But in the professional season, off-days are few and far between, and the rotation gives each starter 4 days to prepare for his next outing. Everyone is different in what he needs to prepare, but I’ll share my own preparation schedule that I feel gives me the best chance to succeed and stay strong throughout the season.

Day 0: Pitch (hopefully well)

I do very little on this day.  I stretch everything out, warm up really well, and go out and give em my best on the mound. Afterward I ice my elbow If I think I need it, but I generally am not a big icer.

Day 1: Repair Thyself

I do not lift weights on this day, nor do I do any shoulder or elbow prehab. I usually do not throw, either. My rationale for this is that throwing 100+ pitches is very destructive on the body, and a full day of rest is necessary to keep me healthy. If I do prehab, even without throwing, I’m still not allowing those tired and inflamed tissues in my arm to fully rest. So, I leave my arm alone – completely. I once asked my surgeon what he thought a pitcher should do after a start. His reply? “sit on the couch and eat potato chips.”

I keep off my arm as completely as I can, but my legs are a different story. Day 1 is my big run day, and I like an interval type workout with slightly longer distances. 10-12 “Bows” is one of my favorite workouts on Day 1. A “bow” consists of a very light jog on the warning track, and then an all-out sprint from foul-poul to foul-pole. A short rest is OK in between each bow, as keeping the sprint a sprint is a goal, and too little rest will reduce it to a fast run.

A crude drawing of a Bow

After getting my running done, I do hip work with a mini-band around my ankles, and I get a whole-body stretch in. After that, it’s bucket duty during BP and sitting through the ballgame.

Day 2: The Busy Day

Day 2 is hectic. No rest on this day.

First priority is a full-body lift, which will consist usually just of big, compound lifts like deadlifts, squats, chin-ups, floor pull-ups, and one pushing exercise like DB bench press. In-season I use heavier weights for low reps, with usually one higher-rep set thrown in to maintain my muscle mass. The low rep stuff keeps my max strength up without depleting all my energy, and I’ll typically use sets and reps such as 4×2, 4×3, 2×2 and 3×1, etc., done at 80-85% of my 1rm. Keeping max strength up is crucial, or else you end up a weakling by the all-star break, and all your offseason work becomes for nothing.

After lifting it is time to take care of my arm, which means my complete shoulder circuit of 2-3 sets, and all my elbow prehab. I also like to do some grip work holding heavy weights, (in addition to the deadlifts) like farmers walks or blob holds, if I can, because they make my elbow feel really good. I’m not sure why holding heavy things makes my elbow feel great, but it does.

Holding heavy things is fun!

After all the strength and prehab stuff, hopefully I have few hours break before going to the field. I’ll throw at the park, stretching it out a bit if my arm feels up to it, but basically the goal on this day is to get the arm moving again and prepare for my bullpen the next day.

After throwing, it’s time for al little more running. Short sprints, maybe 12x40yd is about par for this day, but I play it by ear depending on how I feel.

Day 3: Back to Work

Day 3 is highlighted by my heavier bullpen of the week, usually in the 5-10 minute range depending on what I need to work on and how I feel. This pen is thrown at maybe 70-80%, but I might pump it up higher if I feel I need a little higher intensity work, as your pitches and they way they feel change the harder you throw.

I do another set or two of shoulder and elbow prehab, this time with lighter weights. Usually 2lb is all I touch after Day 2 for my shoulders, and I like doing some table scapula stability exercises on Day 3 as well. Elbow work is very light. The workload starts to taper down on Day 3, as I have to be fully recovered by Day 5.

This is the last day I run hard. The other day I did 20x40yd sprints, but I mix it up depending on how I feel. Pick-ups, maybe 3 sets of 20 is something else that I might do on this day, to get some lateral leg work.

Day 4: Tapering Down

On Day 4 I play catch, usually ending with a flat ground or maybe a short, light mound bullpen of just a few minutes. The goal is to keep the arm moving while still working on the feel of my pitches. I feel better on game day when I have played catch the day before, rather than taking day 4 off.

I jog a little bit, just to get the blood flowing. I stretch really well and don’t do any other physical stuff with my arm.

Day 5: Pitch (hopefully well)

Hopefully I maintain my place in the rotation and give the fans something to cheer about. Then the preparation starts back up again!

Again, everyone is different, and this is so far what I have found works for me. Making sure you’re recovered for the next start is key, and if fatigue sets in you have to adjust your workload to compensate, ensuring that you’re at your best every time you take the mound. I enjoy training hard, but being a hero in the weightroom or on the track isn’t worth a damn if it leaves you tired for that next outing.

This video is of Frostburg freshman Adam Baxley banging out a box drill.  We use this to develop both foot speed and conditioning.  Having him block increases game carryover as well, and will give him the stamina to perform pop-ups from his knees into the late innings.  Hip flexor, leg and core strength are all stressed in this drill.

In my last post, I talked about the deliberate practice principles laid out in the book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.

To refresh, deliberate practice involves

• Working on a specific aspect of performance
• High repetition
• Continuously available feedback
• Highly demanding mentally
• Isn’t (usually) much fun

In this post I’m going to talk mainly about the third piece of the puzzle, focusing primarily on how it relates to improving throwing mechanics and velocity.

Feedback and throwing mechanics:

To start, you’re probably wondering why “throwing mechanics” and not “pitching mechanics.” Paul Nyman of SETPRO was the first to make the clear distinction between these two activities. Pitching is about doing everything you can do get the batter out, whereas throwing refers to the specific movement patterns/sequences that your body goes through to apply force to the ball. When you hear people talking about posting leg position or hand break timing or whatever, what they are really referring to is a player’s throwing mechanics.

Feedback is particularly under-appreciated when it comes to players and velocity development. When was the last time your pitching coach brought a radar gun to your team’s bullpen sessions? I can tell you that, in my experience, at the high school level and below this form of feedback is almost nonexistent.

So how do you make sure that you’re applying the continuous feedback principle and aren’t wasting your practice time on empty repetitions? Here are a couple ideas…

Max effort long toss

This form of throw training has built in feedback, in that you can see how far the ball traveled as compared to your previous best of the day, week, month or year.

How to perform max effort long toss? You basically slowly work out to your max distance for the day ramping up the intensity, and then work your way back in to 60 feet or so, keeping the same intensity that your furthest throw had, constantly listening to your arm and stopping if anything doesn’t feel right. Check out Alan Jaeger’s videos for an example of what this type of training looks like:

Max effort throwing with radar gun

This form of throw training is particularly effective for pitchers working on velocity from the mound or those who are unable to long toss out to max distance for whatever reason. It’s astounding how many coaches will tell you “the velocity will come, don’t worry about it.” By not measuring velocity, they are giving their players an out. They are not holding their players accountable for their performance, and more importantly they are not providing players with adequate feedback to judge their performance. Few pitchers can actually differentiate between the feel of an 82 and an 85 mph fastball…and it is precisely these fine fluctuations that need to be identified immediately by radar feedback to reproduce similar performance. The player throws a pitch at 83 and the next pitch at 85. Hey! I wonder what I did differently on that throw than the previous one. That was more efficient; let me try to repeat that!! With radar feedback, the player not only learns how to apply more effort (keyword: intent) into their throws, but also learns how small variations in mechanics affect the end velocity. Without radar, 83 feels like 85 and your hope of gaining velocity (not counting strength gains) is severely compromised.

Other ideas for incorporating feedback into your throwing or pitching work:

Control: obviously, if a pitcher is throwing to a catcher they will be able to see the location of each pitch almost instantly. But consider upping the ante a bit in your control sessions. Record balls and strikes, taking a break every 12 or so pitches (roughly how many you aim to throw in an inning). Set goals for yourself; try to get at least 8 out of the 12 in the location you wanted. Take a break in between “innings” and make adjustments where necessary. Keep records of your progress and try to match or beat your previous best with each session.

Control + Velocity: as above, but try to hit a set minimum velocity for each pitch. You don’t want to teach yourself to baby the ball into the zone to get a strike. Learn to merge your control sessions with your all-out velocity sessions.

Mechanics: if you’re trying to pinpoint a specific mechanical flaw in your delivery and develop a plan of attack, don’t hesitate to get out the video camera. Ideally you want a video camera that allows you to easily go through your throws frame by frame every 3-5 throws to gauge progress. It’s slow and grueling, but if you’re looking to alter something mechanically, going by “feel” is not always the best option. An alternative that may be used depending on the situation is a mirror. I do some of my throwing into a net from a short distance away (10-15 feet). Setting up a large mirror behind the net that allows me to view my entire body head to toe throughout the delivery is a method that, when used carefully, has helped me make certain mechanical changes. This specific kind of direct feedback (which occurs during the movement) can be dangerous though because it poses the risk of dependency.

If you have the luxury of a qualified throwing mechanics expert monitoring your sessions, this is another valuable form of feedback, although even the best are not humanly capable of picking up on the minute details that video can. For example, the difference between fanning the shoulders open at landing vs. keeping the shoulders closed can be a difference in timing of as little as 2 frames on video, or under 1/10 of a second. Also, as a player, being able to see your faults on video gives you a much better idea of what you need to work on than just hearing it from an instructor or even having them demonstrate it for you.

Numerous other methods exist for how to apply feedback to your throwing, but since I’m not familiar with them all (and obviously don’t have room to address them all) I’ll make some general comments about these methods, which may include things like towel drills, marking landing spot on the mound with tape, wall drills, etc. My feeling is that these drills or methods should be designed based on a solid knowledge of elite level throwing mechanics and should be as specific as possible to this process from a motor learning standpoint without ingraining improper movement patterns.

For example, a drill in which you’re looking down at the ground the entire time to try to work on where your front foot lands is going to have little transfer to the mound when you’re looking at a target. A towel drill performed to encourage a linear follow-through (primarily trunk flexion) as opposed to a rotational follow-through may also have poor (and potentially negative) transfer if done with enough repetitions to ingrain the movement, as might a slow-motion arm action drill that encourages keeping the elbows in a line as opposed to allowing the scapula to pinch and take the elbows behind the line of the shoulders. Always ask the question: why am I doing this drill? And does this reflect what elite throwers do?

As always, feel free to post questions or comments below. My email is bbrewster51@gmail.com

Closed Hand Strength

This is just what it sounds like, holding things with a closed fist.  This is the most important type of strength for a hitter to have, as gripping the bat is done with closed fists.  This isn’t meant to be groundbreaking info, but I want you to see the carryover from the weight room to the field for both pitchers and hitters.

Closed hands gripping a bat

Closed Hand Grip on Dumbbell

Training this type of strength is extremely easy, and yet produces noticeable results, especially to the untrained.  After just 3 weeks of dedicated sessions with grip training intermixed, one of my third baseman clients remarked how much harder he would hit the ball at showcases, and how much longer he could swing in the cage without fatigue.  The big major league hitters who seem to just flick the ball over the fence?  Big, powerful forearms with a crushing grip.

Training Closed Hand Strength

Closed Hand Hangs from Towel

As I mentioned, this is easy and allows for a lot of creativity.  The root of all of this is holding something that you can get your hands completely around, such as a chin-up bar, barbell, towel, dumbbell, etc.  Then with that weight in hand, you hang or hold while you stand still or walk.  Vary your weights, sets, time, etc. to maximize your training effect.  Grip training is something that you in most cases want to do to failure… making the weight fall from your fingers.

Hangs

Pretty easy.  Grab something overhead and hold on with closed fists.  Chances are, you won’t last nearly as long as those people in movies do, and you would absolutely drop off that building before help arrived.  The grip work involved in performing chin and pull ups is an additional huge benefit of doing them (and if you know me, you know I love me some chin ups).  A weak grip is also a limiting factor for many novices with poor chin up numbers.

Unless you can hang for multiple minutes, you need more grip work

Farmers Walks

-Grab heavy things and walk with them.  Repeat until you’re tired or preferably, can’t.  There are many ways to vary this such as with dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, towels, etc.

Using a towel for farmers walks

Lift Heavy Weights

Suitcase Deadlift - Very Tough!

Do you push yourself when doing deadlifts, bent-over rows, RDLs, etc?  If you do, then your grip has been improving as a side effect.  My forearms transformed one summer when I used  a program from school that had me deadlifting twice per week, sometimes with a straight bar and sometimes with a trap bar.  If you have strong legs and push yourself to get stronger, you might find yourself holding 450 pounds in your hands, which will get you a crushing grip in no time.

Open Hand Strength

This is, again, just what it sounds like: holding onto things while your fist isn’t completely closed.  This type of strength is most important for pitchers and those who want to improve throwing velocity, because the force is applied to the ball from the tips of the fingers.  Having a strong fist isn’t going to help as much here, because closed fist exercises build more strength in the more proximal digits of the fingers.

Fingertips transmit power to the ball

Training Open Hand Strength

I keep talking about rock climbing, but it’s just a fact that those people have freaky strong fingers.  I see the parallel to throwing, and I try to adopt their training methods (within reason).  Loading the fingers should be a gradual process, as the lever arm is really lengthened, which further increases the stress on the forearm muscles.  Point being, don’t just jump into 10 minutes of 2-finger hangs from your door moulding – you’ll have tendinitis or a popped flexor in no time.

Strong Fingers.

Use An Open Hand Grip…

...On Hangs

...When holding dumbbells or doing farmer's walks

...By pinch-holding the head of dumbbells

...When carrying weight plates

....While squeezing the life out of a medicine ball

Final Thoughts

As you probably realize, grip training is something that never has to get boring, as it can be varied a thousand different ways.  I just want people out there to start thinking about what their goals are, and how their training is preparing them for their sport.  In baseball, I think it’s clear that grip strength is huge.  Yet, an even more narrow focus (open vs. closed) should yield maximum carryover to the field.

There is more to talk about as far as forearm strength in hitting is concerned, which I will touch on in the upcoming weeks.

Rock Rings rigged to dumbbell with carabiner

Close up of the three finger pocket in use

Pictured here is Adam Baxley, a freshman catcher at Frostburg U.  What we did with him was a 4 hold drop set – he started with the most difficult grip (3 finger shallow pocket) then when he couldn’t hold anymore, picked the weights back up with the next easiest grip, ending with the big sloper hold.  This way we were able to get his hands under tension longer, which resulted in a really tough grip exercise (he’ll attest to that).

Hand and finger strength is really under-appreciated and under-trained in the baseball community.  This blows my mind, as the last thing a thrown ball is in contact with is the (drumroll please) fingertips!  Sure, doing wrist curls, holding heavy things, etc. etc. develops grip and forearm strength, but it’s just not the exact type of strength I see as most important- fingertip strength.  If you haven’t been to your local rock climbing wall recently, you’ll realize how lacking your finger strength is – even if you have monster forearms and a great closed hand grip.

I’m hitting the rock climbing gym 2-3 times a week right now.  Do I expect it to help me throw harder?  Yes.  I do.  Can’t imagine how it wouldn’t.

March 22 – Good, not sore

March 24 – Good, not sore

March 26 – 7 months – Good, not sore

March 28 – 15 Changeups; good, but not perfect

March 30 – 10 changeups, discomfort on 1/3 of them

April 1 – 3/4 speed; no changes, no pain, 66-71 mph. felt ok, not perfect next day

April 3 – felt good, not perfect; 45 pitches @ 3/4 (speed)

April 6 – 1st two digits had pain when pressure applied

April 9 – mid to upper 70s, little pain; felt good after 4 days off prior

April 17 – no pain! 65 pitches at 3/4

April 19 – long tossed to 240 no pain

April 21 – felt good. into low 80s maybe

April 23 – gun read 75-77. TIRED! but no pain

April 25 – 8 months – Hit 81, consistent 76-79 50/30 pitches

April 28 – long toss to 270, 45 pitches at 85%

April 30 – 30 + 45 vs hitters. 82-84. Felt good

May 2 – VERY tired from April 30.  Arm achy and slight pain, very dead. threw 70 at 2/3 speed

May 4 – flat ground, 15 curves at 50 ft. pain still, arm not recovered from previous.

May 7 – Hard pen, felt good. 80 pitches at 90%

May 9 – good long toss, felt great.

May 11 – 100% from mound, 100% changes, 50% curves (15). felt good, no pain, but knotted up on forearm after.

May 14 – 100% fast + cu, no curves. Still knot in forearm but no pain

May 16 – 45 fast-curve-change, 75-75-50% respectively. less tightness, no knot next day.

May 18 – Light pen, 30 curves

May 20 – In game, 28 pitches. 30 curves beforehand. Bicep Dead, big knot afterward.  No throw 21-24.

May 25 – In game 35 pitches, no knot after, felt good

May 27 – 70 pitch pen, 30 90% curves, felt good, bicep better

May 29 – 50 pitch, 70%, curves getting sharper!

May 31 – 60 in game; arm felt slow, but great after. 55 fb/ 5 curves. No tightness at all.

June 2 – Long toss, hard but not too many throws. Need to get intensity up and let go. Felt good next morning.

June 4 – Bullpen 20 max effort, 85-90.  Arm felt achy, some occasional pain twinges, and very dead.  Decent next day. Fatigue in bicep/tricep still, but not terrible.

Thats the whole log.  Wish I had done more of that during it all, but I was more interested in getting after it than writing it all down.  Hindsight…

So, today we’re going to discuss the main upper torso and shoulder muscles that accelerate and decelerate the baseball…

Anatomical Terminology

Anterior: in or toward the front of the body (when divided by the coronal plane)

Posterior: in or toward the rear of the body (when divided by the coronal plane)

Internal Rotation: to bring toward the body’s midline by  joint rotation. (When the arm is abducted, this brings the hand forward)

External Rotation: to carry away from the body’s midline by joint rotation (When the arm is abducted, this brings the hand backward)

Adduction: to bring toward the body’s midline on the coronal plane (ex: bring hands to your sides

Abduction: to move away from the body’s midline on the coronal plane (ex: raise arms to the side)

Medial: (describing the position of a bodypart) toward the midline of the body

Lateral: (describing the position of a bodypart) away from the midline of the body

Showing the 3 planes of movement

The Accelerators

Most of the upper body and shoulder muscles that accelerate the arm are internal rotators. They take the arm from…

1. Subscapularis

Subscapularis (Anterior View)

The most powerful muscle performing a given movement is called the prime mover, or agonist. The prime mover of internal rotation is the subscapularis, which is a member of the “rotator cuff” group.  This muscle covers the anterior portion of the scapula (shoulder blade) and inserts on the lesser tubercle of the humerus (upper arm).  The subscapularis, along with all of the rotator cuff, contributes in stabilizing the shoulder joint which helps prevent injury.

2. Teres Major

The Teres Major is another internal rotator, which originates on the posterior aspect of the scapula and inserts on the medial lip of the intertubercular groove of the humerus.

Muscle action can be figured out by knowing the origin and insertion, as they act just like hydraulics – lengthening and shortening to create movement.  Since the teres major inserts on the front of the humerus, when it contracts the arm will rotate internally.

3. Anterior Deltoid

Anterior Deltoid and Serratus Anterior

The anterior portion of the deltoid (anterior and middle deltoid shown) originates at the clavicle and inserts on the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus. Because the insertion point is on the more lateral aspect of the humerus, the anterior deltoid is a relatively weak internal rotator, but does assist nonetheless.

4. Latissimus Dorsi

The Mighty Latissimus Dorsi

The “Lats” originate from a large fascial attachment extending from the posterior illiac crest, to a few ribs and up to the thoracic vertebrae.  The lats are huge, powerful mucles that connect the hips to the core to the arm, and snake around the teres major to insert on the medial aspect of the humerus.

Most people are unaware of the lats’ role as an internal rotator, but as an extremely influential muscle, its incredibly important to have strong lats to aid in the acceleration of the throwing arm.

When you perform a chin-up you will feel your arms’ natural inclination to pronate inward as the lats attempt to internally rotate the humerus as it brings the body upward.

5. Pectoralis Major

Stronger Pecs… Stronger Fastball

The “Pecs” originate from the sternum and clavicle to insert on the lateral aspect of the humerus.

When the arm is abducted, as in the cocked throwing position, the lateral insertion point on the humerus allows the lower fibers of the pectoralis to aid in accelerating the arm forward.

Exercises that strengthen and develop the chest are often thought of as unnecessary vanity exercises, but this is far from the truth.  The pitcher who wishes to reach his velocity potential should be as strong and flexible as possible in all of the muscles that assist in internal rotation, which is a major factor in pitch speed as well as injury prevention.

6. Serratus Anterior

The serratus muscles are so named because of their sawtoothed appearance, and act to pull the scapula toward the anterior part of the body.  The serratus anterior originates on the upper ribs and inserts on the anterior portion of the scapula’s medial border.  In throwing, the feeling of fully extending and “really reaching out toward the target” is the serratus anterior pulling the scapula forward.

The Decelerators

These muscles are responsible for cocking the arm back and slowing it down after the ball is released.  Make note that there are more muscles performing internal rotation than external rotation, which makes strengthening the external rotators crucial to preventing injury.

1. Infraspinatus

The Infraspinatus originates on the medial aspect of the scapula and inserts on the posterior of the humerus.  It is the prime mover of external rotation. It is a member of the rotator cuff group along with the Supraspinatus, Subscapularis and Teres Minor.

2. Teres Minor

The Teres Minor originates on the lateral aspect of the scapula and inserts on the posterior aspect of the humerus.  It sits right next to, and strongly assists, the infraspinatus in performing external rotation.  Both the teres minor and infraspinatus also help in maintaining posterior shoulder stability.

3. Posterior Deltoid

The posterior deltoid originates on the spine of the scapula and inserts on the lateral aspect of the humerus.  The deltoid is subdivided anatomically into three parts: the anterior, middle, and posterior.  This is because all three divisions perform different actions depending on the position of the humerus and the plane in which they are active.

Supporting Roles in Deceleration

The trapezius, rhomboids, biceps, levator scapulae all attach to the scapula and help stabilize and slow it during follow-through.  While the infraspinatus, teres minor and posterior deltoid are the main muscles slowing the arm down, throwing is a whole body motion and recruits a very large amount of muscles in varying degrees.

Part II of this anatomy series will discuss the lower arm muscles, including the hand, forearm, triceps and all the interactions between them.

But in the meantime, start strengthening these muscles! Learn how in my articles on the LYTP Shoulder Circuit and The Pitcher’s Complete Shoulder & Rotator Cuff Prehab Circuit.

As I was in there, it suddenly dawned on me: Pitchers are just unlike everyone else in the sense that what they do is so physically violent, that they have to do what is called “prehab” just to reduce the likelihood (or in reality, delay) injury.  

Its pretty much a fact that if a pitcher doesn’t do regular rotator cuff, scapula, and forearm work (basically the whole pitching arm), he is doomed to inevitable, catastrophic arm injury.  Doing prehab doesn’t guarantee health by any means, as tons of diligent pitchers still injure themselves regularly, but its our insurance policy, and at the very least gives us a better chance of not being injured.Other athletes don’t do this.  Soccer players play soccer, and when they get hurt, they do rehab and return to action.  Lacrosse, football, tennis, you name it, these sports all allow their athletes to play, with nothing intrinsic in the sport that injures them.  Sure, football and martial arts are violent and injurious, but the injuries are general and not caused by any specific physical act.

Baseball position players are also allowed to play.  Sure, they come down with the occasional arm problem, but with not nearly the regularity as the pitchers. 

No, pitchers are the only athletes that aren’t just allowed to just play their sport.  They simply can’t show up at the ballpark and leave when they are done.  They have to spend extra time strengthening and stretching their throwing arm just so it’s less likely to rip itself out of the socket.  Ever seen a pitcher’s arm lay back, parallel to the ground in external rotation?  Try replicating that in your living room, and you’ll start to understand…

The pitching motion is just ungodly stressful and unnatural for the human body.  Its  interesting how in the entire athletic community, this one position in one sport is so different from the rest.  Sure, all athletes have to strengthen their bodies to compete at a high level, but none but the pitcher are at such an injury risk where they must go above and beyond just to have a chance at longevity, and even then it’s often a losing battle.  

The only other trends like this are in knees of female athletes and football linemen.  Women are predisposed to ACL injury due to their natural body shape and unique biomechanics, and have an ACL injury rate something like 10x that of men.  A good friend of mine just tore hers for the second time.  Football linemen are so heavy and get pushed around so much that they suffer a similar fate.  

I, for one, am ready for titanium ligament replacements.  Maybe one day that will be possible.  I’ll gladly call myself a cyborg if it allows me 20 more good years.  

The most painful part of coming back from my experience with Tommy John was restoring my range of motion. I was removed from a semi hard cast at two weeks post op., and the next day I started range of motion exercises.  It took me about 5 weeks to get full range of motion with my therapist moving my arm and almost 8 weeks to get full range of motion on my own. I literally thought my elbow would explode some days- it hurt so bad.  Of all the people I know who underwent Tommy John, I seem to have had the most pain. I think maybe it was because I had a lot of scar tissue, or maybe I am just a sissy (just kidding!).

Full range of motion for me, using my left arm as a guide, was 0-147 degrees. I think the first day I reached 20-88°. We tried to increase the ROM about 10° a week. I got full extension pretty quick, within about 3 weeks, but I made shorter strides in gaining flexion.

For TJ patients, I recommend making sure you keep it moving outside of rehab because if not you won’t progress as quickly. For the first week or two I was so sore that I would just keep my arm immobile on non-rehab days. Eventually I realized I needed to move it, even if just a little, to keep it from stiffening up.

I just want those who think they are hurting a lot while trying to reach full ROM just to know you aren’t the only one, and to grind it out.

First off, the difference: a chin-up is done with a supinated (palms facing) grip, as opposed to the pronated (palms away) pull-up grip.

The baseball fitness community seems to be accepting of chin-ups just fine; the issue is with pull-ups, which are supposedly the cause of too much rotator cuff stress, hypertrophy, and tightness.

Why are pull-ups associated with such negatives for throwing athletes, whereas chin-ups are not?

The noteworthy difference between the two, as far as rotator cuff stress is concerned, is in the arm placement.  On pull-ups, especially with wide grips, the arms are externally rotated, which causes more recruitment (and stress) of the rotator cuff.  I agree with avoiding wide pull ups because of the high amount of rotator cuff strain.

A wide pull up - note the externally rotated arms

Chin up; note the arms are tucked close to the body, keeping the focus on the back

Because of the supinated grip on chin-ups, the arms track closer to the body, resulting in far less rotator cuff recruitment.  The arms simply cannot flare outward as easily on chin-ups, until the grip gets extremely wide.  Yet, the arms can stay tucked on close-grip and neutral grip pull-ups as well…

Close-grip Pull up; Notice the arm position - a carbon copy of the chin up

So, if the salient difference between pull ups and chin ups is arm position (externally rotated or not) then anyone who accepts chin ups into their training program (hopefully everyone -they’re a crucial strength builder for ALL athletes) should accept close-grip pull ups as well, as long as they are done with a focus on keeping the arms tucked to the sides of the body.

Neutral grip pull up - also a great choice

Mix up your overhead pulling exercises to challenge your grip strength.  A chin up grip will work the biceps and forearm flexors of the arms more, while a close or neutral grip pull up will help beef up the forearm extensors, including the brachioradialis.  The verdict: use chin ups and pull ups, but keep those arms out of external rotation.