increasing quaterbacks throwing range..

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: The exercises above are on Mon-Wed-Fri plus we run a mile and a half those days also before going to the weight room. Tues- Thursdays we run 10 100 yd. sprints with 30seconds rest between reps right now, we get that down to 10 seconds just prior to season starting. Lower body done on these days = squats, power cleans, leg press, leg curls , leg extensions and finish all 5 days with 10 mins. on tread mill, stair climber, and bicyle without stopping, just long enough to step up to next machine in our cardiovascular enhancement area of our workout facility. this is not just QB's, but the entire team.

Thanx guys.

I believe with years of study and refinement i have squeezed everything i can out of good technique. Its my strength when it comes to throwing the ball and often get good comments on it from visiting US coaches, most recent Coach Morrison from Hawaii University.

Having said that, i am all for hearing more ideas on improving it.

If i had some close up video footage i would post there here, but only have footage from grand stand

I have been also concentrating on Swiss ball exercises to increase core body strength, just need to be a little more discipline in that.

Dave,

If possible, start doing more for the trunk in addition to the swiss ball stuff. If you have cables, you can do numerous things. You can do also do trunk exercises with barbells and plates or medicine balls. Also increase the strength in the legs, especially the posterior chain region. Whatever strength you possess in the legs and trunk will be a major factor as to how far you can throw the pill.

Good Mornings, various Deadlifts, Back or Box Squats, Hamstring exercises that hit the hams/glutes (hip extensors) and the low back should be mainstays in your lifting program.

I would be doing lots of shoulder exercises that strengthen the anterior, medial and posterior delts. If you are bench pressing alot, hit mostly the medial and posterior delts to maintain a balance in strength between the front and back. Also include internal/external rotation.

Tom Myslinski (Asst. S&C coach for the Cleveland Browns) said this when asked about how to increase throwing distance....

***"The football throw (and baseball) can be relatively broken down into two phases (the kinematic chain for throwing):

(1) the velocity of the ball is increased by the actions of the legs, then

(2) the velocity of the ball is further increased by the actions of the trunk and then the upper arm.

Here is where your problem lies. Atwater (1970) determined that the velocity of a ball doesn't increase substantially until the last 100 ms of the movement. Knowing this, young throwers "arm" the ball, not using their kinematic chain (feet - hand) for their rate of force development. Obviously, this is why you find all of your searches on rehabilitation articles of the shoulder and elbow."***-Tom Myslinski

Hope this helps a little, Dave.

Good luck to you.

Jimbo

Coach,

go to westcoastoffense.com and under the playbook link (if I remember right) there is a pdf doc. that has all kinds of great info on strength exercises for the rotator cuff.

JD

Hey Dave, Pardon me for beating this horse one more time, but I'd like to throw out some other things for your to consider. This is just fun for me.
We all marvel at how far Tiger Woods and the professional golfers hit a golf ball, the baseball players who hit baseballs a mile - what are marveling at? Timing. The mechanics of a throw can all be there, but if the timing isn't, you will be limited to some degree. TigerOne is onto the key - acceleration begins when the push is ramped up with the turn, and is transferred through the arm. The only problem for most of the guys I run into is the same as I see in guys who don't run fast - they have competing movements that slow them down. Think of a runner crossing his body when he runs - that is an absolute no go. In order to benefit from the turn speed of the body, your upper body mechanics have to simplify, reduce, and be ready for the wave of energy to be moved through it. I have trained thousands of QBs who do very well with the feet and even have a reasonable turn, but their arm action is competing with them. In other words. They make a great push, an excellent turn, and then decelerate and loop the arm into the release(one of many breakdowns). Transfer of weight and energy must occur through muscles, in light of that you must have proper alignment to use the muscles. That is speed development 101, but in the arm it is no different. The elbow must arrive in the lead position before the arm is extended to the release to build up torque and redirect the turn to an explosion out to the target. What makes Barry Bonds, Tiger Woods, you name it - the long hitters long(minus steroids) is their ability to wait until the last second to unleash the beast! Now, we have the doctor confirming it is in the last 100ms where you get it done. I couldn't watch your video because I couldn't read MPEG4, but here are some things to consider when you watch the tape. The elbow must arrive 45 degrees up out and foward of the throw shoulder before the wrist starts forward. Essentially this is the lead position of the elbow(angle of the scapula, zero position of the arm - I have to sound more medical in this thread area so I will throw in some big words to backup what I am talking about - although the specifics of these concepts are over my head - I do understand these two words as they have been taught to me as the official terms for this elbow position). This is the optimum position for arm extension. Think of a single arm tricep extension with a dumbbell and how the elbow rights itself in that 45 degree slot. It is the same with any muscular development with weights, there is a range of motion that is essentially best for each muscle and this is it for the tricep in a throw. The elbow is only able to arrive there over the shoulder line on movement. Not very high, just enough to get quickly ahead of the wrist. If you go flat or under the line it will force the wrist to curl and orbit the elbow, and the joints will be maxed out trying to overcome the shallow angle and the shoulder will take all the heat, will the arm goes bigtime inefficient to deliver the ball. What happens when a competing movement enters the motion, is that the body will decelerate at the brain's direction so as not to allow injury to itself. Sort of like being off balance, and you can't throw the ball strong, the body slows down and the throw fails. The sense is that the elbow becomes the preeminent focus, because without its proper positioning prior to release, the throw will fail, period. The timing will degenerate and you end up with something less than what you are capable of doing. Every ounce of my push and turn is to accelerate that elbow to that lead position - from there we can be assured we will have the platform to stay accelerating into the next phase of the release - extension. In this elbow move, ON THE TURN OF THE BODY, the arm will literally collapse, or fold, as the wrist comes down onto the the line of the bicep and sets up to follow the elbow up and out to the target. As close to directly above it in terms of the vertical line at release as possible The turn of the body now becomes the essential relationship for timing the release. The turn brings the elbow into the target hallway and sets up the extension of the tricep for maximum explosion. Please understand, here, I am talking about being in a perfect position for max release. Everyone attacks it differently, but because we are all essentially constructed the same in our joints, and are governed by the same rules in those joints - aside from brute strength we can function the same to achieve our max potential. I may never be as fast as someone else, but to achieve my max speed, I need to know the most efficient body position and timing for improving myself - and that position is no different than that which is required for Michael Johnson to run his many World Records. That is what I am talking about. Extension is the tricep carrying the energy of the turn through the forearm out to the target. Now, here are two schools of thought. Some prefer the slashing 3/4 delivery that looks like a whipping motion. The kind where the wrist is literally extended out at 45 degrees from the elbow comes around. That lateral move or delivery is encouraged by the turn, but you will end up releasing the ball inconsistently and end up mildly accurate -because the target is vertical and you are horizontal in delivery. You watch Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez right before release, That tricep is loaded(ball in closer to the head and the arm is collapsed) and awaiting the body turn's "permission" to go nuclear. Timing. once the elbow elevates to critical, the tricep launches the ball outward and the wrist now waits on the tricep to build torque, so it can go ballistic, and finally the wrist having built up all the energy from the previous patience above and passing the elbow, fires. If the wrist is properly positioned - and that is another aspect entirely - then it can fire maximizing the velocity in the last 6 inches(100ms). Now, this will demand a more vertical approach, not much more, but more. It will demand patience with the wrist and an aggressive elbow that learns to outrun the turn of the body, and a feel for extension up and out to the target, slightly over the shoulder, not around. The higher attack position will allow the hand to pronate easier, take the pressure off the wrist from the turning, and allow it to extend out to the target more freely. All of these concepts depend on two words - elevate and extend as your mental triggers. The only failure you will experience is in dropping the elbow below the shoulder line and firing the wrist before the elbow gets to the lead position - that is all. Timing. Everything you do from the step, stride, turn, release, depends on the elbow being right and therefore all those things serve that one move and then the tricep wrist. This is a dynamic motion, it is all done in context of the turn and therefore must be practiced with the turn. Any attempt to try it without a turn will end up feeling awkward and look stupid. Make the turn and motion together. We are very compact in the back of our motion. Keep the arm from opening up too much so that once the elbow drives forward, your tricep is loaded enough to extend. The Wrist is the final piece. Simply put, it cannot move or change position or it will throw off the release. Just try this. Holding the ball in the prepass position off the back shoulder, kick the bottom nose of the ball out at 45 degrees off your body. You will feel the forearm muscle contract and a wrinkle will appear on the inside back of your wrist. This movement stretches the tendons in the fingers, loads the forearm, and locks the wrist from moving bone to bone. Now, I am not suggesting you put the far point above the near point on the ball, it is just an opening up of the wrist to set up a slightly nose up position at release, reduce the ability of the wrist to move, provide a standard of feel each time you load prepass, double the length of the wrist snap, and basically cause the ball to jump out of your hand on the snap. This concept is not widely accepted,yet but the function is powerful, as it presets the wrist to fire immediately on arrival at extension. I developed this concept on my own, not sure who else teaches it, but the reasons made sense to me and the flight is undeniably more consistent and stronger. I started doing it 8 years ago on my own in training and have come to realize its incredible benefits to consistency, transfer of power on a throw, touch, and spiral. I appreciate the opportunity I have to work with young men all over this country, and I feel I have freely received something that is making a difference - I hope it works for you like it did for me. I wish you the best and would be happy to correspond more on this with you.

Darin,
After spending a lifetime coaching QB's, I am very happy to say you have taught this old dog some new tricks. Your video is outstanding and very professionally done! I will gladly support your theories as they make perfect sense to me! They can hammer you all they want, but if they will simply take the time to sit down and digest your video and not take the "Willie Loman" approach, I think the really good QB coaches out there will recognize immediately the value of your teaching! I know I am going to start immediately really accentuating "the cock" of the wrist, as you have proven to me it is more than just a "new wrinkle" , it really is a solid new concept of enhancing any QB's throwing accuracy! I'm very happy I decided to listen and not to be a fault finder, just because it is new. You as a person, and what you teach, have been a refreshing air in my life!

Coach Easton