Could The Javelin, Shot Put & Discus Be Used By Baseball Pitchers For Torso Strength & Velocity?

A Baseball Pitching Question From A High School Coach Who Is Thinking About "Mixing It Up:" He's Interested In Using The Javelin, Shot Put & Discus To Train His Baseball Pitchers...

Coach Ellis,

I was putting together an arm-strengthening program for next fall and was thinking of incorporating an 8-pound shot put, javelin and discus for the players.

Do you think the shot put and javelin would hurt the player’s arms if they threw them?

We really need to work on elbow extension and torso rotation, and I thought these training devices would be fresh and interesting. What do you think?

Thanks, J.K.

Omaha, Nebraska

From the desk of STEVEN ELLIS, The Complete Pitcher™:

Thanks for the baseball pitching question. I would strongly advise against using any of the above mentioned devices for training baseball pitchers.

In each instance, the implement, whether it be the javelin, shot-put or the discus, all involve different throwing motions than the baseball.

Why re-invent the wheel?

When it comes down to game day, what we’re asking our baseball pitchers to do is throw a 5 ounce baseball 60-feet-6.

That’s it.

The throwing motion for the javelin is very different than the throwing motion of the baseball. The same goes for the discus and the shot-put (and even a football, which is another implement that I don’t recommend baseball pitchers throw if they are serious about fine-tuning their control).

YES, some of the muscles used in throwing a javelin are some of the same as those used in throwing a baseball.

And YES, there are elements of throwing a javelin that hit upon similar biomechanical principals as baseball pitching like trunk flexion and trunk rotation as well as upper-arm-, shoulder- and scapula muscle-movement.

But, again, because it doesn’t involve a baseball – which ultimately is what we’re trying to improve here, I think time spent working on these drills is time wasted.

Part of the problem that you may be hinting at may not have anything to do with the need for you to find new and improved ways to stimulate movements similar to movements of the baseball pitching motion.

Instead, it may involve the amount of time baseball players spend standing around at the baseball field not working on pitching itself or pitching-specific activities that would actually benefit your staff.

I know from some of the baseball teams that I’ve been on that baseball practices can last four or five hours of which pitchers “actual work-time” is less than 30 minutes. The other time is spent shagging fly-balls in the outfield and hitting grounders to infielders—all of which is a poor use of baseball pitcher’s time.

This may be what is making baseball practices seem to drag on for your baseball pitchers.

To work on trunk flexion and trunk rotation, set your team up on an off-season medicine ball workout routine. Maintain the strength and mobility of the torso and trunk in-season by performing half the amount of sets and reps as you did in the off season.

Stick with baseballs for your pitchers and save the track and field implements for the track and field athletes.

Yours in complete baseball pitching success,

Steven Ellis
The Complete Pitcher, Inc.
www.thecompletepitcher.com
www.thecompletepitcher.blogs.com