Pitching programs

I would like to know if anyone out there has followed Dick Mills program, and what there success and or hurdles they encountered were. I already have the program and we have been following it for about 8 months. I know we don't advertise on this site, but was just interested what somes experiences might have been. I am running into a few coaches who are against it. Thanks.

 

I don't have the program, but have monitored his "teachings" off and on over the years. He used to have a message board where he pontificated regularly. In some respects Mills philosophy has changed drastically over time. He used to be the "don't push off", "nothing happens until footstrike" guy. Now, as I understand it, he is preaching the opposite. I think he is now closer to what Tom House is now teaching, i.e. moving as far and as fast as possible, while still maintaining proper timing.

I never saw anything terribly radical in Mills teachings. He just has a way of pissing people off. Probably the most radical thing he is teaching now is no long toss, which I disagree with.

My guess is the coaches that are against it are against it because of Mills' reputation. There's nothing there that will physically hurt your kid. Is your son healthy, throwing strikes, and gaining velocity? If it works for you don't worry about it.

 

Here is an excellent link that discusses the pro's and con's over several threads. You will find Dick Mill's commenting about it himself.

* by the way, this site has enormous participation from very experienced and knowledgeable posters at every level of baseball


http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums...ing&use_forum_scope=on&forum_scope=6616002781

 

You are correct he now advocates moving the body quickly, transferring the body weight from post leg to landing leg. He does not advocate a long toss program, simply because he now believes that this is wasted time, that could be better spent throwing from the mound. He does however say that long toss as part of warmup routine is OK. What I am doing is have son throw off the hill twice a week about 60 pitches right now. We also long toss twice a week out to 150 ft right now. On 2 other days we basically just play catch for about 12-15 minutes. And on the 7th day we rest the arm completely. By the way my son just turned 14 and throws right at 70. He really wants to be a pticher, so I am trying to make the right decisions for long term development. I have watched far to many kids burn out or end up injured do to poor instruction and not preparing their bodies for the work ahead. I will shut him down completely in November for 8 weeks, and we will really focuse on core strength and conditioning. He does conditioning now for about 20 minutes after each throwing session. But come Nov he will really get a taste. thanks for your insight.

 

No disrespect to TBR, but the High School Baseball Web is the high school/pre-college site on the net.

I would be a little leary of some of the older posts there because Mills thinking, like House's, has evolved over the years. House also used be a proponent of the old up-down-out delivery. Now it's all about momentum.

I think you're on the right track with your son. I would look into incorporating some serious rotational work in his core program. See House's book Fastball Fitness and/or Unbreakable Abs by Jon Doyle.

For a different opinion regarding long tossing see www.jaegersports.com.

 

No argument from me. It's simply the best source on amateur baseball.

 

Long Toss

A friend of mine highly recomends the JaegerSports technique of using long toss to increase pitcher's velocity.

His oldest son went from mid 80's as a HS junior to 88-90 as a HS senior, to 90-92 as a college freshman, to 93-95 as a college sophmore. He was drafted this year in the 8th round after his junior year, and is now in the minor leagues throwing 95+. He credits the JaegerSports technique for the increase - and also has a younger son who is now throwing 85 as a HS junior.

I tried it just recently this summer with my son, and he liked it. The fact that as you go out, you end up throwing as far as you can, provides feedback whether you are improving (if you can throw it farther - for those of us without radar guns), and loosens everything up. Then coming in, you continue throwing as hard as you can, but on a line which builds up the pitching muscles. If you do it right, it only takes 20-30 mins, but you are exhausted as you've worked all your muscles (legs included). Since I can only throw half as far as my kid, he used a bucket of balls to throw to me after he got past half way (so I only had to throw half as much as him). Actually it's pretty fun !!!

 

TUFF CUFF

There is an excellent book out the called "TUFF CUFF" by Steve Ellis. It provides a years worth of pitching training, broken down into what part of the season you are in: pre, post, off, fall, etc.

It covers core conditioning, stretching, strengthening, throwing, diet, and running throughout the year.

I think it is an excellent training guide for anyone looking to move to the next level.

My son is working through it right now. It has been about a month, and he has nothing but good things to say about it.

http://www.tuffcuff.com