Before You Throw Hard, Learn to Throw Well

During my years coaching at the college level, I saw far too many incoming freshmen arrive on campus already dealing with shoulder issues. Some were dealing with minor soreness, weakness, or discomfort, while others had more significant injuries that required extended rehabilitation. Now, as an instructor at a training facility, I continue to work with athletes at different stages of development, and those experiences have only reinforced something I strongly believe: we have to do a better job building the foundation before we ask athletes to perform at a high level.

Many young athletes spend years throwing, but not necessarily years learning how to throw efficiently, strengthening their bodies to handle the demands of throwing, or developing quality movement patterns. By the time they reach the college level, the volume and intensity of throwing can increase dramatically. If that foundation isn’t there, that increase in workload can expose weaknesses that may have been developing for years.

Throwing is not simply an arm movement. The legs, hips, core, shoulder, and arm all have to work together to create and transfer energy. When those pieces aren’t working efficiently, the arm can be forced to do more of the work. Jon Herting, PT, DPT, CSCS, explained this concept in an interview with the American Baseball Coaches Association: “In order to craft a house, we need to create a good, initial foundation, and only then can we build the walls.” We can’t wait until an athlete is hurt to start building the foundation.

Proper throwing mechanics aren’t about making every athlete look exactly the same. They are about teaching athletes how to use their bodies efficiently. High Level Throwing describes throwing as “a movement through positions,” which I think is an important way to look at mechanics. Rather than simply trying to make an athlete hit a series of perfect positions, we should teach them how to move efficiently through the entire throwing sequence. The goal is for those movements to eventually become natural rather than something an athlete has to consciously think about every time they throw.

Another important part of that foundation is strength. We sometimes hear the idea that throwing athletes need to be careful with lifting or that getting stronger will somehow make them less mobile. My experience has been quite the opposite. Proper strength training can be one of the most valuable pieces of developing a healthy and durable throwing athlete.

I know this from personal experience as a player. During my 13–14 years of playing, there was a period when I was at my strongest in the weight room. What stood out to me wasn’t just that I was stronger or performing better. My shoulder was also the strongest and healthiest it had ever been. I had fewer issues with it during that time than I had experienced throughout the rest of my playing career.

That experience changed the way I looked at strength training. Properly strengthening the shoulder and the muscles surrounding it can help an athlete better handle the demands placed on the arm during throwing. The shoulder doesn’t operate in isolation. The rotator cuff, scapular muscles, upper back, chest, trunk, and entire kinetic chain all contribute to how an athlete controls and produces movement.

Strength training can help athletes develop the stability and strength needed to control the shoulder and handle the forces involved in throwing. It also gives athletes a stronger physical foundation as throwing volume and intensity increase. Of course, strength training needs to be appropriate for the athlete. Young players don’t need to chase max numbers in the weight room. The goal is to develop strong, capable athletes, not simply athletes who can lift heavy weights.

This is also where I think we sometimes miss the bigger picture when talking about arm care. The conversation often immediately turns to bands, and band work absolutely has a place in a throwing program. Bands can help prepare the shoulder and scapular system for throwing, improve control, and reinforce movement patterns. I promote band work and believe it should be done consistently. But band work is only one piece of the puzzle. Athletes also need strength, mobility, stability, coordination, and the ability to use their entire body during the throw. We shouldn’t just prepare the arm to throw; we need to prepare the body to throw.

A good band routine should have a purpose. It shouldn’t simply be a list of exercises an athlete rushes through before practice because that’s what they’ve always done. I have always believed that athletes should understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, no matter the skill. The goal is to connect preparation to performance and make arm care part of a larger development process.

The same philosophy applies to the way we train. Throwing is a skill, and skills require repetition, but more repetitions don’t automatically mean better development. If an athlete repeatedly practices inefficient and improper mechanics, they are simply becoming better at repeating those poor mechanics. That’s why quality and intentional repetitions are so important—not just with throwing, but in every aspect of training.

Whether we’re working on hitting, fielding, pitching, throwing, strength training, footwork, or movement, athletes need to understand why they’re doing something and what they’re trying to accomplish. Going through the motions isn’t enough. A quality repetition has purpose. It requires focus, intent, and an understanding of what we’re trying to improve. Over time, those intentional repetitions create better habits and allow athletes to perform skills more naturally under pressure.

Instead of simply asking, “How many reps did we get?” we should also be asking, “How many quality reps did we get?” That mindset can change the way an athlete approaches training. We should be looking for intentional movement, quality repetition, consistent execution, and then gradual progression.

My experience as a former college coach, a player, and now an instructor gives me several different perspectives. I’ve experienced firsthand what it feels like to have a strong, healthy throwing shoulder. I’ve also seen what happens when athletes arrive at the college level without the physical or mechanical foundation needed to handle the workload. Now, working with athletes at a training facility gives me the opportunity to work with players earlier in their development, when there is still plenty of time to build better habits.

That’s where I believe we can make a real difference. We can teach athletes how to move. We can develop strength. We can improve mobility. We can teach proper throwing patterns. We can establish consistent arm-care routines. Most importantly, we can help athletes understand that taking care of their arms isn’t something they start doing after they get hurt. It’s something they should be doing before there is a problem.

The question shouldn’t always be, “How hard can you throw?” A better question is, “How well can you move and throw?” Velocity matters. Performance matters. But those qualities should be built on a strong foundation. I believe our responsibility is bigger than simply helping players throw harder. We need to help them build an arm—and a body—that are prepared for the demands of the game.

My own playing experience taught me that strength and health don’t have to be opposing goals. In fact, when I was at my strongest, my shoulder was also the healthiest it had been throughout all of my years of playing. That’s a lesson I carry with me when working with athletes today. Build the foundation first. Build the athlete and then build everything else on top of it.