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Pitching through it...

What's on your mind?

by curveballerguy124 » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:36 am

Fatigue and pitching, fatigue is going to happen regardless over time as a pitcher gets deeper into innings.  However, the way we train for that doesn’t mean we continually and intentionally fatigue our  pitchers in an attempt to make them pitch "through it"... That philosophy has baffled me over the years the way some coaches will fatigue their pitchers in an attempt to tire them out and then make them pitch through that fatigue. I fully understand the thought process behind that and to some degree I agree with it, but not for a pitcher... 

The thing is I see a growing trend in this sort of training and whats worse is I see it at the college level. I  have seen and read  several college pitchers workouts and have been completely blown away at what I read. Whats worse is rec. and travel coaches see this as well on social media and duplicate these types of workouts for their pitchers not taking into account the level of their player.

Here’s the thing I treat pitching like a compound movement if I was trying to get stronger at say deadlifts I’m not going to try to do deadlifts at the end of my workout.  I’m going to make it a priority in the beginning I’m not going to do it after I’ve done tons of pull-ups, squats or sprints and then go into deadlifts. I’m not going to do that because deadlifts are such a mechanical movement that if done incorrectly the chance of injury goes way up.

Well I treat pitching much like I do deadlifts in the sense that you need to pitch first and prioritize it. If you want to develop leg strength, and endurance that's fine but do it after your done pitching. The thing is with pitching  you need to focus on being mechanically correct pitch after pitch rep after rep. Pitching demands your body’s full attention because if you try and fatigue your legs before everything else has fatigued you’re going to develop bad habits. Your upper body is going to try to compensate and next thing you know you’re having shoulder pain lower back pain because your upper body is trying to compensate for your lower half and worse you are going to develop bad mechanics.

In my opinion body training, leg training. endurance training all that needs to be done after you have pitched or on a different day. If you want to do jump squats, burpee’s and sprints after you’re done with a pitching session then absolutely I am all aboard for that, but to do that stuff in-between pitching sets is ridiculous! Understand pitching requires great mechanics and consistency rep after rep and if you are going to pitch then focus on that. If you are going work on strengthening and endurance training then  focus on that!! Thats my .02  
curveballerguy124
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by eddiez577 » Wed Jun 17, 2020 11:39 am

curveballerguy124 wrote:In my opinion body training, leg training. endurance training all that needs to be done after you have pitched or on a different day. If you want to do jump squats, burpee’s and sprints after you’re done with a pitching session then absolutely I am all aboard for that, but to do that stuff in-between pitching sets is ridiculous! Understand pitching requires great mechanics and consistency rep after rep and if you are going to pitch then focus on that. If you are going work on strengthening and endurance training then focus on that!! Thats my .02


Fully agree w that assessment. My son is a 16u pitcher that trains w/ a current Mexican League player, and the moment he feels any discomfort after a solid mechanics session and bullpen, they shut it down to prevent overuse injuries and bad habits. Same should be w/ SB. Sure SB pitchers can and do go longer than BB, but you have to think long term development in youth sports, and the learning that comes from staying aware of your body's limits & capabilities.
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