The Importance of Throwing

Isaac Lippert

If I asked you to do 100 push ups right now - chances are you will either not be able to while also hurting yourself in the attempt.

If I told you to do 10 push ups a day for a week, and then 30 a day the next week, and then 50 a day the next week - then you will likely be able to do your 100 pushups, both with minimal exertion and without injuring yourself.

This is basic physiology. In order to get stronger, you continually need to add stress to your muscles, but if you add too much at once, you will get hurt.

Unfortunately, while this is logical and agreed upon in most respects of sport, throwing and pitching is often, incorrectly, viewed as an exception to this rule.

Coaches, with their hearts in the right place, will often impose small pitch counts, limit long toss distance, or encourage fewer throwing sessions. If we follow the line of logic from the push up example, we are setting pitchers up for arm injury if we limit their throwing too much.

I often ask high level pitchers, “how many days a week do you long toss?” This answer varies, but it typically ranges in the 3-5 range. One pitcher I recently met who consistently throws in the low 90’s as a high schooler told me he long tosses every day of the week.

While this player works very hard off of the field, one of the main reasons he is able to throw hard, throw deep into games, and do it week after week without pain or injury is because he has built up his arm to handle this.

On top of the benefits long toss creates for arm strength, proper long toss can passively correct a lot of movements in a players throwing. Throwing a baseball as far as you can, ACCURATELY, forces your body to recruit the movements and muscles necessary to do so without doing countless reps of drill work.

Far too often I find pitchers who only throw 2-3 days a week (one of those days being their game day). This is not going to do it.

A consistent throwing routine will yield consistent results. We cannot expect consistency on the mound if we are not consistent off of the mound.

I strongly believe pitchers should throw at least 5 days a week, including long tossing 2+ times in that week.

Here is an example of what a 7 day throwing routine may look like.

Day 1: Live pitching day - Long Toss (~ max distance arc throws + pull downs)*

Day 2: Listen to arm (“Take your arm for a walk”)

Day 3: Optional day - listen to arm throwing, or rest

Day 4: Long toss, max distance arc throws + pulldowns - bullpen

Day 5: Long toss, pull downs optional.

Day 6: Optional rest, or long toss, pull downs optional

Day 7: “Throw to feel” - throw to comfortability.

*You want to include long toss and full effort pull downs on a pitching day for the same reason you want to run sprints before a game. The first time you 100% sprint should not be your first at bat - the first time you throw 100% should not be your first throw off of the mound.

Long toss is one of the easiest things to measure and track in baseball. All you need is a

ball, a field, and a measuring tape!

This is NOT a cookie cutter thing. This is simply an example of what your throwing schedule might look like.

Now, if you are a 2-3 day a week thrower, just like the pushups, I do not suggest you jump right into long toss 7 days a week. You need to build up. Try to just play catch a few extra days a week. Get used to the extra stress on your arm and build up from there.

LISTENING TO YOUR ARM is crucial. NEVER throw through pain.

If you are interested in learning more about the advantages of long toss and the proper approach, check out www.jaegersports.com! Allen Jaeger has been one of the best minds in baseball/throwing for over a decade now.