Drills for pitching stamina or arm endurance?

[Lothar241]

Does anybody have any suggestions on drills the girls can do at home to build up their arm endurance? I am not a pitching coach so I am looking for a little help.

Our #1 pitcher will probably be pitching a lot this Spring/Summer and we would like to build up her arm strength.

Thanks

 

[starsnuffer]

Coaches CornerA Pitching Workout to Help Game Success « Softball Excellence

 

[halskinner]

Four thing go into pitching alot of games in a day / tournament;

Mechanics
Strength
Stamina
Rest / diet

I have said many times "What you do in practice, you WILL do in the game".. People have taken that statement to mean many different things over the years.

Here is what my experience has taught me. If you practice during the week and you throw 60 pitches, 3 times a week, you will normally be good for 60 pitches during the game. Then you will tire, you will start to lopse your grip first, then ball speed will drop off.

If you throw 100 pitches 3 times a week, you will pitch well fo 100 pitches in the game.

If you throw 150 pitches 3 times a week, you can easily throw a game because the stressd oof the game is less than a normal workout. Get the picture here.

Start gradually increasing the amount you pitch in practice over several weeks. Decide how many pitches you would be throwing in an AWFUL game and work youself up to 150% of that number. Even an awful game will not stress you.

It is not the slow change ups and off-speed pitches that tire you out. You can throw hundreds of those all day long. It's the full out fastest pitches you can throw that tire your arm and shoulder. Then, if you continue to throw after the muscles tire, that is when you risk injury. Muscles are what protects the ligamtes, tendons and joints and tired muscles do not offer much protection.

I have had 10 year olds throw 500 pitches 3 times a week at home, unk how many at team practice. They go to a tourney and can throw 5 games in a day with no injuries. They slept the whole trip home but were not even sore the next day.

I have had 16 year oids that could never find time to practice and thought that 30 minutes a week with me was enough. They would start a game throwing ridiculously fast,, for the 1st inning.. 2nd inning, noticeably slower and getting hit. 3rd inning, they lose their grip and the ball hits the dirt in front of the plate every other pitch. Then they get yanked. They could only throw well for as many pitches as they practiced at a session.


Good luck

 

[Phandle]

You can Hot Potato drill. The pitcher should pitch 3 sets of 15 pitches real quick without taking a break.

 

[Pitching Dad]

Does anybody have any suggestions on drills the girls can do at home to build up their arm endurance? I am not a pitching coach so I am looking for a little help.

Our #1 pitcher will probably be pitching a lot this Spring/Summer and we would like to build up her arm strength.

Thanks

Here is one that is FANTASTIC for endurance I use on my DD and she can pitch multiple games in a day:
Take a bucket of balls and spread them out between mound and catcher. Now she has to run, get a ball, go back to the rubber and pitch, then keep repeating till all balls are pitched. This will WEAR THEM OUT. I will do this drill 2 times a week, 25 or so balls in each rep, 3 reps. it REALLY makes a difference in thier stamina.

 

[chinamigarden]

Here is one that is FANTASTIC for endurance I use on my DD and she can pitch multiple games in a day:
Take a bucket of balls and spread them out between mound and catcher. Now she has to run, get a ball, go back to the rubber and pitch, then keep repeating till all balls are pitched. This will WEAR THEM OUT. I will do this drill 2 times a week, 25 or so balls in each rep, 3 reps. it REALLY makes a difference in thier stamina.

We do something similar, its called Pitch and Fetch. she pitches and instead of me throwing the ball back she has to sprint to me, get the ball and sprint back to the mound and pitch again. No delay, no rest for 10 balls. It doesn't sound like much but at 43 feet it works out to running 290 yards at full speed. It does a couple of things, it helps them strenghten the legs (which is critical for pitching endurance) and it forces them to pitch with their heart pounding, breathing hard and sweating. Or basically how they will feel with the bases loaded in the 7th up by 1 run.

 

[sluggers]

Our #1 pitcher will probably be pitching a lot this Spring/Summer and we would like to build up her arm strength.

The best solution would be to develop a second pitcher so the first pitcher could throw a reasonable number of innings.

I have had 10 year olds throw 500 pitches 3 times a week at home, unk how many at team practice. They go to a tourney and can throw 5 games in a day with no injuries.

Sports mythology...Apparently, softball pitchers live in an alternate universe where injuries like repetitive stress injuries and over use injuries don't exist.

 

[halskinner]

Wrong Sluggers. The ones I had that did that were exceptional and had been trowing since they were 5YO They were at the extreme at that end of the scale. Both went on to college, no injuries.

The 16 YO I mentioned, dont remember seeing her plkaying at the 18U level at all.

Additional;' Both those young ladies had started pitching at 5YO and had worked their way up to that amount over those 5 years. I also felt that amount was excessive but the Dads said it was not, that was their normal workouts. One of the Dads had two older daughters that both went to college as pitchers.

 

[Bucketrider]

We do a combination of Chinamigarden and PitchingDad's workout. 1 is to have dd pitch, and then I throw the ball to at least the grass, but all over the field and make her run retrieve and pitch, for about 15 pitches, then she gets a breather. I love having her fetch the ball out of my glove ala chinamigarden, mainly because I'm old! Dd is starting JV pitcher this year as a freshman and has no problem going 7. sorry, quick dad brag post thrown in...

 

[Ken B]

Twist on the above:
Have a second ball ready in the throwing hand. Every so often, toss it into their fielding area and make a play at home (or elsewhere if you have the personel.) Allow a few passed balls for 3B/home plays. Play for outs and innings while keeping track of walks. After 3 outs, hit BP and sprint to 1B or 2B depending on your call. Play X innings. Try to record stats for the next time.

Distance pitching:
Starting at 2/3's distance, throw 4 pitches (preferably to locations.) Get 3 out of 4 then take a step back. Miss 2 or more twice and take a step forward. Miss 2 or more three times and start over. See how far back you can go. I like use cones or extra balls to mark intervals. I tend to open up the zone as they get farther back. Curve balls from way back make a a fun challenge. If forms starts to fail as longer distances, I allow walk-throughs.