@adbono posted:I do not share your opinion on the training value of pull downs. At least not the way 90% of them are done. In terms of showing potential, the same thing can be accomplished with a crow hop from the OF. It’s a challenge to get kids to move quicker, and more athletically, down the mound. But anything done without having the body under control is unproductive IMO. Promoting max effort throws while body is out of control does not translate to how baseball is played. Instead that type of “training” promotes jerking the head and losing your balance. Both are bad habits. Reckless pull downs also lead to a lot of injuries. As in the hitting world, most guys that had success playing at a high level don’t promote things like this. And it’s not because training has evolved and they haven’t. It’s because they don’t like to see frauds ruining kids and fleecing their parents. I understand that the kids love all the social media attention and that’s another problem altogether. But it’s up to parents to reign their kids in when it comes to all that. There is an awful lot of bad training going on that’s going to negatively impact a lot of young players.
that can be said of any training method, you use terms like "Reckless" and "out of control" when partially the drill is made to learn to push past existing limits and learn to control it. If the players are made to understand that, and not just go all out of control and throw, then the drill can have the desired affect.
I do not share your opinion that the drill itself is bad, but do share that bad coaches can make any drill dangerous.
if the person teaching it has no clue, then the drillwill have no value. if the subject doesn't fully understand the purpose of the drill and why they're doing it, the drill will have no value.
The pulldown is a valued training method of guys like Kyle Bodi and professionals like Trevor Bauer, but both those guys know exactly why it's used and utilize a complete training regimen.
I'd also contend that anyone doing any high intensity training/throwing, or teaching high intensity training/throwing to others without that person being prepared to handle it, through proper strength training, arm care, soft tissue care, mobility, and flexibility, is Reckless. And that also means knowing if they can handle it on that particular day, not just because they are doing strength and conditioning as part of the program.
Your arm can only move as fast as your body and brain will allow, if you train to push past those protections, you better have prepared your arm et al. to handle it. Kids who can't express or grasp how they are feeling on a particular day, probably should not be engaging in this type of training.