It’s hard for me to do long toss before tryouts and in mid winter around janurary because it is cold. No one around where I live is that dedicated to play long toss. Could I buy A bucket of balls and then just throw them from the out field to the fence and stuff like that to work on long toss?
Does long toss Improve MPH of your pitch?
Also what should I do when long tossing in like january and it is snowing or there is snow on the ground I need a plan I can do.
I guess you could throw it against the fence, just dont miss 
When you do long toss don’t lob it or throw it too high because you want to try and throw it on a line.
Not the best video ever but this is Roy Halladay and a short Long Toss video.
You can see how he releases it and all that but watch when it shows you the catcher. The ball looks like it comes in straight at him at he catches near his chest.
I don’t now if or how it improves velocity but you gotta wait for someone a lot smarter than me to answer. Hope this helps.
http://www.baseballtips.com/longtoss.html
Why should I do short long toss instead of Long Toss to a far distance?
IS this good Could I use this? And just throw it to the fence.
Long toss is going to improve arm strength, but not necesssarily hand speed, which translates directly to velocity. Arm strength will help with durability and stamina in a game though.
I’d prefer doing a number of throws at a certain distance, rather than doing timed minutes.
Defintely. You could let a ball get by you and lose out on a few throws if you do it timed. If your talking about those minutes as general guidelines, thats fine. But if you feel like you need to throw more at a certain distance, do it.
Ok I’m prob going to throw againest a fence starting January I’m going to throw 3 time a week for a while then go to 4 maybe.
When doing long toss can I just do it with my pitching motion instead of crow hop? I saw chein ming wang do this at a red sox vs new york game I went to before he went to the bullpen. Could I use my wind-up and go from short toss to 160 feet out using pitching motion?
I will try to get a good program unless someone can figure a program without time and put throws into it?
I’m in total agreement with everyone else so far, it’s better to do a set number of throws rather then an alotted time.
As some have said if a ball gets by you you’ve lost time, another factor is you will more then likely rush yourself if you’re on the clock and something will suffer, mechanics, quality of throws etc.
Here’s the program that I’d do if I were you RiStar…
You can go three times a week to start…
10 throws at 45 ft, especially if it’s cold, take what’s needed just to feel like you can go back to the next distance. Atleast 10
8 throws from 60 feet
6 throws from 75 feet
5 from 90
3 from 105
3 from 120
3 from 135
3 from 150
2 from 170 working on keeping it on a line and full extension
2 from 190
2 from 210
That’s 37 throws, not counting the warmups to get out to over 200’ while keeping the ball on a line. When you get out here, if you feel good still you can throw a few more until the arm is fatigued. You really shouldn’t need more than 5-10 more at this distance to feel a little tired in the arm. No need to go out too much further if your keeping the ball on a line. Then I’d bring it in to about 120’ for a cooldown for about 5-8 throws, nice and easy. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw a couple changeups from here either, just to get a feel. There ya go!
the two types of long toss that i use are to loosen the arm and to add strength. when getting loose i really throw in a general motion not a pitching motion and not trying to throw the ball on a line. other days when i feel 100% i will use my pitching motion and throw it on a line as far as i can (my coach want us to throw at a certain distance, but honestly why would i want to limit my throwing distance, idk ?). i also have a similar problem with weather and finding a throwing partner to come outside all year round. being from MI the weather is horrible, something that i found that in the long run does save money when throwing into a fence or mattress or wall ect… is something correct me if i am wrong called an “all weather” ball. at first i was a skeptic but after using several of them for long periods of time they are great for unideal throwing conditions.
Ok I will do that in January hammer I will try to get to 120 with wind-up and then past that i will crow hop but the most i will get to is about 180 at most.
Cool. Just remember that it’s off season training, so respect how your arm is feeling. Some days you may be able to push it, some times maybe you just need some blood flow.
Hammer I know what you mean since i will prob be working out 4 times or more a week and could be a little sore.
[quote=“Hammer”]Long toss is going to improve arm strength, but not necesssarily hand speed, which translates directly to velocity. Arm strength will help with durability and stamina in a game though.
I’d prefer doing a number of throws at a certain distance, rather than doing timed minutes.[/quote]
What exercises would you suggest to increase hand speed?
I think long toss might help more with arm speed then arm strength.
Ristar your off on this one.
Long toss is the best and one of the only ways to gain arm strength. However it will not increase hand speed all that much. Hand Speed comes mostly from mechanics, genetics, and some of trunk strength.
I’ve seen guys throw a ball OVER 400 feet and they top at 89 mph. I’ve also seen guys who rarely long toss and couldn’t throw it nearly as far throw 95.
Just look at qb’s in the nfl, they have tremendous arm strength especially the guys who can throw the football 70 or more yards. But I bet they couldn’t throw a lick on the pitching mound.
Hand speed comes down to getting the most out of your body, period.
if it’s too cold to go outside you can throw a version of long toss into the end of a batting cage. just throw the ball near the top of the end in the stretch out phase, and then lower your target in the pull down phase. i just have my guys pick a spot a little higher than a strike and throw at that spot with a running crow hop.
progressive, monitored throwing is a good safe way to build arm strength.
I disagree. I say that guy that threw 400 had poor mechanics pitching or was throwing with a 40 MPH gust that day for long toss. Bret Favre threw 95 in high school, or so Ive heard.
If Brett Favre threw 95 then he had hand speed…
The guy that threw over 400 feet had great mechanics and great command, he was our closer.
Ask anybody that’s been to the professional level, long toss will not translate into hand speed. You may get 1 mph, that’s about it.
There’s a big difference between hand speed and arm strength.
[quote=“Hammer”]… long toss will not translate into hand speed.[/quote]I agree, kind of. I personally believe that long toss can be great for conditioning and that would be its primary benefit. The link between long toss and velocity may lie in two factors. The 1st being to condition the tissues involved so that they actually can withstand the rigors of high velocity throwing. The 2nd being to strengthen/train all of the other musculature involved in pitching at high speeds, such as the legs and core. I would actually credit Roger for these thoughts but I’ll let him chime in if he wishes to correct me on his thoughts on it.
[quote=“Hammer”]There’s a big difference between hand speed and arm strength.[/quote]What’s your definition of “arm”? Which muscles of the “arm” require strength for pitching?