Roger was in high school and Nolan Ryan was his favorite pitcher. He always wanted to see his rocket arm up close and personally, so one day he got a ticket to watch him pitch in Houston for the Astros. He showed up early to the game so he could watch him throw his bull pen. Roger went over to the pen and waited for Nolan to up show up. He was expecting to see this long explosive arm rocketing the ball to the catcher. What he noticed immediately when Nolan started to throw was the size and power of his legs. He could not believe that he had not notice the essences of Nolan Ryan’s power, which was his legs. This convinced Roger that if he was going to have a rocket arm like Nolan, then he too would have to develop big and powerful legs.

Unfortunately, it took surgery for me to have this epiphany. I had to completely tear my rotator cuff to realize that the arm isn’t enough. The legs are so much bigger and more powerful than the arm. The key is training them to be more explosive and then developing the motor coordination to use this power when throwing a baseball.

Most hard throwers use their incredible leg power to convert to the velocity of the ball. When I say power, I am referring to speed and strength. It isn’t enough to just be strong or to just be fast, you must be able to use them both, at the same time, which I call explosive strength. If you know how to build explosive strength, through your legs during your stride correctly, then this can be converted to rotational forces through physics and not through voluntary rotational movements. This would be the same as using a transmission to convert combustible power into the rotation of the tires.

If you want to learn more on how to use your leg power to through harder then you need to start learning about Triple Extension or 3X. This is a component of hard throwers that was discovered here at TopVelocity.net and along with separation is the main key to reaching your top velocity. I highly recommend you read through this site to learn more about 3X and you also sign up for the FREE Velocity Secrets ebook at the top right corner of this page.

For proper pronation to occur in the throwing arm at release the pitcher must extend the arm to release. The improper release of the throwing arm which would prevent proper pronation would be to pull the arm down to release. I find this to be a major misconception in the conventional wisdom of the game. Physics proves that during the velocity phase of the throwing arm, the pivot or elbow, must remain stationary until after release. This means the elbow must extend to release to prevent the elbow from moving down during the throw. This not only supports velocity but protects the elbow from resisting high amounts of deceleration forces. Extending the elbow to release also protects the rotator cuff during the deceleration of the arm. This will allow more of the back muscles to get involved during the deceleration phase.

Pitching Pain and Injury Solutions

Dr. Mike Marshal built his entire coaching career around proper pronation of the throwing arm. He even went as far as to develop and entire approach to pitching based around this throwing arm pronation. This is because he ended his Major League career with a UCL tear before the famous “Tommy John” surgery. I believe Dr. Marshall went to far with this discover of proper pronation by turning it into a style of pitching. I do believe his pitchers who use this style or approach to pitching are protecting their elbows from injury but their velocity is taking a beating in return. Using the 3X Approach to Pitching proper prontation will occur because the 3X Mechanics trains the body to finish first and the arm to extend and finish last. The picture of me here illustrates the 3X approach to proper pronation. These mechanics will increase velocity and protect the elbow and shoulder from extreme abuse.

I highly recommend replacing the baseball in the 3X Velocity System throwing drills with a football, if you are having issues with finishing with proper pronation. This is because you can not throw a spiral, with the nose down, with a football, if you do not finish with proper pronation.

Off speed pitches can also cause improper pronation because the wrist is usually rotating the opposite way at release during these pitches. This combined with the misconception of pulling down to release would compound the impact on the elbow and make a pitcher more vulnerable to elbow injury. It first starts with elbow pain and then it progresses into an injury. This is exactly how my arm began to breakdown. I had poor pronation along with an addictive curveball because it was unhittable. After 6 shots of cortisone in my elbow and rotator cuff surgery at 18, I never threw that damn thing again. I have even tried throwing it today and I can still feel the old wound from the many years of improper pronation. This is why I recommend less aggressive breaking balls for pitchers. A good fastball will get you a lot farther in your career than a good breaking ball!

The 3X Power Stride Approach

The best example of this approach is Aroldis Chapman for the Reds. He has the longest stride length in the MLB and also is able to move through his stride at one of the top speeds in the MLB. His stride speed to stride length ratio is probably the best in the world. This and optimal hip to shoulder separation is why he has the fastest pitch in baseball.

To develop an average to above average stride speed to stride length ratio you must first learn the importance of triple extension. Triple extension increases both stride length and stride speed. To learn more about Triple Extension or 3X read this article here.

To implement the 3X Power Stride into your delivery you must follow these 4 key steps.

1. Lead with your hips. (View first pic below)
2. Load on your drive leg. (View second pic below)
3. Keep your front leg closed until just before front foot strike. (View third pic below)
4. Triple extend your drive leg just before front foot strike.(View fourth pic below)

The 3X Power Stride ends at front foot strike and then you must efficiently and effective transfer that energy into the ball to take advantage of the 3x power stride. If you fail to transfer this energy through hip to shoulder separation and front leg stabilization, you will see no increase in velocity and you could cause arm injury. Notice Chapman has achieved optimal triple extension and hip to shoulder separation at front foot strike.

Before you attempt to implement the power stride into your delivery you must first determine that you have the leg power to perform the movement. Here is a quick drill you can use to test your leg power.

3X Power Stride Strength and Speed Test

1. Stand in a full stride that is at least 90% of your height. If you are 6 feet tall then your stride should be roughly 5 feet 4 inches.
2. Make sure that both of your feet are facing forward in a straight line.
3. Make sure that you are on the ball of your drive or back leg foot.
4. Keep most of your weight on your drive or back leg.
5. When you are ready to perform the test lift your front foot and at the same time fire and triple extend your drive or back leg. Triple extension is the extension of the ankle, knee and hip flexor.
6. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TRIPLE EXTEND YOUR DRIVE OR BACK LEG BEFORE YOUR FRONT FOOT LANDS.
7. You also want to hear the drag of your back foot just before front foot strike.

If you can perform this drill by getting triple extension before front foot strike, with a 90% and up stride length, then you have the leg power necessary to implement the power stride into your delivery. For more drills and information on learning the 3X Power Stride see the Ace Pitcher Handbook and the 3X Velocity Camp. If you would like to submit a video of you pitching for video analysis to determine your stride speed to stride length ratio please submit it in the forums here:

Mechanics and Analysis Forum

The only reason I was able to play Professional Baseball after a major rotator cuff tear in my first college appearance was because of one thing, Velocity. For five years all I focused on was getting back to my velocity before the surgery, which was about 86mph and then adding as much more as possible. I never expected that I would soon reach 94 mph. This is why I started this website and also started the Guerilla Baseball Academy in Louisiana.

The biggest question I get is, how did I gain so much velocity after surgery?

Well, during those five years of starting over with the skill of pitching, I obsessively read ever book I could find on strength and conditioning and pitching mechanics. This helped put me headed in the right direction and then I started training with Kurt Hester who was the strength and conditioning coach at LSU during the 90′s when they were called “Gorilla Ball.” Kurt changed my career.

Kurt put 35 pounds of fast twitch muscle fiber on my body through Olympic lifting and plyometric training. After one year of his program I was throwing 90 mph. At this point I didn’t have much time left in my career so I decided to go to California and tryout for the Golden League. This is an independent minor league organization. I hit 91mph in the tryout and was drafted in the first round. I then meet one of Tom House’s certified pitching coaches Mike Layseca and he taught me about hip to shoulder separation, which I had none. When I started my season in San Diego, one month into it as my mechanics got better, I topped out at 94mph. At this point in my career I felt complete. I had made it to Pro Ball and beat the odds against me. I also got to play with a childhood ideal, Jose Canseco.

I would have never made it to the professional level without learning all of the secrets to Velocity. I would have never increased my velocity from 86-94mph without this knowledge and hard work. This is why I created this website and put together the Ace Pitcher Handbook. You are not going to find this type of information in books or websites that are created by athletes who didn’t overcome the impossible to achieve the success that they claim to have had. Those athletes are just giving you or selling you information that helped them to maintain what talent God gave them. Therefore if you are an athlete who is trying to overcome the impossible then you are wastering your time and money learning from those nature athletes. Even if they label themselves as All American or Major League.

If “YOU WANT TO GO PRO” then you must learn from those who made it to the professional levels and came from a similar background as you!

Using the overload to underload approach to train the pitchers body and central nervous system to increase arm speed is the right concept but the wrong approach when using weighted balls. The problem with using weighted balls is that it sacrifices the arm to teach the body how to move weight more quickly. To understand how backwards this weighted ball approach is we must first look at what role the arm plays in the pitching delivery.

The Role of the Arm in the Pitching Delivery

The role of the arm is to get into position to allow for the transfer of energy from the lower kinetic chain into the upper kinetic chain. Once this energy has coiled the shoulder during external rotation the arm’s role is to deliver the pitch to its desired location. Never does the arm work to generate velocity except for using the elastic properties of the arm muscles when coiling during the energy transfer. To better understand the sequence of events through the entire kinetic chain, which leads to the top velocity of the pitcher, you need to learn the revolutionary approach to pitching velocity called 3X Pitching. 3X Pitching proves that to increase the coil of the shoulder during external rotation the pitcher must first increase linear stride power and then transfer that power into core torque at front foot strike.

Why Weightballs are a Waste of Time for Pitchers?

Based on the understanding of how velocity is generated through the entire kinetic chain of the body stated above and also in the 3X Pitching approach, you can see that training with weighted balls using an overload to underload approach is a waste of time because it does not work with power pitching mechanics. Yes, this weighted balls approach may increase arm strength, using the weights, and may increase some arm speed, through training the central nervous system to rotate the arm faster, but the final result will be much less effective than taking a total body approach to velocity like with the 3X Pitching Velocity program.

I used the Overload Underload weighted balls throwing program for years when Dick Mill’s once preached it back in the 90′s. He now credits it to causing injury. It happened that I was using this program the year I torn my rotator cuff. I am not saying that this program was the reason for my tear but it did speed up the process of the injury. My problem was I had bad mechanics. I was an all arm pitcher and when I used this program it made everything even worse. The overloading with the weighted balls put more wear and tear on my cuff and in the end, even if I had added a few mph, it wouldn’t have been worth the extra wear and tear that came with it.

If you are looking to use weighted balls to increase velocity, I really believe that you are looking for the easy answer here. Increasing velocity is developing power pitching mechanics and also developing yourself into a power pitcher. The 3X Pitching Velocity program gives you all of this with a revolutionary approach to pitching velocity. This approach uses the famous 3X Velocity System throwing program to develop the 3X mechanics and the famous Fusion system which is the strength and conditioning program to develop you into an elite power pitcher.So, stop looking for the easy way out and get serious with a serious velocity program like 3X!

Notice the image below of the subacromial space. When the arm is relaxed and down, there is enough room for the shoulder to rotate internally and externally but when the arm is raised above the head, in a throwing position, the subscromial space is almost closed. This can easily cause an impingment of the rotator cuff muscle, mainly the supraspinatus. Poor posture makes this even worse. This is because the shoulders are forward and the acromion is positioned more on top of the supraspinatus muscle impinging the muscle even more. With poor posture and the constant internal rotation of the arm during a pitch, over time this will start to tear the muscle. This could lead to a complete tear of the rotator cuff.

Good posture will not only prevent injury, it will increase velocity. Good posture can be seen in the picture above. This is when your core is firm, your hips are rotated back and under you and your shoulders are almost on the back shelf. The back shelf is when your shoulders are pulled all the way back. You should have them always on the shelf just before the back shelf.  To do this pull the shoulders all the way back and then relax and move them up a little bit. This is where they should always live. This posture will increase velocity because if you notice your chest is out and your hips are under you. This will help prevent your shoulders from leading your hips during your pitching delivery. This will prevent impingment and allow full range of motion in your arm increasing velocity.

Remember to prevent a major arm injury stop being lazy and develop good posture through awareness of your posture and a good strength training regime that involves a lot of core training. Good posture will not only save your arm but help improve your velocity.

Nutrition and supplementation for athletes should be based on whole foods.

“If you put into your body what you where made to eat, then you will get out of your body what you where made to do.”

If you are someone who has no clue about nutrition, you eat fast food all day long and you are considering an illegal supplement, this is crazy. You are playing Russian roulette with your life. If you have the desire to be a high performance Athlete/Pitcher, you need to learn as much as you can about nutrition and your body. This article should help get you started.

After I tore my rotator cuff and Doctors told me I didn’t have enough eligibility in college to recover from this injury, I read something that lifted my spirits. Ever six months your body replenishes itself, just like the rings on a tree your muscles are replenishing themselves from the inside out. The same with your skin. This doesn’t mean that your body will reconnect a tear from bone to muscle but a Doctor can. Basically what this means is you always have the opportunity to get on the path to good health. The edge you are looking for is between your ears. Educate yourself on your body and nutrition and you will put yourself in an elite group of athletes.

Good nutrition starts with an alkaline based diet. It is simple; your body’s health rides on its PH levels. If your PH levels are balanced, your blood is feeding oxygen to its cells. If your body’s PH levels are too acidic, then your body isn’t feeding its cells. We must nurture our body’s on the cellular level. This is the building blocks of our health and career. Most pitchers have no idea how to nurture the body on the cellular level. This is where you can get an edge.

To prevent your body from becoming too acidic you must understand what causes this acidity. It is mainly food and stress. Here is a chart that lists the alkaline and acidic foods. Learn this chart and start eating more foods on the alkaline side. This diet doesn’t mean you should avoid foods on the acid side, it only means you should eat more alkaline foods to prevent your body from becoming acidic. So for every acid food you eat, add 3 alkaline foods. Keep your meals simple and raw if possible. Raw green vegetables are a good foundation to building an alkaline dominate diet.

Ok, so you would like to know why you should eat these green vegetables! This is the deal. Keeping your body more alkaline allows for quicker recovery. Pitching is very stressful to the body. It uses a lot of energy and develops a lot of waste from that energy. The waste is mainly acid. It begins to eat at your muscles, tendons and the rest of your body. If the acid is not flushed out, it is stored in your tissue to continue causing problems. This is why pitchers experience serious soreness after a long game of pitching. The only way of flushing the acidity is by restoring your body’s PH levels to a more neutral balance. This means eating alkaline foods. The quicker you can restore your PH levels after a performance, the quicker you recover. This will increase pitching velocity, because the faster your body rebuilds, the faster your body grows. This is why steroids are so effective. The hormone testosterone heals the body. More of it heals the body faster. When the body heals faster, it has the potential to grow quicker. The problem with testosterone coming from outside of your body is your body will become dependent on the source. This means when you stop giving it steroids, your body could also stop producing testosterone. So let’s do this the natural way with an alkaline diet.

Supplements

There are only four supplements that I recommend for Athletes/Pitchers. This is mainly because all the others are a waste of money. Believe me I have tried most of them. The most important supplement that Athletes/Pitchers cannot do without is a multivitamin. I recommend a whole foods multivitamin. Synthetic vitamins are weak. Whole food vitamins found at health food stores are what you need.

Juice Plus

My next recommendation is Alkaline Water. There is no better way to restore your PH levels post workout or game than with water. Not only this but most good alkaline water machines can produce water that transforms the water into a higher concentration of oxygen micro-clusters. This not only hydrates you many times more but when taken with your supplements you assimilate more of the supplement into your system. If you really want an edge in this game and on life then contact me for more info on the Alkaline water machines.

The next supplement I would recommend is protein based. You can get protein from many sources. The best is white meat. If you feel you are not getting enough protein from your diet then I would recommend an amino acid supplement as well. You need at least 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight. All you need to do is buy an amino acid supplement and take the recommended dosage. Make sure you cycle it on and off. This means, take the recommended dosage for a month or two then take a few weeks off from it. Brewers yeast is also a good amino acid supplement. This is a whole foods product full of vitamins, minerals and all the essential amino acids.

The last supplement I recommend is Omega-3. Our body’s can not produce Omega in our system. A balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 is critical for brain function and reducing inflammation. Inflammation is a problem for most athletes. To prevent anti-inflammatory abuse with drugs like advil, aleve and others, you must have a balanced diet of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids. The average diet has a lot more Omega-6 than Omega-3. Omega-6 comes from animal fats and it promotes inflammation in the body. Omega-3 is found in fish oils, some nuts and vegatables. The easiest way to get this into your system is with a Omega-3 supplement. You can find this in most grocery stores or drug stores. Make sure it is cholesterol free and mercury free.  Take it everyday.

In conclusion, it is important that you learn about what you are putting in your mouth and feeding your body with. Read labels on products and stay away from processed foods. Eat everything that comes from the ground and your body will stay on the path to good health and recovery. If you just learn a basic understand of a good diet and follow it, you will be shock how your athletic performance improves.

To prevent or overcome shoulder surgery starts here with this diagram.

You must learn these small muscle. These muscle are your career. They are here to internally and externally rotate your arm. The most important information to remember about these muscles are that they can only handle around 5 pounds of pressure each. The deltoids take over if the pressure exceeds this amount. So this means, all we need is 3 to 5 pounds to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Anything more will prevent you from isolating them properly, for development.

The most important muscle of the rotator cuff, for throwers, is the supraspinatous. This muscle lives under the acromion tip of the clavicle. This is the end of the collar bone. This muscle takes a lot of abuse, when the elbow is above the shoulder. This is because it is being impinged by the acrominon tip. If your arm is internally rotated to far forward, when you pull your arm back to throw, this can cause the supraspinatous to “pop” or “grind” under the acrominon. Over time, this can tear the muscle. To prevent this impingement, you must learn good throwing mechanics and how to build joint integrity. You can not do one without the other, to prevent an injury.

You can learn the correct mechanics to prevent injury from the Ace Pitcher Instructional Videos. To build joint integrity, you need two 3 or 5 pound weights to get started. All of the exercise you will need are listed in the AcePitcher Handbook. You can then stream the instructional videos on how to perform the exercises on this site.

The first sign of poor joint integrity is posture. If you are someone who slouches over when sitting or standing, this could be a sign of poor shoulder joint integrity. Another sign is when the ball of the shoulder socket is protruding forward past the chest and the shoulder blade is sticking out like a wing. This means that the anterior muscles are stronger than the posterior muscles. This is the definition of poor joint integrity. This will lead to a shoulder injury.

Common pain that is a sign of an impingement is usually referred pain from the supraspinatous. Most of the pain from the cuff is referred pain. Referred pain means pain that originates in one part of the body, but is felt in another part of the body. If you feel pain on the outside of your arm, between the bicep and tricep muscles, just below the mid deltoid, then this is an impingement. Don’t be alarmed, it isn’t a tear. The supraspinatous is probably inflamed. This can be remedied with ice. You should only ice your arm for 15-20 minutes on and 15-20 minutes off. You can repeat the process but anymore than 15-20 minutes on, can cause nerve damage. Always finish with ice. Never finish with heat. Heat inflames the muscle tissue, and when the tissue is inflamed, it isn’t healing. It is also not a good idea to ice an arm just after pitching. It is best to flush the system. This is when you do some good sprints, to get your heart beating, so you can get your blood pumping. This will help flush the breakdown of waste from pitching out of your arm. Then you can ice. Also never ice your Ulnar nerve. You can also take anti inflammatories, recommended by your Doctor. This is a symptom you can pitch through, but remember when the supraspinatous is inflamed, this will cause more wear and tear on the cuff. So try hard to take care of it ASAP.

The sign of a rotator cuff tear is very obvious. You have considerable loss in movement in your arm, with serious pain. If the supraspinatous is torn, which is the most common tear for throwers, you will not be able to turn your hand thumb down and raise it straight out in front of your body. This is because this movement requires a lot of work from the supraspinatous. If this is the case I am sure you have already seen a Doctor and unfortunately you need surgery. This was my case. It is a hard reality to face. Especially when you are 18, like I was. There was one moment that got me thinking positive and it was a saying I saw on a wall just after the Doctor diagnosed the tear. “Where there is a Will, there is a Way.” Ever six months the body regenerates itself. This means ever muscle has grown new tissue from the inside out. Like your skin. If you can get yourself on the right track, you can start over again and this is exactly what it will feel like. You are starting over at this point and you may not get another chance. It is a tough road but laced with so many rewards. If you are someone who is post surgery and needs a little boost to get back to the game you love, then please contact me and I will get you on the right track.

In conclusion, your rotator cuff is your life support as a pitcher. It is like a par of tires that you can never change on your race car. It is vital that you learn how to take care of it, if you want to play well into your twenties and beyond. I hope this article gets you going and please contact me with any questions or post them in the discussion board.