As a pitcher it is important that you play long toss. However, most pitchers are confused as to what long toss really is. Most people think you are supposed to rear back and throw as far as you possibly can. Long toss simply means that you throw at maximum distance and intensity with perfect pitching mechanics. If this distance is only 80 feet, throw 80 feet. The most common problem pitchers face with their pitching mechanics when throwing long toss is not maintaining proper balance keeping their head over center of gravity.
You see many pitchers try to strike everybody out these days. Is that the best strategy?
No doubt strikeouts are great. There is no better feeling as a pitcher than striking batters out. But if that is always your strategy, you’re going to fail. Playing baseball is like a physical game of chess. Some batters you want to challenge, others you want to ground out or pop out depending on the situation. Some pitches you throw are meant to get a batter to hit a grounder to second base to turn a double play. I would rather throw three pitches an inning and have three ground outs than have three strikeouts. As a pitcher you have to be concerned about pitch count; and if all you think about are strikeouts you are not a team player.
How often should a pitcher be throwing? Are pitchers throwing enough?
Those are difficult questions. Some pitchers are throwing too much, while others aren’t throwing nearly enough. You might say, well, what is enough? Can you really put a number on it? There is no perfect answer to this question. Every athlete is different. Again, a pitcher needs to condition to throw during the off season as well. A pitcher should be throwing about 9 months out of the year in good or bad weather states. You shouldn’t throw year round, your arm needs a break. At the beginning of each year start playing light catch, long toss the end of January to mid-February, Start pitching off the mound a couple weeks before your season starts and make sure that you implement a regularly throwing regimen depending on when your going to compete. If you’re a relief pitcher, your throwing schedule will be different of course. Overall, a pitcher should throw 50-75 pitches (5 days a week) rotating from flat ground to the mound. Also rotating from short-medium-long toss to throwing at full velocity off the mound each week.
What is the best advice you can give Little League coaches as they begin to work on pitching mechanics with their pitchers?
Get an education about proper pitching mechanics before you mess the pitchers up! It is amazing to me how many coaches don’t have a clue about pitching mechanics. I would advise them to get my pitching mechanics DVD to start with; it’s very basic and easy to follow. A coach can watch it once and start teaching their pitchers from the feet up. Most coaches just don’t take the time to learn the basic fundamentals about pitching. They do great work with the kids, of course they spend good time and mean well, but most haven’t done their due diligence about pitching mechanics or pitching workout routines and it’s damaging to their athletes.
What types of lower body strengthening exercises are important for pitchers to add to their pitching workouts?
Pitchers need strong legs! That’s where their momentum starts; that explosive power toward home plate. You need a combination of leg workouts that include agility exercises, plyometric exercises, stretching and so on. Some of the best strength training exercises for your legs are side shuffles with elastic tubing, Leg presses, squats, lunges, side lunges, leg extensions, leg curls and calf raises. I encourage my students to keep a variety of effective exercises, working out the same muscle groups so they don’t get bored of their pitching workouts nor will they plateau. Do heavier lifting in the off-season and lighter lifts during the season with more repetitions to keep your stamina.
There seem to be more and more arm injuries these days. How can they be prevented? There are more injuries in the pre-season because many pitchers aren’t conditioned to pitch. At a younger level, athletes play other sports, pretty soon the baseball seasons here and they throw once or twice before they tryout for a team. Once you have a sore arm that early in the season, it tends to haunt you the rest of the year unless you give it a rest. That’s one reason. There are many! I know in the high school level the pitchers are throwing long toss with their team the day after they throw 7 innings. Their coaches simply aren’t running a good program when that happens. Throwing off a mound is a tearing down process on your arm. A pitcher should limit the number of throws off a mound each week to about 100. The point is you have to listen to your body, make sure you are very serious about pitching specific workouts, get with an experienced pitching coach and learn proper pitching mechanics.
How soon should a pitcher learn how to throw a curveball?
Everybody has their own opinion about that question. I don’t think there is a perfect age that a pitcher starts throwing the curveball because not everybody is built the same, of course puberty hits everyone at different times. I think it is important to teach a “proper” curveball when a pitcher has great fastball mechanics. They can’t throw a good curveball without solid pitching mechanics and fundamentals. Most coaches don’t know how to teach a proper curveball effectively, so when a pitcher has sound pitching mechanics, I’ll teach him. A Pitcher is going to experiment throwing the curveball on their own anyway, when they’re with their friends and they won’t do it right. However, Before I teach any of my students how to throw a curveball, I will teach them an effective changeup.
Recently I was asked the following question from another pitching coach:
Late in the game, what is the first mechanical problem a pitcher tends to face? What can be done to prevent it?
That’s a difficult question, because every pitcher is so unique. Not every pitcher has proper pitching mechanics. A pitcher’s legs should be the first thing that tires, that is where your power is supposed to be coming from. Unfortunately, many pitchers experience arm fatigue first and then their pitching mechanics are horrible. They’re doing whatever they can to avoid the pain, so they change their delivery, but it just makes the situation worse. If I had to point out one mechanical flaw it would be maintaining overall balance. That could be prevented by effective pitching workout programs that include core strength training. If you pitch, you should condition to throw as if you were going to throw the entire game each outing.
It’s healthy to run longer distances to flush out your arm after you pitch in a game, Nolan Ryan would ride his stationary bike for 25 minutes after competition. If you put to much emphasis on running long distances it’s not the most effective pitching workout. Sprinting 2-3 times a week is better because you work on your fast twitch muscles and your explosive power. You want to do both long distance running and sprints, it’s just a matter of when. Pitchers should run long distances one day a week and keep short, medium and long sprint work 2-3 times a week.
Anytime you want to take your game to the next level, you have to boost your confidence. Having complete confidence in yourself as a pitcher is a must.
Confidence alone is a factor that can separate major league level players from minor league level pitchers. I like watching pitchers like Randy Johnson and loved to watch Nolan Ryan when he played. As a pitcher your biggest advantage is your confidence. Confidence comes from many hours of practice and repetition, but also through playing a lot of games. I think confidence shows a batter that you have already beat him before you have even thrown your first pitch. Randy Johnson, of course, is intimidating because of his size and his demeanor on the mound. That’s going to disrupt a hitter.
One of the tools that many pitchers use to disrupt a hitter is to throw inside. That’s something that you don’t see as much anymore. Throwing inside, with confidence of course, shows a hitter that you’re not afraid. Why don’t more pitchers throw inside? Younger athletes fear hitting the batter, some simply don’t want to risk getting behind in the count; they are not confident enough in their ability to control the inside pitch.
