Now, don’t be too critical of us, because neither of our mechanics are picture-perfect. Andrew is working on getting his arm up sooner, as his arm reaches way behind and drags. I have numerous kinks that I am working on as well, so be kind to us both. Nonetheless, what is salient here is whether or not our mechanics change when we put on the weighted sleeves.

Everyone around me who has thrown with the Phantom sleeves so far has remarked that they don’t seem to affect their throwing motion. But, what does the high-speed videography say?

Now, I don’t have the multi-thousand dollar equipment that the video labs do, but my camera gets a decent job done at 420 frames per second. And, with some good natural light, I think the video shows us what we need to see.

The following videos are of both of us making a throw to a net at about 120 feet, after we had just come in from long tossing. These were close to max effort throws, but I would say not quite maximal. These first two are of Andrew, who is a good high school pitcher at Old Mill.

I didn’t edit these videos, so I apologize for the delay in a few of them. An extra second pause before the throw turns out to be a REALLY long pause because of the slow-motion. These last two are of me…

What Do You See?

Did you find a difference? I found one.

Look at the elbow in these two photos - there is a slight difference

It appears that there is about a 2-3 inch difference in elbow height at the same point in the delivery. Without the sleeve, you can see that my elbow almost eclipses my ear, whereas with it on, it is at about jaw-height.

Now, what does this mean? I’m not exactly sure. The elbow isn’t low at release, just lower. And, if you watch the path of the elbow, it fights to stay high and doesn’t get quite as high as without the sleeve. Other than that, I don’t see a whole of difference.

So, is this difference in elbow path significant? Again, I’m not sure. Now, with Andrew the difference is even more slight than with me. His elbow is only lower by about an inch, if that.

The elbow difference in Andrew Connors is slight

Now, Andrew has been throwing regularly with the sleeve. Has he adapted to it, explaining how he can get his elbow higher than I can? It’s plausible.

I don’t have access to the biomechanical-stress analyzing software that exists in expensive facilities around the country, so I can only give the play-by-play and hypothesize about what is going on.

So, here’s my summary of what these throws are telling us:

1. Overall mechanics are VERY SLIGHTLY affected.
2. The elbow has difficulty gaining its natural height when the weighted sleeve is worn. Yet, keeping one’s elbow up with the sleeve on might be coachable and height restored with conscious attention paid to it.
3. Continued use of the sleeve may result in an increase in elbow height, as the wearing gets stronger. If this is true, then throwers with low elbows might benefit from wearing these, as they would be forced even more to get their elbows up. Yet, this is just speculation and I have no data on this as of now.

Do You See Something I Don’t?

If you do, leave a comment and let’s hear it.

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.