1. Psychophysiologic Factors, 
2. Coaching Errors, 
3. and Mechanical Overload.  

The order in which these factors matter, but they are all interconnected by strength and range of motion changes.  

Throwing arm strength can be negatively impacted by a weak mind-body connection, a significant change in motor preference, and biomechanical compensation that increases soft-tissue stress.  

PLAYER X

A college athlete came to me with significant disappointment about how his velocity gains had plateaued and that he had tried every velocity enhancement program available but had yet to see improvement. Worse is that his throwing arm strength had become more imbalanced.  

Most people who receive this communication look to increase arm speed and arm stretch, but are they paying attention to arm strength?

As mentioned, Strength Matters Most! But you must also unlock what matters most to strength first and foremost. 

I could easily see this athlete was headed down the psychophysiological slide to problems. The impact of mental health on athletes' well-being is sometimes overlooked, and I caught that this athlete lives on the island of "If only" and "what if" and cannot get out of it.  

I connected this player with two people in my network: a holistic performance psychologist and an MLB-registered dietician.  

For the individualized baseball performance plans I write, there's nothing more important than what happens off the field, and the MLB Performance and Recovery Habits Course provides a great snapshot of my protocols.

For now, let's break down the island this athlete had lived on for many years.

1. WHAT IF - The Impact of Anxiety

Anxiety is a common mental health issue that affects many athletes. The fear of failure, performance expectations, or intense pressure to excel can lead to heightened anxiety levels that are far worse after injury.  

Similarly, the fear of the future is likely the strongest influence behind "What If."  

Although I would not say my guy is an anxious person, this thinking error does, and no doubt, when throwing in front of scouts in games, the thoughts, "What if my velo isn't there?", "What if my training is wrong?", "What if nothing works?", "What if I never reach my true potential?" clouds his mind.  

Naturally, when athletes experience any form of anxiety or worry, muscles tend to tense up and reduce flexibility; the increased pre-contraction tone creates more rigidity in a relaxed state, and muscles don't fire as fast, restricting the catapult in throwing fire, which could lead to to a lowered ability to handle high-speed tensile loading in the delivery from pre-contracted muscle fibers, or contractures.

2. IF ONLY - The Impact of Depression

We have all been there. You work hard for something and show your best, but the result is not what you had hoped. You see an opportunity for reward, for victory, and it does not happen.  

Depending on the gravity of the situation, the thought of, "If only I said this… or, "If only I did that.." creeps into our minds.  

One of the things that athletes have a hard time with is letting go of the past, and my guy is no different. His past had not seen success, so he could not move past it (no pun intended).  

Depression of any kind can lower body weight, restrict caloric intake, waste away muscle, cause insomnia, lower self-worth, and many other things that negatively impact the mind-body connection. This includes positive affect, which is the mentality that things will get better, those goals will be achieved, and that you can believe in yourself and trust your process.   

The worst part of IF ONLY is that it can bring a lack of motivation from beating your head against the wall, which leads to further problems, especially injury, as a lack of stimulus can weaken the throwing arm.  

Additionally, the throwing program and diet can go down the drain with low-level throwing effort, missed training sessions, fast food, sugar city, and alcohol—killers of testosterone and strong arms.  

WHAT GETTING RID OF STINKING THINKING CAN DO

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and I will show you where this athlete started after a little training and where he is today.  

Sometimes, I don't ask athletes to test before working with me because I don't want them to be dejected. Instead, I wait seven days so that they see the results.  

There's still work to do, but arm speed does not restrict his velocity plateau. Instead, it's his mind, momentum from the intersection of body mass and speed, and an imbalanced shoulder.  

He had a super strong internal rotator cuff and a relatively and significantly weaker posterior cuff, which puts on the brakes. Throwing weighted balls is not helping this situation as athletes are letting go of the ball, and his heavy ball work has significantly stretched out the capsule and caused his internal rotator cuff to work even harder.

Working on his diet and with a performance therapist put his mind in the right place. He had begun fueling his body well to improve muscle regeneration and resetting nervous system control with improved sleep. Working on thought-blocking is an essential piece, and fighting imposter syndrome occurs in many athletes.  

When you work with elite-caliber athletes, you find more players who think they are lucky to be where they are and that they are undeserving or not good enough when in fact, they are the best in the world and need to be evidence-based in changing not only their body but also their thinking.