Pitching velocity: Simple ways to throw harder

If you want to throw harder, you've got to throw -- every day. It's really that simple. There's no magical potion, secret formula, or nutritional supplement that'll help you throw harder -- other than simply throwing.

Professional pitchers at the major and minor league levels throw just about every day, 285-or-so days a year.

In the Chicago Cubs organization, for instance, where I played for three years, pitchers performed a 10 minute throwing program daily:

• 60 feet ( for 3 minutes)
• 90 feet (for 3 minutes)
• 120 feet (for 3 minutes)
• 60 feet (for 1 minute) to finish.

Once or twice a week we'd "air it out," with some long toss beyond 120 feet. But 10 quality minutes a day and you're on your way to developing a great arm!

Another way to develop pitching velocity is not to throw curveballs until you're about 14 or 15 years old. The truth is, you really could get away with not throwing a breaking ball until you're 17 or 18 years old, but I realize the fact that kids get "antsy" about throwing breaking pitches early.

If you want to develop fastball arm strength, you have to throw the fastball. If you're wasting pitches throwing other pitches than a fastball, such as the curve, you're wasting time!

Finally, a good way to improve velocity is to track it. Professional runners keep detailed journals of the miles they run every day. You should do the same thing with your pitching.

One thing I observed in pro ball — and consequently did — is that pitchers at the higher levels of the game are students of the game. But in order to be a student of the game, you've got to keep track of what you do.

Write down every time you throw a practice bullpen. Write down how you felt. Write down what was working and what wasn't. This way, you can begin to see what works and what doesn’t, so you can eliminate that which impedes your success on the bump -- and can continue to do that which does work!