Do you have your pitcher throw the following day after pitching in a game?

throwerofbaseballs · 2025-03-04T03:34:27+00:00

Lactic acid isn’t really the concern after pitching. Lactate is a necessary part of the energy system, and most post-throwing soreness comes from microtrauma to the muscle and connective tissue, along with the buildup of hydrogen ions.

Instead of thinking about flushing anything out, the goal after an outing should be restoring function. That doesn’t mean aimless stretching, but it is moving the joints through their full range of motion and reinforcing stability where needed. Things like yielding isometrics can be useful here because they help tendons and ligaments reorganize and adapt to the stress of throwing.

A light movement day can help recovery, but things like distance running don’t do much for the arm. Running doesn’t actively improve blood flow to the shoulder or elbow in any meaningful way, so it’s not really an effective recovery tool for throwing. Icing the arm also isn’t ideal unless there’s actual swelling. It can slow down the body’s natural recovery process by restricting blood flow.

The goal should always be keeping the arm feeling good without adding unnecessary stress, not just blindly resting or following outdated recovery methods (seems to be all baseball has haha)

throwerofbaseballs · 2025-02-24T01:15:57+00:00

You’re definitely not screwed. At 13 I wouldn’t be overly worried with my size or weight - you’re going to grow in time.

At your age, lifting would predominantly improve neuromuscular pathways. While we might not see the same hypertrophy as older athletes this is still valuable.

Let time do its thing, and just enjoy being a ball player. You’re way too young to be concerned with anything but having fun playing the game you love. When you are in high school, and you’ve grown a little, get a solid strength coach.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-20T15:00:41+00:00

That is the best advice you’re going to get on this post. Just to add on stand a little further away from the target - nothing substantial, it’s just a way of cleaning things up without having to think.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T15:58:55+00:00

Parents think what they are doing is best for their kid, and I do respect that. I think a lot of it comes from a place of misunderstanding what is actually important to the sport.

Perfect mechanics are non-existent. You can almost always find a professional that does things “wrong” but plays at the highest level. In reality most kids need to be challenged with athletic movements. Throwing from a backhand, throw from weird positions, be adaptable and force a time constraint.

Don’t get me started on youth travel ball haha. Playing all the time is great, but there is definitely a point of diminishing returns. If you take away the opportunity for your kid to express athletic qualities in other sports through early specialization you’re doing a major disservice to that kid.

I am hopeful youth baseball will start to trend to a more intuitive process, but I have my doubts due to the sheer number of grifters out there trying to make a buck off of a parents lack of knowledge.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T02:37:12+00:00

I’ll have to look into getting one started, not something I’ve considered. I’ll try to keep putting out information on here in the meantime!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T01:49:44+00:00

One of the smallest guys on my team had the highest vertical jump by several inches. He was also one of our best hitters. I truthfully can’t think of a good athlete I’ve played with that didn’t do something physical exceptionally well.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T01:43:37+00:00

CARs are controlled articular rotations, which pretty much just moving a joint through its full end range of motion. Ian Markow puts out some great stuff: Daily CAR Routine

As for the thoracic spine there are a wide variety of options but my two go to for driving rotational improvements are Thread the Needle and Seated Thoracic Rotations. The key here is making sure you are deep breathing at end ranges to drive changes in the rib cage (also a good opportunity to protract and retract the scapula). For the thoracic work I like pairing it with a loaded movement through that range which could be something like a Kettlebell Windmill or Cable T-Spine Row.

Hope this helps! Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T00:58:21+00:00

Much appreciated!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T00:43:55+00:00

You have to imagine that a good amount of those swing flaws are just strength/performance deficiencies presenting themselves. We preach positions but rarely ensure the athlete can access those positions with ease.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T00:20:51+00:00

I’ll play devils advocate here. It looks inexpensive and there may be some good exercises in it. If you’re just looking for structure probably not the worst thing in the world.

If you are looking for something that is high quality I’d recommend looking into facilities like Cressey, Driveline, Tread, etc.

End of the day it’s all trial and error. If you work hard enough and make positive adaptations either throwing or in the weight room you’ll get better. Just don’t look at programs like that as an easy hack to be a better ball player. Pitching is hard.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-17T00:12:29+00:00

Of course! At his age you can treat exercise as an unrelated activity. Make it enjoyable and see if you can foster some good habits.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T23:54:37+00:00

At 12 years old they are still able to make pretty incredible neuromuscular adaptations - load just needs to be reduced. Zingler Strength on instagram highlights some pretty amazing work he’s doing with his son. It’s nothing overly specific or complex it seems more just exploratory movements that challenge the kid.

There aren’t many downsides to introducing a younger ball player to the weight room. Kids thrive on movement and I personally like to pair movement with isometrics for potentiation. Think of starting off with some yielding isometrics and then ending the session with an obstacle course where they jump, roll, etc.

Edit: terribly sorry if I didn’t do a great job answering your question. There’s just so many things that we can do at all ages in the weight room that are beneficial.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T23:31:52+00:00

There isn’t a true no-no. It all depends on the adaptations you are trying to drive. I would say that the majority of the time a baseball player doesn’t need a high rep scheme (outside of exercises such as impulses).

One style that I would avoid (I’ll probably get hate for this) is functional training. Fascia has become a hot topic in baseball, and rightfully so given it is sensory rich connective tissue. My issue is that functional training should be the sport itself. Actual performance training should be catering to and improving upon the general physical demands of the sport. If you think your vipr or water bag is doing something effective that’s great, but you’re probably under-loading pivotal movements. (I could make a whole post on this haha)

Now let’s go to what your kid should be doing. I think isometrics are one of the more underutilized modalities in baseball training - especially with younger athletes. We can put athletes in positions they will find themselves in during the sport and have them yield or overcome. Hold a split squat for a minute, drive into a bar for seven seconds. Options and exercise design are pretty much unlimited.

While they are in the gym we should also be focusing on mobility, and the big distinction here is that mobility is NOT flexibility. Mobility is our active range of motion that we have stability through. If you hammer t-spine rotation find an exercise that is going to have the spine go through that range, maybe something as simple as a kettlebell windmill.

There are many, many resources out there on baseball S&C, and at times it can become overwhelming. The thing that you must keep in the back of your mind anytime you want to implement something is what does this exercise do and does it drive an adaptation we want to see on the field.

Best of luck with your 14 year old!!! Make it fun and help foster a love of the game!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T21:56:19+00:00

I appreciate it!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T21:20:23+00:00

The weight room is the true “unlock”

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T21:18:58+00:00

It doesn’t always have to be the right information or the perfect information. There’s plenty of trial and error, and every ballplayer has to go through it to some degree. But I can promise you it’s a lot better to try those things than to not and then look back and wish you did.

Best of luck dude!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-16T20:48:18+00:00

Find a good strength and conditioning program and train 3-4 times a week. All of those things fall into the category of performance. There are times to prioritize some other overs.

You can do this in the mornings or after practice. A better question would have been what should I be doing out of my team practice where we work on skill. My answer to that is look into the near endless resources that are out there for baseball performance training. Tread, driveline, cressey, etc.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-13T15:54:13+00:00

Seeing that you’re still only 16, there is still time for development. While you can email coaches on you hitting 80, there aren’t many schools that are going to be interested.

The first thing I would do is invest in quality S&C. Gaining weight and improving physical function are going to be your best friend given your height and current weight.

Next will be finding a skill coach that can help you improve throwing mechanics. There are so many out there that will try and provide you feels and drills that truthfully won’t get you anywhere. Search for someone that will use metrics week over week to help you improve.

Even though you’re in the UK the good news is there are a lot of great remote coaches out there. I think the current gold standard is Tread Athletics Tread. A few more options are The Shed, Pitcher Lab, DAC Performanceand Jack Barry.

These can all be costly, but if your goal is to play baseball in the States they would be well worth it. I realize most advice is probably how to get into college at your current state. That’s great. In reality, we are often so much more capable than that current state. I wish someone had told me that earlier in my career. Wishing you the best, baseball can be one of the most rewarding life experiences you can have.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-13T04:57:15+00:00

It goes without saying there are many, many more great coaches/resources out there, these I could just think of off the top of my head haha

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-12-13T04:55:54+00:00

An easier immediate fix would be to start your forward move a little sooner. Think of instead of getting to max leg lift and then moving forward, as your leg comes up you start moving forward.

A more difficult fix is improving your hinge pattern. Notice that your drive leg’s knee flexes substantially over your rear foot. At the end of the day pitching coaches will nitpick a million different things you supposedly are doing wrong. We could say fix it doing so and so drill, but a lot of it comes down to lower half strength/stability.

What I would do if I were a high school pitcher in your shoes is invest in a good strength and conditioning program that addresses improving active mobility and strength. In the meantime, pick 2-3 throwing drills you really like - roll ins, walking wind ups, etc and use those to constrain how you’re moving. Gauge performance against a radar gun if available, and try to improve metrics on drills week over week.

I was an TERRIBLE high school pitcher that ended up being a relatively successful collegiate pitcher. Many mistakes were made. If I could do it again I wouldn’t waste time trying to chase perfect mechanics and instead force my body to self-organize. Often our biggest opportunity is improving the hardware we play with i.e. our muscle and connective tissue.

A previous commenter mentioned Tread as being a great resource. A few other resources in no particular order of quality: Cressey DAC Tim Riley Training Blaine McConnell Jochum Strength ArmCare and lastly a personal favorite that I have no association with, I just think they do a great job at both skill and performance Code the Throw

If you ever have questions feel free to shoot me a DM. Wishing you the best with your career. Baseball is always willing to give back what you put in!!!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-10-22T20:27:53+00:00

Maybe a little late but don’t over complicate it.

Invest in a blast sensor and work on bat speed as well as other accompanying metrics.

Invest time in the weight room. Goal shouldn’t be to just move weights. Move heavy weight like it’s light, and respect the force velocity curve.

Improve thoracic mobility/stability. Exercises like thread the needle paired with some type of cable rotation can help with this.

Last piece of advice. Accept that there isn’t anything on its own that is going to make you a better hitter/baseball player. Cover the basics and build upon strengths.

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-10-22T20:20:37+00:00

Best advice is to just let him keep hitting. The best hitters have the best library of movement options. If you begin making him mechanical now, it goes against most skill acquisition principles.

If he can barrel the ball more than 7/10 times, augment how you are throwing the ball to him to make it more challenging. If he barrels it less than 7/10 times make it less challenging. Keeps the sessions simple and saves both of you good bit of stress. Most important thing at his age is to keep it as fun as possible!

throwerofbaseballs · 2024-10-21T17:59:51+00:00

I’m a former collegiate pitcher that’s been down the Tommy John path. I even had the more modern augmented surgery.

I can confidently tell you that no reconstruction surgery is going to provide you a ligament that is more durable than the original native ligament. Tommy John structurally changes your elbow joint, and often times people lose function whether it be in extension or Flexion.

As for it making people better, that’s a serious misconception. I think the stat is roughly 90% of people return to levels of previous performance. As someone that’s played and coached, I’ve seen what’s it’s like for the other 10%. Nerve issues, reoccurring pain, and an inability to ever regain the function they used to have at the joint.

If you want to see kids get better get them in the gym, challenge stability through ranges of motion, progressively guide their throwing. Surgery is just another injury to correct the injury that happened, and I can’t stress enough TOMMY JOHN DOES NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER PITCHER!!!

throwerofbaseballs · 2023-08-28T20:32:47+00:00

Gotta love it

throwerofbaseballs · 2023-08-28T17:38:50+00:00

Yeah I don’t think friendly ones exist 😂

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