Heavy Baseballs....

My son used these during winter workouts. 15 min. with reg baseball, 15min 6oz , 15 min 7oz, and last 15 min. with reg baseball again. 60' 3 times a week, for 3 months. Went with 8oz also in the third month. Added 2 to 3 miles an hour to his fastball. No real proof weather it was the baseballs or just development. Hope this helps.

Here is my concern with weighted baseballs

1. Anything over 20% of the standard (a baseball in this case) will change mechanics when using that standard (the baseball).

This is in advanced athletes who are dialed into their mechanics. I dont know about you, but I know very few youth baseball players who can repeat their delivery exactly over and over and over. That is the whole point of practice. To get the pitcher doaled into their mechanics.

So, if you are using a weighted object, you will not onl be training outside proper mechanics you will actually be ingraining improper ones! As anyone knows, poor mechanics are very difficult to break out of.

In addition, if mechanics are slightly off injuries typically occur in other body parts such as the elbow and lower back, along with the shoulder.

This topic goes way past this post because I did not touch on topics such as arm speed, decelaration and release point. Just to name a few.

2. Long term repetitive stress injuries.

It is bad enough that throwing a baseball wrecks havoc on the shoulder. Adding weighted baseball will only further enhance this.

Sure you can do shoulder strengthening drills, but very few do these correctly.

Am I saying weighted baseballs will not increase performance? NO.

What I am saying is that I am very concerned with repetitive stress injuries.

It is very possible to do very well with weighted baseballs over a full off-season or even more. But at what cost? Is it worth a great deal of microtrauma that can lead to a tear? In my book the answer is no, especially when there are many other options that are proven to be effective and do not stress the body in a harmful matter.

These are just two of my concerns. The problem is the weighted baseballs are an easy sell. At first they "make sense." However, when looking into it deeper, the risks far outweigh the benefits IMO.

I believe the weighted balls can help in a number of ways. The one point I want to make tonight is that of "awareness throwing". Say you have a kid that drops the elbow and the hand stays on the side or underneath the ball. If you put a weighted ball in their hand and have them throw, they will feel it a lot quicker than if they continued to use a regular baseball. Of course you aren't throwing 100%, but they will learn to get out front and stay on top of the ball in order to get the full snap desired to maximize speed and movement.

We do a weighted ball program in the off-season in order to increase arm speed, but I am low on energy tonight and it would take me a while to explain. I do agree with John on the mechanics issue. If you use heavier balls, you will lose the mechanics that you have built. You have to use them in drills designed to build arm strength, not to improve throwing mechanics (except the point made above regarding awareness). The weighted ball is just one piece of the puzzle used to build arm strength to the fullest. YOU MUST USE THEM WITH CAUTION THOUGH!!!! And I wouldn't recommend them for anyone under the age of 14/15 due to growth plates and such. More later....

knochturnal, take a look at the athletic pitcher.com website. We have been very happy with the results of using Ron Woolforths weighted ball training, not only do we see increase in velocity but command and as important arm care. His arm has never felt better. But it is much more involved than just throwing a heavy ball so many times a week. It is a complete program from warm up to cool down with specifics sets, reps. It also isn't just throwing a weighted ball thru the entire pitching motion they break the motion down. The clinic I went to was full of college coaches. The palyer also has to be monitored and trakced by a coach, it is no different than letting a player loose in a weight room by himself. Hope this helps.

Lineshot,

Great point about compliance, application and an overall approach. Those are keys in any training program.

Have read some good reviews on Woolforths program. Although I cringed a bit when I heard they used up to 2 lb baseballs, I would never comment on a program until I have reviewed it/used it.

Thanks Jon, yes the 2 lb idea scared me at first also, but you have to keep in mind that you do not make full throws with that weight at 60 feet or anything like that. You do however make all throws at max effort always thinking velocity. I went to the clinic myself to amke sure I would be comfortable with some of the ideas. I know that you do a lot of work with the fitness area, I have been looking at some of you ideas on your website and also like what you are doing. Give Ron a call and talk to him as he could fill you in better than me.

I think it should be noted that when using weighted baseballs, the use of under-weight baseballs (3-4oz) is essential also.

If you follow the ap program a 4 oz ball is used in all the sets and yes it is essential to overspeed as wll as over load.