Increased velocity with weighted ball?

[Towny9]

Or train the decelerators to allow you to throw "100 mph".

I agree with you under most circumstances. My reply to Tango was about adding nails to a ball until it “was like throwing a boulder”. That sounds like the CrossFit of throwing programs to me. If you don’t get hurt it will probably work, but there are better ways.

 

[Mike-Coach-Q]

I had a dad come to me asking if I had heard about throwing weighted balls? I had a little knowledge but expressed at his daughters then age of 11 to wait until she grows and develops more physically. This kid already threw very hard (55 in 10U) but it's never enough for some. Now, at 11, a bigger ball and 5 more feet they need more. A few weeks later , I see them across the park doing run throughs with the black weighted ball 11oz I believe. A couple months later she had to have surgery because the bicep tendon swelled and was rubbing against a bone in her shoulder. After that she really never pitched again , went on to played infield and good enough to play in college. I hear that the structure and anatomy of the shoulder can play a factor in all of this. I'm not accusing dad or the weighted ball but saying be careful and patient. If she's a flame thrower you see it. I don't want a flame thrower at 12 that flames out at 15. Trust me, I talking to myself too.

 

[Shawn]

I had a dad come to me asking if I had heard about throwing weighted balls? I had a little knowledge but expressed at his daughters then age of 11 to wait until she grows and develops more physically. This kid already threw very hard (55 in 10U) but it's never enough for some. Now, at 11, a bigger ball and 5 more feet they need more. A few weeks later , I see them across the park doing run throughs with the black weighted ball 11oz I believe. A couple months later she had to have surgery because the bicep tendon swelled and was rubbing against a bone in her shoulder. After that she really never pitched again , went on to played infield and good enough to play in college. I hear that the structure and anatomy of the shoulder can play a factor in all of this. I'm not accusing dad or the weighted ball but saying be careful and patient. If she's a flame thrower you see it. I don't want a flame thrower at 12 that flames out at 15. Trust me, I talking to myself too.

Full pitch weighted balls are only for older pitchers.

It’s not throw a 12 once ball full motion for kids under 12. Not that I ever use the 12 once ball to throw full out.

 

[Towny9]

I had a dad come to me asking if I had heard about throwing weighted balls? I had a little knowledge but expressed at his daughters then age of 11 to wait until she grows and develops more physically. This kid already threw very hard (55 in 10U) but it's never enough for some. Now, at 11, a bigger ball and 5 more feet they need more. A few weeks later , I see them across the park doing run throughs with the black weighted ball 11oz I believe. A couple months later she had to have surgery because the bicep tendon swelled and was rubbing against a bone in her shoulder. After that she really never pitched again , went on to played infield and good enough to play in college. I hear that the structure and anatomy of the shoulder can play a factor in all of this. I'm not accusing dad or the weighted ball but saying be careful and patient. If she's a flame thrower you see it. I don't want a flame thrower at 12 that flames out at 15. Trust me, I talking to myself too.

Numerous weighted ball studies have shown that once you exceed the original implementations weight by more than 20% either way you have to change your mechanics to accommodate the change in weight.

 

[Vertigo]

I had a dad come to me asking if I had heard about throwing weighted balls? I had a little knowledge but expressed at his daughters then age of 11 to wait until she grows and develops more physically. This kid already threw very hard (55 in 10U) but it's never enough for some. Now, at 11, a bigger ball and 5 more feet they need more. A few weeks later , I see them across the park doing run throughs with the black weighted ball 11oz I believe. A couple months later she had to have surgery because the bicep tendon swelled and was rubbing against a bone in her shoulder. After that she really never pitched again , went on to played infield and good enough to play in college. I hear that the structure and anatomy of the shoulder can play a factor in all of this. I'm not accusing dad or the weighted ball but saying be careful and patient. If she's a flame thrower you see it. I don't want a flame thrower at 12 that flames out at 15. Trust me, I talking to myself too.

Not that I agree with using weighted balls at her age in this manner, but the injury you mentioned could have been caused by just plain overuse, as well. I’m sure the weighted balls didn’t help though.

 

[sprtfan]

After doing this a few more times, she is throwing the regular ball a little faster than the weighted and is close to 2 mph faster than she was on avg than before from the full motion. Not sure why but not going to complain either. Probably due to helping her feel and improve her whip that was mentioned by others in the thread.
The only odd thing left is from the program we purchased from Rick Pauly is that she should be throwing about 80% of her full speed from the perpendicular position. She is still about 2 mph below the expected if this holds true. I'm guessing this would vary some but also could mean she is lacking in her drive or maybe front side resistance in her landing? Nice to think that she can gain a little more if we can figure it out. We are in Iowa and the season doesn't start until May so still have some time.

 

[tomorrow]

After doing this a few more times, she is throwing the regular ball a little faster than the weighted and is close to 2 mph faster than she was on avg than before from the full motion. Not sure why but not going to complain either. Probably due to helping her feel and improve her whip that was mentioned by others in the thread.
The only odd thing left is from the program we purchased from Rick Pauly is that she should be throwing about 80% of her full speed from the perpendicular position. She is still about 2 mph below the expected if this holds true. I'm guessing this would vary some but also could mean she is lacking in her drive or maybe front side resistance in her landing? Nice to think that she can gain a little more if we can figure it out. We are in Iowa and the season doesn't start until May so still have some time.

Quick question. I was also going thru Rick Pauly's program where he talks about 90 Percent from the K position. How close is your DD to that being true?

 

[sprtfan]

Quick question. I was also going thru Rick Pauly's program where he talks about 90 Percent from the K position. How close is your DD to that being true?

I'll need to double check to be sure, but her K wasn't much faster than the perpendicular but lined up better with it being 90% of her full motion. I'll be able to check again on Saturday. I'll plan on trying to get some video then also.

 

[uncdrew]

Our instructor hasn't introduced weighted balls to my 13 year old DD yet, and I'm certainly not going to. Dads doing it on their own makes me sad.

 

[Towny9]

Our instructor hasn't introduced weighted balls to my 13 year old DD yet, and I'm certainly not going to. Dads doing it on their own makes me sad.

What is wrong with dads doing it on their own? Would you have an issue if a dad threw a football with his DD? A football weighs around 16oz. Or maybe hit tennis balls with a tennis racket weighing around 12oz? It’s not like God commanded that the perfect weight for a softball was 7oz and anything other than 7oz is risking injury.

I suspect the injuries that happen with weighted balls have more to do with the intensity and volume and less to do with the weight. I recommended 20% overload and underload earlier in this thread as a great (and very safe) starting point, that also won’t alter mechanics.

My point is - a lot of folks think that throwing weighted balls are scary. They can be done safely with just a little bit of research.