Today I received a package from Texas, one that I had been eagerly awaiting for a number of weeks now. The good folks at Phantom Weight Technologies were nice enough to send me multiple sets of their newest products for a full review. My weight Sleeves have finally arrived, and right out of the box I am excited about the possibilities.

Working at a serious baseball academy is giving me the opportunity to run these things through a gauntlet of tests, and I already have high school, college and pro guys lined up as willing participants. Phantom won best in show at the Dallas ABCA convention this past January, so there is a lot of buzz about them in the baseball world right now.

So, If you haven’t heard of Phantom yet, here is what I have in my possession:

• Weighted Full Arm Sleeves
• Weighted Forearm Sleeves
• Weighted Calf Sleeves

From L to R: Full Arm, Forearm, Calf Sleeve

Now, what is a weighted sleeve, and what does it do?

As a strength coach, pitching instructor and pitcher, I like the premise of this product. It is different than other velocity training modalities because of a few factors:

• The weight isn’t overly heavy (1/4 to 1/2 lb max), so throwing mechanics are unlikely to be affected.
• The weight STAYS WITH YOU during follow through, providing an increased muscle stimulus to the decelerating muscles of the throwing arm. This is a big advantage over weighted ball training, which provide only concentric (acceleration) loading of the arm, and no eccentric (deceleration) loading.
• The weights are distributed evenly over the arm, and are centered around the elbow, thus decreasing torque compared to a weighted ball, which would have all the weight at the fingertips.

Throwing is one of the best uses for the weighted full arm and forearm sleeves. The forearm sleeves would be perfect for hitting, and the calf sleeves for any number of lower body sprinting, jumping, plyometric, or baseball mechanics drills using the lower half.  I’m going to be working as well to see what kind of arm care exercises and mechanics drills might be enhanced by a weighted sleeve. Blackburns and scapula stabilization exercises quickly come to mind.

Full arm sleeve (note the author's pasty white arm)

A First Glance

Construction

-All black neoprene construction, with flat-seamed stitching. The stitching looks very sturdy, and overall they look like the will hold up well.  We shall put this to the test…

-Each sleeve has two elastic velcro bands used for tightening.

Fit and Sizing

Prior to trying these on, I took the time to measure my arm. I have big forearms and wide palms, which makes me a little weird with things like this. I size out to be an XL in all three sleeves. The Large forearm sleeve would not even make it past my hands, and the Large full arm sleeve made it halfway up my arm before it became too small.  My arm is sized as follows:

• Hands: 4″ from pinky to index finger
• Forearms: 13″ circumference
• Biceps: 14 3/4 circumference
• Calves: 15 3/4 circumference

You can talk to the people at Phantom about sizing, but from my own fit testing, if your forearms are 12″ or greater, go for XL. The XL forearm and full sleeve were snug but not constrictive. The XL calf sleeve fit perfect as perfect can be.

The Weights

The weights are slid into place in sewn-in pockets on the interior of each sleeve. They are made of a grey rubber which appears to be mixed with some kind of additive, maybe a metal powder, to give it extra mass.  The weight will flex and move with you, which is a good thing.

What Lies Ahead

These sleeves are going to take some serious punishment in our cages and on our mounds here at the BATT Academy in Glen Burnie, MD. There is much more to come on these products, and time will tell whether or not they can deliver on all of the hype. Because the premise behind them is good, my hunch is that they will, but we shall let the results speak for themselves. Stay tuned, as we will have a bunch of videos and write ups, and we will see what kind of velocity increases we can get out of some of our pitchers.