Can a pitcher improve pitching velocity without this?

If you want to improve pitching velocity, you have to improve your pitching mechanics. The two, for the most part, go hand in hand. The closer you can get to having an explosive and a repeatable pitching delivery, the closer you will get to throwing at your maximum speed.

But I've always felt that there's a fine line between getting "too mechanical" versus getting outs. Sometimes you just need to throw the heck out of the baseball. The way you do that is with "intent," something baseball instructor Paul Nyman of SETPRO encourages.

That's because intent is a big factor in everything that you do on the field -- whether it's playing catch, performing med-ball routines, or doing running, you have to have the intent to put forth the effort. You can't fake it.

Long tossing or throwing as far or as hard as you can creates a high level of intent, Nyman says in an article on the baseball site WebBall. That's because it allows you to throw the baseball without constraints mentally and mechanically.

"In the language of motor control goal formation," he says, "all volitional body movement is driven by goal achievement. Throwing for distance allows one to maximize their intent to throw hard."

No doubt something to think about. Is your intent to throw hard ... or are you just trying to fake it?