This document outlines strategies for building the perfect pitcher through strength and conditioning. It discusses goals of injury prevention and performance enhancement. Key aspects that make a good pitcher include never missing starts, having body awareness, being fatigue resistant, having power and speed, and mental toughness. The document provides exercises and stretches to maximize internal and external rotation for injury prevention and performance. Core exercises are emphasized over crunches. Conditioning should replicate the demands of baseball through sprints, games, and strongman exercises. Case studies are presented comparing players' physical testing results and velocities.

1. Building The Perfect
Pitcher
Josh Heenan CSCS CES

2. Thank You
 Moore Staff
 Dr. Vadasdi
 Wayne Mazzoni
 SHU Baseball

3. About Me
 3 Years Working at Moore
 3rd Year Coaching SHU Baseball
 Former Collegiate Pitcher
 Competed in Powerlifter
 Competed in Olympic Lifter
 Masters in Human Movement with a
Specialization in Sports Psychology

4. Goals Of ANY Strength and
Conditioning Program
1. Injury Prevention
Or Injury Reduction
**Develop Good Posture**
Posture Dictates Function
2. Performance Enhancement
and Becoming More Athletic

6. What Makes a Good
Athlete/Pitcher?
1. Never Misses a Start
2. Has Good Body Awareness/Control = Throws Strikes
3. Fatigue Resistant = Throws Strikes for Many Innings
4. Powerful and Fast = Throws Hard
5. Mental Toughness or The “X” Factor

7. The Pitcher’s Power Position

8. Maximizing Internal Rotation
(Injury Prevention)
 THIS IS THE KEY TO MINIMIZING ELBOW AND
SHOULDER INJURIES!!!
 Corrections for Limited Internal Rotation:
The Sleeper Stretch
Soft Tissue Work to the Rotator Cuff
 Why So Tight or Painful?

9. Maximizing External Rotation
(Performance Enhancement)
1.) Thoracic Extension and
Rotation
2.) Scapular Positioning
and Stability
3.) Gleno-humeral
(Shoulder) Rotation

10. A Note About Laberal Tears
 One Study Took MRIs of Major League Baseball Players
Throwing Shoulders.
 79% of these players had some form of Labrum damage.
 THESE WERE ASYMPTOMATIC PLAYERS!!!
Miniaci, A., Mascia, A. T., Salonen, D. C., & Becker, E. J.
(2002). Magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder in
asymptomatic professional baseball pitchers. The American
Journal of Sports Medicine, 30(1), 66.

11. A Note About Laberal Tears
“The labrum makes the shoulder
joint much more stable.”

12. Maximizing External Rotation
(Performance Enhancement)
1.) Thoracic Extension and Rotation
2.) Scapular Positioning and Stability
3.) Gleno-humeral (Shoulder)
Rotation
4.) Laberal Tears?!

13. The Upper Body
 Thoracic Extension
 Side- Lying Thoracic Stretch
 Y’s
 T’s
 Sleeper Stretch

14. Y’s and T’s

15. The Pitcher’s Power Position

16. The Lower Body:
Putting Force Into The Ground
 Flexibility In the Hip Flexors
Hip Flexor Mobilization
 Power/Strength in the Glutes and Hamstrings
Bridges
Jumps
Deadlifts
Squats
Lunges

17. Hip Flexor
Mobilization/Stretch
 Liam and Steve

18. Bridges
Bad Good

22. The Core:
Connecting the Upper and Lower Body
The Role of the Core is to Stabilize the Spine
and Transfer Force.
What is the
Core?!

23. Core Training
 NO CRUNCHES!!!
 Repetitive flexion of the lumbar spine, such as when
performing sit ups or crunches, contributes to
degeneration of the lumbar discs and significantly raises
the risk of disc herniation.*
 Squats – Deadlifts - Pull-ups - Chin-ups
 Planks – Push-ups
 Medball Work
*Callaghan, J. P., & McGill, S. M. (2001). Intervertebral disc herniation:
studies on a porcine model exposed to highly repetitive flexion/extension
motion with compressive force. Clinical Biomechanics, 16(1), 28–37.

24. The Best Shoulder and Core
Exercise You Have Never Herd Of
 Push- up with Reach

25. Conditioning
 Conditioning Should Replicate the Demands of the
Sport.
 Baseball is mostly fast starts, stops, and 100% effort.

27. Distance Running?!
Weak and Slow Strong and Fast

28. Conditioning
 Sprints: Under 110 yards
 Games: Football, Ultimate
Frisbee, Dodgeball, Tag
 Timed Sets: 30-60 seconds
 Strong Man Training:
Sled Pushes
Farmers Walks
Tire Flips
Med Ball Throws

29. Putting It All Together
Warm-up
 Side Lying Thoracic Stretch
 Thoracic Extension
 Y’s
 T’s
 Sleeper Stretch
 Hip Flexor Stretch
 Bridges
Workout
 Core Stability
 Jumps
 Squats or Deadlifts or
Lunges
 Chin-ups or Pull-ups
 Conditioning

30. Case Study!
Troy
 6’1” 185lbs
 F. Squat Max: 230lbs
 Pull-up Max: 10
 Vertical Jump: 27inch
Liam
 6’3” 208lbs
 F. Squat Max: 305lbs
 Pull-up Max: 12
 Vertical Jump: 29inch
John
 5’10” 195lbs
 F. Squat Max: 365lbs
 Pull-up Max: 19
 Vertical Jump:
29.5inch

32. Case Study!
Troy
84-88 MPH
Liam
89-93 MPH
John
80-84 MPH

33. The X-Factors
 Mechanics
 Mental Toughness
 We improve mental toughness through
conditioning, team-building activities, creating habits, and
constantly push our athletes outside their comfort zones.

34. Questions?
Comments?