Don’t get me wrong, game time spent on the mound is priceless but to much of it can become a major problem. My mother always said everything in moderation is healthier. This is the same for anything. The problem with spending to much time on the mound, during game time, and not enough time developing yourself in an off-season program is that you make yourself more susceptible to injury and you limit your ability to grow and develop. ASMI has already done the studies on how high pitch counts per game and even per season are being ignored and that this is a reason why arm injuries are so high. The lesson to be learned here is that not enough youth, high school, college and even professional pitchers are separating their seasons into a moderate divide of a growth and development program, a load building program and a maintenance and recovery program. These programs are the foundation of what I like to call the 3 season pitching system.

3 Season Pitching System

These three seasons should be a staple part of all pitchers yearly pitching cycle. Those pitchers who only using a 2 or 1 season system are limiting their ability to enhance performance and prevent injury. Sticking to this 3 season system will promote success in all levels of pitching.

Off-Season Pitching Program

The Off-Season should be around 3-4 months out of the year. Preceding your Off-Season program you need around 1-2 months of complete rest from any type of exercises. You should focus on nutrition and good sleep. This means going to bed at a good time and logging about 8-10 or more hours per night. This type of sleep should be consistent all year long.

Once your Off-Season begins it should include the following:

1. Dynamic Warm-up
2. A total Strength and Conditioning program based around an 8 week cycle to build speed, strength and ultimately power.
3. Joint integrity program to develop your small muscle groups like your rotator cuff.
4. A throwing program that complements your strength and conditioning program to help program the new motor coordination around good pitching mechanics.
5. Anaerobic conditioning program to promote speed and power movements through a full range of motion along with building your ATP buffer.

Remember your Off-Season is focused around increasing performance without using a high volume of throws. This is the most effective season to increase velocity.

Pre-Season Pitching Program

The Pre-Season program should be around 1-2 months out of the year. The foundation of the program is transitioning your training from a speed, strength and power development program into a speed, strength and power maintenance program so you can begin to build your pitching workload. This means you will need to begin to increase your volume of throws as you decrease your resistance training.

Once you begin your Pre-Season program it should include the following:

1. Dynamic Warm-up
2. 1-2 days per week of higher rep and lower resistance training. Workouts should incorporate more medicine ball training than barbell training.
3. Joint integrity program to maintain strength in your small muscle groups like your rotator cuff.
4. A throwing program to begin increasing your volume of throws with mound time as you gradually build up to your In-Season pitching rotation.
5. Anaerobic conditioning program to continue to increase your ATP buffer while providing some speed and strength maintenance.

Your Pre-Season program is a transitional period in the year where you must effectively convert your Off-Season program into your In-Season program. You have less time to make this happen, so you must work hard and smart to make sure your Pre-Season program works with your team practice schedule and gradually builds you up to your In-Season workload.

In-Season Pitching Program

The In-Season program should be around 3-5 months out of your year. This program is built around your pitching workload. This is your pitch count requirements based on your rotation. If you are a starter or a relief pitcher, your In-Season program should be scheduled around this rotation. The foundation of the program is to continue to maintain speed, strength and power with a major focus on recovery. The better pitchers are able to recovery faster between appearances. A good In-Season program would promote this recovery.

Once you begin your In-Season program it should include the following:

1. Dynamic Warm-up
2. Med Ball strength maintenance program or weight training maintenance program.
3. Anaerobic conditioning program to support speed, strength and power maintenance and also to promote increased ATP buffering.
4. Joint integrity program to maintain strength in your small muscle groups like your rotator cuff.
5. Throwing program to help promote motor coordination synchronization without a high volume of throws.
6. Nutritional and supplementation guidelines.

The goal of your In-Season program is to maintain your Off-Season gains, as long as possible, while promoting a quick recovery between appearances.

TopVelocity.net currently has an Off-Season program which is the 3X Pitching Velocity Program. I am developing an pre-season and in-season program. Stay tuned!

The drill below should be performed 2 – 3 days a week, for at least 3 – 4 months. The drill should also be performed after completing the “Flexibility Training” portion of the Fusion System which can be found in the Ace Pitcher Handbook. You can also find more drills in the handbook. Try to push each drill to muscle fatigue, if possible.What you will need to perform the drill is your glove and some resistance tubing. All of these products can be purchased at the Velocity Store.

The purpose of this drill is to enforce the “Separation” position. To perform this drill you need a resistance band or tubing. Connect the band to a fence or have someone hold the band behind you.

Instructions:

Start in the “Separation” position, with the band held with your throwing arm. Arm some what relaxed and close to your body. Your glove hand is turned over and you are looking down your elbow. Both your feet are facing the target which opens your hips. Finally make sure your back shoulder is all the way behind you to help build more torque in your core.

When ready, turn over and tuck your glove hand and then push your belly and chest to your front knee, allowing the band to pull your arm back behind your head. Make sure your hips are positioned under your chest. You are now in the “Pull.” Perform pic #2 from the previous drill before continuing down to pic #3 on this drill.

Continue to stabilize your landing leg, knee, hip and chest while driving your chest out over your front foot. Once your chest has hit the wall, finish the pitch with your fingers on top of the ball and your hand 6 inches in front of foot. Make sure your elbow pulls through just above your throwing shoulder.

* Remember after creating torque in your core and your shoulders have opened to the target, velocity is based on how fast you can transfer your weight to your release point. So perform this drill with explosive power.

Purchase the Ace Pitcher Handbook for more drills and to learn the 6 Components of Pitching.

The drill below should be performed 2 – 3 days a week, for at least 3 – 4 months. The drill should also be performed after completing the “Flexibility Training” portion of the Fusion System which can be found in the Ace Pitcher Handbook. You can also find more drills in the handbook. Try to push each drill to muscle fatigue, if possible.What you will need to perform the drill is your glove and some resistance tubing. All of these products can be purchased at the Velocity Store.

The purpose of this drill is to enforce the “Chest Thrust” position. To perform this drill you need a resistance band or tubing. Connect the band to a fence or have someone hold the band behind you.

Instructions:

Start in the “Chest Thrust” position, with the band held with your throwing arm resting behind you. Your chest is up and your hips are under your chest. Both of your feet facing the target in a full stride.

When ready, drive your chest out over your front foot while continuing to relax your arm. All of your weight is now on your front foot.

Once your chest hits the wall, extend your elbow above your head and out in front of your body, finishing the pitch. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR FRONT KNEE TO MOVE.

* The goal of this drill is to shift your weight as fast as possible while relaxing your arm. Velocity is based on how fast you can shift your weight and then transfer that into the ball. This is why it is important to stabilize the front leg and not let it bend.

Purchase the Ace Pitcher Handbook for more drills and to learn the 6 Components of Pitching.

The reason we need 5-6 servings of vegetables a day is because the natural whole food vitamins and minerals are essential to all of our muscular functions as an athlete. It is also essential to muscle recovery. Read my article on Pitching Nutrition and Supplements to learn more on this topic.

Here is a product that offers you 5-6 servings of vegetables in a pill form.

www.StartJuicingNow.com

www.StartJuicingNow.com

If you would like more information on a nutrition product please post your request in the comments below and I will do some research for you.

The drill below should be performed 2 – 3 days a week, for at least 3 – 4 months. The drill should also be performed after completing the “Flexibility Training” portion of the Fusion System which can be found in the Ace Pitcher Handbook included in the 3X Pitching Velocity Program.  You will also find a ton more drills in the 3X programs. Try to push each drill to muscle fatigue, if possible.What you will need to perform the drill is your glove, a hiking or weight belt and some resistance bands or tubing. All of these products can be purchased here at the Equipment Store.

The purpose of this drill is to learn how to develop more momentum in your lower half through triple extension (3X) and use that momentum to build torque in the core. Connect the bands to the belt and then to a fence or preferably have someone hold the bands.

Instructions:

Start in the stretch position, with the bands held tight behind you.  Lift your leg and lead with your front hip towards the target as you drive the belt forward, as if you are pitching the ball. Remember to keep your head over your belt buckle as your hips move forward and do not let your back knee bend forward over your back toes. Now, move into the “Load” position (select “Load” to view). This will help you build more momentum.

This picture does not show a good stride because of the frame restrictions. Triple extend your drive leg before your front leg lands into a full stride with at least a 6 inch drag line in your back foot. The goal is to generate as much power as possible, without letting your shoulders commit to the target. Drive your back hip through hard, by kicking your drive leg ankle through before your front foot lands. You should work hard to get your back hip close to your front knee and your back shoulder over your back leg when finished, like in the picture.

If you are having a hard time holding your shoulders back, as you drive your hips forward, then use a broom stick to keep your shoulder back and loaded.

The goal of the drill is to train momentum by building as much power as possible through triple extension in your back leg. DO NOT let your shoulders travel with your hips. This will prevent you from using your hard earned power to build torque in your core, like in picture #2. You want to generate as much hip to shoulder separation as possible.

Most pitchers do not have any understanding of optimal core torque. If this is the case, when you hit Pic #2 it may feel awkward. Just make sure you are in the same position as the picture. This component is called “Triple extension and separation.” This drill should fatigue your hips and legs. Work Hard!

Purchase the 3X Pitching Velocity Program to add 5-10mph to your fastball with a ton more excellent drills like the Sled Drill.