Can you improve arm strength? (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

QBs are criticized for their lack of arm strength

He can't make this throw, or that throw

His deep passes float on him or lack zip

Is that something that can be greatly improved in the gym/practice or just slightly, or not at all?

If there is a lineman who just needs to get stronger, no one seems terribly worried about it, just work out and get stronger

But I've never heard arm strength talked about like that before

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Underhill talked about this before and interviewed the guy who worked with both Drew and brady
Said that it’s not really strength that fades as much as arm speed
In the offseason he wouldn’t let them throw a regular weighted ball until just before camp (half weight or some such)

It was a pretty cool interview if you can find it

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Maybe try here (didn’t listen to whole thing)

 

[OutlawSaint]

Not the muscle thats needed to be bulked up, gotta have the tendons tighter like in Rookie of the Year movie. Then that faster arm can really sling it!

 

[treeduck]

Maybe you can improve overall strength to a degree but you're never going to turn a jelly arm into a cannon arm.

 

[Rouxble]

QBs are criticized for their lack of arm strength

He can't make this throw, or that throw

His deep passes float on him

Is that something that can be greatly improved in the gym/practice or just slightly, or not at all?

If there is a lineman who just needs to get stronger, no one seems terribly worried about it, just work out and get stronger

But I've never heard arm strength talked about like that before

I think once you’ve squeezed out all the accuracy and power gains from proper body mechanics, any further arm strength/speed improvement is unlikely at the next level. I was trying to find a reliable source for when a pitcher’s velocity peaks to use as a comparison, a few unreliable looking sources say that pitching speed starts dropping around age 26 by one MPH per year.

 

[longtime lurker]

Just remembering back when we traded for Steve Walsh….the knock on him, and oh man was it true, was that his arm strength was pretty average/poor and I remember hoping that he could just find a way to become stronger and we’d have one really good QB. I think he ended up skipping those arm strengthening days at Saints camp.

 

[Rexman100]

Underhill talked about this before and interviewed the guy who worked with both Drew and brady
Said that it’s not really strength that fades as much as arm speed
In the offseason he wouldn’t let them throw a regular weighted ball until just before camp (half weight or some such)

It was a pretty cool interview if you can find it

Neither of those things go before the legs. It’s why Brady played so long, he didn’t need legs

 

[Tony1Saintfan]

I’m not sure if you could have surgery to shorten or tighten the tendons but even if it could be done that would seem like a very risky surgery with a long down time.

 

[saint_drago]

Maybe you can improve overall strength to a degree but you're never going to turn a jelly arm into a cannon arm.

Yeah there's only so much you can do with mechanics and strength training. Having said that, Brady was heading down the old QB noodle arm path until TB12 miraculously gave him the arm of a 25 year old. Just had to eat right and stretch super hard. So who knows? If a QB in his prime did TB12 maybe he could all of the sudden have a howitzer.

 

[Merl]

I’m not sure if you could have surgery to shorten or tighten the tendons but even if it could be done that would seem like a very risky surgery with a long down time.

Tommy John surgery? I have heard that pitchers that have the surgery actually throw harder

 

[Wisco Steve]

Absolutely can improve it, and at about any age.
We are seeing amazing results from places like Driveline for MLB pitchers of all sorts.
It's obviously a different motion and ball, but if players are picking up 2-4 MPH on their pitches I think a lot of those techniques could be cross-trained for QBs. A little extra zip and length on throws could take some more fringe guys to a new level--as long as they don't have to sacrifice accuracy.

 

[LUX]

Absolutely can improve it, and at about any age.
We are seeing amazing results from places like Driveline for MLB pitchers of all sorts.
It's obviously a different motion and ball, but if players are picking up 2-4 MPH on their pitches I think a lot of those techniques could be cross-trained for QBs. A little extra zip and length on throws could take some more fringe guys to a new level--as long as they don't have to sacrifice accuracy.

Recovery is longer if you're older. Also, not everyone recovers from it so it's a risk.

 

[pierce2poydras]

I think once you’ve squeezed out all the accuracy and power gains from proper body mechanics, any further arm strength/speed improvement is unlikely at the next level. I was trying to find a reliable source for when a pitcher’s velocity peaks to use as a comparison, a few unreliable looking sources say that pitching speed starts dropping around age 26 by one MPH per year.

Unless you’re Justin Verlander, apparently.

 

[St. Geezy]

QBs are criticized for their lack of arm strength

He can't make this throw, or that throw

His deep passes float on him or lack zip

Is that something that can be greatly improved in the gym/practice or just slightly, or not at all?

If there is a lineman who just needs to get stronger, no one seems terribly worried about it, just work out and get stronger

But I've never heard arm strength talked about like that before

You and I can improve arm strength…QBs though, specifically NFL QBs or top draft candidates, not really. That’s because they’re already doing everything possible to be at the top of their game in that regard.

Their max ceiling is essentially already reached, and at that point it’s more about maintaining their max strength.