"Band Work"

Hello all,

Been awhile since I posted. Merry Christmas to all.

Wanted to post a polling question if I may...

When a pitcher is told to do "band work", what does that mean to you?

List the exercises and maybe give a few sentences as to the rationale for doing "band work".

Just curious as to how many different "band work programs" there are out there.

 

Dr Frank Jobes (Tommy John surgery pioneer) developed band work as an exercise. Here is what the exercise is comprised of:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/159354-jobes-shoulder-exercises/

Since its inception, it is still regarded as the best "band work" exercise. There are others that have weighed in with their own version and I'm sure they are helpful.

The one area that I'm curious about is through stem cell research where potentially ligaments can be reproduced without the concerns one has with TJ- labrum and rotator cuff surgeries.

 

Types of "Band work"?

ATC you bring up a great polling question. Braves, that's a nice link and intro to JOBES excercies. I'll take a shot at categorizing "band" work.

First I'd like to point out that there are move educated professionals on the anatomy of the arm and shoulder. Please consult with local experts in your area. Some in Charlotte are Alan Tyson (Architect Sports), Nevin Markel (Velocity Sports Performance). Online, some good resources are Eric Cressey (Cressey Performance, near Boston). If you can get Eric's online presentations. Or obtain DVD's of the Ron Wolforth's pitching coaches bootcamps (2008?) where Dr. Phil Donnally of the MLB Phillies presents on the shoulder health topics like GIRD (glenohumeral internal rotation deficit) and "S.I.C.K" scapula, you'll be really informed. (Please ignore my misspellings)

The categories are....

JOBES. You can see similar Maddox and Glavine doing similar work in Leo Mazone's book "Pitch like a Pro" with light dumbells and steel balls. I've seen them several MLB off-season workout books. Tom House has these in his books. The trick is to strengthen the smaller soft tissue around the elbow and shoulder joints. Work smaller muscles, tendons, ligaments... not the "big mover" muscles.

JOBES-like band work - these are upper body only excercies using "tubing" attached to the wall or fence. More convenient that dumbells and a table. Theraband is probably the most popular material. NPA (national pitcing association) had their own tubes with "mini football" handles once-upon-a-time. These are basically the JOBES excercise standing up.

NPA (Tom House) protocal band pgm - in NPA videos, House takes you thru more full upper-body warmup. He also has player pronates their hand to various degrees (fastball, curveball, changeup grip). I watched the USC (soCal) pitchers do this at Winthrop with him supervising a few years back.

Cross-Symmetry band program - this is fairly new. available online and thru catalogs. Still upper-body only. For about $200 you get a wall chart of 6 excercises. These are modifications of the JOBES excercies. They increase the intensity and duration of the excercies by promoting what they call "pulses" or "plyometrics". It also provides a "pitcher" and "position player" protocal. The best bonus is the 60-day long toss program, which you can download for free on their website. Most of these are T-I-Y variations (ie. your arms form a T, I or Y).

Jaeger band program & variations (full-body band work)
- Alan Jaeger is famous for his black bands and long toss program. Trevor Bauer #3 draft pick uses the program. You can YouTube it.
- Ron Wolforth's Texas Baseball Ranch also does a Jaeger variation. In fact T. Bauer had both Jaeger and Wolforth as instructors. These are more full-body circuits in pitching-type stances, forwards and back, as well as the single arm JOBES style. They are constantly evolving their approach. They are creative and innovative. Full Body. Game-like. You have to maintain balance and stabalize your core while "getting after it". Using bands both as pre-game warmup and for conditioning. They've gotten away from handles, in favor of wrist cuffs. (you can hold balls while using cuffs). TBR instructors promote using good quality bands from OatSpecialties.com and can help you buy the right resistance color, and have handle, cuff, and both options for $60 or less. You can make your own, you'll save $20-30 and get really frustrated.

Loop Bands (40" flat bands) - this type of band can be found in PerformBetter.com Several varieties. They are typically 1/2", 1", 2", etc. Superbands are black and very durable. You can perform the JOBES style workouts with them, but they are best suited to do Olympic style lifts (deadlift), squats, presses, etc. without the hassle or risk of a weight room. Great for teaching lifting form without risking injury. Great for stretching too. Lebron James can be seen doing jump-squats with bands in his documentary as his fab-five chased the national HS championships. So, it's not just for pitchers. Also great for adding resistance for speed & agility workouts. Loop 2 of them around your waste and a pole and practice an exposive base stealing takeoff; or hip-pop/plyo-step to chase down a fly ball.

"Band work" is just part of the armcare toolbox. There's soft tissue work, dynamic stretching, mobility excercies, stability work, strength work. And every pitcher and baseball player comes in with a different situation. Some are tight, some are loose (lax), some are weak, some are weight room strong (and stiff), some are "country strong" (can move better). Best to screen them. Scap health (the scapula-shoulder complex) plays a key role in a pitchers arm health as does maintaining good internal rotation. FYI, a pitcher generally looses internal rotation, and gains external rotation as the season goes on. Mark my words....Loosing IR is heading for trouble! Year-round baseball makes IR a critical watch item. So whether you use bands, small weights, body weight..... 1) get checked out 2) do your pre-hab excercises and mobility work 3) do sleeper stretches to maintain IR 4) and do reverse throws after throwing, 5) wear a "fricken" jacket and sleeves below 70 degrees, and .....stay healthy.

 

Why do so few kids these days get this ??

 

Overviews of GIRD, SICK scap, and shoulder stability.

http://www.throwinginjuries.com/gird.htm
http://www.throwinginjuries.com/sick.htm
http://www.throwinginjuries.com/Shoulder.htm

 

Great job furnishing all of the information Post15...really good stuff!!!!

 

ATC...do you want to weigh in on this? I bet you have some thoughts on this.

 

Braves - my experience with PRP.

This past spring after getting differing advice from local physicians on how to treat my son's partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament we went to see Dr. Andrews. Because he was just 15 and his growth plates were not closed, Dr. Andrews recommended no surgery but instead 4 months of no throwing and a PRP injection. During the four months we did a lot of band work and worked on strengthening his core and legs - which were relatively weak. After the four months we went back to Dr. Andrews, had an MRI and the ligament was found to be structurally sound. He then started a throwing program recommended by Dr. Andrews and by mid September was able to throw off a mound again. By the end of October he was throwing in the low 80s and threw 75 pitches in a game and has experienced no pain.

PRP is Platelet Rich Plasma which is done by taking the patients blood, spinning it down using a centrifuge to separate the platelets from the other components and then reinjecting the platelets over the injured area to help in the healing process. While we have no way of knowing if this helped in the healing process or not it, it is becoming more popular here in the states and has been used in Europe for over 20 years. It is becoming a more common treatment for arthritis, soft tissue injuries and ligament tears. Dr. Andrews was very up front about the process and said it was somewhat controversial but that they had, had good results and he would recommend it.

Not sure if it was the PRP injection or not but having a healthy son without TJ surgery makes me a believer in this treatment plan.

As for the band work we are continuing to do that as well and Dr. Andrew's plan is very similar to Dr. Jobe's.

 

Thanks WB, that is very interesting. I, too, have a son that had TJ surgery done by Dr Andrews. To believe there are some alternatives to help prevent that surgery is compelling. I can't help but to believe that is one of other alternatives that will be used in the future---it makes sense.

By the way, congratulations on your son's recovery. That's terrific!

 

Thanks Braves the real blessing was catching it when it was a partial tear and not complete so that we were able to avoid the surgery.