“Only about 5-10% of high school pitchers will be ready for the season. Some will have done nothing. Some will have wasted a lof of time gettiing really strong and most will have not pitched near enough to improve their mechanics or their velocity. Rest will not do it.

Keep in mind that conditioning or strength training will not improve pitching velocity. Only pitching mechanics improvement can do that while using mental rehearsal prior to each pitch with the intention of moving the body faster.”  Dick Mills Newsletter 12-10-08

I have been following Dick Mills since 1992. I have watched his Coaching theories change continuously. I understand his change, this is him keeping up with the times but this quote here is proof he may be still stuck in the past.

If “conditioning and strength training will not improve pitching velocity,” then why is about 70% of Major League Ball Players on Steroids or Human Growth Hormone?

Do you think they just want to look sexy for the ladies?

The majority of the ball players listed on the Michelle Report where pitchers. Here is the list of Pitchers suspended for using steroids or HGH.

Agusten Montero
Juan Rincen
Rafael Betancourt
Ryan Franklin
Carlos Almanzar
Felix Heredia
Yusaku Iriki
Jason Grimsley
Guillermo Mota
Juan Salas
Damian Moss
Clay Hensley
Grant Roberts
Matt Whiteside
Nerio Rodreguez
Henry Owens
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Kevin Brown
Jason Christiansen
Brendan Donnelly
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Matt Herges
Josias Manzanillo
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Denny Neagle
Jim Parque
Stephen Randolph
Mike Stanton
Ron Villone
Jeff Williams
Todd Williams
Paul Byrd
Darren Holmes
John Rocker
Scott Schoeneweis
Ismael Valdez
Steve Woodard
Daniel Naulty
Ricky Bones
Paxton Crawford
Mike Judd
Ricky Stone

Believe me this is a short list. Think of all the Pitchers who didn’t make the list who are on these performance enhancers. If you need a reference to this information here are the links to the Mitchell report and all Pitchers suspended after the report came out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_named_in_the_Mitchell_Report

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_suspended_for_performance-enhancing_drugs

I mean honestly, how could someone truly believe that strength and conditioning will not improve your velocity or speed? This is the only reason athletes take performance enhancers like steroids and HGH. Those of us in pro sports who didn’t take them where definitely tempted. We all knew that if you took human growth hormone, Deca-Durabolin, Winstrol, Sustanon, and Anadrol separately or all together before a workout, without dying, after a few months you would be throwing a lot harder. Notice I said dying. Yes, we knew it was dangerous and that is why some of us didn’t take it. Also because the league wasn’t offering us “No Namers” millions of dollars to play better.

It is just absurd to say that strength and conditioning does not increase velocity. It is even more absurd to follow that with “Only pitching mechanics improvement can do that while using mental rehearsal prior to each pitch with the intention of moving the body faster.” If your body is growing stronger, will it not have more ability to move faster? If strength and conditioning didn’t increase pitching velocity, personally I would have never played ball again after my rotator cuff surgery. Dick Mills is correct when he says mechanics increases velocity.  I just can’t believe he thinks growing Bigger, Strong, Faster doesn’t actually make you Bigger, Stronger, faster.

I am in NO way promoting steroid or HGH use to increase velocity. I believe this to be more destructive than helpful in the long term. This is why I recommend the Ace Pitcher Handbook.

Read my article on “Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity,” to learn more about this topic.

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• 10 Legitimate tips to Pitching Velocity
• Boost your Testosterone and Growth Hormone Levels Naturally
• The Pitching Workout for the Athlete