There are hundreds of articles or blog posts on the web titled something similar to this article, most of them are useless, since they focus generally on upper body mechanics as the only means to developing velocity. Any hard thrower believe that, there is a lot more to velocity than simply your arm. In order to see vital gains in velocity read this entire article plus the articles linked with it. The only way you’re going to see improvements, is if you construct a good comprehension of how velocity is made.
Should you be like the majority of every pitcher who reads these guidelines and benefits from them, then you definitely must purchase the 3X Pitching Velocity Program. This program, built on these pointers and more, can help you take your skill to a level which you never thought you could achieve!
Remember that you are bound by nothing. You have the power to throw 90 miles-per-hour. Physicians said to me I would be unable to pitch again and I proved them entirely wrong. These tips will help you do the same.
Pitching Velocity Secrets
1. Change speeds.
This should always be your first step in improving velocity because there is no risk involved. This creates an false impression of velocity. By changing the speed of your pitches this will throw the hitter’s timing off and will make a 70 mph fastball seem like a 90 mph fastball. Pitchers like Trevor Hoffman have made long major league professions off of this one rule. He is a master of the fastball change up combination. Use this tip for fast effect while you work with the other velocity tips.
2. Pitch from the ground up.
Most of us make the oversight at a very early age, that to throw a baseball simply takes the arm to complete the task. Then once we grow bigger and move up levels in the game, we find ourselves continuing to simply use our shoulders and arms to throw the ball. This is a serious problem. Because of this we still have an incredible volume of shoulder and elbow injuries in the game.
You need to improve your perspective. You have to teach your body to recruit larger muscle groups once you require more velocity from your delivery. This begins in learning to pitch from the ground up. Velocity originates from forces added onto the ball. These forces come from momentum in your lift leg as well as your push off the ground or what is called ground reaction forces. You then must be able to transfer these forces into the ball. This can be learned from the 3X Pitching Velocity Program.
This training video talks more about the throwing pitfalls we make at a young age.
3. Loading your weight back until launch.
Timing and efficiency of weight shift, during delivery, is the essence of velocity. This is where velocity resides. Most beginning pitchers do not load at all. After they lift their leg they fall towards the target. This causes poor velocity and arm injury. Browse my article “Lift for Show, Load for Doe” to understand “The Load” position.
4. Building Core Torque.
Crucial component to velocity, is building majority torque in the core. The core is the area from just above the knees to just below the chest. This region contains the most powerful muscles in your body. So it makes sense that you can use this section of the body to generate velocity. In case the core isn’t mainly used to construct torque, then the shoulder and elbow is going to be forced to hold the torque needed to create velocity.
To understand more about “Separation” or the need for developing core torque, read the article “Pitching Torque and the 3 pivots” plus watch this video.
5. Create more Elastic Energy.
Once you have built core torque and your weight remains to be loaded back, rotate and thrust your chest forward while your arm externally rotates behind your head. This elongating of the stomach and shoulder is creating elastic energy in the body. The more relaxed you are, the more elastic energy can be produced.
To educate yourself regarding this read the article, “Pitch Velocity = Elastic energy.”
6. Momentum transfer.
Exactly what is the benefit of creating momentum when you can not control or transfer the momentum to the ball? The condition with coaching someone to be able to create more momentum when pitching is they don’t know how to control it and they get worse before they get better. Because of this , proper momentum transfer is essential for good velocity. If you leave any momentum within your body, then you have left some velocity behind.
The 3X Pitching component of “Stabilization” explains how this momentum transfer must happen.
7. Early elbow extension and Internal Rotation.
A lot of throwers believe that if they pull their arms straight down at release this will create more velocity. The contrary is true. Top velocity pitchers release the ball sooner than low velocity pitchers right after external rotation of the throwing arm. Which happens after momentum transfer when their chest is out over their toes and their arms are externally rotated. This means after your body has done its job it’s essential to release the ball as fast as possible by letting your elbow to extend up and away from your head. It’s essential to also begin internally rotating your arm, once your elbow extends, so you can release the pitch with your thumb pronated down. This will guard your arm throughout the deceleration phase.
Read the article “Pulling down is slowing down” to find out more.
8. Refuel your ATP.
ATP is the main supply of energy for all muscle contraction. There are various chemical reactions that take place to produce ATP. When a muscle is utilized, a chemical reaction breaks down ATP to supply energy. You can find only enough ATP residing in the muscle cell for a couple or 3 slow twitch contractions, or one burst of power from a fast twitch contraction. More ATP must be created.
To understand rest between throwing a pitch, initially you must understand what happens throughout the delivery of the pitch. Initially your muscles use ATP to power the contractions but the amounts of ATP available are limited. The cells have got a limited capacity to replenish ATP while in the activity before being forced to switch to other solutions to fuel the activity.
Fortunately, the body can replenish ATP when you’re resting. About 50% or 1/2 the depleted ATP is replaced after about a minute of complete rest. Almost all of the ATP that the entire body can replenish (approximately 95%) is actually restored after three minutes of rest. I recognize pitchers cannot wait that long between pitches, but the longer you are able to wait, the better the possibility to develop more velocity.
9. Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber.
An ideal strength and conditioning program such as the 3X Pitching Velocity Program, is based around remodeling fast twitch muscle fiber. This will be significant for velocity, because when adding somewhat more velocity to a pitch, you must recruit more muscle fiber within your muscular system to make this happen. Now we have already talked about where that muscle fiber must originated from, you now should try to learn how to remodel more muscle fiber within the correct places within your system. Spending your main time in the weight room sitting on cushioned machines, isn’t the solution.
Begin with the “Beginner Pitching Workout” and then you can move to the “Fusion System” in the Ace Pitcher Handbook.
10. Speed your recovery.
By boosting your time to recover between starts or appearances, you are making sure you never enter a game below 100% recovery. If your system is totally rebuilt and replenished, this is a better opportunity you will possess the ability to generate your top velocity. That is why it is very important keep a strict program of a good strength training and conditioning program, in addition to a balanced alkaline based diet. You want to find out about alkaline based foods. These are green vegetables and more, that really help restore the PH levels in your system. Once your system gets very acidic, you do not recovery as rapidly. Diet is very important to recovery.
Read this article on “Pitching Nutrition and Supplements” and start consuming more alkaline foods using this chart.
Bonus Velocity Secret
Lay off your arm.
Cease wearing your arm out. It’s going to take enough abuse on the mound. You should make sure your weight training program isolates the core and legs more than the shoulders and arms. In case your arm is constantly sore and tired, it is because you use it to much. Try changing habits, like brushing your teeth with your non-pitching arm and you should not arm wrestle your roommates utilizing your pitching arm. Look after yourself and it will take care of you
I am aware almost all these pitching velocity tips failed to go into much detail. The purpose of this article was to give you some guidance for building efficient and effective velocity, without sacrificing the body in exchange. If you need more detail on each one of these of these tips, then enroll in the FREE e-newsletter at TopVelocity.net and begin reading the articles.
If you are really serious about pitching then discover the 3X Pitching Velocity Program to take control of your career. Good luck!