THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE SCOUTING ORGANIZATION
| 2,490 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
2,490 MLB PLAYERS | 15,806 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Sign in Create Account
Sign in Create Account
General  | General | 8/21/2021

Wolforth Thrower Mentorship: Article 15

Jerry Ford
Ron Wolforth
Photo: Johnny Tergo/Truth Baseball
Ron Wolforth probably knows more about the throwing arm and arm care than anyone we know. Many of you may have heard about the famous Texas Baseball Ranch that Ron has been running for many years. We have built a great relationship with Ron and his wife Jill over the years.

It all started a few years back when Ron sent his son Garrett to a Perfect Game event. His son was a catcher/infielder and set some all-time PG records for pop times (1.75) and velocity (89 mph) at the time. He also threw mid-90s across the infield. He is now playing professionally. Being an average-sized kid, this really drew our interest. Once we realized who his father was, it became clear.



Since then we have followed the Texas Baseball Ranch closely. Ron is a very humble man, which is a reason so many speak highly of him. We have never run across a single person that shows any disrespect for him or the Ranch. So we decided to ask him to help our millions of followers.

Over the years he has helped thousands of pitchers, including many that became Major League All-Stars. Yes, he teaches velocity gains, better control and command, and everything a pitchers needs to be successful. However, unlike many others, he is an absolute stickler when it comes to doing it safely. His interest doesn't just involve velocity gains and other improvements, all of which are very important. He wants his students to understand arm care and how to throw and stay healthy. He does this without a cookie cutter program. He understands that all players are different individuals.

Perfect Game's interest in prospects, arm care and keeping young kids healthy is the major reason we have decided to work with Ron Wolforth.

Below is the 15th of an ongoing column he will be doing on our Perfect Game website. This information will be gold for any player interested in improving their throwing ability and staying healthy. Make sure you read every column he contributes and feel free to comment on them.

If you want to attend one of his camps and improve your throwing ability, here is the link to the website:
https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/

Jerry Ford
President
Perfect Game

. . .

Article 1: Where the Sidewalk Terminates
Article 2: The Exact Location of Your Arm Pain is Incredibly Valuable Information
Article 3: No Pain, No Problem...Right? Not Quite So Fast.
Article 4: The Secret to Accelerated Skill Development: Hyper-Personalization
Article 5: The Case Against Weighted Balls?
Article 6: The Truth About Pitch Counts, Workloads, and Overuse
Article 7: Velocity Appraisal: How 'Hard' Is 'Hard Enough'?
Article 8: Command Appraisal: How 'Accurate' Is 'Accurate Enough'?
Article 9: Swing & Miss Appraisal: How 'Nasty' Is 'Nasty Enough'?
Article 10: 5 Common Mistakes Baseball Players Make In Their Training
Article 11: The Truth About Curveballs, Sliders, and Cutters
Article 12: What is Involved in Deep, Deliberate Practice vs. Traditional Practice
Article 13: The Truth About Long Toss?
Article 14: The Truth About Conditioning of Pitchers?

 Let’s begin our discussion this week with one of the most common questions I have gotten over the last 25 years: “What should my son do after he pitches?”
 
For many years, I resisted giving specific advice to pitchers, knowing full well just how unique, esoteric, and idiosyncratic individual pitchers are. For example, Barry Zito had a very different process that he followed than Justin Verlander does, yet they are both Cy Young Award winners and established superstars.
 
The best advice I can offer is to experiment and find out what works best for you. There certainly is no magic bullet or secret recipe.
 
I realized that my painting with a broad brush really frustrated some people. They just desperately want a definitive answer, yet I knew there were only guidelines and principles that applied.
 
About 3 years ago, I heard my son, who is a professional catcher, give a college pitcher this simple strategy. As soon as I heard it, I knew that he had solved at least a piece of that puzzle.
 
Garrett said, “Take whatever you personally like to do to prepare to pitch or throw, cut it into â…“, and then do that with a â…“ of the energy/intensity that you did in pregame. That becomes your post throwing routine.”
 
This is a brilliant post throwing strategy in my opinion.
 
It is personalized.
 
It is already what you do.
 
It is simple.
 
You are already very familiar with everything you need to do.
 
It doesn’t create any additional trauma to soft tissue.
 
You limit the volume by cutting the reps down by â…” and you limit the intensity by doing it with far less energy. This allows the neuromuscular system to reset without any further trauma or additional stress. And the best part is, it’s all personalized and pitcher specific!
 
That day, we instituted Garrett’s suggestion as our official post throwing process. It has been a tremendous success.
 
The next question is: “When should he do this? Right after he is finished, or can he do it that night or the next morning?”
 
We believe it is best to do fairly soon after you are finished. (We suggest that your best window is within 45 minutes of completing your throwing.) However, it is important to state that, in our opinion, even if you couldn’t get to it until the next day, there still would be some benefit in going through the process. So, try to create the habit of going through your post throwing recovery protocol soon after your throwing is complete, but if you happen to miss it, get it done as soon as you are able.
 
So now what about conditioning?
 
At the Texas Baseball Ranch®, we have had tremendous success with using circuit training as our primary method of conditioning for our pitchers. We vary the circuits between 8-12 seconds, and we include a mix of upper body and lower body activities. We utilize water bags, plyo boxes, core balls, elastic bands, sleds, and simple full body activities. We also make certain we include rotational and diagonal activities and not just linear movements.
 
In our Summer Program, we train 60+ pitchers every week. Typically, we break them into 2 groups of 30. We then create 15 stations with 2 athletes per station. The first athlete will go through the activity, then he will rest while his partner goes through the exercise. They both will then move to the next station and repeat the process. 
 
In the beginning, the athletes go through the stations twice. That’s 30, 8-12 second bouts of activity with 8-12 seconds of rest. By the end of the summer, our pitchers easily flow through 60 bouts of exercise.
 
Why is this process superior in our view than long distance running? I could go on for pages but let me hit the highlights.
 
Long distance running is completely outside of the energy system we use to pitch. Pitching a baseball takes less than 2 seconds; it is a full body explosive movement.  The pitcher then rests for 15 seconds, and then he explodes again. He will do this 10-20 times, then he will rest in the dugout for 10 minutes while his offense is at the plate. A starter will repeat this process 4-9 times. Does ANY of this remotely look or sound like long distance running would be a good idea to enhance performance?
 
Long distance running can be hard on your joints, especially ankles, knees, hips, and lumbar spine. Long distance running also limits and restricts range of motion. None of this is a good idea for the elite pitcher.
 
Long distance running is good to stimulate the heart, respiratory system, and the brain, and also reduces cardiovascular mortality. However, circuit training can do that and so much more because we can hit the body with more variety and functionality. With circuit training, we are not just simply elevating our heart rate and taxing our cardiovascular system, we are developing movements that will actually help us perform better in a game.
 
One final thing with regards to conditioning for pitchers…
 
Every now and again, a trainer will endorse the mental toughness component of long distance running as a reason for conditioning pitchers in that way. I find this conflation very disappointing. Competitiveness and tenacity don’t have to be created by pounding 3-5 miles on pavement. I’ve never met an elite distance runner that is also an exceptional pitcher. In all my researching of elite warriors, such as the Navy SEALs, they will tell you that it is next to impossible to predict who will make it through BUD/S. Creating the mindset of a champion is about so much more than physical taxation and exertion.
 
In my opinion, it is malpractice to get a quality pitcher hurt while running long distance for conditioning or mental toughness purposes. Unfortunately, I see it every week. The great news is that many professional and top college programs have seen the light and have changed their processes. However, some old archaic processes are hard to extinguish.
 
I have told my staff many times that one of my goals by the time I have completed my time on this Earth is to be able to look back and say that baseball, as a collective universe, has moved into a far more enlightened era, and is training and conditioning their pitchers with a combination of science, wisdom, and common sense instead of worn-out traditions and antiquated thought processes. 
 
I look forward to continuing our discussion.

Ron Wolforth
CEO - The Texas Baseball Ranch
 
Coach Wolforth has written six books on pitching including the Amazon Best Seller, Pitching with Confidence.  Since 2003, 122 of the players Wolforth has trained have been drafted and 467 have broken the 90 mph barrier.  He has consulted with 13 MLB teams, dozens of NCAA programs and has been referred to as “America’s Go-to-Guy on Pitching” and “The Pitching Coaches Pitching Coach”.  Coach Wolforth lives in Montgomery, TX with his wife, Jill.  They are intimately familiar with youth select, travel baseball and PG events as their son Garrett (now a catcher in the Cincinnati Reds organization) went through the process.  Garrett still holds the PG Underclass All-American Games record for catcher velocity at 89mph which he set in 2014 at the age of 16.

 If you would like a free copy of Pitching with Confidence, go to freepitchingbook.com.
Give us your feedback
General | Blog | 6/16/2026

Wolforth Throwing Mentorship: Article 66
Ron Wolforth
Article Image
  The Number That Just Killed MLB Expansion: 1,217   USA Today's Bob Nightengale dropped a bomb shell recently that the baseball world is still digesting. Major League Baseball wants to expand to 32 teams. Team executives are quietly opposing it and the reason has nothing to do with cities or money.   They cannot find enough healthy pitchers.   Between 2020 and 2024, professional baseball performed 1,026 Tommy John surgeries at the minor-league level alone. Another 191 at the Major League level. More than twelve hundred elbow reconstructions in five years on the best young pitchers in the world.   That is not bad luck. That is a system reporting a verdict on itself.   For fifteen years, the youth-baseball industry has chased one number: velocity significantly more than projectability and arm care.    Recruiters scout by it.    Social...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/2/2026

Freedom Classic Opens Holiday Weekend

Alyssa Golden
Article Image
More than 30 teams from the 14U-18U age divisions will head to Fort Myers, Florida this Fourth of July weekend for the seventh annual Perfect Game Freedom Classic. The tournament, running July 3-6, features several nationally ranked prospects from across the country as teams look to compete for a championship. Headlining the field are twin brothers Derek and Ryan Yormark of Merrick, New York. Right-handed pitcher Derek Yormack is the No. 51-ranked player in the class of 2027, the No. 1 player in New York and the No. 5-ranked right-handed pitcher in the country. First baseman Ryan Yormark comes in just behind his twin brother as the No. 3 overall player in New York, the No. 5 first baseman in the nation and the No. 90-ranked player nationally. Both brothers are committed to Vanderbilt. Derek Yormark has established himself as one of the top two-way prospects in the 2027 class. He has run...
Read More
High School | General | 7/1/2026

PG High School All-Americans

Tyler Russo
Article Image
High School Top 50: Final Update With the High School season all wrapped up, today we take a look at our First, Second and Third Team All-Americans from around the country. Below you'll find three teams with stats that seem otherworldly from players who'll likely hear their names called in the coming week's MLB Draft. Within the "Notable Stats" section you'll see the individual award winners as well. First Team All-American Pos.  Name Class School State Commitment Notable Stats C Cole Prosek 2026 Magnolia Heights MS Ole Miss .595 BA, 18 HR, 79 RBI 1B Will Adams 2026 Hoover AL LSU .489, 13 HR, 52 RBI IF James Tronstein 2026 Harvard-Westlake CA Vanderbilt .531, 10 HR, 29 RBI, 21 XBH IF Grady Emerson 2026 Fort Worth Christian TX Texas .508, 8 HR, 56 RBI, 34/35 SB, National POY IF Jacob Lombard 2026 Gulliver Schools FL Miami .477, 10 HR, 52 R, 42 H, 14 SB OF Martin Shelar 2026 Marist GA...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/1/2026

16u Elite Scout Notes: Days 3-5

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
16u Elite Scout Notes: Days 1-2  ‘28 AJ Bonnette (TX) with 7 Ks thru 4 IP thus far, living 89-91 w/ heavy traits. Filling up all four quads & attacking hitters early in counts. Mixing a slurvy breaker & turning the CHG over well. @PG_Uncommitted #NatElite @Texas_PG pic.twitter.com/oz2XXoKHvt — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 30, 2026 Aj Bonnette (2028, Keller, Texas) showed out on both sides of the ball at the National Elite Championship, but really stood out on the mound Tuesday. He toed the rubber in round two of the playoffs, proceeding to toss six innings with eight punchouts and zero earned runs allowed. The 6-foot southpaw filled up all four quadrants of the strike zone, attacking hitters early and often with his fastball. The heater lived in the 88-91 mph range with heavy traits, often setting up his slurvy breaking ball. Bonnette showed good feel...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/1/2026

Performance Baseball Rolls On

Kinley Kitchens
Article Image
Championship teams often reveal themselves when the game isn’t going their way. Performance Baseball 2028/Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team did exactly that. Trailing Florida Burn 2028 Scout through four innings, the Brewers refused to panic. Instead, they relied on timely hitting, consistent pitching, and an unselfish approach at the plate, rallying a five-run fifth inning before pulling away for a 9-5 victory to clinch their spot in the semifinals. The comeback was fueled by contributions throughout the lineup. Six different players drove in runs, including two RBIs each from Aiden Capobianco and Cameron Massey, while Matthew Heredia, Parker Weston, Ethan Smith, and Aj Bonnette each added an RBI of their own. On the mound, Derek Wenzel set the tone with 3.2 solid innings before Ethan Smith shut the door in relief, helping preserve the comeback victory. Although the Brewers have had a...
Read More
Tournaments | Championship | 7/1/2026

JK Select Hawaii Tackles 14u West WS

Emily Hicks
Article Image
JK Select Hawaii capped off an impressive tournament run by defeating GBG Vegas 14u Red14-4 in the championship game on Sunday at Goodyear Ballpark, claiming the 14u West World Series title. From the opening pitch, JK Select controlled the pace of the game. The offense jumped out early, scoring 6 runs in the 1st inning after timely hits from MVP Sean Shindo and Kade Manarpaac. The early lead gave the pitching staff confidence as they worked efficiently through the opposing lineup. “I've worked hard to get better at my game for the past few months; it means a lot that I did well and performed in a tournament like this” said Shindo. Starting pitcher Maddox Prones turned in a strong performance, allowing 3 runs while striking out 5 batters over 3 innings. The defense backed the effort with great plays in the middle infield, preventing GBG Vegas from building momentum....
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 7/1/2026

"Wow" Swings Catch Eyes at 16u Elite

Kinley Kitchens
Article Image
On the second day of the 2026 Perfect Game National Elite Championship, one swing turned heads across the ballpark. The next one brought everyone to a stop. With Wow Factor Nation 16U trailing midway through its matchup against Sandlot Scout Team 2028, Micheal O'Connor launched a solo home run to spark the offense. Just one batter later, Aaron Frink stepped into the box and sent another ball over the fence, delivering back-to-back home runs that quickly became one of the most talked about moments of the tournament’s opening days. Parents gathered along the nets, players from previous games stopped to watch, and college scouts turned their attention toward the action as the two towering swings energized the crowd and brought new life to the game. Although Wow Factor Nation ultimately lost 5-3 after a hard-fought performance, the back-to-back home runs served as a reminder of the...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 6/30/2026

Stacked Runs the Table at 17u WWBA

Will Dembo
Article Image
Following a jam-packed week of entertainment at the 17u WWBA Championships, the top nationally ranked program, USA Prime 17u National/Detroit Tigers Scout Team, faced off against Stacked Baseball 17u (No. 80 nationally) in the highly anticipated championship matchup as both teams looked to earn one of the most prestigious titles in all of travel baseball. Each talented squad entered the finale undefeated, but Stacked Baseball continued their dominance throughout the tournament, defeating the Detroit Tigers Scout Team 10-2 in mercy rule fashion to become national champions behind explosive bats and impressive pitching. Stacked Baseball was the overwhelming top team throughout the week as the WWBA Champions outscored opponents by an absurd 117-12 during their 11-0 run. “We got some talented kids, but we played against a little bit of Goliath over there,” Stacked Head Coach Mike...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 6/30/2026

17u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 7

Perfect Game Staff
Article Image
17u WWBA Scout Notes: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4  Day 5 | Day 6 Shea Corona (2027, Brooklyn, N.Y.) showcased some loud stuff out of the bullpen for MLB Breakthrough Series 2027. The New York native and primary shortstop topped out at 93 with the fastball, sitting comfortable in the 90-92 range. Corona paired it with a sharp and tight slider at 81-83, staying on the same plane until late. The pitch plays well already and the delivery is very athletic. The uncommitted right-hander went three scoreless and was in the zone plenty, striking out two while not allowing a walk. '27 SS Moises Gudino (FL) continues to stay red hot, working a long AB & cracking an oppo 2B on the 8th pitch. Really seeing ing well. #WWBA @Florida_PG https://t.co/OjNJ8Bmzao pic.twitter.com/WoDDp35EI1 — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 30, 2026 Moises Gudino (2027, Tampa, Fla.)...
Read More
Tournaments | Story | 6/30/2026

Texas Twelve Firing On Full Cylinders

Kinley Kitchens
Article Image
Every team hopes to start a tournament with momentum, but few make a statement quite like Texas Twelve Maroon 2028. Matched up against defending champion Excel Blue Wave National to kick off their debut in the 2026 Perfect Game National Elite Championship, Texas Twelve Maroon delivered a complete team performance, earning a hard-fought 3-2 victory and immediately establishing themselves as one of the top teams to watch this week. The win showcased the balance that has made Texas Twelve Maroon a powerful team. Strong pitching, timely hitting, and steady defense all played a role as the team held off one of the tournament’s premier programs. Right-hander Ty Antley turned in an outstanding performance on the mound, throwing a complete game while allowing only five hits and two walks over seven innings. The High Follow prospect worked consistently between 85-89 mph and mixed in a sharp...
Read More
Tournaments | Championship | 6/30/2026

Flames Capture 18U BCS Title

Alyssa Golden
Article Image
Flames Natty used timely hitting and a dominant start from Beau Collier to defeat NLB American 7-3 and capture the 18U BCS National Championship on Monday at Lee Health Sports Complex. Despite being assembled just hours before the tournament began, the Flames quickly developed chemistry throughout the tournament. “This team was put together 12 hours before this tournament, and they went on a crazy run,” head coach Adam Vasquez said. “These kids know each other locally, but they don’t play together. For them to come together last minute like that, it’s crazy. I’m proud of them for that.” The game opened as a pitchers’ duel, with David Acevedo recording the lone hit through the first two innings. NLB American starter Hayden Graham kept the Flames in check early, allowing just one hit while striking out one over 2.0 innings. The right-hander...
Read More
Loading more articles...
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2026 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.