In this series of reports, I'll examine what some players and teams do as part of their conditioning training and give you my opinion of their programs. A note of caution - big leaguers do many things that are not worthy of emulation. This can include their workout regimens. One might think that we should do whatever the players at the highest level are doing - after all, it it's good for them, it must be good for any player who aspires to be like them, right?
In short, NO! Among the differences between big leaguers and younger players are the physiques involved. Grown men are capable of doing things younger players are not. As one example, mature pitchers need not be concerned with growth plate issues - players less than 16 years of age do.
Another difference is the financial aspect. A pitcher making $5 million a year, throwing 90+ mph and getting batters out will, by and large, be left alone. No one will be tinkering much with his mechanics - after all, he's getting the job done. So the thinking is, why mess with with what's working? This is a big reason to not copy what you see big leaguers do, unless you're experienced enough to know the good from the bad in pitching or hitting mechanics. You're asking for trouble in blithely copying what you see on TV.
So with all of that in mind, can we learn anything helpful from what the big boys do? Of course. I might even go so far as to say that much of what big leaguers do is worthy of emulation. So here is my take on selected excerpts of two articles written about Roger Clemens, along with his good buddy and workout partner, Andy Pettitte.
I have taken quotes from each of these articles, with my comments following. All emphasis is mine.
Excerpted from:
"Rocket: Perfectly Engineered to Pitch"
By Bob Klapisch
May 25 2003
ESPN.com
"It's All About the Power"
By Tom Verducci
June 2, 2003
Sports Illustrated Magazine
"The Rocket is in the weight room, consumed by a four-day ritual that he's convinced has kept his elite-caliber fastball in the mid to upper 90s, and has actually prolonged his career... Clemens doesn't just work out, he's obsessed with exercise, and proudly says, 'My only day off is the day I pitch.' "
BF - Contrary to what some "experts" recommend, Clemens attributes his velocity and longevity to his conditioning regimen, which includes weight lifting. While I do not support the use of weights simply for velocity enhancement, there's no question that a baseball-specific strength regimen can augment pitching performance.
"But unlike most major league pitchers, who run (a little) or lift weights (even less), Clemens has devised a system that keeps him both strong and quick, combining power-lifting for the lower body, light-dumbbell work for his rotator cuff and agility drills that would probably make more sense for an NFL linebacker... Clemens admits his philosophy may be unorthodox, but he believes in the development of side-to-side strength, as well as balancing skills that a pitcher requires to keep his fastball intact."
BF - So Clemens performs lower body power lifts, and says that this helps maintain his fastball.
"Clemens mechanics are the by-product of that intense regimen - so successful for the Rocket, Pettitte copied it two years ago. 'Roger's the one who taught me that the better shape you're in, the better you'll throw the ball.' "
BF - Here, Clemens credits his good mechanics to his conditioning program. This makes perfect sense, as pitchers need a certain level of strength to properly perform the act of pitching. This is one of the key connections between mechanics and conditioning: once mechanics are developed and fine-tuned, appropriate conditioning allows any player to consistently perform those mechanics. The better the conditioning, the longer those mechanics can reliably be repeated.
The same can be said of mechanics - The better your mechanics, the better you'll throw the ball.
Andy Pettitte thinks enough of Clemens' methods as to adopt them himself.
"While Clemens refuses to discuss too many details of his regimen, he does reveal that the bones of the workout consist of two days of lower-body lifting, one day for the upper body work and four cardio sessions. All four workouts are framed by abdominal drills, he says, the equivalent of 750 sit-ups.
"Clemens and Pettitte concentrate their heavy lifting on the lower body, including multiple sets of squats and leg presses. The combination of strength and conditioning in the same agility drill reproduces the challenges a pitcher faces in later innings - the need to still throw hard without getting winded."
BF - So both Clemens and Pettitte are heavy leg-work advocates! This makes good training sense. Squats in particular are very effective in training key lower body/core muscles that contribute to both injury prevention and performance enhancement. Since the body core contributes nearly 50% of the force applied during an overhand throw, this area needs to be appropriately conditioned in order to help augment throwing velocity.
"The Rocket's regimen includes shorter, more intense bursts of anaerobic exercises, convinced that it better trains him for actually pitching."
BF - Clemens is right on the mark with this approach. This is a much better regimen than running lots of long, slow distance miles, something Clemens did in his early years. Baseball is not an aerobic sport, the energy system trained by long slow distance work. It is an alactic-anaerobic activity. Therefore, short burst anaerobic exercises, such as sprinting, will help build the leg strength a pitcher needs. Potteiger et al., in a 1989 study published in the NSCA Journal using college pitchers, found a high correlation between pitching velocity and anaerobic power. In other words, the greater the anaerobic power, the greater the throwing velocity.
"The Rocket will throw a normal session two days after his start, as is baseball's custom, usually 35-40 pitches at 75-80 percent velocity. But Clemens will follow up the next day with a "short" session - throwing from 55 feet instead of 60' six inches... Clemens feels this helps him to concentrate on keeping the ball down. 'I just want to concentrate on staying on top of the ball, keeping my hand behind it. It helps you repeat your delivery.' "
BF - Practices worthy of emulation. Throwing at 75-80% velocity and at 55 feet are good ways to practice throwing without overly stressing the arm between starts. That Clemens doesn't throw at 75-80% effort, or at 55 feet in a game is irrelevant - you can't go 100 per cent, 100% of the time! In the meantime, he's continuing with his hard-core conditioning between starts.
"The Yankees were so impressed with Clemens idea, they instituted it throughout the minor league system. Today, virtually every Triple-A pitcher now uses a 'short' day as a between-start drill."
BF - Teams are not going to encourage their prospects to do anything that would be harmful. The benefits of this "drill" are likely noticeable and substantial.
"By the time Clemens throws his first pitch, the Rocket has burned thousands of calories, churned out thousands of sit-ups and pushed all the heavy metal his legs could withstand."
BF - What an awesome philosophy! He works so hard between starts, the actual work of pitching a major league baseball game seems easy in comparison. Tens of millions of dollars and a Hall of Fame career later, The Rocket has developed an "unorthodox" yet effective system that we can all learn from.
A final point: nothing in conditioning or the teaching of skills and drills works across the board for every player. If this were the case, we could turn out power hitters and pitchers in a cookie-cutter fashion with great consistency. However, the fields of exercise science and sports medicine do have reliable information on training methods that are safe and effective for most players the vast majority of the time.
That a particular method does not work for one player does not invalidate that method for others!
Next issue we'll take a look at some things all-time great Nolan Ryan reveals about his conditioning approach during his playing days.
