If you want to help your pitchers throw faster, stay healthier, and have less soreness, you should not let them run long distances. That’s correct, no poles, no long distance running of any length at all.

The reaction I usually get to this is indignation from coaches, perplexed stares from parents, and cheering from ballplayers.

If you think about it, the reason is VERY clear.

I see pitchers jogging or running at a very deliberate pace every week. The same pitchers who are taught to explode like missiles are now told to slowly pace themselves. Well, conserving energy is not part of baseball. Pitching, hitting, throwing, and fielding are all explosive and ballistic activities. Does distance running help you with this, or is it really “anti-training?”

The most common questions/challenges I get on this subject are:

1. “Coach, doesn’t distance running build endurance?” Answer: Yes, but endurance for what? Endurance for long distance running, for conserving your energy over long periods of time. That’s not even remotely like baseball. Baseball is a series of explosive movements, and short endurance events (almost always twelve seconds or less). When you train to conserve energy, you are not advancing your baseball abilities. The athletes that train for distance running look like this marathon runner, not like Max Scherzer, shown below.

2. “Isn’t distance running a good idea a good thing to do the day after you pitch?” Answer: Running poles (for whatever you think it might do) the day after you pitch is about as effective as going to a hospital 24 hours after you get stabbed. It provides basically no benefit at all baseball-wise to the athlete on the next day. However, many coaches love it because they don’t have to supervise this activity.

3. “We like about running poles. Can it be bad?” Answer: For an old, overweight guy like me, sustained and lower intensity cardiovascular exercise like jogging from one foul pole to the other is good. It’s good for my heart, reduces cholesterol and heart rate. Not very good for my knees and ankles, however. And for a baseball athlete? Do you think it’s a good idea to drive a Corvette over speed bumps? Nah. me either.

Fatigue is not simply a physical impediment. It draws its strength from emotional and mental components as well. So even if you believe that running long distance isn’t bad for a ballplayer physically, it certainly will bore him mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Ballplayers jogging, running poles, reminds me of a zombie on a march. Oh, I’ve got one more for you…

4. “Well, every ballplayer runs long distances so it must be right.” Answer: Sincerely believing something and having lots of people agree with you does not make anything fact. The world is not flat, and at one point in our history people were killed publicly for stating the opposite.

There’s plenty of good solid research that supports my premise. According to the editors of Runners World Magazine, having an explosive athlete (like a sprinter or a pitcher) run long distance just does not help them with their sport. It certainly has some general cardiovascular benefits, especially for people that need to train in that low challenge area.

In researching this article, I came upon a book that was published in August 2013 that has already become a New York Times Best Seller: “The Sports Gene” by Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein. It’s a fascinating read that covers many aspects of athleticism. Science has uncovered much about the relationship of nature vs. nurture. Some athletic skills we believe are innate, like the ability to swing a bat lightning-fast, may not be. And other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete’s will to train, might in fact have important genetic components. You can order that book here… 

And finally, let’s take some common sense and what you learned in high school. Does your high school track coach make sprinters run long distance? Almost never, because distance running requires you to conserve energy, and sprinters blow it all out as fast as they can. Just like pitchers. In fact, just like ballplayers at every position.

As Ron Wolforth says, if distance running was the key to pitching fast, then professional baseball would be filled with people that look like marathon and long distance runners, who are very lean. But they’re not. Pitchers have physiques more like sprinters.

So what should a youth athlete do? We’re working on a program to give you some specifics to help your pitchers stay healthy, recover faster, and feel better. And it does NOT involve running long distances at subdued speeds. We’ll let you know when its ready.

By now, you’ve decide whether your son should play baseball this fall. But what were your reasons?

Fall baseball games are typically less intense, more for fun and far less for competition. Fall leagues rarely have playoffs. It’s a great, low pressure time to develop a talent and try it in a game situation. That could be bunting, base stealing, a new pitch like a change up, or a position like catcher. You can use what you find and decide what to spend more time learning, and what’s not your cup of tea.

If your son plays another sport in the fall (football or soccer, for instance), then maybe you’ve decided he’ll just participate in that other sport. That’s fine. Training other sports can yield benefits by helping the body become more balanced. You develop different muscles and movement patterns. That can keep both your body and your mind from becoming bored, and you may return to baseball in the winter with more enthusiasm.

The only bad choice is to let your son “take off” an extended time like three or even six months without any challenging physical activity. All that does is creates a TV watcher or a video game player.

If your son loves baseball and wants to play, then it will help him be happier to feed this enthusiasm. I’d suggest you let him play for a different coach. There’s more likely to be spots on teams run by well-respected coaches from whom he can learn. He may be able to meet and learn from his prospective high school coach, for instance. Regardless of where you chose, your circle of baseball friends can grow.

If your son loves baseball, he’ll want to keep playing. And that may tell you if he wants to remain a recreational player or whether he wants to work hard and get to the highest level of baseball that he can.

And since it’s “Back to School” time for your son, perhaps it’s time to refresh your love and knowledge of every facet of training youth baseball players.

For this week only, get ALL of our videos in Tips from the Coach – The Whole Shebang! for a the lowest price ever. Get ten videos, hours of well-respected videos on hitting, pitching, practicing, home training, helping parents and players. It’s got the only video series ever approved by Little League, PONY Baseball, Dixie Youth, and The National Association of High School Athletic Coaches – pretty much every major youth baseball organization – for the training of their coaches and players.

The Whole Shebang! is available here.

Use the promo code BACKTOSCHOOL and get the entire set for $30. off, just $69.99. But that’s just until Sunday 9/15/2013. It’s much easier than going to get school supplies, and there’s no lines at the cash register.

The New York Mets experienced a big blow to their short-term fortunes today. Their ace, the pitcher that earned the start for the National League in this year’s All Star Game, Matt Harvey, was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his elbow. The surgery to repair, actually replace that, is commonly referred to as “Tommy John surgery.”

Yep. Matt Harvey likely needs Tommy John surgery, and will be out for the rest of this year and 2014.

Why did this happen? Moving your arm as rapidly as you can from external (behind your shoulder) to internal (in front of your torso) rotation creates very strong forces in your arm, primarily in your elbow. The repetitive stress on the ligament in your elbow leads to lengthening, tearing and wearing down of the UCL which in turn causes medial (inner) elbow pain, decrease in velocity of throwing, and an inability to throw effectively.

Everyone’s ability to create speed and force is different. Everyone’s efficiency is unique to them. Chris Young, the 6’ 10” 278lb pitcher currently with the Washington Nationals rarely tops 87 mph, but 5’ 9” 185lb Pedro Martinez threw as fast as 94 mph. Everyone organizes their movements differently. And everyone’s UCL reacts somewhat differently.

According to Dr. Seth Gamradt of the USC Keck School of Medicine, most commonly a UCL tear presents with a gradual onset of medial (middle) elbow pain due to repetitive stresses on the ligament; this is called a chronic UCL tear. Occasionally, throwing athletes may experience a sharp “pop” or develop sharp pain along the inside of the elbow joint on one particular throw; this is called an acute UCL tear. Either way, the tear in the ligament leads to a decrease in velocity, pain while pitching, and lack of control. Occasionally, the ulnar nerve, which runs very close to the UCL, can be stretched, leading to numbness and tingling in the small and ring fingers.

How can you prevent the UCL from rupturing? The only absolutely certain way is not to pitch a baseball at close to your potential velocity. Really. Like driving a Ferrari at 40 miles per hour, you are not likely to stress the engine ever. Or the braking system.

If anyone tells you that the way they pitch or teach pitching will absolutely never lead to an injury, they are full of horse hockey pucks. Every movement, every action has an implication. Everyone’s body is somewhat different. And no one can predict the future. Do you think the Mets value Matt Harvey’s contributions? And the Nationals value Stephen Strassberg? You bet, and every club would love to avoid as many injuries as they can to their players.

How can you prevent the UCL from rupturing? The only absolutely certain way is not to pitch a baseball at close to your potential velocity. Really. Like driving a Ferrari at 40 miles per hour, you are not likely to stress the engine ever. Or the braking system.

If anyone tells you that the way they pitch or teach pitching will absolutely never lead to an injury, they are full of horse hockey pucks. Every movement, every action has an implication. Everyone’s body is somewhat different. And no one can predict the future. Do you think the Mets value Matt Harvey’s contributions? And the Nationals value Stephen Strasberg? You bet, and every club would love to avoid as many injuries as they can to their players.

But there are things you can do. You can reduce your chances of having an injury by:

Start preparing early. Starting your preseason training about least ten weeks before your team starts working together.

Frequent workouts. Working out at least every other day, but no more than six days a week.

Train baseball movements and muscles. Train all parts of your body that help you perform on the field with short-length explosive exercises.

Start your competitive season gradually. Don’t try to throw 115 pitches your first time out, especially if its cold outside. Build up your

Warm up completely before each appearance. Don’t wait to be told. Do it on your own.

Recover intelligently. Heat speeds up the flow of blood and helps your muscles, tendons, and ligaments recover. Use ice only to reduce swelling of injuries (and pitching is not an injury).

Avoid multiple high-stress innings in each game. Discuss this with your coach and get on the same page. If you have a long inning (30 or more pitches), then you need to get off the mound before trying to complete another one. Normal innings (12-18 pitches) are fine.

Having an offseason is fine. You can refrain from any baseball activity to clear your head and let your body recover. For some, two weeks is enough for that. For others, they need two or three months. But remember, you should be doing some semi-challenging athletic activity for 11 to 11 ½ months out of the year. Other sports are fine, as are challenging recreational activities.

We’ll be producing some training to help you with the cycle above. Look for it.

Why did Matt Harvey get injured? It’s a complex answer. The simple answer is that he wore down his UCL over time. Like most pitchers, he was a bit more efficient in his ability to accelerate than decelerate. He pitched more pitches this year than he has in any year of his life. Most importantly, he’s added more innings total to his historical total. Could it have been avoided? Likely no.

Good luck in your recovery, Matt.