Pitching with more speed

Question
Hi Greg,
I am currently playing amateur baseball with the MABL for this season.I have tried out for many teams and they didn't like my pitching speed because they said it was slower than they would want. Is there a method of exercise or ANYTHING to bring my mph up? I would love to pitch faster.

Answer
Every coach since the dawn of baseball has fallen in love with velocity.  Speed is the end all, be all to way to many coaches.  My best response to the speed questions is a question in return.  Who has more Cy Young Awards, Nolan Ryan (high speed) or Greg Maddox (low speed).

The most important aspect of pitching is location.  The second most important is location and the third most important it deception of the location.

If you do want to improve velocity the main reason for breakdowns is posture and balance.  The second reason is poor dietary habits and incorrect workouts.

For dietary improvement contact a local dietician who can set you up on a high performance workout diet -- 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% lean fats.  Also you should eat three smaller meals a day with two small snacks (fruits or vegetables) instead of one or two larger meals.  Improved diet, improves muscle content, which improves recovery time, which improves neuromuscular nerve endings, which leads to more velocity.

For work outs, search the web for Dr. Jobe's workouts.  This is the doctor who invented Tommy John surgery and it involves low weights (2 - 5 pounds) and improves the strength of all the muscles in the shoulders.  These workouts can also be done using rubber band resistance.  You need to build up all the stablizing muscles in the shoulder and the decelerating muscles in order to throw with maximum velocity.  Curls for the girls, Jobes to throw powerful strikes.

Balance and posture then become the next step in improving our speed.  What you, as a pitcher, want to do, is not increase your velocity, but increase your speed.  Let me explain.  90MPH is a constant number, but what if I told you that you had to hit a pitcher who threw 90 but had to throw from second base.  You would have time to see the ball and react, so you would have a lot of success hitting.  The ball is still traveling 90MPH but the distance is greater.  You want to decrease distance but improving your release point thereby making your pitch harder even though it is traveling at the same technical speed.

You should seek some guidance from a personal instructor in your area to help you out with this.  Contact your local Community College baseball coach, who will gladly provide you with some private lessons.

Best of luck in your upcoming season.

Coach Stauffer
Macomb Baseball