This is intended as a sort of extension to Jimster’s earlier thread, concerning good/bad information on the internet.
PubMed is a place on the internet where a great deal of free information relevant to the throwing athlete can be found; however, it is not necessarily a source for easy, “pre-digested” information.
Still, one can find well-controlled studies that are of real interest, such as this one:
J Strength Cond Res. 2012 May 3.
COMPARISON OF THREE BASEBALL-SPECIFIC SIX-WEEK TRAINING PROGRAMS ON THROWING VELOCITY IN HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PLAYERS.
Escamilla RF, Ionno M, Demahy S, Fleisig GS, Wilk KE, Yamashiro K, Mikla T, Paulos L, Andrews JR.
California State University,Sacramento, Department of Physical Therapy, Sacramento, CA, USA 2Texas Tech University, Health, Exercise & Sports Sciences Department, Lubbock, TX, USA 3Andrews-Paulos Research and Education Institute, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA 4American Sports Medicine Institute, Birmingham, AL, USA 5Champion Sports Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA 6Results Physical Therapy and Training Center, Sacramento, CA, USA.
ABSTRACT: Throwing velocity is an important baseball performance variable for baseball pitchers, because greater throwing velocity results in less time for hitters to make a decision to swing. Throwing velocity is also an important baseball performance variable for position players, because greater throwing velocity results in decreased time for a runner to advance to the next base. This study compared the effects of 3 baseball-specific 6-week training programs on maximum throwing velocity. Sixty-eight high school baseball players 14-17 years of age were randomly and equally divided into three training groups and a non-training control group. The 3 training groups were the Throwers Ten (TT), Keiser Pneumatic (KP), and Plyometric (PLY). Each training group trained 3 days per week for 6 weeks, comprised of approximately 5-10 min for warm-up, 45 min of resistance training, and 5-10 for cool down. Throwing velocity was assessed prior to (pre-test) and just after (post-test) the 6-week training program for all subjects. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance with post-hoc paired t-tests was used to assess throwing velocity differences (p < 0.05). Compared to pre-test throwing velocity values, post-test throwing velocity values were significantly greater in the TT group (1.7% increase), the KP group (1.2% increase), and the PLY group (2.0% increase), but not significantly different in the control group. These results demonstrate that all 3 training programs were effective in increasing throwing velocity in high school baseball players, but the results of this study did not demonstrate that one resistance training program was more effective than another resistance training program in increasing throwing velocity.
PMID:22549085