Today we are going old-school once again with an article from the early 2000s on strength. Pugh et al (2001) measured 16 pitchers for arm, leg, grip strength and throwing speed within two different groups: experienced vs. inexperienced pitchers. The inexperienced pitchers were college undergrads who had never pitched before. Experienced pitchers had thrown in high school or college. Arm and leg strength was measured using a Hydra Fitness machine which measures only extension (quads and triceps). They found:
- Arm extension strength was correlated with pitch velocity.
- Regression analysis of experienced pitchers showed a significant effect with both arm strength and grip strength with velocity.
- Arm strength had a relationship with pitch velocity within inexperienced pitchers.
- Experienced pitchers were stronger and threw harder than inexperienced pitchers.
Implications: Arm extension (triceps) strength as a predictor of velocity is interesting. It may only be that stronger people, in general, throw harder and have stronger triceps. In muscle activation studies, the triceps isn’t really a mover of the arm, but it decelerates the arm after release. Therefore, I wouldn’t start doing triceps extensions to get more velocity. However, this is the first (of many) to find a connection between grip strength and velocity. In fact, grip strength has been found to correlate with overhand throwing and hitting. Therefore, I think doing more grip strengthening exercises can help benefit your pitchers!
People to Follow
It’s the beginning of the baseball season and that means there is a lot of energy and new things going on. My favorite follow has always been the Pitching Ninja because I love watching batters look silly on nasty pitches and I tend to get new ideas seeing how different pitch shapes affect different batters. For example… how could we develop something to do this.
