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Pitchers
taking Steroids for Velocity?
Long before the
current media hype about steroids, my good friend
and mentor, Dr. Tom House was preaching the
downfalls and pitfalls of athletes taking steroids.
Tom has openly
admitted for years he experimented with them in his
career. Back then, nobody knew much about
performance enhancement drugs. It was ok I suppose.
Tom was a left handed
pitcher, but not a hard thrower. He, like most every
pitcher, wanted to throw the ball harder. Steroids
wasn't the answer. It gave Tom some bad knees and
other ailments, but not big jump in velocity.
I truly believe each
pitcher has a genetic ceiling when it comes to
velocity. No body has exceeded that ceiling, but
most of us certainly under achieve.
My job as a
trainer/coach is to help the athlete get closer to
his genetic ceiling. It's done the old fashion way,
proper physical training, proper mechanical
training, mental emotional training and putting the
correct fuel in your body. Simple as that.
Using steroids will
make muscles grow and make the body stronger. It
will probably help with recovery, but what's the
downside? You'll either break, bend or die.
Now I'm not a doctor
and I don't pretend to be one. I don't know the
science behind steroids, heck, I have a tough time
spelling it correctly, but what I do know is that it
helps your cells grow...and fast. Sometimes too fast
for what your body is designed to handle. Something
breaks or bends.
It certainly can help
bad cells grow fast too. You hear all the stories of
athletes coming up with cancers at a very young age.
Could it be possible that the steroids help those
bad cells grow?
Bottom line, when you
look for a short cut to success, usually there are
pitfalls along the way.
Succeed the natural
way. Don't go near the stuff.
I'm not convinced
steroids help you throw the ball harder. Great core
strength does; so does working on your proper
sequencing in your mechanics; so does using your
momentum properly; and so does having he intent to
throw harder.
Keep on working hard!
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