Topvelocity.net» confidence http://www.topvelocity.net Everything Pitching Velocity! Velocity Mechanics, Velocity Drills, Velocity Training and much more. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:41:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Long Toss and the Placebo Effect http://www.topvelocity.net/long-toss-and-the-placebo-effect/ http://www.topvelocity.net/long-toss-and-the-placebo-effect/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:54:34 +0000 Brent Pourciau http://topvelocity.net/?p=1137 2649288453_5cfffafccd_o1Long toss is praised by many and shot down by few. I have heard the likes of Alan Jaeger preaching long toss as the secret to velocity and the likes of Dick Mill’s trying to prove scientifically why you should never do it again. I have reflected on this topic for some time now. In my career, I did a lot of long toss but rarely did I notice any difference in velocity. I refuse to tell you that long toss is a waste of time but what I will do is share with you the Pros and Cons of this kind of practice. It is then up to you to make your own decision on using long toss in your training regime.

When I speak of long toss, I mean throwing the ball more than 120 feet. This means throwing the ball farther than from home to second base. To make this easy to understand and for you to base your opinion, I will break long toss down into a list of pros and cons.

The Pros of Long Toss:

It is a max effort exercise which is pushing the body to generate more force to the ball. If performed with total body mechanics, this can train and help develop the total body. Long toss mainly trains the “Load position.”

The long distance toss increases the chance of error in locating the target. This is training accuracy for long distance.

The Cons of Long Toss:

It is a max effort throwing exercise which is putting a lot of stress on the arm. Especially the decelerator muscles. If a pitcher has poor mechanics and throws with more arm than body, then long toss can be very destructive to the pitcher. If you are looking for an overall total body training program I would suggest mixing Olympic lifting and plyometric training with a throwing program that does not over throw the arm.

It is training long distance accuracy which is a different release point than 60 feet pitching accuracy. If performing long toss, it is important to finish throwing  from at least 60-65 feet after throwing long, to re-establish your pitching release point.

The mechanical difference from long toss to pitching on the mound, is almost the same difference as playing home run derby as opposed to hitting off of a live pitcher. There is a mechanical adjustment from hitting slow pitches intended for home runs, to hitting hard pitches intended to strikeout the hitter. This adjustment is proof that throwing long toss to pitching has a placebo effect (A placebo is anything of no real benefit which nevertheless makes people feel better.) For example, hitting the home runs in a home run derby would build confidence, which then would effect how you perform against a live pitcher. Just like throwing the ball 350 feet would give you more confidence when you start throwing the ball at 60 feet. It is now a shorter distance and it requires less effort, so you feel a lot more powerful. This is because throwing the ball 350 feet gives a visual measurement of your strength. To help you understand this point I ask this question. Which way do you think it is easier to tell who is throwing harder? The difference between a pitcher throwing 85 mph to a pitcher throwing 90 mph, or the difference between a pitcher throwing 310 feet to a pitcher throwing 350 feet.

There is a difference in mechanics for a pitcher throwing at max effort from 70 feet away to 350 feet away. The difference is in the release point. A pitcher should always throw with the same release point because it is crucial for velocity and accuracy. Continuously changing release points from throwing long toss to pitching on a mound will effect a pitchers consistency. Therefore, the only reason to perform long toss is for the placebo effect. It is just like taking an over the counter supplement that says it will increase your muscle mass. It gets you all excited and pumped up, but this doesn’t mean it is actually working. If this feeling is all that matters to you, then keep playing long toss. Otherwise, if you feel the placebo effect is a waste of time and emotion, then I would suggest you train your pitching delivery the same ever day. Constantly making mechanical adjustments to increase your velocity on the mound, without putting a lot of throws on your arm. You will see more velocity gains from a total body training program than from a long toss program any day.

]]> http://www.topvelocity.net/long-toss-and-the-placebo-effect/feed/ 49 The Biggest Mistakes Young Pitchers Make? http://www.topvelocity.net/the-biggest-mistakes-young-pitchers-make/ http://www.topvelocity.net/the-biggest-mistakes-young-pitchers-make/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:11:05 +0000 Brent Pourciau http://topvelocity.net/?p=883 I hate to be so pessimistic but the reality is the younger generations are lazy and not held up to the standards of the past generations. Our society today is a lot more open to excepting mediocrecy than hard work and achievement. The only reason competition continues to improve is because of the global infiltration of baseball. The game is now full of Latino’s, Asians and Europeans. I am writing this article to hopefully motivate the younger generations of America to wake up and get moving. Here is one of my favorite quotes. You should read this every morning.

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve.

It does not matter whether you are a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up you had better be running.”

One of the biggest mistakes young pitchers make is not educating themselves. They usually do not like to read, especially for more than a few seconds, so I will list the rest of the steps in an ordered list to try and beat their short attention spans.

Biggest mistakes young pitchers make:

1. They DO NOT exercise their brain like their body.
They know nothing about pitching mechanics, joint integrity and nutrition. They leave it up to their parents or coaches.

2.  They DO NOT stand up for success.
They follow the leader. If everyone is slacking, then they are slacking.

3. They DO NOT keep the BIG Picture.
 Life has a time limit. Do not miss your window of opportunity.

4. They DO NOT establish routine or disciplines in their young lives.
They do whatever feels good or whatever everyone else is doing.

5. They DO NOT warm-up before playing or practicing.
They show up for practice or a game just before it starts.

6. They DO NOT take care of their arm or body after a pitching performance.
They go home and take a hot shower and eat a bad meal.

7. They DO NOT make adjustments when things are not working.
They just get frustrated and continue to beat their head against the wall.

8. They DO NOT stay after practice to improve their mechanics or run some extra sprints.
They can’t wait to run home and get on the phone or play video games.

9. They DO NOT take the blame for their mistakes.
Everything is someone else’s fault.

10. They DO NOT thank their Coaches and Parents for supporting their careers.
They act like it is just their job to do this for them.

11. They DO NOT push their limits.
They think being average and lazy is cooler than being good and dedicated.

12. They DO NOT listen to their bodies.
They continue to play when their arm is saying, “Stop!”

13. They DO NOT eat, sleep and breathe baseball.
Baseball is just something they do after school.

14. They DO NOT spend more time playing ball than playing with the TV or computer.
They have poor hip rotation because their body has adjusted to sitting down, instead of running around.

15. They DO NOT eat healthy foods.
They are addicted to fast food and soft drinks.

16. They DO NOT understand that to be a good pitcher you must be an exceptional athlete.

If you are a younger pitcher and reading this, I hope that you do not make most of these mistakes. If you do, I hope that this motivates you to make a life change. Even if you make some of these mistakes I hope you are motivated to make a life change. If you have read this far, this is confidence that you maybe just making that life change at this very moment. Please use this site to guide you during this transformation. Don’t forget the quote above.

]]> http://www.topvelocity.net/the-biggest-mistakes-young-pitchers-make/feed/ 0 Baseball Pitching Workout – Beginner http://www.topvelocity.net/baseball-pitching-workout-beginner/ http://www.topvelocity.net/baseball-pitching-workout-beginner/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:54:31 +0000 Brent Pourciau http://topvelocity.net/?p=828 This is an excellent beginner workout. It focuses on training the body as a single unit. All these lifts support the development of Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers which will make you more explosive as an athlete. This workout was developed for pitchers but recommend for all positions. When starting this beginner program for the first time, make sure you keep your lifting weight down. Use the bar to start and once you gain confidence in your lifts, you can begin to add weight and use the percentages listed. Select the images below the workout of the lifts to view the instructional video. You can also view the Coach Gayle Hatch instructional videos here: Coach Hatch Videos to learn the lifts. Coach Gayle Hatch is a legend in the sports training world. He is most know as the 2004 USA Olympic Lifting Coach and was just named the World Coach for 2009. Some of the lifts do not have instructional videos. Search the web for exercises that would fill the role.

This is only a beginner training program. It does not included any joint integrity training, medicine ball training or anaerobic conditioning. To learn a more advanced training program, which includes everything you need to know to increase your athletic performance as a pitcher or position player, check out the 3X Pitching Velocity Program. It is highly recommended!

Monday
Dynamic Warm-up
Bar warm-up
Hang clean 5×60% 5×65% 5×65% 5×70%
Front Squat 10×60% 8×65% 6×70%
RDL 5×25% 5×25% 5×25%
Core Routine
Tuesday
Dynamic Warm-up
Shoulder Routine
3 board bench or Push Ups 10×60% 10×65% 8X70% 8×70%
Pull-up 10x 10x 10x 10x
Forearm Routine
Thursday
Dynamic Warm-up
Bar warm-up
Power Clean 5×60% 5×62% 5×65% 3×70%
Pavel Squat/Towel Ham Slide 8x 8x 8x 8x
Core Routine
Friday
Dynamic Warm-up
Shoulder Routine
Stability Ball Dumb Bell Bench 10×60% 10×65% 8×70% 8×70%
Low Row 10x 10x 10x 10x
Forearm Routine
]]> http://www.topvelocity.net/baseball-pitching-workout-beginner/feed/ 8 The Importance of the Fastball http://www.topvelocity.net/the-importance-of-the-fastball/ http://www.topvelocity.net/the-importance-of-the-fastball/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:26:58 +0000 Brent Pourciau http://topvelocity.net/?p=79 Having too many pitches causes too many problems. Your success as a pitcher is riding on your fastball. Ever pitch you throw should be based off your fastball. This is why a slider is effective. This is why a change up is deceiving. If you are in high school and your best pitch is a curveball, your longevity is very limited. Scouts want to see a 1-4 ratio of offspeed pitches to fastballs. They see throwing offspeed pitches like sliders and curveballs at a young age as a sign of high levels of wear and tear on the arm. This is a big mark against you.

My advice to you is take two pitches as far as you can. You will see the best pitchers in the game taking two pitches through high school, college and even low A minor league ball. I know this may be upsetting to you but don’t take it negatively. When you see the improvements you will make as a pitcher when you focus on your fastball and one offspeed pitch you will be pumped.

Where should you go from here?

Start with reading my articles on velocity because these articles are teaching you the perfect delivery for your fastball. There is also a mental leap involved here. The reason a lot of young guys throw many pitches is because they do not have the confidence in their fastball. You must gain this confidence. I didn’t say find this confidence, I said you must gain it. So, set your sights on an explosive fastball and you will earn it. Your mental training starts with visualizing this goal. I want you to see yourself dominating with your fastball. See yourself throwing with perfect mechanics that you read about on this site or watched in the AcePitcher instructional videos. Using these visualizations along with reading and watching the material here you will with no doubt gain a top level fastball. We are here to support you.

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