Increase Throwing Strength

'Throwing strength' which may also be known as 'throwing power' is the product of 2 factors: strength and speed.

Both strength and speed can be trained to certain degrees and are an absolute neccesity for increasing throwing strength. Many things affect how you should train for your desired throwing sport. For example a Shot putter requires a very high level of absolute strength (overall body power) and a great level of speed relative to there size, but compare this to a baseball pitcher and the tables are turned, as a pitcher only has to throw a 150 gram ball compared to the 16lb shot. Therefore the baseball pitcher won' rely on absolute strength (this doesn't mean he won't train strength) as much but arm speed is a must.

Generally, too many people see throwing strength only relates to the arms and upper body, but nothing could be further from the truth. Total body power for increasing throwing strength rules all. If you only want to throw with your upper body then go somewhere else or set yourself in a bowl of concrete then try throwing and then come back here to find out how to increase your throwing power.

As a shot putter/discus throw and highland games athlete. I myself increase my throwing strength through various training activities. These being 1. the throwijng of various implement related to my events and 2. Lifting heavy weight and kettlebells for maximum strength and also lifting dynamically and explosively.

Your first port of call for deciding on a training routine for increasing your throwing strength should be to analyse your strengths and weakness relative to your sport. If your sport requires excellent explosive power then you must decide whether or not you have sufficient of this quality.

How far can you standing broad jump, vertical leap, 3 jumps, 5 jumps.

How much can you power clean, power snatch or squat.

What's you 40 yard dash time?

Do you have a deficiency in your throwing technique and are you utilising all your assets??

These are things you can analyse for your self, but something you may need help with.

Go and analyse some basic statistics for your sport and work out if you're powerful enough to compete at your desired level.

If you are not then you must do something about it.

There are no secrets for throwing far and increasing your strength, only good old hard work and plenty of it.

Leg Power

Leg power is quite possibly the no.1 neglected area of development in throwing athletes.

Why?

Because leg training hurts most people and only serious athletes know how and why it should be done.

In the average under trained thrower a simple diet of squatting and power cleans will do untold differences to someones overall body power and throwing capabilities.

In the more trained athletes. This must be looked at more carefully. Periodisation may need to be used or more consistent power orinetated exercises maybe required.

Although not definitive the list below is of leg training activities I believe to be essential.

Barbell squat (including chains and bands Westside Barbell Style)

Barbell/dumbbell squat jump

Deadlift

Power Clean

Power Snatch

Low/med/high impact plyometrics (bounding)

short sprints

Without any of these in your training your overall leg power and throwing potential will be seriously limited

The Highland Games is a real test of explosive power and strength.

Training for it alone with just the weight events is a superb body strengthener and excellent training for Increasing Throwing Strength

Check out this Highland Games Video of me Throwing the 28lb Weight for Distance. My distance was 67ft. notice Geoff Capes. Previous World Strongest man, International Shot Putter and Highland Games athlete.

Geoff was the ultimate thrower, strong, fast and extremely explosive.

It was great to meet him

Plyometrics (Jumping/bounding call it what you like) is a fundamental aspect required for all athletes especially throwers to excel in. You will rarely find a good thrower who can't or doesn't excel in plyometrics. Period.

Plyometrics form a great base for throwers to work from. Alongside heavy weight training plyometrics provide a thrower with the ability to move explosively and rapidly in a very short period of time. The more explosive thrower has the ablity to generate force faster than others. He may reach a peak force the same as others but he/she who does this faster will almost always throw further and hence be more powerful.

In the most basic of forms a plyometric session will involve simple bounding (hopping on 1 or 2 legs). As an example, 2 footed bounds in a straight line for 6 foot contacts repeated 5 times with a 3min rest between sets. This is the first style of plyometrics you should undertake to allow your self to acclimatise and let your muscles recover. Plyometric training should not take place until you have completed at least 2 years of intense weight training where you perform squats//cleans/snatches on a regular basis.

When you have a good base of general plyo training you can move onto higher intensity training where you may jump off boxes and react with another jump either forwards or upwards. This is known as depth jumping. This style should be introduced very slowly as it places much greater demands on your body. Start off juping down only a few inches and never go over 1m.

Athletes who weigh over 130 kg should only jump up onto a box as excessive bodyweight can cause injury when jumping.

For more a more in depth look at plyometrics for increasing throwing strength check out this article

Of course plyometrics are not only for the lower body they can be peformed with the upper body. However, as I said 'the legs can create more power than the arms and explosive legs are a priority for increasing your throwing strength.