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.

Weighted Baseball Training: The Theory

Before we take even one step forward, I want everyone to understand one extremely important fact about the weight of a regulation baseball: ITS ARBITRARY.

People get so caught up on believing that throwing a regulation 5oz baseball is the safest, no matter what.  Many say that throwing a weighted ball (heavier than regulation) is going to hurt your arm.  But guess what? Doctors didn’t choose the weight of a regulation baseball back in the 1880s based on it’s impact on the human body, and I think people forget this.  Rather, our bodies just adapt to throwing the 50z ball, because it’s “normal” to our throwing arms.  Anything higher or lower than this normal ball just means stressing the arm in a different, but not necessarily injurious, way.  If baseballs were traditionally 9 ounces, our arms would consider that normal as well.  So, don’t consider a weighted ball evil just because it’s different than what is traditional.  After all, javelin throwers throw a javelin weighing several pounds and don’t suffer more injuries than baseball pitchers.  That said, lets get going…

The Basics

Weighted balls are made anywhere from 6-12 ounces in traditional baseball form, and go even heavier as sand filled mini-medicine balls.  Ron Wolforth, at his Texas Baseball Ranch, uses some of the sand filled balls for drills with his pitchers.

Yet, the protocol for building velocity that is now held as the gold standard appears to be the overweight-underweight throwing program.  This involved throwing a 6oz ball, a regulation 5oz ball, and an underweight 4oz ball in a 2:1 ratio of underweight/overweight to regulation.  This means if you threw 60 pitches in the program one day, you would throw 20 heavy, 20 regulation, and 20 underweight.

Why overweight and underweight? It builds on the theory that your muscles need both strength and speed stimuli to learn to consistently move an object faster.  Throwing the 6oz ball makes the arm move slower (after all, it weighs 20% more), but with more force.  The underweight ball allows the arm to move faster but with less force.  So, combine the two, and your arm gets a combination of strength and speed stimuli.

This overweight/underweight program has shown to be successful in sprinters using hills.  Flat ground is regulation, and uphill and downhill are the novel stimuli.  By making a sprinter go uphill at top speed, he must apply more force to the ground to get where he is going.  He can’t move as fast, but builds strength in the process.  Send that same sprinter at top speed downhill, and his legs are forced to turn over much faster than normal, thus helping increase his stride frequency. Sounds reasonable right?

It is.  A 20% change in stimulus has been said not to be overly stressful on the body, and is optimal for performance.  Who says this and where did they get their data? I’m not sure, so let’s not become convinced just yet…

Are Weighted Balls More Dangerous?

Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer to this question.  However, lets go back and think about what we have already discussed on the matter:

1. The traditional 5oz baseball is a bodily stimulus that was chosen for our arms arbitrarily.  Javelins weigh several pounds, and aren’t shown to be more injurious.
2. The body adapts to stress.  Bones become more dense from weight training, and connective tissue becomes thicker and more resilient.  There is no reason to think this phenomenon is not present in baseball throwing.
3. A weighted ball cannot be thrown as hard, so stresses on body tissue MAY not be greater than that of a regulation or underweight ball.  Stress on the arm is a product of weight and arm speed, so a heavier object moving slower MIGHT NOT produce increased force.  Do I have data on this? No, but it’s simple physics.
4. There are no studies out there proving that weighted balls are more dangerous.  It’s unfortunately incredibly hard to nail down exactly the variables at work when dealing with the human body.  If a player tears a ligament throwing a weighted ball, how can we validly infer that it was the weighted ball, and not his poor mechanics COMBINED with the weighted ball that caused it. Or maybe his ligament was already deteriorated to the point where ANY throwing was going to cause the final tear.  It’s difficult to know.

What Can They Do For Me (And What Can’t They)?

They can stimulate your throwing muscles in a new way, there is no doubt about that.  If you squat 100 pounds every day, then suddenly throw 200 pounds on the bar, your body WILL feel a new stimulus and adapt – It’s just the way we work.

Most notably, weighted balls will stimulate the concentric phase of throwing, which is the acceleration phase.  Yet, because the arm is moving slower with a weighted ball, the decelerators will not have to work as hard, and as such will be faced with LESS of a stimulus than a regular ball thrown with more velocity.

What’s the problem with this? Your body needs to have equal strength to both accelerate and decelerate the arm, or any body part for that matter.  Your body will not let you throw your arm out the socket, which is more or less what would happen if it allowed you to throw a ball 90mph without the strength to slow a 90mph down to zero.

This is, however, where the underweight ball tends to shine; because your arm is moving faster than it otherwise would, it has to learn to slow a faster moving arm down in the same amount of time. Yet, I would hypothesize that this action, throwing a lighter ball faster, would be potentially more injurious than a weighted ball, simply because your arm might not know how to deal with the increased speed.  Is there research behind this? Again, no. Strengthening the rotator cuff in a ballistic manner to accompany weighted ball training would be ideal, and maybe allow for more gains from it.

And on the subject of gains…any gains made will take time, and will vary depending on the thrower.  Untrained athletes make the biggest gains in the least time, and highly trained athletes fight for just a few percentage points of increased performance.  This is called (drumroll, please) diminishing returns.  Rest assured, that ANY type of training, weighted ball included, takes time to work.  Expect any gains to take at least 4-8 weeks, if your body makes gains from them at all.  You wouldn’t expect to squat 400 pounds overnight, so don’t expect a magic bullet with this type of training either.

To summarize what overweighted balls can and can’t do for you, based on their fundamental principles:

• CAN provide a strengthening stimulus to the arm in the concentric phase of throwing
• CANNOT provide strengthening in the eccentric (decelerating) phase of throwing
• CAN increase load and stress on soft tissues IF (a big if!) thrown with enough velocity to surpass the total load provided by a regulation baseball
• CAN potentially make your arm more powerful, but slower moving, if not coupled with higher velocity, such as underweight, training.
• CANNOT increase permanent velocity increases overnight

So, hopefully we have now have a decent understanding of what weighted balls can and cannot do for you.  Weighted balls, in theory, have some good application, but also have limitations, mostly in their lack of ability to increase decelerating strength.  Their role in arm injury is anecdotal at best, so it is best to do your homework and use them under proper supervision, if you feel they are appropriate for you.  Individual results vary according to the protocols used, but I know that some swear by them and others swear at them, making it again, a personal choice that should be based on some solid research.

To Throw or Not to Throw? Good Question. Feel free to comment with your thoughts…

Shoulder pops and clicks when you move it? Those  are a result of weak stabilizers. Good thing is, the following shoulder circuit is going to make those a thing of the past, and add a few MPHs in the process.

This shoulder circuit is done for 2-3 complete cycles of 12-15 reps per exercise.  For beginners, this is going to probably require only 2lb dumbells, and the goal is to build up to using 3, and then 4lb dumbbells with perfect form for 3 sets of 12-15. The circuit is performed straight through, but I have grouped the exercises according to the body position (prone or standing).

Prone Segment

This segment is performed on a tall bench, training table, or bent over with a flat back. Notice it consists of the LYT circuit plus prone skiers and scapula pushups.

L-Raise

Start with back flat. Pinch shoulder blades and raise arms. Finish by externally rotating

Y-Raise

Keep shoulder blades tight and reach out with hands

T-Raise

Tightly pinch shoulder blades together

Prone Skiier

With arms straight, extend arms back toward your butt and up to the sky

Scapula Push Up

In pushup position with arms locked, let shoulderblades slump together, then press up fully keeping arms straight

Standing Segment

Front Raise (thumbs up)

Thumbs up front raise

60° Scaption (thumbs up)

60 degree raise on the scaption plane

30° Scaption (thumbs up)

30 degree scaption plane

Abduction (palms down)

Side raise with palms down

Rotation Raise

Start with arm at opposite side, palms down; Raise and gradually rotate to finish with palms up

Sword Raise

Start with arm on opposite side, raise up as if unsheathing a sword. Be careful to not go behind the body, which would stress the elbow.

Side Lying External Rotation

Pictured with left fist propping the right arm up. Use fist or a towel to keep the arm off the torso

Internal Rotation (pictured with band)

Starting position

Ending position. Note fist under the arm to bring humerus forward

Yes, the circuit is 13 exercises long and takes the better part of an hour,  but it is worth it.  Being diligent with this circuit 2-3 times per week is going to bombproof the shoulder and rotator cuff and make you a stronger, more durable, and more than likely, harder throwing pitcher.

I want to thank Michelle Daniels, who was my athletic trainer at UMBC.  She taught me these exercises and brought me back to life following my surgery.

The Long Toss Benefits

1. Stretches the arm out while under tension

2. Utilizes a slightly different motion compared to mound throwing, allowing for a new muscle stimulus

3. Teaches one to reach out and really extend toward the target

4.  Allows the body to find peak arm slot efficiency in throwing the ball as far as possible (i.e if you pitch over the top, but throw farthest at 3/4, maybe it’s time to pitch at 3/4)

5. Develops synchrony in the body’s movements, which helps cure mechanical timing issues

6. Teaches to pull the arm down hard when coming back in, developing more arm speed and even more forward reach

How To

First, a disclaimer: A very good warm up should always precede a long toss session.

The best way to long toss is to go out as far as possible in 30 foot increments, making 3-6 throws at each distance (assuming you are well warmed up).

Once max distance is achieved, I usually make 6-15 throws at that distance, depending on how I feel, then start coming back in from 200 feet.  I don’t like pitchers to come back in a few feet at a time because if you are to maintain the same arc, you will only be slowing your arm down, which isn’t the goal.  So cut down to 200 feet and immediately start compressing your throws into a hard, low line. 

Again, when coming back in, the goal is to throw on as hard and as low a line as possible, compressing that max distance throw into a shorter distance throw; This is where arm speed is created.

I usually end at around 70-75 feet, throwing 5-10 as hard as I can, really trying to follow through to the grass.  It’s helpful to think about trying to throw the ball into the ground and make it rise up to your partner (though this isn’t physically possible).

Alan Jaeger is a big proponent of long toss, and has a great article on the subject, as well as the following video which explains his long toss method (largely the same as my own).  It’s well worth the four minutes.

The only issue with long toss is finding a home for it within one’s pitching schedule.  I usually long toss the 2nd day after a start, and maybe have another short one two days out from the next start.  Relievers have to get them in after games in which they don’t pitch or whenever they think they might get a rest day.  

The offseason, however, allows the time to get three good long tosses in per week, which over a period of a 6-8 weeks or more can really provide good velocity gains. Consistent long toss coupled with a good strength training program is where tons of guys come into their own and put on a bunch of MPHs.

Throwing is the same way: throw sparingly and you won’t develop your arm to its potential.  Throw often and your arm will be strong and durable.  Ever see an infielder, especially a catcher, go down with arm problems?  Probably not too often. But if you’ve been around baseball long enough, you’ve surely noticed that outfielders complain about their arms hurting as much as anyone.  The reason for this is that outfielders infrequently throw, both in practice and in games, and when they do it is often with maximum effort.

Why, physiologically, does throwing a ton make you throw harder?  Your body just recognizes the need to build strength because the muscle group is consistently stimulated.  This is why climbers have incredible hand strength, and cyclists have monster calves and thighs.  They’re both just doing what they do for hours a day, and their bodies respond by sending the muscular reinforcements.

Pitchers should not consistently go hard and rest on alternate days.  It’s stressful, the arm doesn’t learn to recover quickly, and the repetition needed for growth isn’t there with too many off days. Off days are needed every week, but limiting them to 1 or 2 is ideal, and the other days should be filled with high volume, low intensity throwing to keep your muscles working.

The Repetition Recommendation:

-Add more high-repetition, low-intensity throwing days into your weekly workload.  As long as one’s arm is without pain and deadness, then throwing 5 or 6 days per week should have a very positive effect.

What does one of these high-rep days look like, you ask?  

100-140 very light but crisp throws from 45-75 feet.  This is the time to work on mechanics and pitches, all without stressing the arm. If done at the correct intensity, you should breeze through the 100+ throws without fatigue, and feel fresh the next day.  This is going to get your body used to throwing often, making it able to recover faster.  Additionally this will give you tons of reps to perfect mechanics, arm slot, pitches, etc, all of which add up to better pitching performance aside from velocity.

These high-volume days should be combined with regular bullpen sessions, as well as long toss, which is extremely important and is another huge contributor to throwing that cheese.

How do I know this? Because I have an unexceptional arm, and I’ve done a lot of squeezing.  I learned how to get the absolute best out of it, and for me, I believe the best is yet to come.  

As a high school senior I pitched at 78-81.  As a college sophomore I pitched at 85-89.  By Junior year (before my elbow went) I was sitting at 89-92.  

Thing is, I’m not special.  I just had good coaching, a great strength and conditioning coach, and a terrible, desperate desire to throw harder and develop into a good pitcher, one worthy of a chance at pro ball.  

The following are the 9 things that I credit with making a big jump in velocity, and which will continue to provide me with gains.  The bottom line is no matter how hard you throw, you can throw harder if you are willing to put all your effort into the list below.

1. Total Body Strength

      • This means just getting in the weight room, and increasing your strength and size as a whole.  This is the first step, the foundation for creating tremendous strength in more pitching specific areas.  Many youngsters simply haven’t the general strength to throw a ball in the 80s or 90s, and while some areas are more important to throwing than others, the body works as a whole.

2. Excellent Conditioning

     • Again, this is fundamental and adds to general body strength, but in a different way.  I can’t say exactly why being in great, great shape makes a pitcher throw harder, but I think it has something to do with creating a body that is fatigue resistant, because every part of you gets tired when you’re running and pushing yourself past your previous limits.

3.  Excellent Mechanics

       • This is often not accomplished until the previous two points are covered, because general body strength is needed to create the body control which is the basis for good mechanics.  Throwing with excellent mechanics maximizes your body’s muscular potential.  Thing is, getting to the point of having pro-quality mechanics takes tremendous repetition and the ability to make subtle changes, which a person of poor body-control simply cannot do.

4. Long Toss

      • Long toss stretches the arm out and teaches you to really get out in front with the ball.  Reaching out and extending your body is a big factor in throwing hard. Long toss also allows your body to find it’s own maximum mechanical efficiency, in that you are trying to throw the ball as far as you can; your body figures out with each throw how it best accomplishes that.  

5. Prehab (specific attention to shoulder/elbow)

     • I talked about prehab in a previous post, saying how it is the only thing keeping pitchers in the game and off the DL.  While it does prevent injury, it also strengthens the areas that are chief in throwing a baseball, i.e. the rotator cuff and forearm.  Pitchers who have extraordinary shoulder and forearm strength are almost certainly going to throw harder than those who don’t.

6. Core Strength with Emphasis on Rotation

    • Throwing is both linear and rotational, with the legs driving toward the plate and the core/hips rotating the torso to deliver the ball.  Again, total body strength is key, but a pitcher should take his core a step further, and aim to have the midsection of a gymnast.  

7. Strong Legs

     • Most people know this one.  Your legs carry and drive you toward the plate.  The more drive you can get out of them, the harder you should be able to deliver a pitch.  

8. Flexibility and Joint Mobility

      • You’ve see the beanpoles and the Tim Lincecums throwing gas.  They do this because they can move in any way they choose, and their joints and muscles don’t impede each other’s movements.  Have tight hips?  You won’t throw as hard,  I promise.  Tight shoulder capsule? You’re losing MPHs and increasing the likelihood of injury.  I know because I’ve been there.  

9.  High Repetition

       • Throw more.  Make sure you rest enough, but throw more.  

More Information to Come

Keep tuning in, because I am going to make a detailed individual post on each of the 9 items listed above.  As always, I’m open to comments, as this blog is a way for me to share the things that have helped me become a better ballplayer, though I still have a long way to go.