Tagged With "Driveline"
Topic
Driveline AZ Seminar
https://www.drivelinebaseball....nts-item/az-seminar/ The Players Seminar will be an exclusive 2-hour hands-on testing session. We will cover Driveline’s approach to: Warm Up Throwing Drills Velocity Development (in-and off-season) Post-Throwing Recovery All players will receive: A comprehensive biomechanical analysis A bilateral force plate analysis In-depth spin rate analysis Suggested changes to training programs based on weight training, weighted ball, force plate, kinematic, and...
Topic
Velocity
I have been reading the forum for several months and finally "joined" as an official poster! So much great information here with kids at all levels. So here's my issue... My son is a Freshman in high school and has played travel ball year round while taking time off to shut his arm down once or twice a year. He a "young" freshman just turned 14 at end of October. He is a LHP and is in the low 70's. He hit the weight room for the first time in the Fall while playing Freshman football [mostly...
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Re: Velocity
Welcome 2020MOM - Although your son is a freshmen, his birthday would make him an 8th grader in most instances. I think his numbers would compare favorably with kids his age and most freshmen. Remember that one year in age difference could be two or three biologically.
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Re: Velocity
Driveline is the by far and away the best program out there. Science driven and cutting edge all while being affordable and approachable. There are a lot of imposters out there who claim a lot of things that just aren't true. But I can tell you first hand that Driveline is the best way to go. A lot will depend on the amount of work your son is willing to put into it but if he is motivated to do so (and my son was willing to work for it) then you can't beat Driveline. Texas Baseball Ranch is...
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Re: Velocity
Fascinating book...read it last year. I am interested in when your son began using the weighted balls for training and if he did it on his own or actually at the facility in Seattle. It looks like none of their "onsite" training is geared for kids my son's age and it seems before doing this that supervision would be important.
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Re: Velocity
Welcome 2020mom, caco will be getting to you shortly if not already lol. When you discover the secret to velocity pass it along to me! Lol. But I am also looking into the driveline program. We are like you at an OK velocity but feeling like he needs a little boost. Time to try something different. And I think that is the key - the same thing may not work for everybody. Just got to keep trying!
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Re: Velocity
Hi 2020Mom, I am the aforementioned Caco. I will be sending you a PM, please look for the red circle near your name up top to access your private messages. However, before I do that let me ask how big your son is? How far into puberty is he? Is he 6'2 and 200 pounds or is he 5'8 and 140 pounds? This will matter greatly in the advice you receive.
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Re: Velocity
It would help many of us to know his current physical specs (e.g. height, weight) along with some idea of what his gene pool is like . . .??? It's surprising how fast some kids mature physically over the next couple of year in HS. So, if he's a little on the light side as a freshman I wouldn't be too concerned about velocity. At this age there's such a large variance kids of this age, so your son shouldn't be too caught up in those who may be more mature with higher velocities. The main...
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Re: Velocity
2020MOM, My son (also a 2020) has strengthened his arm over the last several years with long toss. Together with a consistent pitching coach that focuses on mechanics and a plyometric style workout, he has increased his velocity. And also, he has physically matured, so some of it is definitely growing and getting stronger. Here is the type of long toss he has done the last several years. http://www.jaegersports.com/Ar...th-and-Conditioning/
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Re: Velocity
Welcome 2020MOM! I have two boys playing college baseball now. One (SS/RHP) throws 90s in his sleep. The other (SS/2B) needed a lot of work to improve. Driveline is a great program. My boys also did the Texas Baseball Ranch and one spent time at the Florida Baseball Ranch. Echoing the Rover, Wolforth is great. I'd say Randy Sullivan in Florida is much more approachable (and a physical therapist). The Elite Pitcher's Bootcamp is a nice weekend introduction to the Ranch's concepts. Whether...
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Re: Velocity
My son (2015) was 5'2 and maybe 110 as a freshman...throwing low 70's. He never lifted....just threw long toss...ALOT!! He added 5-6mph a year and was throwing 89-90 his senior year. He has lifted since he got to college....but still doesn't do anything other than long toss as far as a throwing routine. He's 91-92 now.
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Re: Velocity
Son is on a program in college that incorporates a lot of Baseball Ranch and some Driveline training methodologies. I can say I'm a big believer. He worked with a local trainer in HS that trains lots of pro pitchers in the off season. He was in great shape but not a ton of velocity gain IMO In two months on campus this fall he jumped 4-5 mph. Says his arm has never felt better. If you read some of their stuff some of this is mental too. Arm feels great allowing you to mentally throw with as...
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Re: Velocity
CaCo my son is 6'1" and a skinny 150 despite all he eats! Thank you for all the responses. Our "gene pool" has some tall men on my side of the family...several at 6'3" but not so much on his Dad's side. I appreciate all advice especially for conditioning. We didn't want to push it too soon but now I can see we will probably need something more than what is available at his HS.
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Re: Velocity
Driveline is a great program, and my son also works with the Texas Baseball Ranch. A lot of similarities, and we worth with the Ranch since the academy he trains at works with and hosts TBR camps, so it works well. I haven't found them to be unapproachable, however, pretty much the opposite in our experience. Best of luck to your son, hope to hear more as he develops!
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Re: Velocity
Agree with Truman. Weighted balls should be supplementary to strength & conditioning basics - squats, deadlifts, power cleans, plyometrics - as long as someone can show him how to safely and properly execute those movements. Then, as he builds up a strength base, add in the weighted balls. I see you are doing Jaeger-style long toss. I'm a big believer in that for arm health. I've never done a weighted ball program, but it's hard to argue with the results at Driveline. The research they...
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Re: Velocity
He started right around the start of HS. He followed the Ranch program closely and then spent a month out at the Ranch during their summer program. He then moved to Driveline and did their "Remote" program for a couple of years. He actually went out to Seattle and trained there this summer before heading to college. I made a deal with my son a long time ago where I would support him financially with these programs as long as he worked hard at them, which he did so it was a great experience.
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Re: Velocity
The Ranch is great and all of the people there are awesome. My point about "approachable" was more about communicating remotely. Kyle and the Driveline team are great about answering tweets, emails and texts. I doubt too many people are just picking up the phone and calling Wolforth. It's not a knock on Wolforth at all, he's a fantastic coach and even better person. His family is incredible. Just wanted to clarify what I meant by that statement.
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Re: Velocity
I see you're from San Diego. At this point, no need to spend money to go anywhere. There is a PC in Poway who has a stable of over 100 pro pitchers (many are cracking MLB) - most of whom have been with him since college or before. His goal is velo. Go, sit in his Back Yard, and see for yourself. (Right now the program is in full swing so your son may get a kick out of just watching the scene. At this point it's 7 days a week until the men begin heading off to ST.) I could fill a page with...
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Re: Velocity
My son has always been one of the hardest throwers in his age group, he's thrown 82 recently as a 14 yr old 8th grader. Our future high school pitching coach reached out to us when he heard we were going to attend his school next year and invited my son to do a weighted ball workout that he's been doing with his high school and travel team pitcher during the month of Dec and Jan. Ill let you know how it goes, its been tough to stay on program we seem to miss 1 or 2 day every week for 1...
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Re: Velocity
Please, no one take offense, BUT FOR HS FRESHMAN AND YOUNGER, STOP THE VELO OBSESSION ! I can't count the number of young pitchers I have seen who are throwing beyond what their body is prepared to take - with the resulting career ending or career retarding injuries (needing TJ or labrum and taking a year off as a Jr. Is a disaster). Building velo is a process - a long process with incremental or no improvement for periods following by noticeable increases (notable being 2 - 3 mph over a six...
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Re: Velocity
Thank you, Goose! I was cringing when I read this thread! I'm not gonna come on here and bash the "velo" contingency, but I guarantee our latin friends in the DR are not doing the weighted balls, ect. It's about continuing to improve and maturation has a funny way of helping out in the process. Do I believe in functional strength? Yes, add that with mobility, athleticism and solid mechanics for young high school players! After the high school level, the competition could care less about...
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Re: Velocity
"my son is 6'1" and a skinny 150" My son weighed less than yours and looked like a string when he first hit 90mph. So, gaining weight/strength won't hurt, but it's not the golden route to 85+. Technique is almost everything. Velocity opens doors.
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kids grow at different ages you just never know, 1st rd pick of the Astros last yr was throwing low 70s as a freshman, was hitting 97 last yr as a senior in high school. so you just have to patient.
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Not too many 2020's just yet and then 2020's that are showing committed are phenoms. PG is showing a grand total of 303 commitments for 2019 and I would assume fewer than 50 are listed for 2020. It seems like way too many "facts" are getting based on committing as a rising sophomore to a top 25 team (not even counting the Power 5 cellar dwellers). Even if you construct your facts around the 50th percentile of D1 pitchers, Goosegg's comment has a lot of merit (even more if you substitute 14...
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Re: Velocity
2020Mom, my humble advice... - Don't sweat it. Your son is in a rare demographic. He throws left, pitches, and is in the 99th percentile in height. That doesn't guarantee success, but it sure puts the odds in his favor. He's also very young compared to the kid he will be competing with in the 2020 college recruiting class. I would not rush him along. Make sure his conditioning is appropriate to his level of physical maturity. - Take Goosegg up on his offer of a PM.
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Re: Velocity
Manage your son closely... Coaches have good intentions but unless they're teaching the correct protocols and the player is following the protocol to the detail you can run into arm issues. Whether it's weighted ball or bands. Our club baseball program went big on the weighted ball program 2 years ago and disbanded it after only a year. The reason: a few kids hurt their arms and they think it's because the kids started doing their own versions of the weighted ball program, and the program...
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Re: Velocity
My son is a 2020, I know just locally more than 20 kids that have offers, and I don't know that many people. It would appear to me that MANY offers are going out based on projection and people are being smart and saying "No, we aren't ready yet." If anyone wants to give the advice to take things slow, let the body progress naturally, don't base projections of what you think your kid will be doing in 12thgrade off of what he is doing in 9th grade... I am 100% good with that. However, the idea...
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Re: Velocity
The time is now. Once you get to high school your time is running short quickly. Now is when you should be asking the questions of what you have to do to get velocity up so that come junior year it IS up! The great ones will already be offered to by then. Many committed. If you are not getting an offer as a freshman it tells you they do not consider you elite. If you are not even getting mild interest it tells you they don't consider you at all! Need to have some interest by end of sophomore...
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Re: Velocity
I don't know anything about pitching, never have and probably never will so I have no idea what it takes to gain velocity...but using weighted balls is liking throwing a curve ball from what I've heard. If you do it right, probably not much of a risk but if you do it wrong, you might want to have Dr. Andrews number handy.
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Re: Velocity
Likewise, my son was a true 6.0' and a skinny 145 and has always strove to be "bigger" (like when he was little after weighing in at the doctor's office at 43 lbs and telling the doctor of his goal . . . "I want to be 50 lbs."). As a HS freshman he was sitting at 79-80 and touching 82 (and keep in mind, this wasn't throwing all out as hard as he could, but more like 90% to maintain command). He got here because the year before we worked a lot on his mechanics and (in our case) never worked...
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Re: Velocity
"The amount of 2020/2019 commitments to colleges would indicate you are wrong." Did I miss that the NCAA now has NLI's for freshman or sophomores? Do you understand what those early commitments are worth? Many posters here have tried to explain how the system works; yet, you keep going to the same watering trough of looking at what A PLAYER does - not what THE SCHOOL does. Let me put it this way: 2020A throws 85 at a showcase and a coach approaches his naive parents, throws an unenforceable...
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Re: Velocity
As always, the original question turns into an debate about another topic...Time to stop following this thread...
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Re: Velocity
I agree with everything you have said in THIS post. I was pointing out the flaw in your previous post. College coaches do care what 15 year olds are throwing...not many 15 year olds... and if your 15 year old isn't throwing 80 that doesn't mean anything long term, and if your 15 year old IS throwing 90 again, that doesn't mean anything long term. I do understand what you are saying and agree with the principles you have stated, just not that ONE line.
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Re: Velocity
"College coaches do care what 15 year olds are throwing...not many 15 year olds... and if your 15 year old isn't throwing 80 that doesn't mean anything long term, and if your 15 year old IS throwing 90 again, that doesn't mean anything long term." No, college coaches have parents thinking they care. The coaches know that it's Kabuki theater, know it's illusory, and know that's how the recruiting game is currently played - and the parents and players are worse off for that.
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Re: Velocity
Yo, i did that...folks, please listen...step away from the trough. As far as the Velo, big D1s didn't really pay attention to my undersized, "max effort" kid until he hit 90 consistently his Junior HS season. He had lived in the weight room for the previous 6 months and squatting became his 2nd love. It didn't hurt to have a + curveball. Otherwise, he was just another short RHP toiling away chasing the dream.Take care of his arm/health, research alot and ask questions along the way. I wish...
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Re: Velocity
I guess we all want to think our kid is "Elite" and wonder why he doesn't have an offer to the power 5 school in 8th grade. Having been on here for several years now, I think the majority of kids are well outside that demographic. Most people on here are here to help there kid play baseball as long as they can, where ever they can. This gets back to the "dream school" discussion, early offers, and all the other things that go into this baseball recruiting world. What is great about this site...
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Re: Velocity
As I said, my son never used the weighted ball program, but someone earlier in this thread said their coach pulled out a radar gun had the kids throw weighted balls and everyone was sore the next day. I've never heard of anyone using a gun with weighted balls.
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Re: Velocity
Actually both Driveline and Baseball Ranch both use the gun with weighted balls. I believe both overload and underloadRemember these programs are all about tracking and measuring progress. There are lots of impacts on the athlete's mental game as well and progress tracking plays a big part here too. I've seen the impacts on my son physically, mentally, and pitch quality. I'm a big believer. It will be the future IMO
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Re: Velocity
Tom House wrote about this once but anyone ever experience a difference with a bite guard in? Our team did a throwing program (long toss and exercises) in the fall. My son had picked up a little velocity (not much) but on the last, based on something I had read here I think, I had him do one of this last throws with an under armour bite guard in and he threw 4-5 mph faster then repeated it 4 times in a rose. Not sure if it was real or placebo but the coaches thought it was interesting.
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Re: Velocity
For 4-5 mph I think my son would be willing to wear a full football helmet on the mound! Did anyone else on the team try it?
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One kid showed up with his football mouth guard for the next practice, but all they did was hitting..LOL. We have been indoors not using radar guns since that day..it was the last practice. I will say that my kid probably was finally feeling healthy on that day after a very long season where he pitched and caught a ton. Can't wait to try it again in the spring. Also note this is 2023 going from mid sixties to just under 70. Not a HS age kid going from 86 to 90. We were using ...
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Re: Velocity
Lots of good advice in this thread. FWIW, I echo the advice re Driveline...I'm a big Driveline fan (son has been up to 93mph/D1 commit/HS Jr.). We've also done the Ranch. Spot on re using the MarcPro for recovery too. Again, a lot of good advice.
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Re: Velocity
Never heard of this but sounds interesting, i dont think my son would do it but im gonna ask him on his next bullpen. Driveline opinion below: https://www.drivelinebaseball....e-fastball-velocity/
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Re: Velocity
My son has not showcased and will not until he hits some numbers we have in mind that would make it worth it. He is closing in on the hitting end not so much with pitch velocity. We have yet to try driveline but seriously considering the $400 deal. Given the amount we have spent over the years... I will certainly ask him to throw with his football mouthpiece in - that's free, what is there to lose? In short we are willing to try about anything or at least entertain it. Not mechanically...
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Re: Velocity
Most velocity gains I'm guessing is attributed to growth spurts. A 5'11 170lb kid is probably going to throw way harder than his former 5'2 120lb self. I'm curious if any adult has ever tried a velocity program without a previous injury that increased their velocity?
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Not sure of any adults and I think one could debate when adult starts all day long. I agree that pre HS and for some kids even into HS they gain a lot of velocity simply through maturity. With that said there are lots of examples of post HS pitchers (college and pro) who gain velocity and some even significant amounts through hard work and specified training.