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Weighted implement training is common in many sports, none more so than in baseball, where weighted balls are used as part of the task specific strength and conditioning of players to prevent injury and improve pitching/throwing velocity.

Weighted baseball throwing overloads the entire arm, from shoulder to fingers, which is great if that is the training goal. However, what happens if you want to overload the musculotendinous system across the shoulder only (Figure A), or the shoulder and elbow only (Figure B), in a sport specific manner. This is where wearable resistance has a distinct advantage as you can see from the photos. Also, you can specifically load the arm to increase the work of the internal or external rotators, if you so wish.

Another advantage that Rod Whiteley, a physiotherapist from Aspetar shared with me is that wearable resistance continues to provide resistance after ball release, whereas weighted ball throwing does not. This is especially important in eccentric strengthening and deceleration mechanics associated with pitching and throwing i.e. injury prevention/resistance.

Food for thought and the concepts can be applied across many overarm sports.