I've hit a road block

I would not be concerned with how far you can throw a ball on a rainbow.  I would be concerned with how far you can throw a ball on the line.  Are these throws decreasing in distance?  If not, IMO, what does it matter? 

I'll pipe in here.  nspeltz11, I think plateaus are to be expected.  I think in any athletic endeavor, whether it be running, lifting weights, jumping, whatever, athletes will train to the point that they reach a plateau.  Several things can be done to over come that plateau.  One is keep pushing.  Throw out to as far as you can, without hurting yourself, and at some point, you will reach past the plateau.  The other thing is to take a little break from it.  Maybe you have worn your body out and it needs to recuperate a little.  Maybe a take a few days or a week off of throwing, let your arm rest up and then come back to it.  The big thing is don't get discouraged.  It really is a part of the training process.  Keep working hard and you will come out the other side on top.  Hope this helps. 

Thank you both for your help!

nspeltz,

How old are you?

I am a sophomore in high school right now.

I have thrown a couple times since posting this question, and I have new information. I took bballman's advise and tried to break through the plateau only to find my arm strength is getting worse. The ball is coming out of my hand and it just feels like it's dying on me. I have got the feeling that I can throw it farther but it just does not happen. Any advise or reasons why this is happening would be great. Its just frustrating to me that my hard work is not paying off. By the way I am using the jaeger long toss program.

Here is a velocity chart of one of our trainees:

http://www.drivelinebaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Ezekiel-Velocity.jpg

(Click link for full size)

What do you notice? There is a HUGE period of time where results stagnate. That doesn't mean you aren't getting a training benefit.

Kyle,

A bit off topic here but in 25 weeks how did you get a kid throwing 17 MPH faster?

I wrote about it here.

http://www.drivelinebaseball.c...anding-the-long-run/

How does your arm feel when you throw and the ball "dies" on you - does it hurt, does the arm feel dead or does it feel like you need to put more effort to get the shorter distance?  If there is any pain / discomfort definitely stop and get it checked out.  If no pain then a little break may be just what you need.

While I'm a little skeptical that Kyle Boddy was able to get someone 17 MPH faster in 25 weeks (haven't read the link yet) there is truth to the chart and what bballman said about busting through mentally.  But the break could be what your arm needs or your mind needs or both needs.  

Any pain get it checked out.  There's no busting through with that.

Interesting read - would you say that Ezekiel is the exception or standard for your throwing program?  I completely agree that the worse throwing program is better than nothing and will show a significant increase early on.  I can see your program working but has there been enough people to go through it that let us know if Ezekiel is the standard or exception?

You could try taking a break and doing other things to get stronger before going back to throw. 

Band, wrist weights, tap medicine balls, etc. 

I would bet dimes to dollars that Kyles student's improvement was mechanical. Absolutely there are plateaus in training but a dramatic change in data usually is a result of a significant event. 

Now this mechanical change could have been a result of the program, but you don't get that kind of shift in a data set without something fundamental changing,

BTW I am a fan of Kyle's program, and these mechanical changes were likely a result of his training regime.  

My 2 cents.

The mystery continues.....

He is an exception in a lot of ways. Yes, he has had the best results (well, not totally true, we've had better results from a pro guy who will pitch on your TV set this year as well as a few HS kids who went from mid-80's to low-90's in a shorter time span), but he also was the most dedicated. After his on-ramping period, he trained 6 days per week, every week, even during the school year and summer ball.

He continues to train hard and has hit 92 MPH this off-season. I expect him to pitch around 90-92 MPH this year in spring ball, his goal is to hit 97 MPH. I say hell, why not have a lofty goal! (I told him he could shave any pattern in my head that he likes if he hits 95 MPH in a game at least twice. At 97 MPH I don't know what I'd do.)

We've had about 200 kids go through the current iteration of the program as well as another 300 through our youth training program, The Dynamic Pitcher (google for info if you are interested, not going to link it here). Results have been very good across all ages. Our 2014 class has a few very talented individuals who all have college commitments to D-I schools, but a few of them don't have the work ethic to get strong looks in the draft. One of them does, and unsurprisingly, he will be selected this summer by a lucky team It's tough to say where, but due to his strong college commitment (Oregon State) and 4.0 GPA, he won't be an easy sign. Should be fun either way! The 2015 class includes Ezekiel and should be incredibly strong if they keep up their work ethic - with many of them securing college commitments/scholarships already. 

Of course, we have had kids train hard and not see outstanding results as well. I would say that few in our program were dissatisfied, and if they were, there were probably some extenuating circumstances.

I take a lot of pride in recording data and results (was formerly an economist, big number cruncher) and running an awesome sports science lab here with force plates, EMG sensors, high-speed cameras, synchronized four-camera systems, advanced weight room, etc. 

The best advice I can give is to just visit us and see for yourself! Or better yet, watch some of our guys throw at the PG MLK tournament in two weeks

BOF:

Certainly true. Our program blends mechanical training and fitness improvements using the same tools. Weighted balls, wrist weights, weight lifting, video analysis, etc. What we don't do is say "These are the set of mechanics I'd like you to replicate" and go from there. We have very little success with this "traditional" style of teaching. Each kid has his own signature and own way of developing 90+ MPH velocity, and it's the coach's job to find out how that is going be best expressed.

Kyle - thanks for the honest assessment of your numbers.  That provides validity in my mind because you admit that it won't help everyone which not everything will help everyone all the time.  

Best of luck with your program.