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How to throw harder ?

November 16, 2010

Throw Harder

throw_harder.jpgBy Cal Ripken, Jr.

A few weeks ago I was invited to talk baseball on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning radio show. At the time, Stephen Strasburg was awaiting the results of a second MRI and the topic of how to handle the young ace came up in our discussion.

I said the Nationals would be better off shutting Strasburg down for the season.

Later that week, the results of the MRI came out in the media. Strasburg would need Tommy John surgery to repair the ligaments in his elbow - a procedure that will keep Strasburg from throwing anything until Spring Training begins in 2011.

It's always tough to see bright young stars suffer such detrimental arm injuries. A full recovery from Tommy John surgery typically takes more than a year, and some pitchers never throw the same after the operation. But what many people don't realize is that for every big league star that goes down to a throwing injury, there are many more youth players today suffering the exact same injuries. And it's happening earlier and earlier in their baseball careers.

I think we can all agree that it's startling to hear about players needing Tommy John surgery before they even begin playing high school ball. As parents and coaches, we never want to see one of our players suffer such a serious injury, so it's important that we give young players a good program for developing arm strength.

Arm strength and proper throwing mechanics are keys to protecting the arm from injury. Most throwing injuries stem from a player trying to do too much before the muscles and tendons in the arm are capable of handling additional strain. So, how can a player increase the strength of their arm?

Long toss.

Long toss is the single best way to develop arm strength, and it's a great way to keep the arm in shape even during the off-season. Players who are serious about developing a better arm should consider throwing twice a week during the off-season, beginning with a simple game of catch and progressing into a long toss session.

Long toss does not mean a player just throws the ball as hard as they can over the greatest distance possible. Players need to approach long toss with a purpose - to stretch out their arm.

When long tossing, players should begin with a normal game of catch. Once the players are warmed up, they begin to widen the gap between them with every four or five throws. As the distance grows, the players should not be firing the ball harder and harder just to cover the additional ground. Instead, they should be using a crow-hop and a relaxed, fluid motion to throw the ball with some loft to their partner. Players need to focus on really stretching that arm out.

It's okay if the ball bounces before reaching the throwing partner. When players start overthrowing just to get it to their partner in the air, they're putting unnecessary strain on their arm and defeating the purpose of the long toss drill.

A player has reached their maximum distance when they are throwing comfortably and the ball is reaching their partner on one or two bounces. At that point, there is no need to expand the distance any further. Have the player throw at this distance for a short time, maybe 10-15 throws (unless they start to feel some discomfort).

Then, slowly decrease the distance back to where the players began playing catch, and you're done.

A simple long toss session like this should only take 20 minutes or so, making it a simple and effective way to improve arm strength, even during the off-season.

Players who stay disciplined and work on long toss a couple times per week will begin to notice their distances increasing over time and their velocity improving without the need for overexertion.