How to keep Velo High During Games
Every pitcher knows that pitching performance can be tough to maintain during games, including both velocity and control. Players and fans marvel when starters go deep into games while still throwing heat at the tune of 95+ miles per hour. The question is, are there any ways to help keep pitchers' performance high during games, so they can go deeper without risking injury? Before we dive into a potential solution, let's visit why performance tends to drop.
*Damage primarily occurs to the Infraspinatus and Teres Minor
The first reason is simple: fatigue. Pitching is physically taxing, and the full-body movement required for pitching, which creates one of the most violent actions in sports, puts a significant amount of demand on the body, especially the shoulder. The best way to shield yourself from fatigue is to keep up with your strength and conditioning work, even during the season. There is excellent data on how ball players can effectively maintain or even improve strength while playing. I believe this is crucial for success, and I defer to my strength coach counterparts for this, like my guys at Reach Training.
Other than general fatigue, the shoulder undergoes some interesting changes during a game. We are all familiar with the Total Range of Motion and its importance for a pitcher's health (if not, please refer to my GIRD Blog Post). During the game, external rotation can increase, while internal rotation can decrease. External rotation increases because the pitcher repeatedly whips his arm back into the extreme of the motion. Internal rotation decreases because, during the game, the backside rotator cuff muscles start to experience damage. This damage is micro-tearing of the muscle fibers, and even slightly torn muscle fibers do not like to stretch, which limits internal rotation.
In addition, an outing of just 40-50 pitches can lead to a loss of elbow extension of 10 degrees, making it harder to extend the arm. This cumulative range of motion alteration triggers a drop in performance. As the shoulder mobility slowly shifts away from the norm, and the elbow extension becomes harder to achieve, a pitcher may see their velocity and control plummet.
So, how do we remedy this in-game issue? Enter the 2-Out Drill. This drill was developed to bring a pitcher's mobility back to baseline after throwing. The research involved 20 professional-level pitchers who had their shoulders and elbows measured before throwing 40 all-out pitches. After throwing, they had their mobility assessed again, and it showed a drop in internal rotation and total range of motion. They then performed the drill and saw their mobility return to baseline.
The Drill is as follows:
Cross Body Stretch, 3 seconds, 2-3x
Wrist Flexion and Elbow Extension, 3 seconds, 2-3x
Arm Circles, 5x Forward, 5x Backwards
Small Arm Circles, , 5x Forward, 5x Backwards
Cross Body Dynamic Stretch, 5x
Swims, 5x
Field Goals 5x
Trunk Rotations, 5x
Here is a video for reference: 2-Out Drill
This return to baseline may help increase performance and reduce injury risk during the game. Perform this drill when your team is up at bat and suffers out number 2 (hence the name). The only consideration here is that the study only used 20 individuals, which is not a large sample size. However, since it is just a stretch, there is no real downside risk. I suggest giving this a try at your next outing and assessing how it affects your performance.
