Baseball Cartoon Guy

The Pitcher’s Wrist – My Favorite Exercise

My Favorite Exercise

Baseball on the ground

Training of the wrist and finger musculature is important for the pitcher because theforces that are accumulated throughout the pitching motion are transferred to the ball through the wrist joint.  The finger muscles used in the delivery of the ball insert on the inside of the elbow making their strength additionally important to elbow health.
For these reasons, training the wrist is an important addition to a pitcher’s workout.  Here is one of my many and favorite exercises.  The way it positions the fingers makes this skill-specific.  The varied positions match the fastball and curveball wrist movements.

Plate-grip wrist exercise: two grip positions
Photo 1,2,3, and 4:  hammer-grip wrist flexions (curveballstrength)
Photo 5 and6:  standard-grip wrist extension andflexion (fastball strength)

StartFinish
hammer wrist (radial flexion)hammer wrist (radial flexion)
Photos 1 and 2: hammer wrists (radial flexion)
StartFinish
hammer wrist (ulner flexion)
Photos 3 and 4: hammer wrists (ulnar flexion)
  
Mid-range of extensionMid-range of flexion
Photos 5 and 6:  standard-grip wrist extension and flexion