Every young pitcher wants to throw harder. I get it. Velocity gets you noticed.
So he buys a set of weighted balls, films himself on the radar gun every session, and chases a number. Sometimes the number goes up for a little while. Then it stalls, or the arm starts barking.
Here's what I tell every player and parent I work with: stop chasing velocity. Start chasing athleticism. Velocity is what happens when you build a better athlete.
Velocity is a byproduct
A fastball doesn't come from the arm alone. It starts in the ground. The legs produce force, the hips and trunk transfer it, and the arm is the last link in the chain.
When a young pitcher chases velocity by just throwing harder, he's asking the smallest, most fragile link to do more of the work. That's a ceiling, and it's also a recipe for an injury.
When he gets stronger, more explosive, and more athletic, the whole chain produces more force. The arm doesn't have to do it all. Velocity goes up because the engine got bigger, not because he's forcing it.
Better athletes also do everything else better. They repeat their delivery, stay healthy, and hold their stuff deeper into games and deeper into the season.
The benchmarks I want players chasing
Instead of a number on a radar gun, I give players athletic targets. These are the markers of an athlete who's built to throw hard and stay healthy.
Broad jump: 10+ feet The best simple test of lower-body power. It shows how much force a player can put into the ground and how fast. That's the same force that starts every pitch.
Vertical jump: 30+ inches Another measure of explosive power, straight up instead of out. Players who jump well usually move well on the mound.
Pull-ups: 10 clean reps Full hang to chin over the bar, no kipping. The upper back is what slows the arm down after release. A pitcher who can't control his own bodyweight on a bar is asking a lot of his shoulder.
Push-ups: 20 clean reps Chest to the floor, body in a straight line. It's basic upper-body strength and trunk control, and it's a lot harder to do right than most kids think.
Reverse lunge: 0.75x-1.5x bodyweight Single-leg strength matters because pitching happens one leg at a time. You drive off one leg and land on the other. A 150-pound player at 0.75x is lunging with about 112 pounds. At 1.5x, it's 225. That range takes a player from solid to elite.
Long toss: 300 feet Distance throwing is one of the best ways for an athlete to replicate a beautiful recipe for velocity: an explosive, powerful lower half and a loose, relaxed, on-time upper half. You can't muscle a ball 300 feet with your arm alone. Everything has to work together. This one gets built gradually over months, not tested on day one.
A note for younger players
These are targets for high school players getting ready for the next level. If you're 12 or 13, don't expect to hit them yet. That's fine.
For younger athletes, the job is to learn to move well: jumping, landing, sprinting, bodyweight strength, and good technique on the basics. Push-ups and pull-ups done right. Jumps landed under control. Build the foundation now and the numbers come as you grow.
The point isn't to hit every benchmark by a certain age. It's to always be moving toward them.
Why this beats chasing velocity
- It stacks. Strength and power keep building for years. Weighted-ball gains without a stronger body behind them tend to stall.
- It protects the arm. A stronger, more explosive body spreads the work across the whole chain.
- It measures what matters. Jumps, reps, and lunge weight tell you if the athlete is getting better. A radar reading on a bad day tells you very little.
- It makes you a better pitcher. Not just a harder thrower.
This is exactly what the off-season is for. If you missed it, last week I wrote about why a structured off-season matters. These benchmarks are what that structure should be building toward.
Test yourself
Want to know where you stand? Test these six this week. Write the numbers down. Then build your off-season around closing the gaps.
The player who becomes a better athlete almost always ends up throwing harder too. The player who only chases velocity usually doesn't get either.
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