Yes, The Web is Full of Hype On Performance Improvement -- But Who's Do The Hyping?

    A few "experts" claim that the performance gains made by ball players training with weighted balls is hype. I guess they're not aware of all the scientific research performed in this area...

    Consider, for example, three well-known baseball throwing and pitching studies (and there are several more) performed by former professional ball player Dr. Coop DeRenne of the University of Hawaii. His studies proved that high school and college ballplayers using a simple training regime of regulation-size baseballs and under/over weight baseballs within 15% to 20% of regulation weight could safely and effectively produce remarkable increases in throwing velocity. You can read more about this study here.

    Yet, if you read the website of one self-anointed, self-serving “rebel” you could be led to believe that there is no evidence of this sort. Worse, because this individual lacks appropriate education and training in sports conditioning, he will tell you (without any supporting data) that “weighted ball” training is, at best, a waste of time. In a misguided attempt to bolster his position, he tries to tie Tommy John’s injury to weighted ball training. The problem with this is that Tommy John never used weighted balls. My point with this example is that much of this particular "expert's" information (read: opinion) is grossly misleading and ignores the facts. No certified trainer would advocate training with an improperly weighted implement. Especially when the aforementioned studies demonstrate that it is the under weight ball (4 oz) that increases pitching/throwing velocity the most!    

    By the way, this same “rebel” periodically uses a Google advertising campaign that tricks people into believing that they are clicking on the ads of reputable sites like baseballfit.com. 

   To see what I'm talking about, go to google and type in baseballfit.com  As of this writing (7/5/07) a google ad will appear on the right side of the page, under the “Sponsored Links” section. This is an exact duplicate of the ad the "rebel" is running. So as not to be in violation of google policy, I have disabled the link within the ad:

Baseballfit.com
Pro Teaches How To Pitch
Parents Learn Simple System
www.Pitching.com

   When you click on the link, guess where it takes you? HINT: Not to my Baseball Fit page! The “rebel” has been doing this for at least a year now. I wonder why he feels the need to use my business name in a deceitful way?