Off-Season, Pre-Season, In-Season Pitching

August 26, 2011

Off-Season, Pre-Season, In-Season PitchingWhat you need to know about the 3 seasons of pitching. In today’s game baseball has lost control of its seasons. Most youth and even up to the professional ranks have eliminated the off-season program all together. They spend most of their time moving from pre-season to in-season and then back again. This is a destructive path to follow if you want to move up levels of the game and have a long productive career.

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. Read more

How to Prevent Youth Pitching Injuries?

July 8, 2011

How to Prevent Youth Pitching Injuries?In an effort to help prevent youth pitching injuries the American Sports Medicine Institute has posted their Position Statement for Youth Baseball Pitchers. The three major factors which is a primary cause of most youth pitching injuries is; overuse, poor mechanics and poor physical fitness as mentioned in this statement. In my own research, I find this to be the case in all levels of the game. It is just more important at the youth level.

The Position Statement also mentions that the use of the curveball at the youth level may be an issue but no research exactly shows why. ASMI states that the problems could be that throwing a curveball enhances the effects of the three major factors of primary injury for youth pitchers. Here is a list of their recommendations for preventing injury. Read more

FREE Pitching Chart

November 22, 2009

charting-pitchesA pitching chart is a very valuable tool for a pitcher and a coach. For the pitcher it shows you your weaknesses and strengths. It tells you what pitches are working on what batters and what pitches are not working on what batters. It also tells you how many pitches you are throwing per inning which is valuable information for your Coach. Your Coach should know your limit and be prepared to rescue you if you are getting close to your redline. Read more