- Apr 17, 2019
- 335
- 63
For science! I just did the PPL drill myself with weighted balls, threw 4 each after a brief warmup.
Methodology: I started with the normal ball, progressively added weight, then dropped to the light balls and finished with a normal ball. At the end, I'd gained 2mph on the regulation ball. I used the starting speed on the regulation ball as a baseline. My results:
regulation ball: +/- 0
9oz ball: +2mph
10oz ball: +1mph
11oz ball: -2mph
12oz ball, did not do b/c I like my shoulder in its socket.
5oz ball: +3mph
wiffle ball: +5mph
regulation ball again: +2mph
Conclusion: Supported my hypothesis that a well conditioned arm would be strong enough to accelerate enough that the increased mass wouldn't slow it down enough to offset the gains by the mass of the ball (9oz is 50% more than 6oz, after all). 11oz ball started feeling too heavy, but this didn't strain my arm as bad as I thought it might and I'd consider it for training. I'm not worried about OP doing limited reps with the 9oz setup anymore, their DD is probably (hopefully) in better shape than me.
Will now submit to @pattar for peer review.
(tongue firmly in cheek, but thought it was interesting.)
Methodology: I started with the normal ball, progressively added weight, then dropped to the light balls and finished with a normal ball. At the end, I'd gained 2mph on the regulation ball. I used the starting speed on the regulation ball as a baseline. My results:
regulation ball: +/- 0
9oz ball: +2mph
10oz ball: +1mph
11oz ball: -2mph
12oz ball, did not do b/c I like my shoulder in its socket.
5oz ball: +3mph
wiffle ball: +5mph
regulation ball again: +2mph
Conclusion: Supported my hypothesis that a well conditioned arm would be strong enough to accelerate enough that the increased mass wouldn't slow it down enough to offset the gains by the mass of the ball (9oz is 50% more than 6oz, after all). 11oz ball started feeling too heavy, but this didn't strain my arm as bad as I thought it might and I'd consider it for training. I'm not worried about OP doing limited reps with the 9oz setup anymore, their DD is probably (hopefully) in better shape than me.
Will now submit to @pattar for peer review.
(tongue firmly in cheek, but thought it was interesting.)