strength/speed. Which is far from the truth. It just increases your chance of injury.

[rkbenn]

I'd like to know how one will increase flexibility in say the groin if they don't static stretch .... because dynamics is basically warming up not increasing flexbility.

hey korp,

I'm trying to go back to my year of A&P, and college basketball career, all though small. We're talking about small joints, well at least I am. When I was playing basketball i did ankle weight training to strengthen the muscles around the ankle, the same is true for the shoulder. What happens is your muscles assist the ligaments and tendons in stability of the ankle or shoulder. once you start to stretch out the ligaments and tendons...there is no going back, they are stretched for good, thus increasing your risk for injury. you try to prevent this by strengthing and keep the muscles tight around the joint to assist in joint stability.

[Oilcanbland]

how did we become way off topic with static stretching mabye start a new thread or something all i care about is speed

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread if I did. I'm facing the same problem you have this winter (no one to throw with frequently). I've got a tarp with a strike zone cutout that I'm going to set up, and working on getting a bucket of used baseballs somewhere, most likely eBay.