Inside The Velocity RX Elite Pitching Program

Most pitchers chase velocity by tweaking mechanics, copying drills, or grinding more throws. I take a different route: I start with the foundation. In this Velocity RX podcast, I give you a clear inside look at the Velocity RX Elite Pitching Program and explain why movement testing comes before any big mechanical change. When the body cannot squat, hinge, rotate, or stabilize on one leg, the “perfect cue” on the mound falls apart and the arm pays for it.

I walk through my GAME test (Graded Active Movement Exam) and the specific screens I lean on for baseball pitchers, including shoulder coordination, scapular control, and the patterns that predict lost range of motion and future pain. We talk candidly about why so many athletes struggle with basic athletic movement today, how that shows up as preventable shoulder and elbow issues, and why rehab after Tommy John surgery can stall when something important gets missed. If you are still dealing with pain months after returning to throwing, you will hear exactly how my Mound Ready process looks for the real “why” and then fixes it.

From there, I explain how we use OnForm video analysis to review tests and mechanics frame by frame, how corrective exercises fit into your routine without wasting time, and why I teach pitching “backwards” by mastering the finish and front-foot strike before piling on more. We end with the four outcomes I want every pitcher to earn over six months: a more bulletproof arm, blindfold command built on feel, a real velocity increase, and pitch correctability so you can miss a spot, know why, and fix it on the next pitch.

If you found this helpful, subscribe for more pitching mechanics, arm care, and baseball performance training, share it with a pitcher who needs a better plan, and leave a review with your biggest velocity or command question.

Transcript

Welcome And Program Sneak Peek

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hey everybody, this is Dr. Kevin McGovern. It's another Velocity RX podcast. I know it's been a while. It's been a while, but anywho, I'm back. A good episode today. Today we're actually going to talk about showing an inside peek about the Velocity RX Elite pitching program. You're going to see all the components of it, give you a little sneak peek of what it looks like and how it's helping one pitcher after another after another reach their potential, throw with greater velocity, have a bulletproof arm, command of three pitches to all four corners of the plate, and then what I like to call pitch correctability. It's the ability if the player misses his spot to know exactly why he did from a movement standpoint and be able to correct it on the very next pitch.

Mound Ready For Pain-Free Return

SPEAKER_01 0:52

But before that, we have a little message from our sponsor.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Attention baseball pitchers. If you've been injured, gone through surgery, or have been off the mound for an extended period of time, tried to go back, and you just can't without pain. I want to introduce you to Mound Ready. Mound Ready is unlike any product in the world. Mound Ready is going to do a complete evaluation of everything you have done, from physical therapy notes to training notes to rehab throwing, everything. Plus, we're going to run you through our own battery of tests to find the reason why or reasons why you are not back on the mound. Once we have those reasons why, we're going to correct them and get you back on the mound throwing. If this rings true to you at all, please visit velocityrx.org, click on the mound ready page, sign up to be on our waiting list so that we can help you get back on the mound throwing pain-free.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Alright, the mound ready program already helping many players. There's always something missing, right? There's, you know, these players have had Tommy John surgery. Listen, you should be back within a year, okay? If you're not back in the mound within a year, there's something wrong. There's delays in your rehab, something has been missed. The ligament in your elbow is well healed. So something was missed in your rehab, something was missed in your mechanics, but it's somewhere. Okay? I get contacted every week about players who have elbow pain, shoulder pain, months and months and months after having Tommy John surgery. And it's just not good. So if you're one of those players, check out my Mount Ready program. All right.

Why Elite Starts With Testing

SPEAKER_01 2:47

So what is the Velocity RX Elite program? And why is it different? Well, it's different because we test. I believe that every athlete, rehab, person, anyone is a building. And whatever activity they're doing, so let's say it's pitching, is in the penthouse. It's nice up there. Hot tub, open bar, great food. However, if that building does not have a strong foundation or parking garage, it's coming down. So what does that mean? Well, you have to have a strong functional movement base to add on mechanics. Okay. And the Gen Xers had it in the and the generations before that. They don't have it now. Why? Well, because the Gen Xers were probably the last era of people that went outside and played as a kid. They're outside doing things, playing games, making up games. They were learning fundamental movement. You know, now kids are in front of the TV, their computer, their phone, and they're really only moving when there's an organized activity. And if that activity isn't teaching them proper movement, they're not getting it. And I see it in my own, in the physical therapy side, with really preventable injuries because kids they can't squat, they can't rotate, they can't, they're not athletic on one foot. It's it's it's kind of sad. So with that, we we have to set a baseline. Okay, you you cannot you can tell a kid till he's blue in the face to drop and drive, but if

The GAME Test Movement Baseline

SPEAKER_01 4:32

they can't do a one-legged squat, they can't stand on one foot, it's never gonna happen. So the the first part is game testing. Now, game stands for graded active movement exam. And I invented that test about 25 years ago because in the outpatient space, I was, you know, it was really to battle insurance companies who would cut people off. Well, oh, they're out of pain, they're fine. Yeah, well, they can't walk down a stair, they can't walk up a stair, they can't balance on one foot. So I needed a test that would encompass a grandmother, right? Because in outpatient, you have all ages, and then a high-level athlete. So, you know, for good two years, um, you know, what what do all these people have in common? There were other tests on the market, but they just weren't either weren't functional or someone couldn't, you know. Remember this one screen where they're doing long sitting over a box, and that's not functional. No one no one does that. So I needed something that was functional and practical. And then I realized what everyone has in common is the neurological sequence of movement. So if you get out of a chair, there is a proper sequence of getting out of that chair, and pretty much everything else is wrong. So the game test is about 12 tests. I've I've gotten six tests specifically for baseball that measures the neurological sequence of movement. So share my screen here. So the first of all, the test is housed on a you know one of these course websites. If I've never taken an online uh course, you know what I'm talking about. And let's

Pretests And The Online Portal

SPEAKER_01 6:20

see here. Okay. So basically, here it is. Now I'm not sure if this looks like this is my version of it, so I'm not sure what it looks like to the actual consumer. Probably looks a little fancier. So immediately when you sign up, we go through the game test, okay? And there are we usually ask some questions, there are some pretests, okay. And these tests uh very rarely give out, only if told that there could be some sort of birth or neurological issue preventing the child already or already what I know. And then I will do these pregame tests. And unfortunately, if they don't pass the pregame tests, we gotta start way, way at the beginning to get them to do that before we even move into the game test. So you would click in the in the test here, so you know, shoulder coordination

Shoulder Tests That Predict Injury

SPEAKER_01 7:25

test, and man, this is this is from my old old practice from about 2012. So this is a vital test, measuring the scapular humeral rhythm, you know, with that is the basic movement of the shoulder. This is often missed by not only pitching coaches, by physical therapists themselves who miss training this movement. And right here is really a precursor for injury. If this test isn't passed, and really not a lot of people pass it because there's so much upper trap involvement in daily living that it's really a cause for late arm, it's a cause for slow bat speed, it's a cause for slow tennis racket, slow golf club, all of that. So very, very important test. So that's there, and then we have a sister or brother test of that, and that's the the free throw test, which now makes the shoulder joint move independently with as it relates to other joints. And again, this is where the upper trap is really gonna rear its ugly head in this kind of movement. We'll we'll see loss of shoulder motion, like we see here in this young lady. And of course, if you lose motion naturally when you're a pitcher, well, what's that gonna do to your joint kinematics as you throw?

Squat Hinge And One-Leg Stability

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Then another very important one is the squat test. So, really, scapular depression and the squat are two of the biggest movements. Of here's my friend Kenny, who by the way got back as a 36-year-old, got back on the mound after Tommy John in nine months throwing harder than he had before he was injured. He was, you know, played Division II baseball and eventually tore his elbow playing in the men's league. But oh boy, that was a lot fatter back then. But the squat is vital, right? Like, how do you stand on one foot? How do you drop and drive without doing a perfect, you know, neurologically correct squat. And so many kids don't. And you know, a lot of what you hear in baseball is you know, bend your knees first, right? Well, that couldn't be the worst piece of advice, right? Because as soon as you bend your knees first, you you're skipping your hip and you essentially shut off your posterior kinetic chain. So the real command should be hinge first. And if you don't believe me, if you look on my Instagram page in the top right-hand corner, I have a live demonstration I do showing just that. I think there's like 700,000 views, so you should check it out. So then we have you know, lunge test, golfers lift, and then here's another important test, which so the crane is the I borrow this from martial arts. It's essentially, you know, walking on or marching on on one leg, but the crane is the precursor to every martial arts kick. All right, because we have to be athletic on one leg, okay? Especially as a pitcher, right? I hear all these people you gotta drag your back leg because you stay balanced. No, we don't. Obviously, you've seen my how opposed I am to dragging your leg. It's part of my Tommy John injury formula. No, you have to be able to plant, balance, and rotate off of a stable front leg because you have to be athletic on one leg. So so basically, I'll take those

OnForm Video Breakdown And Comparisons

SPEAKER_01 11:20

six tests, I will put them on an app called on form. So if you've ever seen me evaluate, let's go to this section here, pro pitchers here. So if you've ever seen me do any sort of mechanical evaluation like I'm doing here to Roger Clemens, that's on OnForm. So I'm able to break that down step by step. I'm able to do comparative analysis, right? So if you look here, you know, I compared Otani to Rod, you know, Roger Clemens, so I can put it up on top, side by side. I can compare you versus yourself a month ago. So all the exercises go up here, all the game tests, and I'm able to evaluate those frame by frame and show everyone the exact point of what I'm looking at, more importantly, why I am looking at. So after we go through the game test, we jump on our first call. I may give corrective exercises before that. I usually do just to get

Correctives And Common Training Mistakes

SPEAKER_01 12:25

someone started. So I've got a bunch of all the corrective exercises listed. You know, scapular depression is like a vital movement that you know the pro clients I have can't believe that just that little movement is so you know, not only helps their velocity, but helps their their range of motion and everything. So a lot of scapular depression work, and and you'll see all these catcher squats, squats, cross dance squats. So and this is really it. Everyone's like, you don't have to be in the gym throwing iron, right? None of my exercises, and I'm listening I'm a proponent of Olympic lifting, but you don't need it, right? Especially as a high school player, you're you should you haven't even your body hasn't even filled out yet, right? Especially as a little leaguer, I hear, you know, all these little leaguers doing stuff. So, you know, travel ball baseball is huge in Massachusetts, and I became involved in travel ball, my company back in I think 2009, maybe 2008, we started contracting out our services to a few travel ball programs, and I think we were one of the first, I definitely know we were one of the first in Massachusetts, if not the first in New England to have you know a whole fitness corrective exercise component to the travel ball program. Now, of course, everybody has it, but you still have to do the right things, and so many times I'm seeing these kids doing these high-level exercises. I'll see it on social media, you know, these high-level exercises that they're literally just not, they're they're not ready to do it. They don't, you know, they they would fail all of the game tests, and they're you know, doing firements, carry lunges with dumbbells. And I'm like, this kid can't even do a proper squat, and and they're doing all these exercises, which means again, you're piling on a bad on a onto a bad base of movement, and guess what's gonna happen? You know, you're you're gonna get hurt, it's just a matter of time. So, you know, we jump so going back, we jump on our first phone call. I give all of the exercises, and

Drills As Warm-Up And Arm Care

SPEAKER_01 14:55

then really after that, it's a lot of back and forth exchanging things through on form of exercises, of mechanics, and all that kind of stuff. So, of course, then we get into drills. So, how the how the program works is that the exercises, the drills become part of your life, part of your warm-up, part of your cooldown, part your arm care, so that there's no wasted time. And you know, part of your warm-up, right? You do the I got this like I teach pitching backwards. What I mean by that is we teach the finish. So we do the we do the finish and and then we do front foot strike, but you know, this becomes your warm-up. So you do with a towel or real baseball, you know, you do the the finish drill, the foot, the front foot strike drill, the three-tap drill, the slam toss, boom, and then you're back on the rubber throwing, you know, throwing pitches. So nothing is wasted, and you don't have to, you know, you're gonna find that when you're doing the exercises, doing the drills, you're not gonna need 50 warm-up pitches, right? So we're we're saving the arm. But we're making the arm more resilient. And then I have the pitching checklist here of pitching broken down and all of the benchmarks that I teach. But I want the player to take what I teach and come up with their own mental checklist. Now that could be 10 thoughts, that could be one thought, but I want them to really get the material and own

Six-Month Plan And Four Outcomes

SPEAKER_01 16:40

it as it relates to their own body and mechanics. And then we rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. You know, then I got a section on, you know, because I teach you to throw downhill with more extension, you're closer to home plate. We don't have to put so much torque on our on our arm by doing all this kind of crazy stuff with the ball, because you know, we're just as we take here, you know, we're I'm just putting pressure as I'm throwing downhill, the ball is going to spin more, it's going to move more. So that's another added bonus. So that's basically the whole program. A lot of education, a lot of sharing of video, and we move one movement at a time, one floor at a time. We get one movement down, we move to the next. You can't correct 50 million things at once. You're just going to confuse. I don't care if they're a pro player or a little eager. Can't do it. The body doesn't react to that. We triage the most important movement, we go the next. We go the next, we go the next. And at the end of six months, the program is six months long. Again, the four deliverables. Number one, as bulletproof of an arm as possible. Number two, what I call blindfold command. If you've ever seen players, I've got some players that throw there's some drills, they throw blindfolded. You don't need your eyes to throw strikes, you have to be able to feel it. Number three is obviously the increase in velocity, just cleaning up someone's movement is going to increase their velocity, three to five miles an hour. So, and then the fourth again is the pitch correctability. That's the ability of the body to know why I threw the ball and missed my spot and be able to correct it on the very next pitch because I know what I did. Did I stride too far? I take the ball out of my glove too early, my posture wasn't right, whatever it is, the player will be able to know. I don't care what age they are, they'll be able to know and feel it. So that is the Velocity RX Elite Pitching Program in a nutshell.

Website Resources And Closing

SPEAKER_01 18:53

So, for further information, please visit velocityrx.org. And that's all you'll see. All the information, you'll be able to contact me. You'll be able to sign up for a coaching call. The Mound Ready program is there, it describes all of that. The Tommy John injury formula, my new pitch statistic of OP10, which is outs per 10 pitches, a qualitative measure. It's all on the website. And also, too, you can sign up for the Velocity RX Pitching Journal, which again is a course just like this, which has chalk full, and you know, I send out a journal, you know, at least twice a month. It's free. Plus, you get some money off any program you buy if you subscribe to the journal. Just chalk full of special information that I don't really promote on my social media. I think that's it. So thanks for listening. I promise I won't be as long next time for the next podcast. That's all we got. Have a great week.