What Is the Proper Way to Warm Up Prior to a Start?

February 8, 2017

It’s no secret that arms are getting injured at an alarmingly high rate.

With that being the case, why wouldn’t you do everything you can to prevent an injury?

It starts with warming up properly before a start. Here’s a rundown of what I did before my starts and it’s something that helped me avoid any arm injuries through out my career.

A pitcher should be taking a light jog around the field in order to get the blood flowing. Regardless of the weather, this is essential in the process of preparation.
You should be stretching out. This includes both your legs and your arms. You can do some arm circles, you can also do some light band work to keep working on getting that blood flowing.
Run some sprints. Doesn’t have to be at 100 percent effort, but it’s with more intensity than your jog around the field. I liked to do about 10 sprints of 90 feet.
Now you are ready to start to throw. Grab your catcher and begin to lightly toss
Gradually increase the intensity and the distance of the throws. You should work up to a long toss, where you want to get some arc on your throws. Your last few throws should be at full intensity. Gradually decrease the distance until the catcher is 60 feet away.
Now you’re ready to get to the bullpen, where you will throw off the mound. My first 15 minutes were all fastballs. It’s crucial to establish the command of your fastball. Lefties should be working on throwing inside to right-handed hitters and righties should be throwing inside to left-handed hitters. This helps you to really extend on your pitches. Many pitchers fail to do this and can’t establish the inside-half of the plate in the first inning and it results in allowing a home run on a mistake.
Mix in your change up. Rotate fastballs and change ups until you have a good feel for throwing the change up for a strike.
Mix in your breaking balls. Maybe work a batter if you would like.
Half of your pitches should be from the windup and the other half from the stretch.
Give yourself some time to get back into the dugout to relax, have some water and take a breather before it’s time to get to the mound for the start of the game.
It’s very crucial that once you get to the mound, you’re warm up pitches are at full intensity. You should be simulating your game-speed. Many kids have this idea that they can save their bullets for later in the game. If you are conditioned properly, stamina shouldn’t be an issue. You should be going full-boar until you come out of the game.
In between innings, you can mix in all your pitches, but–again–this should be at full intensity.