Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitcher Fall/Winter Training

I'm looking for a training program or what a pitcher going into 14U should be working on through these seasons, like weight training, cardio, how much she should be pitching etc.
My dd has a pitching coach, but he is hard to get on the schedule and it will be another few weeks before we see him. Thought someone out there may have something good.
Thanks in advance!!

At the risk of stating the obvious....most pitchers should be working on their lower body and core more than they do. I encourage my pitchers to do squats, lunges, short sprints up an incline and use a medicine ball and do squats then explode straight up while throwing the ball straight up. All these help with stamina and strength in their legs. Beyond the usual sit ups and crunches core exercises include using a fitness ball and simply sitting on it while bouncing gently up and down or sitting on the ball, crossing your arms and leaning back until you feel the abs kick in and tighten. Probably the best exercise for pitchers upper body is the old fashioned push up to strengthen the pecs. Plus you strengthen both sides of the body. For her arm get a 1 lb cannonball and do wrist flips straight up and glove snaps straight up for her wrists and forearms. Do both sides so she stays balanced for her hitting. Search around the internet there are a lot of good free sources such as the Mayo clinic, About.com under exercises, etc. Here is a link to a core exercise workout: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/softball1.htm Good luck.

Thank you.

www.pitchsoftball.com It has some good advice for pitchers and parents of pitchers.

Check out this website. I just started with my Dd and it was recommended by her pitching coach (Former DIV 1 Head Coach)...It is very instructive and a very well planned and thought out program. Plus there are a lot of extras

www.maxxtraining.com

You have to click on link to "training for athletes" then they have training specific to Baseball/Softball.

Good Luck!

This is great time for a pitcher at that age to complete an 8 week velocity program, consisting of 4 weeks of regular and weighted ball pitching for 3 days each week, followed by a 4 week period of regular and under-weighted ball pitching for 3 days per week. If done properly, many pitchers will realize 2-3mph velocity increase, and in some cases more. Worth sells a 3 ball set that includes an 8.5oz weighted ball, a regular ball, and a 5.5oz ball along with the program itself. You are building arm strength for the first 4 weeks, and then arm speed for the next 4. Very effective.

Xpress36 said:

Check out this website. I just started with my Dd and it was recommended by her pitching coach (Former DIV 1 Head Coach)...It is very instructive and a very well planned and thought out program. Plus there are a lot of extras

www.maxxtraining.com

You have to click on link to "training for athletes" then they have training specific to Baseball/Softball.

Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Man, What a great site. Thanks

Pitchers should start on building stamina. You can start with distance running and slowly building to interval training. Start building strength on core, legs and back and shoulders.

For pitchers this is where you can develop a new pitch or strengthen your weak pitches.

Softball training

I have a friend who was here for the holidays and she is entering her residency in sports medicine. As part of her course study she traveled to every region of the US and observed and collected data on softball injuries at some of the best D1 schools. She shared that with me a small time pitching coach and lawyer. The highest percentage of injuries were to legs not arms. And the new age common practice to reduce those injuries is to stop the long distance running on non track surfaces.Some have dropped it all together. Most now train on indoor tracks or basketball courts. Gone are the days of running on concrete and asphalt.Think of the number of young ladies you have heard of with knee joint surgeries ,ankle surgeries and hip joint problems.They are still great players but for how long if they abuse those joints by beating them to death on hard surfaces to gain a small cardio improvement.Especially with all the research that shows bike riding, incline training gives you far more improvement in cardio numbers. We train these young ladies using techniques that were outlawed in wrestling programs. No longer can you have unsafe levels of body fat and hydration. Schools were forced to buy instruments to check for abuse and monitor that before meets. Yet, we assume to be a good softball player you must cut the body fat and all look like a twig. Amazing how some coaches judge a good athlete! What they are training is a future medical patient.

Best be careful with those squats. If the young woman gets down too far into the squat, she risks serious problems with her ACLs. The Big Guy knows all the details about the the lowest degree of squat that is still safe for the female athletic.