HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
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HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Hello,
My name is Austin Wasserman and I am the Owner & CoFounder of AB Athletic Development, Wasserman Strength, LLC
and HighLevelThrowing.com based out of Nashua, NH.
Since 2008, AB and Wasserman Strength has grown from a parttime passion to a full-time career with a 7,000 square foot facility,
clients of all ages from around the country and Major Leaguers
following our instructional information!
My goal is to help educate athletes and coaches on the High
Level Throwing Pattern & Drills in order to maximize throwing potential and minimize the risk of shoulder/elbow injuries!
Please visit my website for more information on High Level Throwing, articles and eBooks!
www.HighLevelThrowing.com
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HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
THE L-DRILL
The L-Drill is the easiest to teach and takes little to no time to implement, which is why it's one of THE. WORST. DRILL to perform!
This drill reinforces incorrect arm patterns, inhibits humeral retroversion,
reinforces incorrect sequencing patterns AND incorrect elbow extension
timing. Need I say more?
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HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
WRIST FLICKS
Wrist Flicks is one of the more recognized throwing drills of all time! It's
utilized mostly in the softball world, but has also been done by baseball
teams to initiate their throwing routine.
It's intended purpose is to teach backspin on the ball and the only way to
get backspin on the ball is to flick the wrist.
How does this make sense to people? Throwing a ball will cause pronation of the forearm, protecting the elbow joint and you can still achieve
backspin by pronating through ball release!
Pure wrist flexion does not even occur in a throw!
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HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
HEY, GET YOUR
ELBOW UP?!
Get your elbow up is a widely used phrase in the baseball and
softball world. The phrase really doesn’t mean anything unless an
athlete knows the exact time in the throwing sequence when the
elbow should actually “get up”.
Letting the elbow elevate above the shoulder as the arm is drawn
back to throw, increases the potential for a shoulder injury.
This leads to a drop in the elbow, below the shoulder, as the hips
turn towards the target to throw. This pattern is considered a red
flag.
Note: The elbow should actually stay below the shoulder as the
arm is drawn back to throw, and continue to stay below the shoulder as the lead foot plants in the ground.
Then, as the hips turn towards the target to throw, the elbow will
elevate above the shoulder. This shows that the scapula is able
to move along the ribcage and upwardly rotate efficiently!
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HighLevelThrowing.com | 5 Common Throwing Mistakes
WAS THAT A
DART THROW?
The Dart Throw is when athletes push their elbow forward, in
front of the body at ball release.
This is caused by incorrect sequencing patterns between the
hips and trunk, delayed arm path into external rotation AND incorrect timing of elbow extension.
The elbow has been compromised and pain can be associated
with this pattern.
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WHEN SHOULD I
BRING MY ARM
BACK TO
THROW’?
Throwing Mechanics are just movement patterns. Movements
learned by the brain and organized in a precise way to perform a
task. In this particular situation, the task is throwing.
All of these movements that lead up to throwing is considered a
sequence. One movement triggers another movement and so on,
until the end result is reached.
In throwing, most athletes have a difficult time understanding this
sequence, understanding WHEN the arm should initiate it's movement.
Do you think you know the answer?
Find out more on High Level Throwing in my Baseball & Softball
Edition eBooks at www.HighLevelThrowing.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Questions?
I hope you find this information valuable whether you are a
coach, player or parent!
If you have any questions, please contact me on Twitter at
@Wass_Strength or Email me [email protected]
or [email protected]
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