Improving Throwing Power

I want to focus this exercise review on the ‘throwing’ athlete, as well as other athletic movements that are similar to throwing, such as the spike/kill and serve in Volleyball. Pitchers and Quarterbacks are at the forefront of athletes concerned with throwing power/speed. This is a very important aspect of these athletes’ games, but one that is overlooked during training.

The musculature of the upper-back and rear deltoid (shoulder) are incredibly important parts of the throwing motion. The majority of focus given to improving throwing power is on the chest and front deltoid muscles. These muscles play a large role in the throwing process, don’t get me wrong, but I believe the muscles of the upper-back and rear deltoid play a larger role. Band pull-aparts, band rows, bent rows, seated rows, rear flies and external rotator cuff work are found in nearly every workout of my throwing athletes.

Technically speaking, the brain wants to protect muscles and tendons from injury at all times. Golgi Tendon Organs (GTOs) are proprioceptors that inhibit muscular contraction and activity. If the brain senses an injury is likely or possible to a certain muscle or muscle group, it will signal the GTOs to ‘shut down’ the muscle or muscle group that opposes the muscles likely to be injured. One of the best examples of this is found in throwing. The muscles involved in throwing are the pectoral, anterior deltoid, and latissimus dorsi to a lesser extent for the purpose of this post. Improving the strength of these muscles will improve the throwing power capability of the throwing arm, but only to a certain extent.

All muscular actions in the human body involve opposing muscle groups working together to perform the action. A simple example of this is bending the elbow. The biceps group contracts while the triceps group relaxes, with the opposite occurring in order to straighten the arm. In the throwing motion, the pectoral and anterior deltoid contract while the upper-back musculature and posterior deltoid (rear) relax. This brings me to the point of this post.

If the brain senses the musculature of the upper-back and posterior deltoid are not strong enough to handle the forceful activity of throwing at maximal velocity, it will signal the GTOs to ‘shut down’ the pectorals and anterior deltoids because the opposing muscles can be injured. This creates the need for very strong upper-back and posterior deltoid musculature. Keeping these muscles strong will prevent the muscles that propel the arm forward from being limited in their abilities. This is an important aspect of the throwing athletes’ training program, and upper-back and posterior deltoid work should be included in nearly every workout.

-Bryan-