Winter throwing program

Regardless, if you are in tune with your arm, it will tell you from day to day what it wants to do that day…what it needs to do that day. Though most throwing programs are formatted so a pitcher has structure throughout the off-season, our throwing program places more responsibility on a pitcher listening to his arm.

In a sense, our programs structure is to be structure-less. Quite the contrary. Only the arm knows from day to day, what it wants and what it needs. You can see my whole throwing program in my new online version of the Jaeger Year Round Throwing Manual. Finally, remember that the bottom line is to listen to your arm. How many throws you make at each increment is dependent on how your arm feels. How far you go out, or how fast you come in may vary from day to day.

Your job is to put your arm in a position to throw as often as possible, with awareness and sensitivity to your arm, in order to progressively build a strong base. This mentality is what optimizes your ability to insure health, strength, endurance and improved recovery period.

For those interested in learning more, we have teamed up with Elite Baseball Performance to offer a brand new online version of our popular Thrive on Throwing 2 video.

In this program, we teach you exactly how to perform a proper arm care, warm-up, long toss, and pull down program to maximize your arm. We also have a more detailed Year Round Throwing Manual that builds off this article in much more detail and shows you exactly what to do for a throwing program throughout the entire year.

Your email address will not be published. I agree to the terms and conditions laid out in the Privacy Policy. This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience.

If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings. We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers.

Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. About Latest Posts.

Alan Jaeger Website at JaegerSports. Alan founded Jaeger Sports on the principle that athletes need to develop both their physical and mental skills in order to be successful in game situations. How to Throw to Prepare the Arm for the Season.

Keys to an Inseason Throwing Program. Leave a Reply Want to join the discussion? This reality is especially hitting home for those coaches and players who have experienced the tremendous benefits of distance throwing Long Toss , and are now realizing how disadvantageous it is to suppress the arms needs to stretch out, lengthen and condition properly during this month window.

This month window, which can start as early as October and can last as late as March, often forces players to train indoors in facilities that may be significantly limited by height and distance constraints e. Going indoors can seem very limiting when it comes to maintaining a good throwing program but with a little creativity players can find ways to get the necessary distances of feet even if the length of the indoor facility is no greater than feet.

The arm needs to continue to train in a manner that allows it to fully condition, and that means it needs to find a way to stretch out Long Toss to distances that are consistent with the distances that are provided outdoors. As mentioned in the previous article see jaegersports.

Once a team is forced to go indoors due to inclement weather these are the two essential ways to maintain your conditioning through the Fall, Winter and into the Spring.

But for most of the schools out there, a basketball gym, etc, seems to be more of the norm, and getting distance is a real issue. Though you may be limited by the distance e. Over time, a player may actually increase from a distance of 3 feet from the fence and 25 reps, to 4 or 5 feet from the fence and 3 sets of 30 reps. This is ideal for the arm because it is going through basically the same range of motion as if it is throwing, and the resistance distance is being increased in a very progressive way.

Where surgical tubing can help make a significant difference in your ability to both properly warm up and condition the arm without picking up a baseball, getting distance Long Toss , even in a restricted space, is crucial. Though it may seem very limiting if the length of your facility is no longer than feet the reality is that with a little patience and creativity and an indoor net , there are ways to get the necessary distance that the arm so desperately needs during this month indoor period as you will see, you can actually throw the ball as far as you want on any given day.

For example, in the case of a pitcher who throws 90 mph but has never thrown beyond feet or used surgical tubing, I could see where his foot throw could turn into , , maybe even feet over time. This is where we bring a stretched out, well conditioned arm from Weeks 1 and 2 into the more aggressive and explosive throwing dynamic of the arm into weeks 3 and 4.

Once the base has been built through the stretching out phase, the arm is in a great position to work from and strengthen this base through the Pull Down Phase of long toss. Because the first two weeks have created such a strong foundation, Weeks 3 and 4 deepen this base because each pitcher will actually go through the conditioning phase of Arm Circles, Surgical Tubing and the Stretching Out phase of Long Toss before the pull-down or aggressive throws that are made coming back in toward your throwing partner.

We want them to come back toward their throwing partner 10 feet per throw or so, with the same dynamics they made with their furthest distance throw that day e. We just want them to start getting downhill without decelerating their arm.

We also want them to understand what it means to maintain a loose and relaxed arm action loose and relaxed mind as they make their way back to their throwing partner. For the first few days of Week 3, there may only be pull downs after the pitcher has peaked out to his furthest distance on that given day.

Regardless, Week 3 and 4 are very personal. Each pitcher may respond differently. Some may throw a lot on the first day of their pull downs, and then only want to go out to feet the next day and not pull down at all. Others may actually throw further distances the next day because the Pull Down phase actually opened their arm up even more, and they will have an even more aggressive pull down the next day. This is where listening to your arm is imperative. Once the base is built from Week 1 and 2, your primary goal is to still condition in Weeks 3 and 4.

If the arm is not ready to pull down in Weeks 3 and 4, continue to build distance and endurance. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to not even think about the Pull Down phase until you are comfortably throwing what feels like your max distance, and you are able to stay there comfortably for throws.

Things to look for in Weeks 3 and 4 are pacing and recovery period. Since you are not throwing off a mound, you should have relatively good recovery period.

For example, the more you throw, the more you arm will probably want to throw. But if you feel like only stretching your arm out one day, or just throwing feet, or not throwing at all on a given day, than do so. Again, from my experience, the more you throw after building the base right, the more the arm seems to want to throw.

For some players, that may mean stretching out and pulling down nearly everyday for Weeks 3, 4, 5 and 6. For others, it may mean stretching out and pulling down only 3 days a week. For others, it may mean stretching out 6 days a week, and pulling down 2 days a week. If you needed more than 2 weeks to build your base, than Weeks 5 and 6 essentially become Weeks 3 and 4 for you. For example, you may begin to notice that minutes of throwing has turned into minutes of throwing on certain days.

You may find that feet has turned into feet and feet has turned into feet or more. In any case, the things you should begin to notice is that your endurance is getting better conditioning , your arm is feeling consistently stronger conditioning and your recovery period is amazingly good.

Once your foundation is built, the remainder of the year becomes one of maintaining this foundation, and even strengthening this foundation. Velocity seems to come more quickly — endurance seems to last longer — swelling is minimized. Regardless, if you are in tune with your arm, it will tell you from day to day what it wants to do that day…what it needs to do that day.

Though most throwing programs are formatted so a pitcher has structure throughout the off-season, our throwing program places more responsibility on a pitcher listening to his arm. In a sense, our programs structure is to be structure-less. Quite the contrary.