Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 36

Ron Wolforth

What's The Key to Optimal Arm Health and Durability for Travel Ball Pitchers?

Great news:
The most significant factor influencing arm health and durability – while also avoiding potential pain, injury, and the need for surgical intervention – is a variable that is relatively straightforward to implement and manage.

Bad News:
It's unfortunate that this variable is often overlooked by pitchers, parents, and coaches alike. Only a small number fully recognize its importance, and fewer still effectively incorporate it into their training and practices.

So, what exactly is this critical variable? While mechanical efficiency, physical structure, alignment, strength, and mobility play crucial roles, none claim the “top spot”. Even workload and pitch count – while also essential considerations – don’t even rank among the top five, in our opinion.

The most impactful variable is, in fact, the quality of soft tissue preparation and ramp-up specific to the intensity and volume of stress experienced during the competitive cycle of the individual athlete.

Allow me to explain.

Consider this scenario: I’m participating in a track meet where I have to run a 100-meter dash preliminary heat and 100 meter final within a three-hour window. I must run at or near my best in my heat to qualify for the finals and then again give a full effort to possibly secure a top-three placing. If I were to sustain an injury during these activities, would it be due to overwork or under-preparation?

The evident truth is that it would almost certainly be because I (along with my soft tissue) was underprepared for the specific demands I was subjecting myself to on that day.

It's hardly surprising that the most common months for UCL or labrum tears in professional baseball are March and April, while September and October witness the fewest. Yet, despite this well-known pattern, our focus appears to be disproportionately centered on managing workload and pitch counts during the season, with far less emphasis on preparing our soft tissue leading up to it.

Here at the Texas Baseball Ranch®, we refer to the process of soft tissue preparation as “Ramp-Up.” It is evident that the quality and effectiveness of an athlete’s ramp-up significantly impacts his or her immediate arm health and durability.
Upon closer examination, for a vast majority of athletes, only a relatively small percentage make significant adjustments in their mechanical efficiency, alignment, strength, and/or mobility from October through February. Therefore, for a significant portion of throwing athletes entering the season, the primary determinant of their health and durability is the efficacy of their soft tissue preparation.

In other words, when it comes to arm health and injury prevention,
Ramp-Up is definitely KING!

So, what are the three essential keys to creating a high-quality ramp-up?

#1: Tissue Adaptation – Building tendon and ligament strength, robustness, and pliability takes time (a crucial factor often overlooked or under-appreciated).

The timeline for noticeable improvements varies among individuals but typically involves initial adaptation within four to six weeks, intermediate progress spanning three to six months, and long-term development extending beyond six months. Unfortunately, many players, parents, and coaches mistakenly believe that two to three weeks of pre-season work are adequate to prepare soft tissue for the demands ahead. It's clear that this timeframe is insufficient.

At the Texas Baseball Ranch®, we advocate for eight to twelve weeks of dedicated ramp-up prior to the season. (Even MLB teams have repeatedly made this error in the past.) Thankfully, such oversights are becoming less common with elite strength coaches, physical therapists, and athletic trainers shaping the training cycle.

#2: Start Earlier, Start Lighter, and Cycle UP. Instituting a longer ramp-up period reduces the risk of overextension or overexertion in the initial training weeks. This approach allows soft tissue the necessary time to adjust and adapt.
Starting training later (closer to the beginning of the season) often leads to feeling the pressure to be game-ready. This results in higher intensity and possibly higher volume. Such a rushed process increases the probability of unprepared soft tissue, possibly leading to soreness, fatigue, pain, or injury.

#3: Cycle Your Work. Within each week, vary the intensity of your training sessions. Allocate two days for intense/heavy training, two days for light/low-intensity training, and reserve the remaining two to three days for moderate/medium-intensity sessions.

As we regularly remind our athletes, “Avoid making every day a heavy day, as you risk crashing and burning. Similarly, don't make every day a light day, as you won't create enough stimulus for change.”
“If every day is a medium day… which is by far and away the most common flaw in a majority of training… you will typically make some quick gains. However, you will also eventually plateau and stay right there for a long period of time.”
By cycling your work, you ensure consistent growth, optimum recovery, and maximum adaptation.

Bottom line: If you want your arm to be healthy and durable, start your work in earnest eight to twelve weeks prior to the season. Give your soft tissue a fighting chance and the time to adapt and prepare for the intensity and volume ahead. Start earlier, start lighter, and cycle your work week to optimize recovery and maximize adaptation.

Coach Ron Wolforth is the founder of the Texas Baseball Ranch® and has written six books on pitching including the Amazon Best Seller, Pitching with Confidence. Since 2003, The Texas Baseball Ranch® has had over 579 pitchers break the 90 mph barrier, 208 have toped 94mph or better, and 135 of his students have been drafted in the MLB’s June Amateur Draft. Coach Wolforth has consulted with 13 MLB teams, dozens of NCAA programs and has been referred to as “ America’s Go-to-Guy on Pitching” and “The Pitching Coaches Pitching Coach.” Coach Wolforth lives in Montgomery, TX with his wife, Jill. They are intimately familiar with youth select, travel baseball and PG events as their son Garrett (now a professional catcher) went through the process. Garrett still holds the PG Underclass All-American Games record for catcher velocity at 89mph which he set in 2014 at the age of 16.

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Summer Events at the Texas Baseball Ranch®

Join our 3-Day “Elite Pitcher’s Boot Camps”, designed for pitchers aged 12 and above. We’re hosting seven unique camps this summer between Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. For additional details, visit: https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/elite-pitchers-bootcamp/

Interested in learning what sets our boot camps apart? Request our comprehensive information package by emailing Jill@TexasBaseballRanch.com.

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