As a closer, Joakim never knows when he is going to pitch. Before batting practice, he usually throws from 110 feet. He throws for six or seven minutes but never goes to the mound. If he hasn’t pitched for a while, he stretches his arm out. He may go out to 150 feet for about eight-10 tosses and then starts working his way back in to 110 feet for six or seven minutes, and then to 90 feet.
When some players long toss, they may throw from as far as 300 feet. Joakim is a firm believer that if you want to stretch your arm, you have to stick to a distance that you can control.
"You can’t control 300 feet," he says. "Why go farther than your control point? It will burn you out to throw later at night." In short, save bullets!
