The Key to Long Toss

Just a short piece today. I have been doing quite a bit of long toss recently with my young clients. Everyone seems to know that long toss will help you throw the ball further and harder. However, what they fail to realize that if they do not pay attention to their mechanics when long tossing, they run the risk of creating poor pitching mechanics as well as, possibly injuring their arm.

The key to the distance throwing that is long toss is the ensure the elbows and arms work linerally (in a straight line) to the target. The only thing that should change is the angle of release. When we throw off the mound, we trajectory should be from high to low, ending at the knees of the hitter. On the contrary, when throwing long, the ball should have about a 30 degrees angle of release upward (toward the sky, in a way). The easiest way to throw the ball upwards is to throw around the body in a circular motion. This is completely contrary to what we are trying to accomplish on the mound. Instead, the pitcher must force his elbows upward (with a slight tilt of the front shoulder up) and as the hips turn, the front elbow works (not around) and the back elbow works up and through the release point. The other key is to keep the fingers and hand on top of the baseball, even though the ball is being released higher than normal.

Once the ball is released, the chest and torso should finish forward and down after release. Like pitching off the mound, the front knee must bend slightly allowing the arm to get extended as the arm whips through to follow through.

Work on these techniques next time you throw and be sure to post any questions.

Until Next Time!!