Long toss
Some coaches swear by it and some will not let their pitchers near it. Both camps are partly right. Long toss is a tool, and like any tool it depends on how far, how hard, how often and for which athlete.
What it is good for
Throwing at distance gets the whole body involved, builds tolerance for throwing and gives a pitcher a feel for a free, loose arm that is hard to find from sixty feet. In a well built throwing program, gradually lengthening catch play is how a pitcher works back up after time off.
What the research says
A 2011 study of college pitchers, published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, compared pitching with flat ground throws at different distances. The throws at maximum distance, with an arc, produced the greatest elbow and shoulder torques without any gain in ball velocity. Throws on a line at moderate distance looked more like pitching. In other words, the last few feet of a long toss session are the part that asks the most of the arm.
How we use it
Every PPL athlete is on a phase based throwing program, and long toss lives inside it. Distance builds week by week, intent is planned rather than left to how the athlete feels that day, and the maximum effort days are placed where the arm can recover from them. The program is on their phone, so it does not depend on a teammate deciding how far to back up.
For younger arms
For most young pitchers the right version is catch play that stretches out comfortably, not a competition to see who can throw the farthest. Pitch Smart recommends at least four months off from throwing every year, and long toss counts as throwing. A kid who has not been screened and does not have a plan gets very little from max distance throws that a good catch routine would not give him.
Questions parents ask
It can be, as part of a planned throwing program. It builds arm strength and rhythm. Research shows maximum distance throws produce the most elbow and shoulder stress, so how far and how often matters a great deal.
Comfortable catch play that stretches out is fine for most kids. All out maximum distance throwing is better saved for older, stronger athletes who are on a program and have been screened.
There is no single number. Distance should build gradually across a program and stay where the athlete can keep good mechanics. Throws on a line at moderate distance look more like pitching than all out throws with a big arc.
Usually in a lighter form. In season the arm is already handling games, so long toss tends to be shorter and used for recovery and feel rather than for building strength.
The free assessment starts with how your athlete moves and throws, and ends with what we would put in his program first.
Book the free assessmentExplore PPL