program Pitching Articles

Here are some pitching articles on this important pitching velocity topic. This topic is currently open for discussion. You can either comment on the articles below or start a thread in the pitching forums.
What It Takes To Gain Pitching Velocity

by Brent Pourciau · June 17, 2009
If you haven’t figured it out yet, pitching velocity doesn’t come in a pill. Sorry to bust your bubble but it takes a lot of hard and smart work to develop it. If you are looking to gain 4-5 mph on your fastball then you must work to improve in all facets of pitching. These facets include: Read more
Triple Extension Pitching Creates Optimal Separation

by Brent Pourciau · June 6, 2009
For all of those pitchers who are trying to develop more separation in back hip to back shoulder, you will only achieve this with explosive triple extension of the drive leg. “Triple Extension” is the extension of the ankle joint, knee joint and the hip flexor. You must perform this in your drive leg so your back hip can open completely to the target. If you keep your shoulders and weight back while aligning your Force Vector and once your Force Vector is linear you perform”Triple Extension,” optimal “Separation” will occur. Read more
The Split Perspective Of Separation

by Brent Pourciau · February 17, 2009
Separation is a major component to developing top velocity and longevity. Separation means having separation from your back hip to back shoulder at front foot strike. Notice the picture here of Felix Hernandez. His back hip is pointing towards home plate and his back shoulder is pointing towards second base. This creates torque in the core. You can see the stretching in his jersey around the stomach area. Having more torque in the core instead of the shoulder of the arm will lead to more velocity and a healthier arm. Read more
Bad Pitching Mechanics Is A Sign Of Muscular Weakness

by Brent Pourciau · February 10, 2009
Above average coordination is a sign of fast twitch muscle strength. Fast twitch motor neurons recruit more muscle fibers. This means more control of the body and also more explosive power. The biggest problem for a pitching coach, when working with a pitcher who does not have good hip rotation or who does not load and build a full body stride, is that this is the result of poor core and leg strength and no mechanical drill will fix this problem.
Drills only help pitchers who are having a hard time changing flawed muscle memory. It doesn’t help pitchers who have good muscle memory but poor muscle strength. This is why we have weight rooms. This is why any coach who tells you that weight lifting will NOT help you as a pitcher is clueless and is wasting your time and maybe even your money. A good strength and conditioning program that incorporates Olympic lifts, plyometric training and an intense speed training program is essential to developing good pitching mechanics. Good athletes make good pitchers. Read more
Coach Gayle Hatch

by Brent Pourciau · February 1, 2009
For more info on Coach Hatch visit GayleHatch.com.
The USA men’s weightlifting head coach at the 2004 Olympic Games, Hatch was inducted into the USA Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame’s inaugural 14-member class in August 2003, along with Baton Rouge’s Alvin Roy; and the USA Olympic Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in April 2002. He received the NFL Strength & Conditioning Coaches Society “President’s Award” for his role in developing the profession at the 2005 NFL Combine. Hatch served as meet director of the 2000 USA Olympic Trials. In 2007-08, Hatch worked at LSU as basketball strength and conditioning coach after his program helped the 2006 Tigers reach the Final Four. Read more
Boost Your Testosterone And Growth Hormone Levels Naturally

by Brent Pourciau · February 1, 2009
Using steroids and growth hormone (GH) injections to increase your levels of testosterone and GH has more bad side effects than positive returns. This is why I speak against these illegal drugs. Through proper strength and conditioning, an athlete can naturally stimulate their bodies testosterone and GH levels. The reason for athletes increasing these levels is to grow bigger, stronger, faster, which means your body is healing faster than it is breaking down. This is very beneficial for pitchers because quicker recovery between appearances will result in more velocity, better consistency and less chance of injury. This is why the Michell Report was full of professional pitchers using these illegal substances. These pro pitchers were looking for the hormonal edge but going at it in the wrong direction. Thank you to the strength and conditioning world, we have now learned that the hormonal edge can be obtained naturally, through a proper strength and conditioning program. Read more
Pain In Triceps And Biceps When Pitching

by Brent Pourciau · February 1, 2009

* If you have shoulder pain and you would like to heal the rotator cuff without surgery checkout this page.
So you have pain in triceps and or biceps when pitching and it has more than likely been hurting for a while. You are searching the web for answers because you need this pain to go away so you can get back to business. I get it! I was you in my career.
When I had this problem and I couldn’t find the answers to a quick fix of the problem, I just looked for ways to hide the pain. I was taking Advil almost everyday and I started to have to take tons more of it because the pain was getting worse. The pain first started in my elbow and then it moved up my bicep into my shoulder.
It got so bad that I had to take the maximum dose of pain killers, along with icy hot, and in between innings I had to hit my arm so I would feel the pain of the hit and not the pain coming from my throbbing arm. This was the day that my rotator cuff tore and my career completely stopped. I was shocked and depressed at this time in my life because I had let the pain get so bad, that it ended my career.
I Want to Help You Remove This Pain
I am writing this article here to help you because I wish someone would have helped me at that point in my pitching career when the pain first started. If you have pain in your lower, or upper bicep, or your lower or upper tricep and maybe even in the back or front of your upper forearm, you are overusing and abusing your arm. If you have anyone or all of these pains, then you need to stop and listen to your body.
Pain is your bodies way of telling you that something is wrong. Pain does not just go away. It will only get worse, like it did in my career, if you do not make some changes immediately. Unfortunately, you should have not waited this long to make the changes but better late than never! Read more
How A BAD Pitching Coach Can Ruin A GOOD Pitcher

by Brent Pourciau · January 18, 2009
Ultimately, your pitching Coach is your boss. If you piss him off, there is a good chance you may be out of a job. The problem is if he is a BAD pitching coach, he could jeopardize your career. It has happened many times before. The key is to keep the Coach happy, while you find the best support you can, to help influence your career.
What makes a BAD pitching Coach?
Someone who has no experience in playing the position at the top levels of the game, or someone who has no certified education of how to coach the position. Read more
Overload To Underload – Right Concept, Wrong Approach

by Brent Pourciau · January 14, 2009
Using the overload to underload approach to train a young pitcher’s arm and central nervous system to increase arm speed is the right concept but the wrong approach when using weighted baseballs on a young pitcher. The problem is with using weighted baseballs on a young pitcher, who more than likely does not have the motor coordination of high velocity mechanics, is that it sacrifices the arm to teach the body how to move weight more efficiently and quickly. To understand how backwards this weighted baseball approach is for the young pitcher we must first look at what role the arm plays in the entire pitching delivery. Read more
Just Say NO To Long Distance Running

by Brent Pourciau · January 8, 2009
If your Coach or Trainer has you running for longer than five minutes at a SLOW pace then you are training to be just that, SLOW! Muscles have a mixture of two basic types of fibers, fast twitch and slow twitch. Fast-twitch fibers are capable of developing greater forces and contracting faster and have greater anaerobic capacity. Anaerobic means exercise without the use of oxygen as an energy source; short bursts of vigorous exercise. Sprinting is an anaerobic exercise. In contrast, slow-twitch fibers develop force slowly, can maintain contractions longer and have higher aerobic capacity. Aerobic means exercise in which energy needed is supplied by oxygen inspired and is required for sustained periods of vigorous exercise with a continually high pulse rate. Long distance running is an aerobic exercise. Read more
Baseball Pitching Workout – Beginner

by Brent Pourciau · December 9, 2008
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. Read more
The Pitching Workout For The Athlete

by Brent Pourciau · December 5, 2008
There are NOT many pitching workouts out there made for the athlete. This is why most of them or ineffective. The reason they are ineffective is because they do not train athletic performance. I am a USA Weightlifting Certified Trainer and I have spent the past 15 years learning from some of the best in the business. I have also tried just about every workout available. The only time I every noticed an effect on my pitching velocity was after training with the Olympic lifts. Read more
10 Legitimate Tips To Pitching Velocity

by Brent Pourciau · December 1, 2008
There are hundreds of Pitching Tips for Baseball on the web titled something similar to this article, but most of them are worthless, because they focus mainly on upper body mechanics as the means to developing velocity. Any hard thrower will tell you, there is a lot more to pitching velocity than just your arm. If you want to see significant gains in pitching velocity then read all of these key Baseball Tips on Pitching and the articles linked to it. The only way you are going to see improvements, is if you develop a good understanding of how pitching velocity is generated in hard throwing pitchers.
Remember you are bound by nothing. You have the ability to throw 90+ mph. Doctors told me I would not be able to and I proved them wrong. These tips will help you do the same. Read more
Bigger, Stronger, Faster!

by Brent Pourciau · November 26, 2008
It is almost December, so this is your last chance for athletic improvement before the season begins. For all those college pitchers and ball players getting ready for the 2009 season, don’t be that guy who walks into spring with the Thanksgiving, Christmas belly. I am not saying, “Do not eat this holiday” but I am saying, “Do not sit on your butt!” You may think Coaches have their lineup and starters set pre-season but the truth of the matter is, this can change if someone drags their out of shape butt into spring training.
Fitts/Posner 3 Stages Of Learning And Sport Speed Tests

by Brent Pourciau · November 10, 2008
by Chad Englehart
Many athletes today have the desire to reach a higher level of athletics. Whether it is an athlete going from Jr. High to High School, or an athlete making the transition from high school to college athletics and the big one college to professional athletics. All throughout America, young athletes have dreams to make it to the top of their sport; many try only a few succeed.
To make it to the professional level it takes all the intangibles of practice, hard work, heart, desire, skill, strength, speed, etc; but, one of the most important traits is a simple word and it is genetics. Some athletes can top out their genetic potential only running a 4.97second 40 yard dash or topping out their fast ball at 78mph and that is ok, but ask yourself as a parent or an ex athlete, did I max out my potential? When did I start really training and being educated by my coach on how to and why? Did my coach teach me the right way to train and perform the different tasks, drills, or tests? Read more
Dr. James Andrews

by Brent Pourciau · October 15, 2008

Dr. Andrews is Mr. Fixit when it comes to the elite athlete. He has poineered the sports medicine industry. He has worked on the likes of Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, Drew Brees, Roger Clemens, Bo Jackson, and pretty much any other famous athlete you can think of who has been injured. This page is an honor to his amazing impact on sports medicine and a reference to what he has to offer the athlete today. Read his BIO to learn more about him and watch the videos to pick up some helpful tips. Read more
The Principle Of Specificity And Sport

by Brent Pourciau · August 24, 2008
by Chad Englehart
Introduction
Specificity of Training principle is one of the most utilized training principles used by exercise professionals today. (Kramer et al., 2002) discussed the principle of training specificity and explained that the training responses elicited by a given exercise mode are directly related to the physiological elements involved with coping with the specific exercise stress. What this means is that if an athlete wants to perform better at a particular event or skill they must train specifically for that particular skill. For example, if an athlete wants to become stronger one must lift heavy weights and if an athlete wants to jump higher one must jump. As a strength and conditioning Read more
Resisted Sprints And Effects On Kinematics And Sprint Speed

by Brent Pourciau · August 24, 2008
by Chad Englehart
Speed Training
Implied in any linear speed discussion with a Strength and Conditioning Specialist, is the concept of resisted speed training strategies. Some professionals consider resisted speed training as the most efficient sprint training technique on the planet, while other consider it not as effective because of a biomechanical stand point. Different resisted speed strategies include, towing, uphill sprints, sand sprints, and weighted sprints. Tahachnik (1992) explained that towing of weighted devices such as sleds and tires is the most common method of providing towing resistance for the enhancement of sprint performance, although the use of parachutes has also Read more
How To Develop Top Pitching Velocity

by Brent Pourciau · June 21, 2008
To develop top pitching velocity you must first understand the science behind it. Newton’s Second Law is the best definition of velocity. Read my article “Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity” to get a detailed description of Newton’s Second Law and how it relates to pitching velocity.
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