What are some of the warmup routines that you guys have seen work best? I saw several different methods this weekend (foam rollers, lacrosse balls, bands, massage guns, etc) and made me wonder which is best and are there some that are just not effective.
My son's catching coach showed him a new one using a rubber mallet and a bunch of different movements to get things going. He hasn't tried it yet before a throwing session or game, but will soon.
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What ever happened to good old fashioned stretching, long toss and BP? Oh yeah, no one has figured out a way to money on those...
Sorry to be such a cynic
From what I have learned following along as my son is going through an extended rehab process, an effective throwing progression includes:
1 - raising tissue temperature - calisthenics/light jog etc.
2 - mobility - dynamic stretches that target effective movement from the ground up. Foam rolling/ART as required
3- Band work
4- Wrist weights/ Plyos - this depends on what the player is trying to achieve or what the program requires or where he is in the year. Could be skipped if not warranted
5 - Throwing - catch play, long toss or recovery day
6 - Recovery - huge variety of approaches/efficacy. Pick one or a few and stick with it
Now trying to get a HS kid to actually DO all of the above with some degree of intent is a totally different question. But 1-4 really only takes 15 minutes and he has seen no setbacks or arm issues so far
What injury is your son recovering from?
For recovery my son has been using a massager and a MarcPro. A friend who is a professional athletic trainer turned us on to the MP. He also recommended icing if there is actual soreness, but for routine recovery just the massage and MP. The whole family gets use out of these now, so it seems worth the expense.
We got the Marc Pro for his older brother who is also a pitcher trying to navigate his freshman year and college ball. I ended up using it more than he did. My middle boy from the post above isn't a fan, but is a big fan of the HyperVolt...as stated above what I have learned from smarter folks is that recovery is individual and you have to pick what the kid will do consistently and stick with it. For him, it's band pull-aparts, green plyo ball drops, rebounders and the Hypervolt.
His injury was recurring bone bruises in the olecrannon of the throwing elbow. Required a full on rebuilding of how he throws, trains, lifts and eats. That's a whole post in and of itself
For post workouts my kid uses the foarm roller, lacrosse ball, massage gun and marc pro
2022NYC posted:For post workouts my kid uses the foarm roller, lacrosse ball, massage gun and marc pro
This is pretty much exactly what my son does. He'll usually use the MP on the car ride home from a game.
Is there a pre-game routine he does before throwing?
He follows a hybrid driveline/jaeger warm up. Instead of the shoulder tube (too clunky to bring to events) he uses a 2 lb weighted ball and shakes that. I invested in the spinner but after banging his funny bone, that is now buried in the storage shed
Warm-up routine for catcher? My son (2019) starts with a good stretching routine, including extra stretches for his shoulder, then J-band exercises. Then he begins his throwing routine (20-30 feet) which starts with lower body anchored (no step or hip turn), using only his torso and arms. Then he continues throwing normally and gradually stretching out to about 150'. Along the way he'll do about 10 of what he calls "start/stops" where he simulates the catch, transfer and arm cock, working on staying down through the motion and getting his front side and throwing arm in their proper positions. Then when he's at full distance he'll drop into a squat and do a few throw downs out of the crouch. Then he'll warm up the pitcher in the bullpen where he works on receiving/framing. When all this is done he'll do some blocking drills. Once on the field, he'll do typical pre-game routine of some throw downs, drop 3rd-strike throws to first, throws to 3rd, then catch a pop-up.
Does your son practice backstop sliding and ball pick up and tranfers and throws to home during the warm ups? He had only one coach that did that before team I/Os. Man I miss that guy
2022NYC posted:Does your son practice backstop sliding and ball pick up and tranfers and throws to home during the warm ups? He had only one coach that did that before team I/Os. Man I miss that guy
Actually, no. This is something I need to get him back into. He used to do it all the time on the small field because there were a few different parks that had different surfaces; grass, clay, crushed shells, turf, etc.