*Disclaimer: The content presented in this website reflects the views of William Rouse, Student Physical Therapist and are not considered medical advice or intended to treat musculoskeletal disorders. The views expressed are not representative of the University of Findlay Physical Therapy program or the University of Findlay Athletics.
I have decided that my broken arm has at least one more experimental throwing plan in it. That means we are going down a rabbit hole. I saw a video last year of Clayton Thompson, Driveline, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, describing a throwing plan he would like to see performed. It is very in-depth. I highly recommend you watch his video here:
If you don’t want to watch the video, here is the rough summary (though you should really watch the video):
(Disclaimer: the information below and how I execute the throwing program as a whole is my interpretation of Clayton Thompson’s work. I apologize to Mr. Thompson if I misinterpreted any information he provided.)
· Current programs operate off of an arbitrary number of throws and are more geared toward training velo capacity (how long you can maintain velo) due to the short breaks between throws. Even if an athlete’s velo has only dropped 1mph, programs will cut off throwing at the set number. This does not maximize their capabilities for the stimulus that day.
· Most throwing programs are a “high-low-medium-low-high” model (W model). Medium days are argued by Clayton to be a waste; too high a stimulus to maximize recovery, too low to improve.
· Velo is built from training capacity and from training peak. Capacity is built by trying to hold a set velocity for as long as possible, with shorter rest; a 100mph thrower on a capacity day should try to hold 96mph (or a different velo goal) for as long as possible with 30s-1.5min rest periods between sets. A peak day is built by trying to throw as hard as possible until a fall-off with longer rest periods; a 100mph thrower on a peak day should try to throw 100+mph with 2-5min breaks between sets of throws until they drop below a specific threshold. Capacity and peak training provide benefits to each other; it is not one or the other.
Using these concepts, Clayton built a throwing program that is centered around drop sets aka autoregulation. This basically means that you keep throwing until you drop below that threshold for the day. The example he uses is on a 4% drop-off day for a 100mph thrower; the thrower would keep going until he falls to 96mph. If it takes 5 throws because he is tired, so be it; let him recover. If it takes 25, so be it, maximize the stimulus. In his program, there are no medium days; you either are recovering or sending it. There are also capacity days vs peak days. There is no arbitrary number of sets; the reps are 2-3 throws. Here is a table I made outlining this, copied from the throwing program in the video:
Clayton’s concept of a throwing program is really interesting to me, and I thought it would be fun to test it myself to see the benefits and downfalls. For my program, I will be running this program through the walking windup with the blue (450g), red (225g), yellow (150g), and grey (100g) driveline plyoballs. While I would normally select 2-4 drills to do with a plyo velo, I want to minimize the amount of variables at play and just see the output difference of running this throwing program with one drill. I selected the walking windup because it is a drill that is widely used for plyo velos and is a drill I have done before, so velo gains due to learning and drill improvement will be minimal. My concerns for myself, who has no other goal than to mess around and find out, include:
· How many throws is it going to take to see a velo drop off of 4, 5, 6%?
· Will no medium intent day lead to feeling sluggish after 5 straight days of off/low days?
· What will my acute and chronic workloads look like?
My concerns for athletes who may want to utilize these principles in their own throwing include:
· Are we missing out on valuable mechanical/pitch design reps without a medium intent day?
· Can we build up an adequate workload with that many low days in a row?
· Are 5 and 6% velo drop-offs too aggressive?
Clayton addresses some of these concerns and others in his video, and I will give my findings at the end of the throwing program. I tend to agree with Clayton, but I don’t want to fully share my opinion until I have tested it myself. And there’s only one way we are going to find out… (Part 2 coming soon).