Last August Jason enrolled into my VIP Remote Throwing Training program as a pitcher looking to move better, and throw harder. When Jason enrolled his fastball velocity was 71 mph as a freshman in high school, and with aspirations to some day play in college he knew this wasn't going to be good enough.
When people reach out to coaches, a lot of time they are looking for a mechanical breakdown or a "quick fix" to help them
If you added up all the time wasted searching for shortcuts and trying to cheat the process, the hard work could have already been done by now.
— James Clear (@JamesClear) February 28, 2023
In reality what our remote training services offer is the development of habits that you need to become the athlete you want to be.
There are no shortcuts
Let's take a look at the 90mph habits
Habit #1: He did't throw enough
First things first. If he was going to throw harder, he was going to need to throw more. Using a Pulse throwing workload monitor from Driveline baseball we were able to properly build up his workload and intensity in his throwing program so that a. we didn't overdo it and he got hurt and b.the sensor added a layer of accountability that I could see he was getting his throwing done.
Secondly, using Traq from Driveline Baseball we were able to custom build his arm care routine, plyo throwing activities, and long toss routines to meet any deficiencies he may have had in his movement patterns. He submitted alot of video through our communication channel, where I was able to give him feedback but overall the goal was to get him to move more freely and athletically.
Habit #2: He Needed to Gain Weight
If Jason wanted to throw 90 (his goal) he was going to need to weigh more. The average 90 mph thrower at Driveline weighs 211. Is this a be all end all metric? No, but it does a good idea of "yes, I need to weigh more if I am going to throw harder". 
Inside of Traq all of our athletes will find their daily nutrition log, where using an app like My Fitness Pal, they are able to calculate their daily calorie intake and log it alongside their daily weigh in.
Are you eating enough to put on a pound a week? Like most players the answer to this question was no, and as you can see from the weigh in chart it took him a while to get going on this discipline.
Gaining weight is hard for alot of athletes, but it only becomes REAL when you start writing it down and measuring the progress
Habit #3: He Wasn't Strong Enough
If you want to throw the ball hard, you need to be strong enough to do it. How Strong? Every athlete needs to start lifting at some point in their journey, and building the main habit of never missing a workout is critical. Getting Jason going on a workout plan that wasn't so daunting he was going to have a hard time repeating it week by week, month by month but wasn't so easy it didn't get him to his goal of throwing 90.
Again, it's not real until you write it down and track your progress. Inside of Traq each athlete has their custom built workouts along with custom built tracking sheets with their "Big 4 Lifts" inputs (Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Single Leg)
I give them some freedom to add exercises they like to do (codesign) as long as their Big 4 numbers are increasing closer to where they need to be.
Conclusion
Throwing the ball hard has never been more important to get your foot in the door. Like Jason, you probably need to audit your daily 90mph habits before you go looking for mechanical shortcuts. The process is alot more complicated, and takes a lot more time than you realize!
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