Long Toss Workout

[Dave619]

We are working on my 14 yo DD's pitching speed and strength. At school she has a strength and conditioning class that she has 3 times a week (they typically do weight machines, plyometrics, speed drills, various conditioning exercises. At home we have started doing long toss. I watched a video of long toss from youtube that had Monica Abbott in it so I got the basics of what she was doing. Just not sure of the reps at the different distances, etc.

I would like to see how others are doing long toss, how many reps going out to max distance and how many coming back in? How many times a week are you doing long toss? She is still playing tournaments in the fall approx. every other week so how to you take that into account?

Also, do you pitch any on the same day as long toss? I am looking at how to balance her school workouts, long toss, and pitching sessions thru the week and give her some rest time as well.

Tonight my DD did a session of long toss and coming back in to 43' I had her throw about 20 pitches mixing it up. I have found her arm to be more "whippy" and she has been surprisingly more accurate. I would think at the end of the session she would be less accurate, but that has not been the case.

Thanks for anything you can share on this!

 

[Sparky Guy]

What I do with the girls I work with is to make sure they are 100% warmed up and pitching at full speed. Starting at the pitching rubber I have them take 3 steps back and throw 2 pitches. Then I have them back up 3 more steps and repeat the process. I have them repeat it until they are not able to make it to the plate. I will have them do a couple run through's from their max distance. Then I bring them back to the pitching rubber and have them pitch from there. I tell them to throw the ball as hard as they did from their max distance. The first couple will be high then they make the adjustment and throw the ball near the plate. They will be noticeably faster on their pitches. Doing the distance forces them to relax and throw/whip the ball to get it there.

For the beginners I will have them throw only 3 or 4 pitches from their max distance. Older and more developed pitchers I will have them throw more. There is no set distance to throw from. Each girl is different and their distances will increase with development.

 

[chrispots]

No need to reinvent the wheel...

From Rick Pauly's website: http://www.paulygirlfastpitch.com/uploads/Speed_Training_Pitching_Speed.docx

My girls are 12U so I modified it a bit so they don't get hurt...we started with these drills 1x a week using the 4oz and 5oz markwort balls after they are warmed up. we throw 3-4 pitches with the idea of throwing HIGH into the backstop starting at 40 feet and moving out to 100 feet moving in 6-8 foot increments. The biggest improvement I have seen is their postures and brush are noticeably improved. We then move to the underloading drills and finish with the 60 second drill.

IMO - Be a hard a$$ on getting her to control her core. I use must use the word "engage" 100 times over the 10 minutes or so that it takes 3 pitchers to complete the drill.

CP

 

[FastPitchCat]

No need to reinvent the wheel...

IMO - Be a hard a$$ on getting her to control her core. I use must use the word "engage" 100 times over the 10 minutes or so that it takes 3 pitchers to complete the drill.

CP

the word "engage" reminds me of Captain Picard. but great info.

 

[GoCaboNow]

DD PC only does long toss in the off season, which is kind of disappointing to DD as she really loves it.

After full warm up she throws a few balls at 60, 80, 100 feet for long toss warm up. PC lays out a 150' tape. DD has three sets of 10 to see how far she can throw it. The cool part for DD is it's a competition. If last time she had 25 throws of 90' or longer, this time she is shooting for 25 throws at 92'. PC is where dd throws from to make sure she does not go over the line give tips/encouragement, I am at the tape end to yell where the ball lands and record. So, dd gets a number after every throw - and it drives her to throw farther. She really puts her all into EVERY throw. Is quite a workout but she absolutely loves it.

After our break following fall ball, dd is stoked to hit some local turf, football fields so we can hopefully continue this over the winter between rain storms.

 

[chrispots]

the word "engage" reminds me of Captain Picard. but great info.

Make it so, number one

LOL

 

[Merrill Danner]

After DD is well warmed up, throwing at 100%. We incorporate long toss several times a week. With emphasis on the a strong front side resistance.
Starting on the rubber throwing 5 pitches and moving back about 10 feet with each subsequent set of throws, until she is no longer getting to the mark, which is either the glove or a target, depending on if i am catching or watching mechanics and making suggestions.

Sometimes we will cut it short if she is not performing as expected.I think this is one of those drills where an injury is possible and want to avoid that if possible. So if i feel or she feels that she is not focused on the drill and able to perform well, we just stop the drill or decrease the distance.

On days where she does long toss, she also does one leg pitches, also sometime do variations of one leg from 50, 60 and 70 feet. it makes it a little harder to control balance, push hard, explode open in order to keep the arm speed up.

 

[JAD]

When my DD does long toss we do not treat it as a complete workout. It is something we do @ once a week at the end of a bucket session. She will start @ 100 ft, throw a couple of balls, back up @ 20 feet and throw a few more, ect. In all she probably throws 15-20 long toss balls.

 

[SAMBU101010]

I became hooked on long toss after watching Jennie Finch long toss before a game in Williamsport PA during their Olympic tour. She was incredible hitting the target about every time from over 150 feet!! Started working with my daughter at 43 feet, then she threw maybe two balls every two or three steps back until her accuracy declined and she was no longer getting it to me with limited arc and within my shoulders side to side. At that point, I had her slowly come back to me to 43 feet. As she got older, it of course got longer and longer but then I allowed her arc to rise as long as she was accurate getting ball to me. Not sure at all if this was by the book but it definitely increased her arm strength and accuracy over the years. She is a senior DIII pitcher this year and has done quite well, and still does some long tossing at practices. My only recommendation is to make sure the are really loose and warmed up before starting... Hope this helps...

 

[PEPPERS]

We normally do log toss every other work out, which the workout is daily when weather and time permitting, DD is a junior in college.

We start at the mound take 3 steps back each successful throw until she reaches her limit which is about 170 feet give or take a few feet. Then she works her way back to the mound 3 steps at a time. When she gets back to the mound she then throws 5-8 fastballs to get her accuracy back.