Program Objectives
The program’s objective is to provide a holistic approach to training young pitchers in an age-appropriate fashion. It focuses on…
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- Pre-throwing Routine and Long Toss
- Pitching Mechanics
- Post-throwing Routine
Pre-throwing Routing and Long Toss – Building good habits from a young age will pay big dividends over time as young athletes get older.
The following pre-throwing protocol not only provides a proper warm-up routing for pitchers but also covers all the bases for preparing a young body for practice or game play. At younger ages, they’ll get what they generally need from the movement prep and band work. In addition, long-toss is an important tool to help warm-up and increase workload and volume.
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- Arm Care / Band Work
- Forward Flys (X 10 each)
- Reverse Flys (X 10 each)
- Retraction to Low Row (X 10 each)
- OH Triceps Extensions (X 10 each)
- Multi-Planar Movement Prep
- Long Toss
- 10 throws going out (@ 70-80 % RPE)
- 5 throws coming back in, with no arc @ 90-100% RPE
- Arm Care / Band Work
Pitching Mechanics / Bullpen Sessions – Helping young pitchers develop into the best versions of themselves requires an understanding of their physiological development and capabilities at any given age. Asking a young pitcher to post-up or use his lower half may be a complete waste of time if he doesn’t have enough posterior and lead leg strength to perform the task.
Consequently, with our more developed and older athletes where we may review as many as 50-60 potential disconnects, when it comes to the younger athletes, we need to be aware of what they may or may not be capable of performing. The following topics are what we consider foundational to any young pitcher and the program progressively introduces and emphasizes proper movement patterns to achieve the following objectives:
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- Pelvic / Glute Engagement Timing – This is defined by proper weight distribution on the back leg and foot by “sitting back” or “hinging” at the hips. This is key for maintaining good upright posture into foot plant and avoiding an early “push” off the rubber.
- Long Arm Path – A long arm path usually stems from an overly aggressive takeaway phase and is easily viewed from the front. The hand and part of the arm will be visible during the stride. It can lead to a late arm and result in an inability to properly scap load and create low elbow flexion (aka. “forearm flyout”), causing unnecessary stress on the UCL and anterior shoulder.
- Glove Side Integrity – This can be viewed from the front and is generally caused by an early glove-side pull. This can cause early trunk rotation and losses in hip/shoulder separation. What we’re looking for is a slightly closed and pronated glove side at foot plant. This initiates torso rotation later as well as the later and more efficient transfer of energy from the torso to the arm.
- Elbow Flexion – At foot plant, we look for elbow flexion to be between 90-110 degrees. A high degree of elbow flexion (hand closer to the head), shortens the lever arm too much, making it harder for the shoulder to efficiently lay back and causes the athlete to lead with the elbow and “push” the ball.
- Shoulder Rotation / Late Riser – Low ER, otherwise known as a late arm, also affects the athlete’s ability to efficiently lay back, forcing an elbow first throw (otherwise known as a “push”).
Post-throwing Routine – A comprehensive arm care program for pitchers should be a part of every athlete’s routine and although most pitchers think of the warm-up when it comes to arm care, a brief post pitching arm care and recovery protocol is just as important as it helps restore lost hip, shoulder and overall mobility during an outing.
Pitching Program Schedule and Details
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- Age groups
- 10-12 years old
- 13-15 years old
- 1x per week on Saturdays
- Time slots by age group are on the form below, subject to availability
- 11 sessions, 1 hour each
- Begins – Saturday, January 4th
- Ends – Saturday, March 22nd
- No sessions on Saturday 2/15 (President’s Weekend)
- Sessions are in groups of 3 pitchers per coach
- Age groups
General RPP Policies
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- No makeups (for snow days or otherwise)
- No rescheduling (if you can’t attend a session please simply attend the next one)
- No refunds for missed sessions
- No exceptions