Pitching Velocity

Question
Hi, i'm 6', 220 lbs. I am a sophomore in high school and i play just about any position. i have been pitching for 6 years and i just recently got control over my pitching about a year ago. i have always have the speed, but for the past 2 years i have been weight lifting for football and baseball and have gained 25 lbs since my freshman year. i feel that as strong as i am an how much i weigh i should be throwing allot harder that i do. i am roughly throwing between 70-75 on an average pitch. i would like to know why this is or how i can improve my pitching velocity by my senior year. and also if your pitching velocity just sped up as you get older.

Thank You, Tim

Answer
Hi Tim,

I think it is great that you are wanting to become a better pitcher.  When I played I enjoyed pitching the most and was always looking for ways to improve my velocity so I completely understand where you are coming from.  With this said, let's take a look at your questions about pitching velocity.

First, 70 to 75 mph for a sophomore in high school is actually a pretty good speed and should reasonably expect this velocity to rise over the next two seasons.  The best ways to go about doing this are the following:

1.  Do weight training workouts geared specifically to pitchers.  (Tom House has a number of high quality pitching workouts.  I personally used one and saw my velocity climb about 10 mph in a year).  The reason you may be not seeing the speed you like is that you have developed too much muscle strength in the chest region.  Although this can be very helpful in football, this can get in the way of the throwing motion in baseball which puts more of an emphasis on your arms.  However, adjusting to a pitching workout as mentioned above would help resolve this issue.  Also, it could be possible that you have lost some flexibility.  I would suggest taking extra time stretching the arms, shoulders, back and chest.  This can help your pitching range of motion allowing for better mechanics.

2.  Review your current weight training program and volume of pitches thrown each day and during the week.  Many pitchers will see a decline in their fastball because they overwork themselves not allowing their bodies time to rest.  Although you can lift 4-5 times during the offseason, you should only be lifting 1 or 2 times a week during the season as your goal during the season is maintenance work and your goal during the off-season is to build muscle.

As far as your throwing goes, you should not be throwing at all after a start by giving yourself 24 to 48 hours of rest.  This will likely be a challenge for you as you play multiple positions.  However, you need to make sure you are giving your body enough time to recover from soreness.  If you fail to do so, you will see a decline in the speed of your fastball over the course of the season.

3.  Incorporate drills to improve your velocity.
There are essentially two kinds of drills used to help with arm strength and velocity.  

The first kind is plyometric training.  This can be performed by getting specially weighted baseballs.  One is slightly heavier than a regular baseball and the other is slightly lighter than a regular baseball.  By throwing these balls, you will train the fast twitch muscles in your arm to respond faster.  This will translate in you generating more velocity.  However, use plyometrics with caution as they put tremendous strain on your smaller muscles without the burn of regular weight training workout.  

The second kind of drills are those that deal with what I call functional strength training.  These include things like long toss, wrist rolls, and other resistance exercises.  

If you would like to read more about plyometrics and this other kind of drills, I suggest you get the ebook on my website (see the website name by my signature) and take a look at the pitching section of my site as well.  I think this will be helpful to you as well.

4.  Finally, immediately get some quality pitching lessons from a high quality pitching coach who has experience training high school, college, and professional players.  They can help take a look at your pitching motion and find ways to improve your delivery.  The result can be an increase in your velocity as well as better control.  Although these lessons can become a little expensive, getting a few good lessons now can help you learn good habits immediately and allow you to refine them over the next two years.  

I think the above should be enough to get you started.  As I mentioned in the beginning, I think it is great that you want to become a better pitcher and would expect that you will see a rise in your fastball over the next two years.  How much of an increase will depend on how dedicated you are to the above and your own personal genetics.  Either way, good luck to you in the upcoming season.

Best,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com