“What do I need to do to increase velocity… improve arm strength… throw harder… hit 90 mph on the gun…?”
Those are the questions I frequently get from NLB players / parents / coaches. Well, today we dive into exactly how you can increase velocity and arm strength. To answer your questions, I ran down long toss guru Alan Jaeger, founder of Jaeger Sports. If you haven’t heard of Alan, he has been a consultant for the Rangers (who had him implement his long toss program throughout their organization), and he has worked with numerous Big League Pitchers like Dan Haren, Barry Zito, Trevor Bauer, and Cole Hamels, just to name a few.
I’ve had the privilege of knowing Alan for the past year or so and have come to view him as not just an incredible baseball resource, but also mentor. Many thanks to Alan for taking the time to sit down and talk about increasing velocity and arm strength through his proven long toss program.
In this video, Alan breaks down where to start, why it works, who uses it, how to incorporate long toss during the season, what days are best to long toss for starting pitchers, and more. Beyond that, make sure you watch the other two videos. One is Trevor Bauer and China McCarney demonstrating the Jaeger long toss program, and the other is a shorter video of how to use J-Bands to warm up properly.
In the NLB video, you’ll see Alan showing you his J-Bands and explaining how they’re used to warm up. All of those pitchers mentioned above and more use his J-Bands to warm up and then do his long toss program as part of their throwing routine. You can go here to buy the aforementioned Jaeger J-Bands or Jaeger J-Bands Jr.. (for age 12 and under). It gets the blood flowing, loosens up the muscles and tendons, and allows your arm to truly open up once you start long tossing. I like the quote on Jaeger Sports that says, “The Jaeger Sports J-Bands: A mandatory tool for any baseball player who wants their arm to be a strength, rather than a liability.”
I’m really excited about today’s interview and am convinced that watching today’s videos will be some of the best time spent on your baseball development this year.
Jaeger Sports Resources Mentioned in the Video:
“Thrive on Throwing” – Jaeger Sports’ in depth DVD on building arm strength and arm health.
“Arm Strength and Conditioning” – More of Alan’s long toss throwing specifics. Touches on in vs out of season throwing, building a base, distance, and a lot more.
Trevor Bauer and China McCarney demonstrating the Jaeger long toss program…
