Does resistance training for pitchers improve velocity and stamina? If there is improvement, at what cost does it come? Does it cause accelerated wear and tear to the pitchers muscular-skeletal system? Are mechanics irreversibly altered in a negative way by using anything other than a regulation size and weight baseball to train with? These are questions that need to be answered by anyone contemplating a resistance based training program.

Searching the Internet I was able to find quite a number of research papers that address the issues posed above. One research paper in particular was very convincing. The authors review twenty-six separate studies on velocity resistance training methods consisting of isotonic, ballistic, medicine ball, isokinetic, overload baseballs, wall pulley, weighted baseballs, Exer-genie and surgical tubing. Twenty-two of the studies show an increase in velocity from resistance training; three show no change and one showed a decrease. See: Effects of General, Special, and Specific Resistance Training on Throwing Velocity in Baseball: A Brief Review; J. Strength Cond. Res. 15 (1): 148-156. 2001 by DeRenne, et al.

Based on the above cited paper and numerous others, the evidence appears to be overwhelming that resistance training works to improve throwing velocity. With anything in life though nothing is that simple, otherwise there would be near total agreement across the baseball world on this issue and there isn’t. There are still some unanswered questions.

I personally don't believe any training aid or pitching technique will allow you to throw faster than you were designed by nature to throw. When it comes to throwing velocity everyone has a natural speed limit imposed on them largely by genetics: height, limb length, fast-twitch muscle, tendon and ligiment elasticity to name a few. There will always be some who can throw faster than others even if everyone trained identically and had the identical pitching technique. What I think a good pitching training aid should do is to first and foremost, help you to attain your top speed and attain it significantly faster than without using a training aid. Once achieved, the training aid should allow you to maintain your top speed with less wear and tear or injury.

Some years back I became aware of weighted baseballs as a pitching training aid. I considered having my sons use them, but I had doubt at the time they might cause more harm than good. My sons never used them for this reason. That was before the Internet and the easy access to the information it can provide. Over the last two years while developing the Aerothrow I have done extensive reading of the available publications on the subject. The vast majority of the research I have read, including baseball authorities who have written about the subject on their websites, strongly suggest weighted baseballs work to increase velocity. I list some of the available publications below for reference.

Granted that using weighted baseballs as a pitching training aid will increase throwing velocity, there is still the issue of wear and tear and injury. It seems common sense that if ones mechanics are flawed, adding weight to the ball one is training with will simply hasten the occurrence of injury. Although some researchers and coaches state that they have not witnessed any increase in injury from using weighted baseballs, they admit that follow-up studies are needed before stating that as fact. Also keep in mind that a lot of the studies were done with high school and college athletes. I would be very cautious about allowing anyone below that age group to train with weighted baseballs.

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