Posted on

Why and How We Incorporate Long Toss in Our Programs

long toss program

Long-toss is a concept that we see many athletes under-utilize, misinterpret, or perform improperly. We use our long-toss program in a variety of ways to help our athletes maintain proper throwing volume and intensity depending on where they are during the season or their throwing program.  But generally, it is our belief that long-toss should be a staple in every pitcher’s routine, specifically to increase intensity in the throw and get the arm and tissue used to the stress of throwing (otherwise known as Davis’ Law). Continue reading “Why and How We Incorporate Long Toss in Our Programs”

Posted on

How to Improve Unintentional Cut on a Fastball

cut fastball

Improving an unintentional cut on a 4S fastball can be particularly challenging. It’s a habitual release pattern of the ball with a cut and trying to change years and years of a specific movement pattern moving at high speeds requires dedication and work. In this article, we are going to review many of the methods we’ve have used with some success when addressing excessive and inadvertent cut on a fastball.

However, this article does come with a disclaimer: We’re not necessarily suggesting that you must fix a cut on your 4S fastball. If a cut fastball is an effective pitch for you, and you would like to continue to throw your 4S fastball this way, you should continue throwing it that way. This article is meant for those who have a cut and would like to adjust their fastball to move like a regular 4S fastball with additional back spin and perhaps higher velocity. Continue reading “How to Improve Unintentional Cut on a Fastball”

Posted on

Early Trunk Rotation and Losses in Pitching Velocity

early trunk rotation

While performing hundreds of video analysis and mocaps yearly, “early trunk rotation” rears its ugly heads more than 90% of any other disconnect we see. An early trunk puts the upper body in a more compromised position to accept ground reaction force and effectively block with the lead leg while negatively affecting timing issues and transfer of force up the chain. It can also contribute to a late arm or an arm that “drags”.  All this, of course, can ultimately lead to losses in pitching velocity.  The key is finding what is causing this early rotation, training it and putting the arm in its “sweet spot”. Continue reading “Early Trunk Rotation and Losses in Pitching Velocity”

Posted on

Pitching Biomechanics: Hip Shoulder Separation, Closing the Gap

hip and shoulder

We have talked in the past about hip-shoulder separation and its importance in the pitching motion. In this article, we will dive deeper into the idea of “closing the gap” after max separation has occurred. More specifically:

    • When does it occur (timing)
    • How quickly does it close (explosiveness)
    • How completely does it close

We will also review some potential issues and how we may address them.

Continue reading “Pitching Biomechanics: Hip Shoulder Separation, Closing the Gap”

Posted on

How to Create the Best Prescription for Power

When I first started training, I like many others believed that if we just keep improving absolute strength our athletes would continue to get bigger, faster, and stronger. Fast forward to many years later, and I can tell you with a great degree of confidence (and experience) that most metrics crucial to sport such as speed, explosive ability, and change of direction can only be improved for about the first year simply by increasing absolute strength, as in getting stronger, by utilizing big compound lifts under high load.  However, Continue reading “How to Create the Best Prescription for Power”

Posted on

What are the Best Baseball Band Exercises for Pitchers

Band Exercises for Pitchers

There is certainly no shortage of pitching bands and baseball band exercises for pitchers.  There are actually so many that it can make your head spin.  We use several baseball band exercises for pitchers as a part of our pre-throwing routine and over the years we have refined them down to what we believe to be the min / max of what you should be doing. Continue reading “What are the Best Baseball Band Exercises for Pitchers”

Posted on

5 Lower Half Pitching Issues Preventing a Consistent Release Point

Lower Half Pitching

It’s no mystery that one of the keys to successful pitching is a consistent release point.  While I do believe that the term “repeatable delivery” is a bit of a stretch, and that many times inconsistency in your arm slot can be a major cause of difficulty in repeating your delivery, I believe we need to dig a little deeper and look closer down the kinetic chain to lower half pitching issues. Continue reading “5 Lower Half Pitching Issues Preventing a Consistent Release Point”

Posted on

What are the Most Common Pitch Movement Issues… And the Fixes

pitch movement

Having observed hundreds of pitchers on our Rapsodo Pitching camera during the past several years, it’s fair to say that there are a few tendencies that most high school and collegiate pitchers exhibit. While every pitcher is different with their skillset, we generally tend to observe similar opportunities for improvement in pitch movement.

In this first of three articles… Continue reading “What are the Most Common Pitch Movement Issues… And the Fixes”

Posted on

Post Pitching Arm Care Routine for Pitchers

A comprehensive arm care program for pitchers should be a part of every athlete’s routine.  Although most pitchers think of the warm-up when it comes to arm care, a post pitching arm care and recovery protocol is just as important. We often get asked about arm care after a throwing session.  Basically, it should involve 6 exercises that can easily done in less than 25 minutes and its primary purpose is to help restore lost mobility during an outing.  Here’s a quick summary: Continue reading “Post Pitching Arm Care Routine for Pitchers”