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General  | General | 1/13/2022

Wolforth Thrower Mentorship: Article 19

Jerry Ford
Ron Wolforth
Photo: Johnny Tergo/Truth Baseball
Ron Wolforth probably knows more about the throwing arm and arm care than anyone we know. Many of you may have heard about the famous Texas Baseball Ranch that Ron has been running for many years. We have built a great relationship with Ron and his wife Jill over the years.

It all started a few years back when Ron sent his son Garrett to a Perfect Game event. His son was a catcher/infielder and set some all-time PG records for pop times (1.75) and velocity (89 mph) at the time. He also threw mid-90s across the infield. He is now playing professionally. Being an average-sized kid, this really drew our interest. Once we realized who his father was, it became clear.



Since then we have followed the Texas Baseball Ranch closely. Ron is a very humble man, which is a reason so many speak highly of him. We have never run across a single person that shows any disrespect for him or the Ranch. So we decided to ask him to help our millions of followers.

Over the years he has helped thousands of pitchers, including many that became Major League All-Stars. Yes, he teaches velocity gains, better control and command, and everything a pitchers needs to be successful. However, unlike many others, he is an absolute stickler when it comes to doing it safely. His interest doesn't just involve velocity gains and other improvements, all of which are very important. He wants his students to understand arm care and how to throw and stay healthy. He does this without a cookie cutter program. He understands that all players are different individuals.

Perfect Game's interest in prospects, arm care and keeping young kids healthy is the major reason we have decided to work with Ron Wolforth.

Below is the 19th of an ongoing column he will be doing on our Perfect Game website. This information will be gold for any player interested in improving their throwing ability and staying healthy. Make sure you read every column he contributes and feel free to comment on them.

If you want to attend one of his camps and improve your throwing ability, here is the link to the website:
https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/

Jerry Ford
President
Perfect Game

. . .

Article 1: Where the Sidewalk Terminates
Article 2: The Exact Location of Your Arm Pain is Incredibly Valuable Information
Article 3: No Pain, No Problem...Right? Not Quite So Fast.
Article 4: The Secret to Accelerated Skill Development: Hyper-Personalization
Article 5: The Case Against Weighted Balls?
Article 6: The Truth About Pitch Counts, Workloads, and Overuse
Article 7: Velocity Appraisal: How 'Hard' Is 'Hard Enough'?
Article 8: Command Appraisal: How 'Accurate' Is 'Accurate Enough'?
Article 9: Swing & Miss Appraisal: How 'Nasty' Is 'Nasty Enough'?
Article 10: 5 Common Mistakes Baseball Players Make In Their Training
Article 11: The Truth About Curveballs, Sliders, and Cutters
Article 12: What is Involved in Deep, Deliberate Practice vs. Traditional Practice
Article 13: The Truth About Long Toss?
Article 14: The Truth About Conditioning of Pitchers?
Article 15: Simple and Effective Post Throwing Strategies for Pitchers
Article 16: 12 Common (Yet Often Dangerous) Narratives For Pitchers, Part 1
Article 17: 12 Common (Yet Often Dangerous) Narratives For Pitchers, Part 2
Article 18: 12 Common (Yet Often Dangerous) Narratives For Pitchers, Part 3
Things To Consider When Embarking On A Velocity Enhancement Program This Year

In 2003, we created the Athletic Pitcher Program™ and started down this road of performance enhancement and velocity creation for baseball athletes. Initially inspired from the work of Paul Nyman, an engineer at SETPRO, over these past 19 years, we have experienced firsthand the bumps and obstacles of such a trek. It has been an amazingly challenging and fulfilling ride.
 
On our journey, we, of course, have failed many times. We have figuratively chased many a rabbit down the wrong hole. We have made assumptions and inferences that have since proven to be incorrect or overstated. On the positive side of the ledger, through those very failures we have learned, adapted, and grown tremendously.  We have succeeded beyond our wildest imaginings.
 
As the baseball universe’s understanding and sophistication of player development has grown tremendously over that time, so has the utilization of performance enhancement and velocity enhancement programs. Just one example of this growth was our rather primitive and rudimentary utilization of overweighted and underweighted balls in 2003 that was actually viewed at that time as edgy and dangerous. Now, this practice is commonplace at every level of baseball, including several MLB teams.
 
The purpose of this article is to share several things we have learned over these past 19 years in regard to velocity enhancement that might help maximize your efforts and, just as importantly, minimize the risk of injury or training corruption.
 
In 2022, it is not difficult to find velocity enhancement programs on the web that promise amazing results. While I have long since stopped searching for and/or critiquing such programs, I will tell you that some of them are solid and a few of them I believe are very, very good. While, of course, there are several that are not worth the paper they are printed on, I wanted to direct my efforts on some critically important distinctions to note while embarking on this path of velocity enhancement.
 
#1 Beware of Anything That Is ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

We intuitively know that one size will not only not fit everyone, one size won’t even fit one person forever. As we grow, develop, and change, so do our needs, strengths, and limitations. One-size-fits-all programs are popular because they are easy to implement. Unfortunately, efficiency is not the same as effectiveness. Designing a program customized to the individual athlete is often a daunting task, but the results are always worth the extra diligence. 
 
I see the following scenario play out again and again in this arena. Let’s say 10 young men engage in a generalized velocity enhancement program taken from a “Hot New Program of the Month” on the web.
 
Here are how the results typically play out: 2-4 participants make tremendous gains and are subsequently thrilled and excited. 2-4 participants make little or no gains and are slightly disappointed by the process. 2-4 participants actually regress, experience pain or discomfort, or (even worse) become injured.
 
Those results often spawn predictable reactions that play out on message boards, in chat rooms, and on Twitter feeds.
 
• The success stories of the first group are trumpeted by the program’s author, and testimonials are offered as proof positive of the incredible efficacy of the program.
• The second group quietly accepts the fact that this program might not have been the right fit, or maybe they just somehow didn’t quite do everything that the first group did. Those athletes now begin the search for the next “hot program of the month” on the internet.
• The last group feels duped or betrayed and blames the program and its author. The interactions often get incredibly vitriolic and nasty.
 
Each competing program heralds their achievers as undeniable evidence of the superiority of their process, while often discounting their underachievers or malcontents as merely incompetent or inept. On the flip side, they point to the failings of the competing programs as evidence of their inferiority. The vicious cycle is often repeated, animus is raised, and battle lines are drawn.
 
In reality, both programs could indeed be solid processes. 
 
“How can that be,” you ask?
 
That leads me to point #2.   
 
 
#2 Assessment Is Absolutely Essential


I will promise you, not every one of those 10 athletes were equally prepared for what we refer to at The Ranch as “The Push.” Over the past 19 years, we have learned to NOT proceed without an assessment to assist us in knowing where each individual athlete currently is in several key areas. Simply taking time to assess, correct, and prepare for “the push” before we actually push has made the average gains higher, the percentage of underachievers lower, and the injuries far fewer.
 
Here are the facts as we see them: Every athlete must reduce/remedy his constraints before any velocity program can have its full effect. Failure to do so will minimize the athlete’s gains and could place him at significantly increased risk of injury.
 
What are the common constraints?
 
- Some athletes are constrained by their current levels of pain and discomfort.

- Some athletes are constrained by their levels of recovery/ability to bounce back.

- Some athletes are constrained by their physical structure, asymmetries, and significant strength imbalances.

- Some athletes are constrained by their levels of mobility/flexibility.

- Some athletes are constrained by their levels of strength/stability.

- Some athletes are constrained by their levels of mechanical efficiency and poor movement patterns.

- Some athletes are constrained by their levels of readiness and foundation. Countless athletes haven’t built up an adequate throwing foundation comprised of volume and/or intensity prior to the push. Their soft tissue needs some lead time to prepare for the ramped up demands of the program.
 
Most athletes are actually constrained or limited by a mix/combination of several of the previous variables and/or by a few others I haven’t mentioned, such as nutrition, sleep, bad information, misapplied or mismanaged training processes, etc. Identifying and reducing or eliminating those constraints will allow your athlete’s ability to take off, and your velocity enhancement program will have its optimal effects.
 
#3 What the Athlete Does Between “Pushes” Is as Important as the Push Itself
 
What escapes many people is: What do you do until the next push? In our 19 years of developing pitching athletes, we have found that what an athlete does between those pushes is every bit as important as the push itself.
 
Obviously pitching at the highest levels of competition involves much more than simply throwing harder. While velocity increases are almost always welcome, in truth, they are one of the more simple, straightforward things we do at the Texas Baseball Ranch®. In fact, we view velocity increases as the “easy part”. 
 
What is far more involved is keeping the arm healthy and durable, increasing levels of command, improving secondary pitch offerings, and enhancing recovery WHILE adding a few mph to the fastball.
 
When an athlete pushes his neuromuscular limits and cultivates a new movement pattern that represents his new goal of throwing harder, he runs the risk of swerving headfirst into his personal constraints and becoming disconnected. This causes him to lose his modicum of command and forces a new organization of his secondary offerings, and places his normal recovery under duress.
 
If a velocity enhancement program is utilized early in an off season, typically the body has time to “right the ship” and reorganize its new pattern for gametime competition… which, of course, includes “command,” “stuff,” and recovery.  However, with the off-season seemingly shrinking in today’s year-round baseball universe, I see more athlete’s pushing their velocity enhancement work closer and closer to the season. The results often are, unfortunately, poor fastball command, loss of feel for secondary offerings, and real difficulties recovering on schedule.
 
This doesn’t have to be the case. 
 
Through simple, forward-looking programing, an athlete can structure his work to compliment rather than contradict or interfere with his intended final outcome. Unfortunately, such training synergy in today’s world is rare.  Nonetheless, I remain hopeful.  History is replete with examples of uncommon ideas that have revolutionized thought paradigms to forge a new norm.  19 years ago, weighted ball work was both rare and unsophisticated. In 2022, through the collective efforts of many insightful instructors and coaches, I see the emergence of dozens of high-quality programs utilizing these tools effectively.
 
The following is one sample of the many ways we structure our throwing program so that it complements our ultimate goal and does not contradict or interfere with it.
 
 
Sample of One of the More Common Texas Baseball Ranch® Weekly Throwing Cycles



Velocity (Push) – The actual day when the athlete pushes his neuromuscular limits. At the Texas Baseball Ranch®, we are very cognizant of our pushes. If our volume on that day involves more than 15-18 full effort throws, we require a minimum of 48 hours of recovery before we push again, and we never push more than twice in a calendar week (with volume greater than 15-18 full effort throws). This sample is one of my personal favorites – it is a sound 5-day cycle to which an aspiring professional pitcher might want to become accustomed.
 
Recovery/Connection – As the athlete pushes his limits, he runs the risk of 1) Traumatizing soft tissue and inhibiting recovery or 2) In an effort to create added energy, his body begins to disconnect. He recruits strength out of sequence or places parts of the body in physically disadvantageous positions – most generally the humeral head in the glenohumeral joint. Therefore, the day after we push, we have a recovery/connection day.
 
If the athlete has pain, discomfort, or has difficulty recovering after the push, we have him follow our Recovery Day Protocol.
 
If the athlete has no pain or discomfort and recovers nicely after the push, we have him follow a Connection Day Protocol.
 
Command – The second day after the push, our athlete’s emphasis in his throwing program from start to finish is command. That can mean command exclusively of his fastball or command of all of his offerings.
 
Spin/Secondary – The third day after the push, our athlete’s emphasis is on developing a feel for secondary offerings – blending 2 and 3 pitch sequences is the most frequent choice (i.e., fastball/changeup or curveball/changeup/fastball). Our goal is to improve feel, spin rate, and shape of each secondary offering. Just as importantly, to also have it blend into our fastball tempo., fastball movement pattern, fastball arm action, and fastball tunnel as well. 
 
Precision – The fourth day after the push and the day before the next push, our athlete’s emphasis is precision. On this day, the athlete revisits each drill he utilizes as if he was a beginner. Our athletes are trained to be very specifically aware of drill execution and the possible corruption that can result from sloppy, casual, or unfocused drill execution. Thus, during each athlete’s micro-training cycle, we can revisit and reemphasize each drill’s intent and process. While this is no guarantee of precluding any bad habits from creeping in, it is a very valuable “firewall” from training corruption and training corrosion.  
 
By taking these 3 guidelines into consideration – 1) Avoiding a one-size-fits-all model 2) Identifying and reducing each athlete’s constraint(s) 3) Planning what occurs between pushes – most velocity enhancement programs can be significantly maximized.


I look forward to continuing our discussion.

Coach Wolforth
CEO - The Texas Baseball Ranch

- - - - - - - -

Coach Wolforth has written six books on pitching including the Amazon Best Seller, Pitching with Confidence. Since 2003, 127 of the players Wolforth has trained have been drafted and 488 have broken the 90mph barrier. He 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, Texas with his wife, Jill. They are intimately familiar with youth select, travel baseball and PG events as their son Garrett (now a catcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization) 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.

 If you would like a free copy of Pitching with Confidence, go to www.freepitchingbook.com.

If you would like to learn more about the Texas Baseball Ranch and its training programs, go to www.texasbaseballranch.com.
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General | Blog | 12/10/2025

Youth Baseball Exec. DeDonatis III Joins PG
Jim Salisbury
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Youth Baseball Executive Don DeDonatis III Joins PG By Jim Salisbury  It’s free-agent season in baseball and Perfect Game has landed a big one. Don DeDonatis III joined PG as a consultant in November. The DeDonatis name is synonymous with youth baseball and softball. Along with his dad, Don Jr., DeDonatis helped build USSSA into a big hitter in the game. He brings decades of experience and knowledge to PG. “We all acknowledge that Donny has moved on from USSSA,” PG CEO Rob Ponger said. “This is a new chapter for him and we hope both sides take advantage of it to help youth sports in general. “The DeDonatis name has a legacy attached to it and we’re hoping that Donny is going to help us. PG is a growing brand and he’s on board to help.” DeDonatis was CEO at USSSA from 2018 until his exit from the company two years ago. “I’m...
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Tournaments | Story | 12/17/2025

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Jason Phillips
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Hitter of the Year: Landon Bonner The 2028 class saw many players from across the country take the next step in their development as they entered the High School ranks. There were huge performances from highly ranked players on the PG circuit as well as some under-the-radar guys who burst onto the scene. Landon Bonner came into Sophomore National as a Top 500 ranked player and after an impressive showing, left with all eyes on him as a rankings riser in the class. The left-handed hitting shortstop from The Colony, Texas, had a summer to remember with All-Tournament Team selections in three of his next four events culminating with a historic performance at the 2025 PG 15U WWBA National Championship. The Hebron High School prep went 20-for-24 in nine games for 5 Star Mafia 15U Black with four homeruns and 12 runs batted in. He also scored 17 runs and finished with a mind-boggling 2.500...
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Tournaments | Story | 12/16/2025

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AJ Denny
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Hitter of the Year: Koa Romero is the Hitter of the Year for the 16u group, as he would come to every premier event of the summer and earn All-Tournament honors (Beast of the East, 16/17u WWBA, Jupiter) in every single one. Over 82 plate appearances, Romero would pump ten homeruns with forty two RBI and sixteen walks, good for a .378 average and 1.339 OPS. The performance on volume at the best events of the year pushed Romero over the edge here, as he’d hit a pair of homeruns in Jupiter (one of them at 112 EV) as an underclassmen and collect double digit hits in BOTH WWBA events with a combined six jacks over the two tournaments. It was a summer that combined performance and winning on the biggest stages for Romero. It’s a quiet left-handed swing that packs a punch. He would reap the benefits of his performances, earning a commitment to LSU and jumping to the #74 prospect in...
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College | Recruiting | 12/15/2025

Recruiting Notebook: December 15

John McAdams
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Tournaments | Story | 12/15/2025

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Vincent Cervino
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Tyler Russo
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Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

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AJ Denny
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Best Game I Saw: The Dream NTL 18U vs. MBA Scout Team Murphy Jupiter always brings out the best, and we got fireworks from the jump. Turner Marshall gave The Dream an outstanding 4+ innings of work on the mound, holding a lethal MBA team at bay with Chance Dixon, Derrick Carter, and Ellis Appling providing an offensive spark out of the gate for the Georgia based boys. However, it was only a matter of time before the talent on the other side got going, as MBA erased a 3-run deficit in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead led by a Parker Loew HR. The Dream then took command again in the Top of the 6th, before MBA punched right back with a huge 5-run inning in the bottom half capped off by a clutch RBI single from Matthew Kerrigan, ending a wild sequence with tons of notable performances from two very competitive rosters. Best Tournament Performance I Saw: Surely someone has already brought this...
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College | Story | 12/12/2025

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Craig Cozart
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Nebraska Cornhuskers 2025 Highlights: The Cornhuskers were a difficult team to figure in ’25 as they finished with 33 wins, played just .500 (15-15) in the Big Ten but had some big wins at various times during the season and got hot at the right time. They knocked off then #16 Vanderbilt in the second game of the year, beat #5 Oregon State 2-out-of-3 at home in late March and then got hot at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha to win the Big Ten Tournament. They beat Michigan State in a 10-inning thriller before taking care of #4 Oregon, knocking off Penn State and then shutout #13 UCLA to punch their ticket to the Chapel Hill Regional. Head coach Will Bolt has now led his alma mater to three conference titles and three NCAA Regional appearances during his six years in Lincoln. No different than when he was a player, Bolt’s teams play with passion and toughness, this was never more...
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Tournaments | Story | 12/12/2025

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Troy Sutherland
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Finest in the Field: Class of 2026 | Class of 2027 You like athletes? You like defenders who can impact a game at any given point? Look not further than this class as it's loaded from coast-to-coast with elite defenders all over the diamond.  C: Brogan Witcher, Bakersfield, CA Our scouting staff got several strong looks at Witcher whether that was at the Summer Kickoff, Sophomore National or the Underclass All American Games where he showcased his strong overall skillset and especially his advanced ability behind the plate. His 6-foot-3,180 pound build looks like one that will fill in quite nicely and be that big and physical catcher’s frame. His arm talent is undeniable where he gets it out quick and runs it up to 79 mph on throwdowns to 2nd (1.84 pop). Besides the standout catch/throw ability, we’ve seen him frame/receive strong arms and block it well during...
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Softball | Softball Tournament | 12/11/2025

PG Softball "Toys 4 Tots" Fundraiser 18U division

Dave Durbala
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BURLINGTON, IA - 2025 Perfect Game Softball Toys 4 Tots Fundraiser One Day, December 7, 2025. Kicking off the holiday season, six teams participated in this one day, 3 game guarantee tournament in the 18u Division. We would like to thank those that donated a toy, and know that they will be distributed to area underprivileged children through a local charity organization. Following are some of the top performers from the weekend. Earning Tournament MV-Pitcher was Jolee Strohmeyer (2026 Dubuque, IA), a RHP/UTIL with tournament champion Lady Expos Blue. Strohmeyer shows hitters a consistent and repeatable motion and delivery with good use of the legs in the drive phase, and a quick and aggressive arm whip. Working with a six pitch mix of fastball, change-up, rise, drop, curve and screw, Strohmeyer topped out at 60 mph, and showed good movement  as she worked her rise and curve just out...
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Tournaments | Story | 12/11/2025

Scout Stories: Part 4

Tyler Henninger
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Scout Notes: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Best Game I Saw: Hudson Reed (‘26, GA) torches this ball to deep CF for a solo 💣. Generates easy power that plays to the big part of the yard. Middle of the order traits #UBCWest @PG_Georgia @PG_Uncommitted pic.twitter.com/UXqDVFmUBx — Perfect Game California (@California_PG) June 18, 2025 I was fortunate enough to see a lot of highly competitive games with loads of talent on the field, the game that sticks out to me the most was Alpha Prime 2026 vs. ZT National Prospects at the UBC West. The game was an efficiently played affair with arms dominating on both sides. Graham Schlicht was masterful for Alpha, striking out 12 hitters over 5 dominant innings. PG All-American Julian Cazares came out of the pen blowing smoke, touching 97 mph with the fastball. On the other side, Jake Carbaugh surrendered just one hit and...
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