Arm Exercises For Throwing Baseballs

If you are a baseball player, no matter what position you play, you need to have a strong, healthy arm capable of making powerful throws. In order to boost arm strength and mobility, as well as to prevent the risk of injury, institute a program of regular arm exercises.

Arm Circles

Arm circles are one of the simplest yet most effective warm up exercises a baseball player can do. Start with your arms straight out at your sides, then rotate your shoulders in a forward direction, moving your arms in small circles. Gradually increase the size of the circles until your arm is circling straight up into the air and all the way around. Perform this motion for about 30 seconds, then reverse direction and rotate your shoulders toward the back of your body. Again, start with small circles, increasing the size as you go along. These circles will increase the flexibility, strength and stamina of your rotator cuff muscles, which are the ones most susceptible to injury from throwing.

Jobe Exercises

Jobe exercises, which were named after the Los Angeles Dodgers' team physician Frank Jobe, are a set of drills using light dumbbells that were designed to work the rotator cuff muscles. Although these exercises were originally meant to rehab players who had undergone shoulder surgery, they are now part of many baseball players' training regimes and Nolan Ryan credits them with enabling his extraordinary longevity in the major leagues. There are a total of 13 Jobe exercises, but you can start with one particularly easy, effective one recommended by former Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Ellis, the shoulder abduction. Stand with your arms at your sides, holding barbells weighing from 1 to 3 lbs. Lift your arms straight out away from your body up to shoulder height, keeping your elbows straight. Slowly lower your arms to the starting position, then repeat for three sets of 10 repetitions. As you get stronger, you can work your way up to five sets of 10 reps and use 5-lb.weights, but you should not exceed five sets or 5 lbs. of weight.

Resistance Bands

Exercises performed using resistance bands or surgical tubing promote rotator cuff elasticity and flexibility, and should increase your range of motion if performed regularly. One exercise recommended by the American Sports Medicine Institute in its "Thrower's Ten" program of throwing exercises, the "Diagonal Pattern D2 Extension" involves securing one end of a resistance band to a fixed object over your head and gripping the end of the band with your arm raised overhead and to your side. You then pull the band down and across your body to the opposite side, leading the motion with the thumb of your hand.

Rice in a Bucket

This drill is just what it sounds like -- you take a bucket deep enough to sink your arm in up to the elbow and fill it up with rice, although you can substitute sand if you don't want to go out and buy a 20 lb. bag of rice. When the bucket is about 3/4 full, dig your fingers down through the rice until you can touch the bottom of the bucket. Digging around in rice may seem a little odd, but it can actually strengthen your shoulder and makes you less susceptible to throwing injuries.