How To return from Tommy John Surgery as a Javelin thrower

Before we get into it, here is a little bit about my experience with tearing my UCL as a Javelin thrower. and having Tommy John surgery.

Now after learning about my experiences and struggles with it, lets get into the actual format of how this return to throw program should be structured.

PROGRAM EXPLANATION

Distances and percentages should be worked up to

For example, if you are throwing 25 reps of a baseball at 150ft, you should use all 25 throws to work back to 150ft, NOT take all 25 throws at 150ft (have your throwing partner start at 20 feet and work up to 150ft)

Take your time!

Do not rush to return to compete 9 months after your surgery, just because you’re cleared to throw a men’s javelin doesn’t mean you’re ready to compete at 100% and PR at 9 months. Take the year off from competition, rebuild your technique and physicality, you tore your UCL for a reason, it’s because you were doing something wrong. It’s better to progress and never look back, rather than to progress too quickly, run into complications and have to take steps backwards.

Stress & Rest

Just like when we lift weights, we need to apply stress and cause slight damageto the muscle in order to get stronger. The same thing happens when we throw after Tommy John Surgery, we need to apply stress to the new ligament, and then take time to let it rest so the bone density around the new ligament can heal and become stronger. Your new UCL will have two insertion points (the forearm and tricep) that is where most of the tugging will occur, and the rest that you take in between throwing phases will allow the bone density around those two insertion points to get stronger, stabilizing your new UCL. Your new UCL will continue toget stronger up to 2 years after the surgery, use the entire time to use a mix of progressive overload and rest to get your arm stronger. Don’t lose sight of why you got hurt in the first place (most likely overuse).

“You’re supposed to be stronger after surgery”

I hear this all the time, and it’s true. BUT it’s because during your time off from surgery you will use this time to hit all your weak areas, your technique, your hip mobility, your body fat, muscle mass, approach rhythm, speed, etc. Take the time to LEVEL UP.

Approach / positional work

Practice your approach speed / rhythm / relaxation / on your weeks off. During your program you will have 2 weeks off after each phase, be sure to still work on your throwing positions without a release and approach when you are on your off time.

Don’t push past the soreness

For example if you are in 8/10 soreness after day 4 of a specific phase, stop the phase there and go directly into the 2 week rest. This is where you should reflect on how your arm care has been going and if your intensity has been too high. Once you return to throwing after the conclusion of the 2 weeks, use it as an opportunity to see if you can make it through the next cycle without that intense soreness / pain and complete the cycle without an issue. This is how you can see yourself progress through the program without always increasing the intensity.

Mindset

I want you to look at your tommy john return to throw protocol like this: most people tear their UCL because of overuse, so your return to throw protocol should be a test of how much volume you can handle, not how much intensity you can handle. So after the 10 month program is complete you can start testing plyo balls and javelins for maximal distance and speed, but until then, use this program to build up your ability to handle high throwing volume. So stay away from throwing at max effort until the program is complete. Controlled stress is better than letting it rip and seeing what happens.

THE PROGRAM

START AT 3 MONTHS POST- OP

Cycle 1 Phase 1: Baseball (150g)

 Day 1 2x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 2 Phase 1 Baseball (150g)

 Day 1 2x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 2 Phase 2 with 450g plyo ball

 Day 1 2x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 3 Phase 1 with baseball 150g

 Day 1 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 3 Phase 2 with plyo ball 450g

 Day 1 2x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 30ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 3 Phase 3 with 600g Javelin

 Day 1 2x 25 - 1 step at 50% - 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 - 1 step at 50% - 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 - walking 3 step at 60% -15 min rest

 Day off

 Day 4 3x 25 - walking 3 step at 60% - 15 min rest

 Day offDay 5 2x 15 3 step at 75% -15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 15 3 step at 75% - 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 4 Phase 1: Baseball (150g)

 Day 1 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 150ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 150ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 4 Phase 2 with 450g plyo ball

 Day 1 2x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day offDay 2 3x 25 at 60ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 3 2x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 25 at 90ft 15 min rest Day off

 Day 5 2x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 25 at 120ft 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 4 Phase 3 with 600g Javelin

 Day 1 2x 25 - 1 step at 50% - 15 min rest

 Day off

 Day 2 2x 25 - Walking 3 step at 60% - 15 min rest

 Day off

 Day 3 3x 25 - Walking 3 step at 60% -15 min rest

 Day offDay 4 3x 15 - 3 step at 60% - 15 min rest Day offDay 5 2x 15 - 5 step at 75% -15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 10- 7 step at 75% - 15 min rest 2 weeks off

Cycle 4 Phase 4 with 800g Javelin

 Day 1 2x 25 - 1 step at 50% - 15 min rest

 Day off

 Day 2 3x 25 - Walking 3 step at 50% - 15 min rest

 Day offDay 3 2x 15 - 3 step at 60% -15 min rest Day offDay 4 3x 15 - 5 step at 60% - 15 min rest Day offDay 5 2x 15 - 7 step at 70% -15 min rest Day offDay 6 3x 10- 7 Step at 80% - 15 min rest

2 weeks off

How to time it up with your season starting:

Each Phase will be 4 weeks long, 2 weeks of throwing 2 weeks of rest

 Cycle 1 - 4 weeks  Cycle 2 - 8 weeks  Cycle 3 - 12 weeks  Cycle 4 - 16 weeks

40 weeks total 10 months

Start it at 3 months Post OP, Run the program for 10 months, The last 2 months should be working on connecting your 7 step to approach,

15 month total return to throw protocol - After 15 months you will be ready to compete

For video explanations of me explaining this program click below.

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