Throwing programs and physical therapy
Throwing programs are crucial to keep a pitcher on track with their goals and maintaining top notch performance. Without a throwing program, the risk for injury and overuse will increase.
Inside of a throwing program, you get an outline of the progressions of throwing exercises in each session and also throughout the season.
Something that should always be front and center: Throwing should be performed without pain, and if pain is present, then it’s important to address the cause sooner rather than later.
Why work with a physical therapist for a throwing program?
Working with a physical therapist can be an excellent supplement to a throwing and training program. I went pretty in depth here outlining my thoughts on pitcher specific strength training. But now, I’m going to explain more about how throwing programs and physical therapy go hand-in-hand.
What should a throwing program have?
In my opinion, a throwing program should encompass not only a throwing schedule with various efforts and intensities, but also consider mobility and strengthening for any areas of weakness.
Now, I’m not saying that you need to be doing a set of banded rows in between working on your fastball and changeup, but it might be something to incorporate beforehand if you know that you have difficulty pulling your shoulder back.
And I’m just going to be blunt with this one - sometimes you need more (or just something different) than the generic J-Band routine, which works well for most but not all.
A good throwing program changes based on what part of the season you’re in, game schedule, and your current strength program. The overall purpose is to optimize performance on the mound, reduce strain on the elbow and shoulder, and allow for better skill development.
A physical therapist can be helpful in identifying areas that need extra attention in your program. By performing a full body assessment of strength and mobility, a sports physical therapist can see what areas aren’t moving optimally and develop a plan to regain the motion and strength you need for your best performance.
You might find that it’s actually your right ankle mobility that’s quite literally standing in the way of you finally breaking 90 mph on your fastball.
As a physical therapist myself, I work with my athletes’ strength and pitching coaches all the time (with patient permission of course).
It really helps to keep everyone on the same page and moving forward with a cohesive approach.
And bonus points if we can identify potential areas of weakness before they become problematic.
Physical therapists can also provide some of the hands on treatment, like massage, scraping, cupping, and joint mobilizations to help make throwing feel more effortless.
Your pitching coach gets to make the call on which pitches you throw and how many because that’s their area of expertise.
Throwing programs should also contain a custom warm-up or activation sequence for each athlete. Ideally it would address several ways to mobilize the shoulder, wrist, thoracic spine, hips, and ankles prior to even throwing the ball.
It is important that your throwing schedule is synced with your game schedule and differs based on your role as a pitcher on the team - starting vs relief vs closing. If your starters are on the same throwing program and schedule as your relief, that’s a red flag.
Starting pitchers require a little more endurance, whereas the relief and closing pitchers have the pressure to bounce back faster between appearances.
Here are my 5 takeaways:
The best throwing programs address YOUR deficits to make you a better pitcher
A physical therapist can help hone in on which areas you need to improve (ex.right ankle mobility to throw harder)
Always include some targeted mobility work prior to throwing sessions
Your throwing program should change fairly frequently depending on if you’re in the pre-season, post-season, in-season, or off-season
Encourage your physical therapist, pitching coach, and strength coach to work together so that your plan is more cohesive.
Book a free discovery call and get started with arm care in Kennewick
If you’re local to the Tri-Cities area, my clinic is in Kennewick and I’d be happy to work with you to create an arm care routine that is specific for you as well as help you with professional arm care recovery including manual therapy, dry needling, scraping, cupping, and more.
If you’re local to the Kennewick, WA area and need help with your throwing program or want to start with a personalized assessment, call me!
