It is quite frequent that I am asked either prior to, or after, a lesson; "Jared, how does ( my son / daughter ) develop arm strength? or how can ( he / she ) throw harder". In reality, there are actually two answers I can give them for this question.
The first answer is my bread and butter when it comes to the subject of young athletes throwing harder; they need to throw, throw, throw, and throw some more. Now, most parents or young athletes may and will miss interpret this to mean that they should play catch every day, throwing as hard and as far as they can, til exhaustion. Depending on the young athletes muscle and bone structure this may actually work for them, but more often than not this type of "practice" is going to have them end up with a new best friend named "ice" and a warm seat on the sideline watching their buddies play ball. What I'm preaching when I say "throw, throw, throw, and throw some more" is a structured daily routine to playing catch or throwing off of a wall or net. A typical routine for a baseball player between the ages of 12-18 in the offseason might look something like this:
Monday - (20-30) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and ending with 5-10 throws at 90ft (30yrds)
Tuesday - (40-50) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and increasing by 5yrds every 3 throws, ending with 3 throws at maximum distance
Wednesday - (20-30) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and ending with 5-10 throws at 90ft (30yrds)
Thursday - (40-50) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and increasing by 5yrds every 3 throws, ending with 3 throws at maximum distance
Friday - (20) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and ending with 5 throws at 60ft (20yrds)
Saturday - (40-50) Throws total, starting at 5 throws from 30ft (10yrds) and increasing by 5yrds every 3 throws, ending with 10 maximum effort throws from 120ft (40yrds) or max distance whichever is closest to partner
Sunday - Off or light throwing (10-20 throws at 30ft-60ft)
This is one of the variations of an offseason throwing program. It is obvious to me that not every young athlete will respond the same way to every throwing program, so it is good to tweek the program ( heavier / lighter ) based on individuals needs and ability. However, I am a firm believer in the throw, throw, throw, and throw some more theory and a product of it's capabilities. Personally, my arm never felt better or stronger than when I was introduced to the "throw everyday" methodology and have stuck by it ever since.
Now onto the second answer. The second answer I will occasionaly give parents when asked how to help their son or daughter improve arm strength and throwing harder is about as simple, straight forward, and logical as can be. Sir/Mam, your son or daughter needs to grow into his or her body. Minor adjustments can be made to see minor improvements; i.e. - working on lower body drive, fine tuning mechanics and body direction; but the bottom line is some young athletes just need time to grow into their bodies. I've seen it time and time again, the one kid in the little league that looks like he drove his own car to the game and is about a foot taller than all the other kids just blowing people away with a superior fastball at age 12. Fastforward to 6 years later, and that same kid is the same height and throwing that fastball just about the same speed. Meanwhile, little Johnny who was 4foot nothing when he was 12 is now 6'2" throwing the ball nearly twice as hard as that guy who dominated little league. All little Johnny had to do was grow into the young adult he was always going to become. Understand though, growing into a young adult is only part of the equation. Of course continuing to practice and get better at baseball is only going to help once you've reached your full physical potential. I'm just simply pointing out that for some young athletes it is just not feasible to believe that they will have a rocket arm that can put the ball on a line from the outfield fence to home plate or make their catcher ice his hand between innings because of a blazing fastball. Some young athletes just need time and continuous practice, growing as a baseball / softball player and as a young adult.
Personally, I was a combination of the two. At the age of 14 I was fortunate enough to be taken on as a sort of "project" by my junior legion coach. At this point in my career as a young baseball player, I was hovering right around the middle in comparison to my fellow players in the arm strength department. My junior legion coach found a local warehouse type building in my hometown and would meet me there a couple times a week to throw throughout the entire offseason before my final year of junior legion baseball. That following summer I broke away from my teammates in the category of arm strength. I ended up setting a new team record for strikeouts in one season featuring an overpowering fastball ( old record - 60 strikeouts / my new record - 110 strikeouts ). It truly was a breakout season for me and was my initial introduction to the "throw everday" program...not to mention I was starting to grow into a young adult.
I will save my story about my transition into college baseball for another time, but it also has the same principality of how I endulged in the "throw everyday" program and at the same time began to grow out of being a teenager and into being a full fledged man. I hope this sheds some light for you on that timeless question of arm strength. In conclusion, I am a firm believer that arm strength can be gained through a combination of repitition and time. Let's keep our fingers crossed for warm weather in the near future...almost time to Play Ball !!!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Playing Catch to Win the Game
Arguably the most overlooked, underrated, and neglected part of any practice or pre-game warmup is the 10 to 15 minutes players spend having a catch, warming up, getting loose. More often than not, this fundamental exercise is done with minimal to no supervision and seen as more of a formalitly than as a part of preperation and practice.
The way I was brought up in baseball, from age 6 to 21, it was always the same old thing; "Here's a bucket of balls. Pick one out, grab a partner, and head out to the outfield to start throwing." The coaches ( or parents when your 6-12 ) would hang out and talk by the bench while the kids played catch, or for some of them, played "miss". I would say, on average, it was about 3 to 5 throws in that we would lose interest in the idea of doing things correctly and start goofing around. Goofing around would usually include seeing who had the best knuckleball, try to make a jumping throw, see how high you could throw the ball, and/or my personal favorite; the side arm on the run throw. So in essence, we would spend about 12 minutes of our 15 minutes warming up developing bad habits and making bad throws. Don't get me wrong, it was a blast from a kids having fun standpoint, but as far as development and preperation, it was a complete waste of time.
It wasn't until college and my first throw and catch session in professional baseball that I learned what a true warm-up toss was all about. The "bucket of balls" was still there, the "grab a partner" was still there, and the "stroll to the outfield" was still all there. The difference was structure. The coaches would walk around and small talk with all the players giving us the subtle feeling that we were constantly being watched, but in a relaxed atmosphere. The very first day we were told how the throw and catch was going to happen from there on out. Make 5 throws from 15ft away, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 3 throws, back up 10 feet, make 3 more throws, back up 10ft and continue the process until you are at max distance ( if playing long toss, if not playing long toss end process at comfortable distance ) and finish with 3 throws at that distance then stop. At this point, you will have made a limited, but reasonable amount of throws and have a set distance from which to work from and build off of in the distance. I can't tell you how many times I've watched kids warming up throw 15-30 throws from 20 feet away, where as with this structured throw and catch we've just thrown 15-30 throws to max distance and are ready to practice or play...so many wasted throws !!!
The point of this blogpost is to highlight what I believe is one of the most important parts of any pregame warm-up or practice, which is greatly overlooked and mistreated. At the youth and amatuer level, how many plays are determined by an accurate or inaccurate throw? How many games are won or lost, for that matter, by an accurate or inaccurate throw? And yet, that part of the practice or pre-game warmup is usually the most un-supervised, un-focused, and un-structured part of the program.
So in closing, if you are a coach or a player. Do the right thing and take it upon yourself to try to bring a little supervision ( even if it's just walking around talking to the kids while they are throwing ) bring a little focus, and bring a little structure ( even if it's just counting the amount of throws they make each warmup session )each and everytime a throw and catch is involved. Think about it, every play involves a throw and catch in baseball. The team who is best prepared to make a good throw and make a good catch is going to win the game. Practice and professional preperation begins with a bucket of balls, a partner, and a good throw and catch in the outfield. Warm weather is just around the corner, so get out there or get in there and play ball !!!
The way I was brought up in baseball, from age 6 to 21, it was always the same old thing; "Here's a bucket of balls. Pick one out, grab a partner, and head out to the outfield to start throwing." The coaches ( or parents when your 6-12 ) would hang out and talk by the bench while the kids played catch, or for some of them, played "miss". I would say, on average, it was about 3 to 5 throws in that we would lose interest in the idea of doing things correctly and start goofing around. Goofing around would usually include seeing who had the best knuckleball, try to make a jumping throw, see how high you could throw the ball, and/or my personal favorite; the side arm on the run throw. So in essence, we would spend about 12 minutes of our 15 minutes warming up developing bad habits and making bad throws. Don't get me wrong, it was a blast from a kids having fun standpoint, but as far as development and preperation, it was a complete waste of time.
It wasn't until college and my first throw and catch session in professional baseball that I learned what a true warm-up toss was all about. The "bucket of balls" was still there, the "grab a partner" was still there, and the "stroll to the outfield" was still all there. The difference was structure. The coaches would walk around and small talk with all the players giving us the subtle feeling that we were constantly being watched, but in a relaxed atmosphere. The very first day we were told how the throw and catch was going to happen from there on out. Make 5 throws from 15ft away, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 3 throws, back up 10 feet, make 3 more throws, back up 10ft and continue the process until you are at max distance ( if playing long toss, if not playing long toss end process at comfortable distance ) and finish with 3 throws at that distance then stop. At this point, you will have made a limited, but reasonable amount of throws and have a set distance from which to work from and build off of in the distance. I can't tell you how many times I've watched kids warming up throw 15-30 throws from 20 feet away, where as with this structured throw and catch we've just thrown 15-30 throws to max distance and are ready to practice or play...so many wasted throws !!!
The point of this blogpost is to highlight what I believe is one of the most important parts of any pregame warm-up or practice, which is greatly overlooked and mistreated. At the youth and amatuer level, how many plays are determined by an accurate or inaccurate throw? How many games are won or lost, for that matter, by an accurate or inaccurate throw? And yet, that part of the practice or pre-game warmup is usually the most un-supervised, un-focused, and un-structured part of the program.
So in closing, if you are a coach or a player. Do the right thing and take it upon yourself to try to bring a little supervision ( even if it's just walking around talking to the kids while they are throwing ) bring a little focus, and bring a little structure ( even if it's just counting the amount of throws they make each warmup session )each and everytime a throw and catch is involved. Think about it, every play involves a throw and catch in baseball. The team who is best prepared to make a good throw and make a good catch is going to win the game. Practice and professional preperation begins with a bucket of balls, a partner, and a good throw and catch in the outfield. Warm weather is just around the corner, so get out there or get in there and play ball !!!
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