quote:Originally posted by Zachbino57:
I'm a lanky 6'3, 150 pound lefty sophomore who has no trouble throwing strikes, but I can never get it faster than 68-70. A kid on my team who has a similar body build hits 82-85 consistently. I lift weights 4 times a week (2 days legs like squats,lunges, power clean and clean and jerk and 2 days arms with bench press, alt. db press, incline bench and the like)work abs 2-3 times a week and run every day at practice. We do some long toss during practice as well. Anyway, I've put 90 pounds on my squat since the start of the school year, but i've only gained 5-6 mph since last season. Do you guys have any advice for any things I could do to help speed it up? I know mechanics aren't the issue because I've worked 1-1 with a pitching coach all off season. Thanks!
What you have proven is that lifting weights, if done incorrectly, will do nothing to improve a pitcher's velocity.
What you have to do is work the muscles that come into play when you throw a ball. By and large, in terms of force production that means the muscles that rotate the torso (aka the core) and not the muscles of the legs or the arms. You can strengthen those core muscles using a program like Pilates. You also need to condition the muscles of the shoulder so that they can handle the loads that are placed on them. That can be done via long toss and via a conditioning program like the Throwers Ten (Google it).
In terms of mechanics, the key is to throw with your entire body and not just your arm. By and large that means getting your hips rotating ahead of your shoulders. That is what Casey Fossum, who is a string bean who can throw 90 MPH, is doing in this photo.
The idea is to open the hips (e.g. have your belt buckle face home plate) while keeping your shoulders closed (e.g. facing 1B for a LHP). You then let the hips pull the shoulders around.
Tim Lincecum is another smaller guy who can really bring it because he gets his hips rotating well before his shoulders.
