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My brother is at the end 8th grade and wants to increase his pitch velocity. His goal is to make varsity by freshman year next year and if not by latest sophomore year. He's right now a 14 year old 5'8" 135lb right handed pitcher who sits 70-72mph on the mound and maxes out at 74. His max pulldown throw as of now is 78mph. First of all is that good for his age group? His doctor also projects him to be around 6'0" to 6'1" when he finishes growing.

I was wondering what exercises are best to increase his velocity in a safe manner steadily over the course of his high school career. Weight training? Bands? Medicine ball? Something else? Which combination exercises would put him in the best position to increase his velocity? Also is there any reputable program I can buy that is proven to increase velocity as well?

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My son is a freshman and 14 yo. He is currently 5'10 175 lb but was around your bro's size last year. His velo numbers is above average. My son has been following Driveline Hacking the kinetic chain youth edition for a few years. Last year he started a strength and conditioning program. His velo increased from 70s to 80s this year.

Don't worry about velocity right now. Making varsity as a freshman is nice, but it's not everything. You're from Maryland, most HS pitching will be closer to 75 than it will be to 90 anyway so assuming he continues to grow and gain velocity naturally he won't be too far off the average varsity pitcher. Just throw strikes and he'll be alright. 

The thing that is preventing him from higher velocity right now is mostly his size. 135 lbs is very light. Just have him eat, try to get that weight up and the height should follow along with it. I wouldn't start weight training just yet, give it the summer and start in the fall. People can dispute that, but rapid growth + lifting can cause some injury problems, especially if nobody is supervising him closely. If he wants to get stronger have him do pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups and unweighted squats/lunges for now. See where he's at in August and go from there. 

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