Increase Throwing Velocity

Increase Your Velocity And Develop Your Arm (at the Same Time)

By Dr. John A. Bagonzi

Former Pitcher, Boston Red Sox Organization

The magical term for a baseball pitcher is velocity – A fastball with speed on it is a priceless quality. Zip on your main pitch enhances everything else. Reducing the time that it takes for a baseball to travel the sixty feet, six inches that comprises the batter/pitcher confrontation is the great mystique all pitchers seek. In the past, velocity or the speed of a thrown ball was considered to be genetic endowment. But today, it is apparent that velocity in effect can be taught. That is, we can increase the speed of a pitcher’s fastball.

The beauty of this phenomenon is that we can increase arm strength at the same time. Arm strength and arm speed may or may not always correlate. Possessing a big strong arm may not mean one has the necessary arm speed important to deliver a high-speed pitch. To increase arm speed may increase arm strength. The reverse of this is not necessarily true.

I’ve done numerous studies on this and concluded that overload training, particularly in a simulative (pitching-type motion) exercise will increase pitching velocity. I do not believe in heavy weights when it comes to simulative exercise. Making your pitching arm strong and developing a fastball go hand-in-hand. Arm speed is the direct connector to a good fastball. It is one of the most precious qualities a baseball player and particularly a pitcher can have.

LOWER PART OF THE BODY

One must pitch with the legs. I feel strongly about the “push off.” I suggest that the transfer of energy from the bottom part of the body to the arm and ultimately to the fingers is where the art of pitching resides (from a mechanical standpoint).

Velocity happens if you do enough correct things. Anatomically, the fastball is a constructive pitch; curves, sliders, and knuckleballs are not necessarily destructive pitches, but they surely do...