Using weighted baseball for hitting has become a popular choice for training in recent years. Refine your technique with one of our selections, which includes options meant to cater to a range of skill levels. In other words, weighted baseballs comprise a medium between traditional throwing drills (bullpens, long toss, flat ground drills) and what one encounters with medicine ball work and resistance training. What are your thoughts on “holds with weighted balls?” I’m hearing pos and neg remarks. Looks like I should’ve went to UCONN for my master’s. Overthrowing and poor care for baseball’s most valuable tool (your arm) is reckless and can lead to serious complications to your baseball career. My son’s program uses holds and throws with 16oz, 6oz, 5oz, 4oz, 2oz, then holds only with a towel. There are several historic instances of people catching, or attempting to catch, baseballs tied to MLB milestones: The ball that Mark McGwire hit for his 70th home run of the 1998 baseball season, then setting a new record, was sold by a fan to Todd McFarlane for US$3.2 million at auction. Also, there are virtually no studies done examining the positive and/or negative effects of weighted baseball training on middle school/youth pitchers. I like this drill a lot for two reasons. The mention of how throwing a football is more to “the right on the absolute speed>>>>absolute strength continuum” piqued my curiosity and would seem like a good start Thanks for your time. But for Pitcher 2, the risk is much lower due to the arm speed kinematics he generates (and subsequent kinetics / joint loads). The next time you have the option to use weighted baseballs for hitting, give it a shot. I think there is much more important work to be done than use weighted balls. There’s no room for silly injuries on the field that can be avoided. If you have ever been out to a MLB game early enough to catch the pregame warmups with the players, you may be lucky enough to catch a MLB pitcher warming up with a weighted baseball at a close distance. Here is just one such example that is actually a meta-analysis describing the collective outcomes of all those studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10783901, Of particular note, “Data from these training studies strongly support the practice of training with overweight and underweight baseballs to increase throwing velocity of regulation baseballs.”. It was with these methods that we determined that underload implements were more stressful on the arm due to peak forces vs. total forces years ahead of peer-reviewed methods. You don’t play catch with weighted baseballs. I do, however, know some very bright minds in the field who will go heavier. Take a few baseballs and throw them in a bucket of water overnight. Ultimately, maximal arm speed (throwing light baseballs hard) will lead to greater velocity improvements over maximal arm strength (throwing heavy baseballs slow). As a general rule of thumb, I do not go above 8oz for any drill that has a considerable lay-back (as pictured below) component, as the stress on the elbow is already pretty high in this position. Granted, there are differences in the way that footballs are thrown, as compared to baseballs, but you have to consider that tripling the weight of the ball would increase arm stress, right? There is no scientific proof it helps and the thought of the extra stress and possible timing interference scares me. You can sometimes find baseballs that are over one pound. We use this set from BaseballExpress.com; it includes 7-12oz balls, which is sufficient for most individuals. Personally, I prefer to keep the learning loop short and keep the athlete cognizant of the 5oz feel with repeated sets as opposed to one big one. If you increase the weight of the implement, you slow down the arm action. There’s a bunch of different weighted baseballs that you can find, but I generally like to find weighted baseballs that aren’t too heavy. Or is it all about muscle flexability in the elbow? Sometimes you’ll want to attempt to make a throw with a heavier ball at a closer distance, rather than a farther throw with a lighter ball. I’m 6’0″, 205 RHP, 18, senior in high school. Ron T it sounds like u know alot more than one of the top trainers in the united states, who trains major leaguers. Mark Hertz has played baseball most of his life and ended up getting a scholarship to Louisiana State. They’re still in great shape.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'baseballboom_com-box-4','ezslot_2',107,'0','0'])); Finding a variation of weighted baseballs is beneficial because it can lead to a more versatile workout. Weighted-ball throwing programs are commonly used in training baseball pitchers to increase ball velocity. However most experts seem to agree that weighted baseball are safe for adults or older teenagers to use, as long as you follow certain precautions. There are sand filled weighted baseballs which can contribute to long toss workouts and are safer to use than solid weighted baseballs. Another great article Eric! Weighted Baseballs: Safe and Effective, or Stupid and Dangerous? If you do implement holds how so and how often? If you slow down the arm action a bit, the deceleration demands drop – and it appears to be more arm-friendly. No weighted-ball threshold-building regimen was used. I recommend getting this set. This is a fantastic tool to use against hand tremors whilst eating, especially soup. This leads to a gradual and steady progressive overload. All of our weighted baseball drills generally take place in the 7-11oz range. In fact we have Driveline weighted balls at my facility. Quarterbacks throw 14-16oz footballs (140z is the dry weight; balls actually become heavier as they’re used more). Thanks for putting so much time and thought into each one of your articles. Where am I wrong? In referance to the “laid back” external rotation, How do you start the throw with weigted balls to work “more out front”? What is a good ball weight range for them? Also, with the weighted balls (I won’t begin these until I finish my program, and after long tossing like you said), do you suggest only one set of 3 at 7oz, 3 at 9oz and 3 at 5oz… or do you prefer multiple sets? Jeff – I really like Ron and Trevor’s stuff (actually had breakfast with them this past weekend). Dumb asses these guys are. Feel free to select from these as they are the most popular ones in the market and provide useful … You can see a trend upward as well as the rise in popularity of weighted baseballs over the last few years: Let … It is generally regarded to be safe when thrown between a distance between 6-15 feet away. Design by DAYO, *I hate spam too, only the best for my subscribers. It is NOT something I think coaches should just implement on a gross scale with unprepared 13-year-old kids. I suffered from dramatic pain in my upper biceps for a year and a half. Weighted vests have been around for quite a while now, with early inventions dating back to the late 20th century. It’s a good rule of thumb to start off lighter to avoid injury. Weighted baseballs are used to build arm strength and work on pitching mechanics. I threw very little or not at all for almost a YEAR AND A HALF. Throwing farther may result in rotator cuff and arm tendon damage. (2) Using a weighted ball for this low-intensity drill can help strengthen young player’s arms. Over the last several years baseball pitching at all levels from professionals to youth leagues has become increasingly dependent on pitch velocity and power.According to Pitch/FX data, the average fastball velocity in MLB has gone up each year since tracking began in 2008, from 90.9 MPH to 93.2 MPH in 2017. And, you could say that a lot of quarterbacks throw every day – and potentially even more than pitchers throw. The difference is like night and day. A user with this email address has already subscribed, FREE Baseball Hitting Drills To Build an Elite Hitter, Best Youth Baseball Glove for 9 Year olds, 15 Baseball Fielding Drills for 12 Year Olds, 10 Youth Catcher Drills to Build an Elite Player. Like Like Below are the Google search term trends for “weighted baseballs” and “increase baseball velocity” from 2004 to February 2016. So, are weighted baseballs safe? Our process gets clients more athletic. underload balls except for very … My son is 13 and is working with his pitching coach using 2lb, 1lb, 6oz, 5oz, 4oz, and 2oz balls. Definitely some points for a future article, but in the meantime, you might like this: http://ericcressey.com/pitchers-vs-quarterbacks-vs-swimmers. Before weighted dog vests and vests for calming dogs entered the market, there was a demand for more traditional vests. So, the athletes we have that may be utilizing weighted baseballs are some of our pro guys, college guys, and more advanced high school guys. So is there risk in using a high-intensity throwing program by using weighted baseballs? You’ll need a contact ball, which is a little bit heavier. Looking back at Shawn’s program, his first session with weighted baseballs was January 11, and his last one was February 18th – so it wasn’t something he was doing year-round or in-season. There is more negative about this from actual sports physiologists than positive. Weighted utensils, just like weighted vests for kids do, apply a large force on muscles, calming them, and making them easier to control. There are plenty of reasons to want to use a weighted baseball to examine its safety. Hey there! We do all our weighted ball drills into a tarp/net from about 6-8 feet away. Dog vests have also been around for quite a while, but the invention date is a little more uncertain. Wrist strength may be playing a role in this observation.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'baseballboom_com-banner-1','ezslot_8',109,'0','0'])); After a few tosses of soft toss with each member of the team, I had them go through again, but this time, with regular baseballs. Can You Use Weighted Baseballs for Hitting? Although, not as common as using a weighted baseball for throwing, using them for hitting is slowly starting to take off. Weighted baseballs are a great training tool that are perfect to improve your pitching speed and hitting performance. The first response that comes to mind is “Who decided a baseball should be 50z?”  It’s actually a very arbitrary number. I wouldn’t recommend using standard weighted balls for hitting. Give it a shot! We always bring the athlete back to the normal 5oz ball at the end of each set. This type of movement is similar to taking a swing with a batting donut to increase your swing speed shortly after. Rather one should 1)get strong, and 2)practice the skill, two seperate endeavors. Do we know the long term implications of these programs? Thanks for your perspective on such a delicate and complex subject. Britton started with weighted baseballs as a teenager, when Flint Wallace of Ron Wolforth's Texas Baseball Ranch was his coach at Weatherford High School. Shortly after his college career came to a close, Mark coached several high school baseball teams. Learning more from your site than in any of my classes. To answer these questions: Do you use weighted baseballs? The idea of this drill is not to increase your distance thrown, but to develop good upper body throwing mechanics. Generally, lighter baseballs are more stressful than heavier baseballs; however, mid-range weighted baseballs (16 oz) can produce higher torques and should be used in accordance with biomechanics monitoring to ensure a safe limit is … The reasoning behind this is to teach the arm to accelerate faster through the pitching motion. Each of our throwing programs is 100% unique. I’m doing so much to try and regain all of that lost strength and development over these years. I’ve done some studying of this topic and have some thoughts to balancing with overload and under load weighted balls in order to improve the deceleration muscles which as you probably know are one of the contributors to increased velocity….meaning the faster I can decelerate the faster the arm action resulting in higher velocity. Wrong! What thoughts or experience do you have with football quarterbacks that may differ from your work with pitchers. It turns out I was dehydrated and had a lack of flexibility. There has been much debate as to whether throwing weighted balls is safe and, until recently, no studies had investigated physical changes and injury rates of throwing weighted balls. First, let me make two things abundantly clear: 1. Weighted baseballs are safe – providing you have the proper techniques down and use them in accordance with a good training schedule. He agreed. I get asked relatively frequently whether we use weighted baseballs with our pitchers, and if so, how they are incorporated. Weighted baseballs are not inherently “dangerous” nor are they “safe”. I will never spam you or share your email, Why different athletes need different approaches to power development, Why it’s essential that you learn to train outside the sagittal plane, Which medicine ball and plyometric variations I use with baseball players, Why not all throwers have identical deceleration patterns or training needs, How your arm care programs can be improved to reduce the risk of injury and improve throwing velocity, Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes. We have, however, had scenarios where guys have used weighted baseballs to get ready for fall throwing appearances (for example, the World Wood Bat Tournament in Jupiter, FL every October). I figured it’d be worth a post to outline my thoughts. I never saw this post before so sorry to be commenting on something so old, but the topic is still pretty fresh! What is a weighted ball throwing program? The asterisk that follows this statement is that they’re only implemented with those who have built a decent foundation of strength and mastered the fundamental mechanics of throwing a regular (5oz) baseball. No there’s NOT! Yet, they have far fewer elbow and shoulder problems than pitchers – and usually far less coaching on the mechanics of throwing than pitchers. I can never get that kind of stretch with bands or a regular ball. Training camp lasts 12-14 days consecutive, so I’ve dealt with these guys with sore shoulders and arm consistently. Throw the ball, then walk to pick it up. It is also important to understand the mechanical adaptations that may take place with weighted ball training, particularly in the overload phase. Best Weighted Baseballs 2021 The following are the best Weighted Baseballs that help you to provide nudge over your woodworking skills. Cheers, Another well thought and informative article. I still am thankful for the article as it is thought provoking. If you don’t want to buy a pack of weighted baseballs, there’s always an opportunity to create your own weighted baseballs and it’s really simple. Sure enough, after drinking 150+ ounces of water a day i would feel no pain! I would also debate using weighted balls for long toss. Although, this is undoubtedly a great alternative to someone on a strict budget. Many of these programs utilize the throwing of weighted balls in their training. We can go considerably heavier with drills that are more focused on what’s happening out in front of the body, though. More importantly, 24% of pitchers in the weighted ball program sustained an injury during the program or during the subsequent season, while 0% were injured in the standard ball program. After running a bunch of pitchers through the program they noticed an interesting side effect - increased velocity. We don’t start throwing weighted baseballs until we’ve built guys up on their long tossing and the arm is 100% ready. Also who/what/where would you recommend looking at for learning more about softball pitching and how to train for it? A number of training studies have been conducted using underload/overload baseballs utilizing a large range of weight variations (4 ounces to 17 ounces with most being 5 ounces +/- 20%). Britton -- and subsequently, many of the Orioles' other relievers -- can be seen warming up in the bullpen before every outing with a green 32-ounce baseball. Arm strength is a key component when it comes to baseball — especially at the higher level leagues. So, the short answer to this question is yes. Then he does a combination of throws / holds for the other balls which is dictated by results of velocity tested by throwing each of the balls into a net while being “gunned” He’s been working with this same coach since he was 9 and has very solid throwing mechanics. I’ve also read studies the max weight to work with should be no more than 10-12% above/below the 5oz weight…so basically use a 6-7oz OR 3-4oz weighted ball. This means throwing on a consistent basis for at least one month (30 days) prior to … ; Larry Ellison, not to be confused with the software entrepreneur of the same … As you stated, players have to have a solid base of long toss under their belts, but I’m curious as to what your strength standards/look-fors are for a ball player to move up to using weighted balls? The though of throwing a one pound baseball is absolutely terrifying to me, especially as a coach. on the biomechanical differences between the throwing motion of a baseball pitcher and as a quarterback and, with that in mind, the various approaches to training the latter. Our formula for getting players out of pain and onto a safe path for greater velocity and command is executed regularly through a process of assessment, education, and customization. Well done Eric. The stress was in the longhead of the biceps tendon and partially because I was not using my scaps enough. Actually, there absolutely IS scientific proof. The reason that I recommend this is because it’s the only set I found on Amazon has a wide variety of weights and is totally affordable. Thank you! I believe it puts more stress on the elbow and the benefit gained by this may not be worth the risk – at least until I’m convinced we have more consistent mechanics on the mound. Weighted Baseballs: Safe and Effective, or Stupid and Dangerous? Check your email inbox and confirm your subscription. I think there is definitely a place for incorporating holds. Success! Higher weighted balls may lead to injury when attempting to make the catch. A standard baseball weighs 5 ounces. (i assume you’re familiar with the Steve Delabar story…He used the same program) Thanks! Great article. I would also debate using weighted balls for long toss. Let’s stop the dichotomy, and turn the discussion towards where and how they fit into physical preparation and player development, and what we can do to mitigate risk. One of the more interesting findings to me was that external rotation rotator cuff strength actually went up in the control group and not the weighted baseball group. Yes, we do work with the 4oz and 2oz balls as well….more throws than holds, though. Throwing farther may result in rotator cuff and arm tendon damage. Whip creates arm speed. Pure physics. by Eric Cressey, December 15, 2009. He doesn’t throw the 2lb or 1lb, but replicates a throwing motion and “holds” the implement.
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