Long toss in winter

quote:

Originally posted by leftypitcher17:
I would like to be able to throw year round but it will be hard because of the weather.

Why?

Your body needs time to repair the damage (even minor) that occurred during the season.

You'd be better served by taking a few months off.

I own a health club. I let my sons long-toss against the racquetball court wall in the winter..perhaps your local club will let you do this. The court wall is about 30ft away when throwing, so I have them aim 1-2 ft higher than if they were throwing to a real person. This simulates distance. They have been long-tossing year-round and have never had arm problems. I do shut down bull pens for 6 weeks each year, however.

quote:

Why?

Your body needs time to repair the damage (even minor) that occurred during the season.

You'd be better served by taking a few months off.

Ummm, you wanna know why many hispanics are in baseball? Go down to the Caribbean (Puerto Rico/Dominican/etc.)during the Winter. They (we) play all winter long why many guys are resting on their butts. You can have an effective throwing program during the winter months and be ready and ahead of the curve come spring.

leftyP, we have the same situation here in Korea -- very cold winters but not much snow -- so we go out to the artificial turf s****r field and stretch it out 'til we're goal-to-goal. It's not pleasant when you first start, but after a few minutes you warm up pretty nicely. By the end of the session, my son and I have pretty much stripped the layers off and are just throwing in ColdGear tops and sweatpants. One of those inexpensive handwarmers comes in handy as well - and we have thrown with gloves on - since it's not an accuracy drill, doesn't matter too much.
Good luck! Your work will pay nice dividends come spring time!
If nothing else, sometimes it's just nice to know you're not alone! When you go out, think about the other guys out there in their wintry towns, plugging away.....you're in good company.

Don't forget that the cold months are also an excellent time to really focus on getting in the best condition you can. You can work on strength, speed, agility, and general conditioning in these months when you're not playing. You'll be a better player because of it come springtime.

And yes, I'd find a way to long toss to maintain or build arm strength. You might not do it as often but you should continue throwing. Just the fact that you're not playing games and practicing will be quite a bit of rest on your arm and the rest of your body, in and of itself. If you're a pitcher, you might consider not throwing bullpens and other throwing work, but I'd still long toss.

The only time my son has had an arm injury was after a layoff. Long toss is good for arms in general although it can be overdone. Any time a player takes an extended break it allows scar tissue to form. The scar tissue isn't as strong or elastic as normal tissue and it often leads to injury. On the other hand continued throwing at a low enough level that the body can heal and rebuild without forming scar tissue allows for improved strength in muscles, tendons and ligaments. The trick is finding just the right level of throwing as every player recovers at a different rate. A layoff of several months goes the other way allowing for scar tissue to form and for muscles, tendons and ligaments to atrophy as well.

Baseballbum,
I agree with you, however the Latin American players throwing year 'round bit gets overused. Ask Cesar Izturis.