Build It Before You Need It
Way too many baseball players wait until they need something before they start preparing for it.
Need to throw harder? Start throwing hard.
Need to get stronger? Start lifting.
Need to be ready for high school baseball in January? Start working out in January.
Makes perfect sense… right?
Unfortunately, that is the way a lot of young baseball players approach their development.
The late summer and early fall are actually some of the most important months of the year for a high school baseball player. The games have slowed down, the weather is starting to change, and there is finally an opportunity to step back and work on the things that are going to make a difference when January rolls around.
And January is coming a lot faster than you think.
For high school players, and at the youth level, the January through May stretch can be a grind. Between preseason workouts, tryouts, practices, scrimmages, games, tournaments, pitching, hitting, and everything else that comes with high school baseball, there isn’t much time to build a foundation once the season gets going.
That foundation needs to be built before the season starts.
This is where late summer and early fall become so important.
This is the time to get stronger.
This is the time to improve mobility.
This is the time to work on arm care.
This is the time to clean up throwing mechanics.
This is the time to gradually build the arm back up and prepare it for the workload that is coming.
This is where Throwzone Academy comes in to show you a specific plan we have for our players.
One of the biggest mistakes we see is players taking the summer off, playing some fall baseball, and then suddenly trying to ramp everything up in January.
That is a recipe for problems.
You cannot expect your body to go from sitting around in December to throwing at full speed, lifting hard, and competing several times a week in January without consequences.
The body needs preparation.
The arm needs preparation.
And strength needs to be developed over time.
At Throwzone Academy, we believe the late summer and early fall should be about building the foundation.
For pitchers, that means establishing a consistent throwing program that gradually develops arm strength and endurance.
It means making arm care a daily habit instead of something you do only when your arm is sore.
It means strengthening the shoulder, scapular muscles, core, and lower half so the arm doesn’t have to do all the work.
It means working on mobility and movement quality.
And it means developing the strength necessary to handle the demands of a long high school season.
Some of the areas players should be focusing on right now include:
- Building overall strength and athleticism
- Developing shoulder and scapular strength
- Consistent J-Band and arm-care work
- Improving shoulder and hip mobility
- Gradually building throwing volume
- Developing proper throwing mechanics
- Strengthening the lower half and core
- Learning how to recover properly
- Establishing good training habits before the season starts
None of this is particularly exciting.
There isn’t a scoreboard.
There aren’t scouts sitting in the stands.
Nobody is handing out trophies for doing your arm care in September.
But this is where development happens.
The players who are willing to put in the work when nobody is watching are usually the players who are better prepared when the games actually matter.
Think about it this way… You don’t start building a house after you move into it.
You build the foundation first.
Then you build the house on top of it.
Baseball development is no different.
The work you put in during September, October, November, and December is the foundation for what you are going to be able to do from January through May.
And for pitchers, that foundation is especially important.
A high school season is a long one. You may be asked to pitch, play another position, hit, practice, and compete multiple times during the week. If your body isn’t prepared to handle that workload, something eventually has to give.
We would much rather see a player enter January prepared than spend January trying to get prepared.
Don’t wait until the first practice to start getting ready.
Don’t wait until your arm hurts to start taking care of it.
Don’t wait until the coach tells you that you need to get stronger.
Start now.
The late summer and early fall are your opportunity to build the foundation that will allow you to perform at your best when the season arrives.
At Throwzone Academy, our goal isn’t simply to get a pitcher throwing harder today.
Our goal is to help develop a stronger, healthier, and more complete baseball player who is prepared to handle the demands of the game for the long haul.
Build it now… so you’re ready when you need it.
Throwzone Academy still has available slots for our group classes for both young and older. We want to help you improve your arm health. We will also advise on things such as pitch counts, inning limits, and how to handle a youth and travel ball coach when it comes to your arm health. If you are being overused in the amount you are throwing, then a change is needed. If your coach won’t drive you to the orthopedic doctor’s office, pay the deductible on whatever the doctor advises, and take you to your physical therapy appointments, then he does not have the right to pitch or even catch, as much as we can advise you not to.
Contact us today to reserve your slot!
Developing pitchers the right way.
Until next time…
Jim Wagner's ThrowZone Academy 