I spent years doing arm circles and band work, and my throw stayed the same. Then a college coach watched me warm up and said two words: "long toss." I thought it meant just throwing as far as you can, which I'd been doing since I was ten. He showed me what it actually is — a slow, patient build that starts close and crawls out over weeks — and my arm strength went up more in two months than in the two years before it. Here's the program, and here's how to run it at home without a field.
What long toss actually does
Here's the thing that surprised me: long toss isn't about arm strength at all, at least not the way I thought. It's about building the throwing chain — the legs, the hips, the trunk, and finally the arm — and teaching them to work together at longer and longer distances. When you throw far, you have to use your legs and rotate your hips, or the ball dies. That rotation is the exact same engine that creates velocity on the mound.
The 8-week progression
Don't start at 180 feet. The whole secret is starting close and adding distance in small steps:
- Week 1-2: 60 feet, 15 throws, 80 percent effort — this is about rhythm, not power
- Week 3-4: 90 feet, 20 throws, 80 percent
- Week 5-6: 120 feet, 20 throws, 85 percent
- Week 7: 150 feet, 25 throws, 85 percent
- Week 8: 180 feet, 25 throws, 85-90 percent — and then come back down
The "come back down" part matters. After your max distance throws, you work your way back in — 150, 120, 90 — so your arm finishes with shorter, easier throws, not max-effort ones. That's what makes it a program instead of an arm-killer.
How I do long toss at home with a net
Here's the problem with long toss: you need someone to catch. Or do you? If you have enough space, the $59.99 7x7 net is a surprisingly good long toss partner — set it up at your distance, aim at the strike zone target, and throw through it. The mesh stops the ball and the target gives you a purpose instead of just distance.
For the shorter stages, the 9-hole pitching net at $55.55 is my favorite accuracy tool — at 60 and 90 feet, hitting the nine pockets one by one turns long toss into command work, which is the part that actually translates to game speed.
One honest warning: a net won't catch a ball thrown at 85 percent from 180 feet — at that distance the ball is coming in hot and flat. I cap net-based long toss at 120 feet, which is honestly where most of the value is anyway. Beyond that, find a field with a partner or a fence you're allowed to use.
The rules that keep it safe
- Never long toss on a tired arm. If your arm is sore from a game, skip it.
- Long toss twice a week, not five times. It's a build, not a daily grind.
- Warm up before you start. Ten minutes of easy catch from 30 feet first.
- Stop when the ball flattens. When your throws start dropping early, that's your body saying done — not a reason to throw harder.
What it did for my velo
I'm not going to quote a radar number, because everyone's different. What I can tell you is the mechanical change: I started throwing with my legs instead of my shoulder, and the effort level went down while the distance went up. That's the whole game. If you've been stuck at the same throwing distance for a year, the answer probably isn't more arm exercises — it's a patient long toss program with a net in the garage and a target in front of you.