I have gone through and read a bunch of the topics on here and one thing that keeps popping out is a true long toss program, not the long toss they do for warm ups before a game or practice but a program to build up the arm.

My problem is that I live in New Hampshire where in the offseason it is usually snow covered and COLD!! How is a player suppose to work on a long toss program in the winter up here? It isn't like there are gym's that are opened up for throwing programs in the area. Most indoor baseball facilities only have 70' tunnels to throw in.

What do other people do that live in the north where we have real winters?

I know we can work on long toss as often as the weather will allow, be it in the street or a parking lot that is plowed out, but even then it is dark come 5pm during the winter...so proper lighting is an issue as well.

Just curious what others do. My son is a 13yr old lefty who is in the 8th grade and being counted on to be his middle schools ace this upcoming year. I want him to prepare to be the best he can be going into the season. Any ideas will be appreciated.

We used a couple indoor s****r fields. 2 fields under a huge tent like structure.

Although we live in Texas and the weather (cold) wasn't much of an issue, I worked evenings and it was dark when I got home. What we did was looked for a parking lot that was heavily lit and did our long toss and flat ground bullpens there. The parking lot we ended up using was a local junior college parking lot. It had just enough lighting and worked well.

Good Luck

That is what I was thinking...the local high School is down the street from us, and they plow it well I'm sure. We will have to try that this winter...as long as it is warm enough to wear a sweat shirt for a bit. Hard to throw with a snow parka on!!

You know you could always buy a net, hang it in your basement or garage, and throw into that.

I rigged a heavy duty painters tarp with a pulley system in my garage. Also worked great for T work, soft toss and even hitting golf balls off a mat. Only a couple dents in the drywall where the wife couldn't hit the tarp with a golf ball from 5 feet away.

Yea...there you go.



Look there isn't anything magical about long tossing.

It's all about the intensity that you put into your throwing (provided you have a good way to "measure" i.e a radar gun this intensity).

I like long tossing because you get to get outside and throw the ball. A long ways hopefully. That's what I like. You get feedback (the radar gun) by how far you're throwing the ball. Simple.

I like the idea of a "pull down" phase (ala Jeager). This sort of buries (or it should) the intensity of that long throw, into your throw from the mound (or infield or wherever you play).

But if you can't get outside to do it, a net and a radar gun is the next best thing.

My .02

When I was young in new england we would go to a local basketball gym. We would arrange to be there off hours. We would then throw corner to corner after starting at about 50 feet. It was a little over 100 feet corner to corner. When its 20 degrees out, throwing 100 feet indoors is better than not throwing. As soon as it warms enough you can then get outside.

According to what I've read, a player needs to throw the ball near 90 MPH to long toss about 300 ft. Is there a velocity equation or rule of thumb for players throwing 200, 225, or 275 ft?

Do you think a good substitute for long tossing outside is to throw from your knees indoors? i figure by taking your legs out of the equation the arm can get that extra work thats hard to get while in a 70' tunnel

WZ8 - I have seen that formula somewhere on this site. I just looked around and could not locate it. Can someone please post this info/formula if they can easily locate it. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by wz8fvm:
According to what I've read, a player needs to throw the ball near 90 MPH to long toss about 300 ft. Is there a velocity equation or rule of thumb for players throwing 200, 225, or 275 ft?

Open the below Java applet to find the answer to your question.

Velocity and Distance

Bum, Jr. threw against a racquetball court wall in the Winter. But you can also rig a net in the basement. Just simulate throwing to another player.

Thanks!! Neat web site.