To use a football or not use a football....

My belief in long toss comes from three sources: (1) scientific evidence, (2) observation of pro and college baseball training, and (3) personal experience.

1. If you want scientific evidence, read
"Kinematic and Kinetic Comparison of Baseball Pitching from a Mound and Throwing from Flat Ground," by G.S. Fleisig, R.F. Escamilla, S.W. Barrentine, N. Zheng, J.R. Andrews. Presented at the 20th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Atlanta, Georgia, October 17-19, 1996.

The article concludes that long toss delivers about the same training effect as maximum-effort pitching but with less wear and tear on the arm and shoulder.

2. I have watched a great many professional and Division I college baseball teams practice, and I have yet to observe one that does not use long toss in training. Many pitchers in college and the pros long toss several times a week, but throw only one or two bull pens a week. I have to assume that these teams have seen some benefit in this method.

3. Last year, my 11-year-old's pre-season training was almost entirely devoted to pitching from a mound. His arm improved only slightly. This year, he trained with long toss and rubber tubing, and his arm is dramatically stronger. At the beginning of the year, he was long tossing 120 feet. Now he's easily reaching 150. We don't use a gun, but his catchers and coaches say that his pitching velocity has improved also.

I don't know about all kids, but I think my son unconsciously "lets up" a tad when he's throwing from a mound in practice. He knows the ball will reach the target with good velocity, so he instinctively conserves a little energy. With long toss, anything less that full effort yields a throw that bounces short of its target--instant negative feedback. It's the sustained maximum effort that provides the training effect. If I were to use a radar gun when my son threw from the mound, he'd probably throw at maximum effort there, as well--but only until the gun was off. I'm not saying that he consciously slacks off. It's just very difficult for anyone to sustain maximum intensity unless he's being measured or is competing in a game. This is why the same kid who can safely throw a 100-pitch bullpen must limit himself to 70 or 80 pitches in a game.

Yes, I've seen quarterbacks throw baseballs, but do football coaches recommend it for training? Not around here, they don't. The young quarterbacks I know who also pitch have trouble getting true backspin on their fastballs. They have a tendency to pull side spin on the ball. I only have a few months to teach them a good fastball with true backspin. I sure don't want to confuse the issue with more football.