Sunday, December 2, 2012

Long Toss Programs

by:  Tommy John III
I don't think I will ever support a long toss approach.  I don't feel it has its place in a pitchers training and preparation unless he just "feels" like doing it, for reasons of feel not because someone told him it was good for him or he'd get stronger or he'd loosen up his muscles.  That entire article doesn't make any sense.  And what I love is all the research Tom House has done.  Honestly we can find research for anything, and prove anything through data because the truth is the reports will always find what they are setting out to prove and if they don't then they will tweak the controls until it does.  Medicine does it as well as the natural community. So research doesn't turn me on.  And when those guys say that as you expand out to 300 ft. you really increase internal rotation range and external range and stretch the muscles and open up the joint blah blah blah, what the hell do you think throwing it as hard as you can from a mound does?  

Its the effort they are trying to control for at 300 ft.  So control for it on a mound.  Then they say these guys become better athletes trying to make the adjustments necessary to hit a guy in the chest at 300 ft. What about hitting a dime at 60 off a mound at max effort? Pretty athletic.  I do agree 100% with the negative effect the confines of a system of reps and sets does to the human animal.  It keeps you within that range.  Throw til you feel you are done.  Listen to yourself. If your pre game is 100 pitches one day and 35 the next only because you felt ready then so be it.  And the only way to be able to do that is to throw.  

Now, what they never talk about is training. And what sucks is they all group training into one category but the things I've seen or done over the past 9 years you can't really say its training.  Because systems like this restore, regenerate, activate higher brain centers, raise the level of homeostasis, its meditative, spiritual, emotional and its all wrapped into one that if done right then the athlete can go do whatever they want however many times they want to do it.  

If we were outside moving and working with our hands and feet all day then yeah training would be a thing of the past.  But we aren't.  We are all taking advantage of the conveniences of today which is great but its killing us and our minds so we need to reverse that.  And Physical Therapy is out.  It is too comfortable, cookie cutter in that every rotator cuff is treated like they are the same, they rely on new technology which cuts out the integration from the brain to muscle at the deepest sense of it through movement on the Earth or against an object.  

Articles like this aggravate me although if you take everything they say about throwing 300ft and just switch in the word training you've got yourself something that even the best trainers worldwide would agree with.  But I will never say the best way to "train" a baseball player's body to absorb the forces he/she will encounter with their movements is to perform a baseball skill (throwing).  

Throwing is a skill and should be treated as such.  The mound is 60 ft away, that is how that skill should be crafted, polished, re-evaluated over and over, memorized, ingrained and dreamt about in a baseball player's mind.  If you are looking to open up the joint, increase the extension of certain muscles, or increase the amount of force that can be absorbed and created by said muscles then get that person to train emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, physiologically at maximum effort for every move.  Then he/she will be able to do their skill however many times they desire. 

A great follow up study:  Follow all those top draft picks who throw 300 ft. or all those guys that throw the heavy balls and don't let go or whoever they study, follow them and see how many need TJ surgery, or any other surgery and follow and see who's got crazy levels of degeneration in their joints.  Because truth be told if training is done right then the body isn't at the mercy of the sport regardless of the demand.  It is in constant regenerative mode.  And training properly can increase that whether they pitched 30 years, had an infection in their joint, or worked on a computer for a living.  Body will heal some scars over, it may take 60 years but it does it.  And throwing a ball 300 ft. just isn't what the body asked for to prepare it for the forces of life of a baseball player or anyone else.  

Here's my commercial:

Lebron shooting half court shots to improve jump shot

Tiger swinging like Happy Gilmore to improve his driving.

A PBA rolling an atlas stone to increase his performance, or bowling in the Salt Flats 800yds away at 10 pins.

Danika Patrick driving a monster truck or a fighter jet over 1500 miles away to improve.

Pro darts champion throwing at a dart board across a football field.

Why in baseball are we trying to rewrite the way to improve your skill?