The Pitcher’s Wrist – My Favorite Exercise

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)