Its been a while (Potential)

How old are you? How competitive is the ball you will be playing?

Pitching is a function of mechanics so if your mechanics were good, yes, you can get into pretty good shape in 6-8 weeks, or earlier depending upon your conditioning level.

Start by conditioning and throwing. Light toss 3x week at 30-40% week 1, 40-50% week 2, and so on until you are at full strength. Beginning in week 3, long-toss to build arm strength (by week three you should be throwing 5-6x week), arm speed and endurance. Do cardio 4-5x week. Plyometrics 2-3x week. Light weight lifting (no lat pulldowns or bench pressing) focusing on maximum reps with lighter weights. Jump rump as well. Seek out good pitching instructor with at least college experience to refine your mechanics (not just to improve your velocity but to keep you healthy)!

It is good to see you still love the game. BTW, all good pitchers know they are good. It is their nature.

Good luck.

I am 16 and will be playing on the defending MO 18u State Champ. team. Mostly showcase tourneys, we dont start playing until late spring, so 6 weeks should be plenty. I have been doing a lot of weightlifting though, no bench, but its alot. Hopefully it doesnt hinder me too much.
Thanks Bum, ill make sure to follow your plan.

I have recieved quite a few PM's asking about how big i am and how fast i had thrown. Right now i am six foot one and around 215. I dont know why my speed matters but i used to cruise around 86-87.(soph. year) Nothing a highschool player couldnt hit speedwise.

Well if you haven't thrown seriously in a while and you have been lifting I suggest start stretching right now. Even though you weren't benching you have still built up muscle mass just from changing weights, other exercises etc... That stuff does add up over time.

I agree that if your mechanics were good then you should be fine with some work. You may want to start a throwing program a little sooner to get caught up.

As for the speed issue there is no coach on this earth that can teach speed (or significant gains in it). They can teach mechanics, breaking stuff, changing speeds, location but at some point you got to be able to just bring it.

Do you play high school ball or just on this showcase team?

I gave up high school baseball, i made the teams and all, but you cant really call treating every single player exactly the same in every aspect coaching, and you cant call 2 hour football workouts baseball conditioning, we were treated like the kids who play that other sport, football is king in my school.

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:
As for the speed issue there is no coach on this earth that can teach speed (or significant gains in it).

Coach, I disagree with this statement. A good pitching coach teaches the importance of the kinetic chain in garnering velocity on one's fastball. The kinetic chain is basically excellent mechanics combined with precise timing. Velocity can definitely be taught! Velocity may be ultimately limited by genetics, but who's to say a kid doesn't have good genetics?

Here is an excerpt of a post I made in September:

"..the arm typically gives out when a pitcher is tired. It is the legs of the pitcher--not the arm--that get tired. A poorly conditioned, tired pitcher will unecessarily alter his throwing mechanics, typically "short-arming" the ball, creating undue force on the elbow and shoulder. Pitching is a "whip"--a kinetic chain--and you pitch with your body not your arm. The arm, hand, and ball are just those things at the end of the chain. All one has to do to prove this theory is to stand flat-footed and try to throw the ball as hard as he can. He cannot. Without the kinetic chain, the body in motion, there is no velocity. Good pitching coaches know this so the first thing they look for in a tired pitcher is a sudden drop in velocity, signaling a break in the kinetic chain and therefore a troubling alteration of mechanics. Therefore, a young pitcher may be at risk either at high or low pitch counts, depending upon mechanics and conditioning."

I really believe that if you combine athleticism with mechanics and timing (the kinetic chain), plus long-toss (which builds arm speed and endurance and reinforces both proper mechanics and a consistent arm slot) you can certainly teach velocity!

quote:

Originally posted by kansascitypitcher:
i was just wondering if i can get back what i had and more with a fair amount of ease, or wil it take me a couple of months to get back to where i was (if possible). Any tips are apprecated.

It will take 6 to 8 weeks if you do it right and build up to it. If you try to shortcut it, you'll end up hurting yourself or topping out low.

I'm glad that you realize the pitchers and football players are different. A good workout for pitchers is ASMI's Throwers Ten.

As a high school coach I hate to hear that you gave up HS ball but I can understand why you did.

Bum I understand what you are saying and agree. My point is that if you take a kid throwing 65 with poor mechanics you can still only get so much out of him after working on him. If you can only get him up to 80 with perfect mechanics and working hard on it then he is done. A scout or someone like that will take a chance on a kid throwing hard but has terrible mechanics becuase there is a bigger upside to him over a kid throwing OK with great mechanics.

Coach, you are right. However, I believe good velocity and good mechanics go hand in hand. So in that respect, you can teach velocity by teaching good mechanics.

Most kids that top out at 80 with "perfect mechanics" have another flaw that can also be taught. Usually they are lacking in one or more areas including general athleticism and flexibility, core strength, and arm speed. All of these can be taught, too, with an excellent conditioning program, a top-notch plyometric program, and regular long-toss.

What can't be taught is the natural limit determined by genetics. But even this area fascinates me. Who's to say some flute player somewhere has the genetics to be the next Nolan Ryan but he has never picked up a baseball in his life?

When I was last in Las Vegas I marvelled watching a show where a Mexican family were doing unbelievable acrobatic tricks. Genetics? Maybe. More likely they were taught and trained hard.

quote:

What can't be taught is the natural limit determined by genetics. But even this area fascinates me. Who's to say some flute player somewhere has the genetics to be the next Nolan Ryan but he has never picked up a baseball in his life?

The first sentence is what I am talking about. The good Lord gave each arm a ceiling of speed. But not everyone works at it to reach that ceiling. So to take your flute player example I think that may happen in some cases.

But overall there will be a limit as to how far you can coach a kid and what they can do.

quote:

I marvelled watching a show where a Mexican family were doing unbelievable acrobatic tricks. Genetics? Maybe. More likely they were taught and trained hard.

I'm not sure why this family was able to do something that the majority of people cannot. I think there is a lot to be said for teaching and training but I do believe there is only so much a body can do.

If it was all up to training and hard work then why don't we see more guys throwing 98 or higher? MLB pitchers have access to all the things that should ensure success.

I also think you can compare it to olympic sprinters. Right now the standard for a 40 yard dash is 4.4 seconds. Will we ever reach the point where 3.8 seconds will be the standard or have we reached (or pretty close to it) the limit? Because if you can have constant improvement then logically speaking a 40 yard dash could be over in less than a second.

Bum - I just want to let you know that I am enjoying this communication and not trying to start anything. I know sometimes on the internet things sometimes come across in ways they weren't meant to be and people take offense to them. After reading what I put about the 40 yard spring I can see where it might be construed as being smart alec when I don't mean for it to be.

Coach, no no! You are one of my favorite posters and I always get a lot of good information from you. If anyone's a smart alec, it's me!

Glad to hear it Bum. I enjoy your posts as well and just wanted to make sure I wasn't coming across in a way I didn't mean to.