Fastball Fitness / Velocity Training

Every player out on the field, especially pitchers, want to be able to throw the ball faster. College recruiters and professional scouts will tell you it is one of the first things looked at by them and will play a big role in who they decide to recruit or sign. Over the last 10 years, velocity programs have become the hottest thing in the baseball community, however in our opinion, not enough information and analysis has been done on when, how and if one of these programs should be prescribed to the individual athlete. 

Velocity training should be looked at more holistically, throwing hard is a total body process, from foot to fingertip. Many programs out there consist almost solely of throwing/holding weighted balls. This type of program covers certain areas of the body, but ignores others. Unfortunately, real velocity training must address the entire body or velocity gains can be hard to make.  

Another major factor that is often overlooked is if the athlete can physically or mechanically handle a velocity program. At Advanced Baseball we first look at the athletes’ body, movement quality, functional strength level, biomechanical efficiency, etc. Think of this as the foundation speed and velocity are built on. If these are not assessed and examined first, a velocity program could be prescribed to an athlete with an unstable foundation. When this happens, lack of gains or even injury can occur. Simply put, can the athlete physically and mechanically handle increased energy and velocity? 

Our Fastball Fitness/Velocity Training will incorporate physical screens to assess the body of its limitations, as well as 3-D motion capture analysis to test throwing efficiency. Once completed a recommendation can be made about what will be best for the athlete to safely develop arm strength/speed and velocity.