Dick Mill’s says that science today has proven weight training does not increase your throwing velocity. I have yet to find any scientific information on this theory. I would like to ask Dick Mill’s, “Why, when I was a junior in college and training with the Olympic Lifts, after six months my velocity went from 82 to 90 MPH?” During that summer I played on a travel team, I would complete an intense workout and then rush to pitch a full game immediately after the workout. I may not recommend this to other pitchers but it sure did work for me. I then spent the last five or more years trying to figure out why this worked. This is when I wrote the article “Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity” and also this is when I coined the term “Triple Extension.”

The reason for my velocity improvements did come from the Olympic lifts. This is because, if these lifts are performed correctly, they will max out your core strength potential and promote fast twitch muscle fiber growth. There is no better way to train your core and fast twitch fiber, than with these lifts. If I go a week without performing these lifts, after my first day back I can feel the weakness first in my core. I even have serious soreness in my core the next few days. I also immediately feel more powerful on the field after the soreness goes away. I feel it when I sprint and throw. Just like when you do a lot of squats and your vertical leap goes up.

The biggest miss conception about these lifts are that they will turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a fairy tale. The Olympic lifts build defined athletes. Just look at Matt Bruce here, a current Olympian. He is about 5’7 and 170 pounds. He can Power Clean and Jerk over 400 pounds and he looks like a boy in person.

If you are a pitcher and you are looking for these type of velocity improvements, then you need to drop everything you are doing and learn these lifts. You need to start a program like my “Fusion System.” This workout is the main part of the Ace Pitcher Handbook and was developed by my trainer Chad Engelhardt. It is called the “Fusion System” because it isn’t only about these lifts I have described. It is also about building joint integrity to handle more stress from the improved velocity and the sprint work to really define those fast twitch fibers.

So, if you currently have a program that involves you sitting in an air conditioned health club, on a cushioned seat, performing a chest press, then you better ask yourself, “How the Hell is this making me a better athlete?” It isn’t! Athletes are not made in health clubs. They are made in hot sweaty gyms and on dirty ball fields. Remember this, if you want to play with the “Big Guns,” you better train like one!

In my article Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity, I use Newton’s second law to prove why Olympic Lifting will increase your velocity. If you have not read this article, please do. I will now illustrate how aerodynamics can help us as pitchers to understand how to develop our top velocity.

Think of velocity as a jet, like the picture here. The red line illustrates the aerodynamics of the machine. If you notice the jet has the same amount of weight on the left side of the line as the right. This means it is symmetrical. Also see the line as the quickest distance between two points. If the jet stays on that straight line, it will get to its final destination faster than if it strayed off the line, on its way to the end.

The definition of Aerodynamics is the study of the forces of air, acting on objects in motion, relative to air. This would mean that if there is a drag on the left side of the jet, then not only will the jet slow down, but it will be forced to stray off the straight line. This will decrease velocity to the jet in two ways: the first way is by decreasing the force applied by the engines with the drag effect, and the second way is by forcing the jet to travel outside of the straight line in a more curved direction.

“I am sure you are wondering how this applies to pitching, but this is the quantum leap you must make here.”

I will use these pictures of Felix Hernandez to help you with this leap. Felix has one of the hardest fastballs in the game and you will now see one reason why.

I have added the red line to show you the same information as with the fighter jet. Notice how the weight distribution on both sides of the red line, in all three pictures, is almost evenly distributed like the aerodynamics of the jet. This is what keeps Felix’s body moving forward on his “Point of Balance.” If his weight distribution was more on the right side than the other, he would loss considerable velocity. This is because his arm would create drag on his body and he would need to over compensate by pulling his arm across his body, to keep his body moving forward. This would force him, like the jet, to stray off the straight line path and the drag would decrease the force that he created in his lower half when driving off the mound.

This doesn’t mean you must throw over the top. What it means is you must keep your weight evenly distributed over your “Point of Balance.” So, if you throw sidearm, you need to distribute your weight more over the outside part of your landing foot, using your hips to shift the weight and not your shoulders.

The key here is what you see Felix and all the hard throwers doing. This is using their hips to control their “center of gravity” while balancing all of their weight over their landing leg. This is the reason why pitcher’s must have very strong legs and core strength to throw hard.

The best way to find your “Point of Balance” is with a photograph. Draw a line from your belt buckle to your landing leg toes. With this line you should see your weight evenly distributed on both sides of the line.

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.