12/24/2025
Baseball parents!! Here’s some simple math to help you understand why it’s critical to get your young pitcher in the weight room.
The average UCL (the ligament repaired in Tommy John Surgery) will tear from 32-34 N of force yet the average high velocity pitch generates 50-60 N.
What saves us from not tearing the UCL every time you throw a baseball is the strength and stability from the muscle groups involved in throwing like the lats, rotator cuff muscles, forearms, core, glutes and hamstrings along with proper mechanics.
On top of all that, strength and power are a major portion of the 90 mph formula. If you want to throw in the 90s you will need to be able to hit 400lbs on the trap bar deadlift which may seem tough but it’s really not if an athlete trains consistently. Shameless plug but if you give me your athlete twice a week for all of high school I can pretty much guarantee they’ll be able to hit a 400lb trap bar deadlift by senior year at least I don’t care if he’s built like a scarecrow he’ll be able to do it with the hours put in over 4 years.
Bottom line, your kids need an offseason to develop and you need to watch how many innings your kid is throwing. No one cares about your travel ball success. You will see who did the right thing and who did the wrong thing with their development when it actually matters at 16,17,18 years old. Those years are critical to making it to the next level and you may be completely out of luck if you need Tommy John surgery as a 16 year old junior and you lose all of varsity hs baseball because you’re hurt.
Credits to for the diagram
