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[Let’s take a step back in time…….]
 
“WTF….Why are they not improving their velocity with all the hard work they’ve been putting in?”
 
Hours spent in the gym each week working on strength and power exercises, with years of evidence backing that up.  Weeks spent honing their craft (they’re baseball pitchers btw), further ingraining the mechanics and postures they’ve been taught to avoid.  I even personally examined these kids for any anatomical maladies that would prevent this sort of thing from happening.  It wasn’t adding up…
 
Until we looked at slow motion video analysis.

One of the major things that contributes to low velocity is not being able to get enough lay back, or external rotation of the shoulder during the late cocking phase of throwing (Fortenbaugh, 2009) (Stodden, 2005)  This can happen from a few things:
 
    •    Poor external rotation strength
    •    Tightness of the shoulder internal rotators (including the Lat)
    •    Poor Thoracic and Lumbar Spine mobility
    •    Poor power production from the drive leg creating poor trunk rotation
 
I examined all these pitchers, and they had every bit of what they needed to be able to throw fast…except 1 thing.
 
Passively lying on their back, these pitchers had great external rotation motion (me pushing their arm into this motion)  [image on actual blog post]


Actively, when throwing a ball, they did not. It was not a strength issue–they were strong.   What they lacked was a fast rate of force development, or power, specifically of the anterior shoulder and chest muscles.

How to generate more power from your chest and shoulders
 
So what is the reason why these guys went from having lots of motion into lay-back passively, and then not so much when throwing?
 
Because of the speed of their arm, there was too much force going thru the chest and front of the shoulder muscles and tendons.
 
Bear with me here….
 
The muscles on the front of the shoulder must change from an eccentric to a concentric contraction as fast as the body is demanding. The time between these two contractions is called the amortization or “change” phase.  You want to throw faster and faster, so your body is calling for a quick amortization phase. A quick amortization phase is associated with high forces.  When the body is calling for such a fast amortization phase, the “untrained” player doesn’t have the capacity to make that happen…and he/she never will until they are trained properly.
 
Here’s what’s happening:
 
Through an automatic feedback loop of nerves and receptors at the spinal level [called the Golgi Tendon Organ], the body senses this increased force and inhibits muscles from contracting very hard.  This actually causes a degree of muscular co-contraction of the joint (via the surrounding muscles on either side of the joint) and reduces range of motion….thus, reduced lay back/external rotation when throwing.
 
Why does this happen?  If it didn’t, those muscles and tendons would tear from too much force in a lengthened position. It’s a reflexive mechanism by the body to prevent an acute force overload injury.  

The image on the Right, shows reduced lay-back/external rotation at the shoulder. [image on original site]
 
The good news is we can train this out so it’s no longer a problem.

The Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) is a natural inhibitor of force.  In order to “trick” the GTO from firing it’s signal, we need to train the muscles and tendons to progressively accept and transfer heavy loads in a quicker manner, also called “Inhibiting the Inhibitor.”  We do this with plyometric or explosive type activities–creating high force in a short amount of time.  This doesn’t really trick the GTO, but forces it to adapt, and the body allows more external rotation motion at the shoulder.
[image of GTO on original site]

This whole process is also called the stretch-shortening cycle; when a muscle goes from eccentric contraction (“stretch") to a concentric contraction (“shortening"). As stated above, the time in between the two is called the amortization phase or change phase (the time is takes the muscle to “change” from eccentric to concentric contractions.) You want to minimize the amortization phase during training with heavier and heavier loads. This creates power/the ability to create force in a very short amount of time, and will allow greater range of motion at joints, if needed.
 
If you want to see how the GTO and stretch-shortening cycle work; Do a depth jump.
 
Stand on a 2in step and hop off it backwards, and then back on as quickly as you can (minimizing ground contact time).  Now do the same from an 18in box, or a 24in box.  What you’ll find is the taller the box, your body stops itself from jumping back up so quickly. The GTO inhibits the calfs (and likely other muscles) from firing and protects your calf and achilles tendon.  YOU CAN train this out, but in an untrained state, your body shuts down the high forces and slows everything down. You don’t want a slow moving arm if you want to increase your throwing velocity.
 
 
Here’s how to improve your lay back:


[2 videos on original site]

We have also been experimenting with weighted baseball training.  Throwing a slightly heavier ball subjects the muscles/tendons on the front of the shoulder to slightly higher eccentric-to-concentric forces without going overboard (specifically, total force). Throwing a lighter ball does this same thing with greater arm velocity (the lighter the object in your hand, the faster you can throw it because of a faster arm speed…greater peak force).  This faster arm speed increases the eccentric-to-concentric forces in a step-wise manner with progressive training.  With continuous, progressive training you can expect long-term velocity improvements as we have.


Frankie Rosetti increased his velocity from 83mph to 92mph in exactly 4 weeks. Thanks to Jim Davidson (you’ll see his smiling face in the videos) for developing this unique “algorithm” that’s allowing our players to throw cheddar long-term. [image on original site]
 
I’m not sure when weighted baseballs were first conceived as a training source, but Kyle Body has been doing some tremendous work as well, increasing players ball velocity rather regularly using these principles.
 
Kyle has also used the rebounder/trampoline for force acceptance of the upper extremity, like the video below.  The arm is surely accepting force; and if you look closely at what is happening to the wrist in slow motion upon catching the ball, it’s jerking back into extension (wrist flexors are eccentrically lengthening around the front of the wrist), and then snapping back into wrist flexion, or at least neutral (concentric muscle contraction of the wrist flexors).  The quicker the wrist snaps into flexion when throwing a ball [the shorter the amortization phase] the faster ball flies…to some extent anyway (MacWilliams, 1998).

 

[video on original site]


So to recap; If you lack lay back/shoulder external rotation when throwing (as seen with slow motion video analysis), you may just need to do the above plyometric exercises, and a specific weighted ball routine, and you should see gains like we have.  Get examined by a skilled practitioner, first!
 
Whatcha thinking?   Don’t be shy!   Think this would help someone else? Share it with them!

 

**full article with pictures and videos at : http://drchrismckenzie.com/the...er-body-plyometrics/

Last edited by DrChrisMcKenzie
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Interesting. How did the physician state the lesion came to be?  They usually result from dislocations when the head bangs into the glenoid, getting back in the joint.

 

I assume it's an anterior Hill Sachs?  There's no labrum damage?

 

If the athlete doesn't have any precautions, and they've been screened/examined to have no anterior instability, and good posterior cuff strength, then he/she should be safe to do these as outlined. 

 

Start with a small height on the chest plyo, and light ball with the rebounder and progress from there as tolerated. Soreness afterword is okay, but sharp pains or any instability feeling *during the activity* is not okay.  With first starting out, it's not so much important to get the "training effect" right away, but to familiarize oneself with the activity.

 

Does that help, JCG?

 

Chris

Chris,

 

Really appreciate the post...good content, and detailed. I am using a couple of your other eccentric drills to work on the decelerating muscles...really like those as well.  

 

I have wondered why some otherwise healthy / strong pitchers have great layback of the arm at MER, while others do not.  As you sated assuming there are no deficiencies, it would make sense that there may be some "body protection" mode that is taking over.

 

I like your rebounder drills, but just had a few questions to better understand / utilize.  The primary benefit on both of the rebounder drills you show in the video is the "rebound" portion, correct?  I am assuming the throwing portion is just to create the force coming back (rebound), and that there is minimal or negligible gain from the forward throw into the rebounder.

 

Also, I wasn't clear as to what a goal should be from reps / sets, and how often?

 

I was at a conference this past weekend in Nashville, and had a chance to hear Kyle (Driveline) speak, and spent an hour or so with him socially afterwards.  He is doing some interesting "stuff" that seems to be having some very good results.

Hi Back foot slider,

 

Thank you for your kind words!  I'm glad you like the exercises.

 

The rebound force is what you should be looking to maximize (heavier and heavier ball) followed by the quick explosive concentric action of the arm (the throw).  So that transition TIME to the throw (on the throwing rebounder drill) is what you should be looking to minimize.  Minimize the time the ball is in your hand, but use a heavier and heavier ball to progress and force the body to adapt.

 

Naturally a faster throw will happen because you're trying to shorten that amortization phase, but it's not really the emphasis.  Throwing harder against the trampoline will cause greater force for the rebound coming at you, too.

 

Prescription wise...we're trying to create power, so for starters I go no more than 8 reps for 4 sets---waiting at least 90sec between sets to allow for recovery. Because the total volume is "higher" (relative) at this stage, I would do this every other day.  After 2-3 weeks of this, you can progress to 2-3 sets of 5-6 reps with heavier and heavier ball. Because the volume is "lower" now, you can do this daily, taking 1-2 days off/week from it.  

 

Be sure to watch the player doesn't have poor form at their elbow when throwing

 

Is that helpful?

Chris,

 

Thanks for the reply....mostly all clear now.  Not to beat this down, but to better understand....the throwing drill where the trampoline is at an angle is what you are talking about minimizing the transition time correct?....I am assuming this is not the case in the second video where you are throwing directly onto a horizontal rebounder, and trying to cut-off the rebound or recoil when you catch it...or do you want fast transition on that one too?  Also, with poor elbow form, are you talking about a low elbow?

 

Lastly, as to weights, I was thinking of starting off with a 1.5 & 2 lbs.. balls for both drills.  You talk about going heavier with less weights, how heavy have your athletes progressed to? 

 

Sorry for so many questions, however when we are talking about overload training, I like to understand completely, to avoid injury, and to gain maximum effect.

 

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by DrChrisMcKenzie:

Interesting. How did the physician state the lesion came to be?  They usually result from dislocations when the head bangs into the glenoid, getting back in the joint.

 

I assume it's an anterior Hill Sachs?  There's no labrum damage?

 

If the athlete doesn't have any precautions, and they've been screened/examined to have no anterior instability, and good posterior cuff strength, then he/she should be safe to do these as outlined. 

 

Start with a small height on the chest plyo, and light ball with the rebounder and progress from there as tolerated. Soreness afterword is okay, but sharp pains or any instability feeling *during the activity* is not okay.  With first starting out, it's not so much important to get the "training effect" right away, but to familiarize oneself with the activity.

 

Does that help, JCG?

 

Chris

The lesion was a bit of a mystery due to there being no dislocation, but there was no tearing of the labrum or any other tissues so doc finally decided that the lesion resulted from shoulder instability and reaching back too hard while throwing, especially pitching.  The kid was told he had to re-learn how to throw if he wanted to keep playing.  So now he throws high side arm and shortarms it.  He does almost daily work on a routine that's a combo of Jaeger bands and thrower's ten, and his arm strength has gotten surprisingly decent, especially considering how weak he threw when he started out. He's been playing 2b and a little LF and CF but I'm starting to wonder if he can play on the left side of the IF if he keeps getting stronger.  It's probably time to visit our local PT so he can ramp it up but be safe.

Correct, BFS! Angled trampoline with throwing = minimizing transition time. The horizontal trampoline just use for force acceptance (stopping the ball from moving the wrist and arm upward) and let the wrist "do it's thing"--it will naturally flick downward back into wrist flexion as long as the training load (ball weight) isn't too heavy. 
 
(side note--when finding the correct weighted ball you will likely find one weight that is too easy [as described by the athlete] and the next weight is too hard [unable to have wrist move back into flexion consistently].  Stick with that heavier ball, the body will adapt.)
 
The heaviest my athletes have gotten up to thus far is 6.6lbs...and it's because I haven't found a good weighted ball that goes higher, and the size isn't ridiculously large. I prob need to search more. Starting at 1-2lbs sounds great. Really look to see how fast that transition time is when throwing. You'll be able to see it. When the transition time lengthens--that's where you want to begin training--force the body to adapt.
 
Watch for too low or too high of an elbow, and forearm flyout--where the arm whips around the body instead of rotating forward.
 
Sheesh---I hope I'm not over complicating this?

 

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