quote:Originally posted by jdfromfla:
No doubt but a lifter who is unprepared to go for his max is just as foolish as a pitcher who on a competitive level is unprepared to go for his. Without it there alot of potential downside.
Excellent!
There is nothing mentioned about the important development of the pitchers core and lower body, which helps to develop higher velocity. Just the intent to throw harder has no value unless other things develop first. This is leaving out the pitcher who just has the natural ability to throw hard but even then, sooner or later, if the other things don't develop there will be injury.
Interesting, there are lots of pro pitchers that come into pro ball with back problems (quad strains too)as well as arm problems, mostly due to throwing harder than they should. You'll find those are the ones who didn't develop the lower body properly. It's not always about poor mechanics.
My belief is that you never should tell a pitcher to throw harder unless he is ready to do that. Young pitchers do not have the core or leg strength to do so. Most HS pitchers don't either. JMO.