Absolute Throwing; Part III.
This final entry of absolute Throwing will tie in all 3 Approaches, and suggest a formula that may increase overall tolerance for high volume, high intensity throwing.
Based on previous work submitted in the early days of bio-mechanical analysis, it can be assumed that every athlete finishes the day at a bio-mechanical “deficit”. The stressful cost of throwing on the body comes down to the following factors:
Volume (shear number of throws)
2. Efficiency (unique style)
3. Intensity (velocity)
4. Implement mass (ball)
Combined, these factors result in stress on the athlete. The challenge, especially at the highest levels, is to manage this stress during the season so the athlete can ideally eliminate, or reasonably reduce accumulation of said stress.
Tom House and The National Pitching Association (NPA) had originally phrased the recovery process as putting the foot-pounds back into the body. This “putting things back where they belong” terminology is an easy way to understand the cost of generating high amounts of force in a short window of time when throwing.
When utilizing The Hyper Stride to recover from throwing (and general training from that matter), relevant data must be used to estimate the total intensity of each exercise respectively:
Athlete body weight
2. Athlete Height
3. Exercise Range of Motion
Utilizing this data in simple equations allow the coach/trainer to calculate the magnitude of torque on any given movement. When programming recovery, one can reference baseline movement skills (The 3D Approach), sports volumes (pitch counts) and special knowledge of the sport (torques associated with throwing mechanics). When calculating torque, it becomes clear that range of motion has a drastic impact on intensity. This can be understood via the principle of proximal control and the force posture curve. These principles generally explain why you are stronger when holding a weight close to the body as opposed to in an extended position.
The following charts are estimates of the torques applied on the body at varied lengths during 4 key exercises:
Flexion Curl (roll-out)
2. Extension Curl (bridge-hamstring)
3. Linear Stride (Lunge)
*These torque magnitudes are estimates using simple math, and there are more precise measures that can be taken with special software that would surely produce a highly specific result.
In conjunction with the 3D Approach and specialized sports specific knowledge, these exercise volumes can be programmed at scale to equal the torques experienced in the body during bouts of throwing and even non-specific training.
That concludes the Absolute Throwing series. In future entries, I will discuss how to compliment general strength and conditioning training with the Hyper Stride, as well as dedicating some time to my experience as an athlete turned Coach/inventor.