What is Long Toss?

There are a number of different concepts and programs in the world when it comes to throwing in athletics. If you do a Google search on throwing you could be stuck for hours listening to why one way is right, one way is wrong, etc.

We want to simplify this for you.

When it comes to Baseball and Softball, a popular buzz word or phrase that comes up in regards to Throwing Programs is “Long Toss”.

Long Toss is the third and final phase of the Jaeger Sports Throwing Program so we are very familiar with the concept and the term. A question we receive often:

“What exactly is Long Toss?”

The great news? There is no definite correct answer.

Long Toss to us breaks down into a few key concepts. Our Long Toss Program breaks down to two phases that we will cover in great detail in another resource. These two phases are the Stretching Out Phase and the Pull Down Phase.

Long Toss will look differently based on where you are at in your Year Round Throwing Program and what throwing will be required on a given day.

Is it a Practice Day?
Is it a Game Day?
Is it Off-Season, In-Season, etc.?
Where are you in your Arm Care Training?

These are the types of questions that will determine what your Long Toss will look like on a given day.

The key is to open the arm up slowly during the Stretching Out Phase. This means throwing with arc and allowing the arm to open up naturally before doing any aggressive throwing. After that is complete, and if you are in training mode, you want to begin the Pull Down Phase. The Pull Down Phase is throwing more aggressively on a line.

As stated before, we will be covering the Two Phase of the Jaeger Sports Long Toss in great detail in another resource but wanted to give a snapshot here.

Long Toss can have many definitions. It can be 120 feet, it can be 400 feet. The key is to allow the arm to dictate what it needs and let it open up slowly and naturally before throwing on a line or getting aggressive.

It comes down to our number one principle once again:

LISTEN TO YOUR ARM!