I have a new coach and he’s getting all the pitchers to run 10 poles on 1/3rds, that is jog a third, sprint a third, jog 1/3rds, sprint a third, ect.
How much running should a pitcher do after there main ballpen?
Also, in long toss, what is a safe distance to max out on, atm im throwing 220ft-250ft, should i extend this when my arm gets strong enough?
thanks
Running 1/3 poles is actually a very good type of running – especially if you really push yourself and make it a full sprint. 10 is fine. You might want to add 2 every two to four weeks until you reach 16. Then taper off back down to 10 as you near the end of your season.
As for long toss – everyone’s different. Form, however, is VERY important. Extend back to a distance where you can still maintain quality throws, if you’re going to long toss. Always take a crow hop. ALWAYS! And if you have to bounce it on a line, that’s perfectly OK.
In college those are called sprint-jogs and become the nightmares for many baseball players especially pitchers. Mr. Ellis and some of the other members on this forum will know what I mean, but yes it is very good and very useful.
To add to what Mr. Ellis said about Long-tossing. To gain velocity and keep yourself healthy FORM is the most important thing. You can throw 200 feet but if you are just throwing it as high as you can and losing your mechanics of throwing then you are risking injury. Bouncing it is also helpful because it will make sure you throwing down through versus throwing underneath the ball.
A pitching coach I had once told me when he was coaching at Arizona they faced USC and on Saturday the day after he threw he was standing on the foul line and his throwing partner was standing on the warning track on the other side of the field (200 ft away). With that being said I had a teammate who was drafted that threw about 30 feet the day after he pitched so Mr. Ellis is right everyone is different.