Increased velocity with weighted ball?

[sprtfan]

My daughter was wanting to increase her velocity and it was recommended to use a 9 oz ball for some drills. She was doing a perpendicular drill that was in a velocity program from Rick Pauly and I noticed she was throwing the weighted ball faster than she did the regular one. (Rick Pauly's course didn't mention or recommend the weighed ball but seemed like a good drill to test it on) I grabbed a pocket radar to confirm, and she was 3 mph faster with the 9 oz ball. It was a limited sample size of about 10 throws with the weighted ball but still didn't make much sense. I wasn't sure if the weighted ball was a good idea and didn't want to over do it. I was wondering if this could point toward a mechanical issue of some sort? The only thing she could think of was that she focused on staying lose with the weighted ball.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

F=ma. increase the mass, the force will increase.

Or maybe K=1/2(m x v^2) is more appropriate.

Either way: more mass, more fast.

ETA: I'm not sure I'd do the perp powerline drill with a weighted ball. That drill puts a lot of stretch on the rotator cuff. I don't use weighted balls in the pitching motion though, so couldn't recommend a good one. I defer to other coaches to chime in on that.

 

[sprtfan]

F=ma. increase the mass, the force will increase.

Or maybe K=1/2(m x v^2) is more appropriate.

Either way: more mass, more fast.

If you increase the mass, the acceleration will decrease to give the same force. I doubt she would be throwing a shotput faster than a softball. I've seen people use lighter balls to get better radar numbers.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

If you increase the mass, the acceleration will decrease to give the same force. I doubt she would be throwing a shotput faster than a softball. I've seen people use lighter balls to get better radar numbers.

There's obviously a tipping point to where the muscles can't handle the weight and will slow down to compensate, like you say. Sounds like she's strong enough to whip around 9oz, though.

 

[Shawn]

F=ma. increase the mass, the force will increase.

Or maybe K=1/2(m x v^2) is more appropriate.

Either way: more mass, more fast.

ETA: I'm not sure I'd do the perp powerline drill with a weighted ball. That drill puts a lot of stretch on the rotator cuff. I don't use weighted balls in the pitching motion though, so couldn't recommend a good one. I defer to other coaches to chime in on that.

Ummm, how come we can see speed increase in underload balls? I have 6, 5, and 4 ounce balls. All things considered you should see higher reading on those balls.

 

[Shawn]

I have increased speed with a weighted ball. Better whip, lag because of the weight and better finishing the release. Better snap might not be technically correct.

 

[Towny9]

Every ball is a weighted ball. Not sure why she would throw the heavier one faster though… certainly not a mathematical reason for it.

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

I like using the heavy (8oz) light (5oz) regular (6.5oz)
sequence . 5 reps each in succession.
I start with one round and slowly over time work up to five rounds.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

I like using the heavy (8oz) light (5oz) regular (6.5oz)
sequence . 5 reps each in succession.
I start with one round and slowly over time work up to five rounds.

Curious about your routine with that. Do you do those in drills or full pitches? How often?

 

[sprtfan]

Every ball is a weighted ball. Not sure why she would throw the heavier one faster though… certainly not a mathematical reason for it.

I think she must be tense when throwing normally and was more relaxed/looser with the weighted ball. Will play around with it again later this week and hopefully can keep the increase when switching back to the normal ball.