Are you a chronic sufferer of hip external rotator tightness.  You are not alone.  The good news?  There is help.

Pitching is a rotational activity, and the hips and core are the chief couplers of power to the arm.  As the stride foot lands the internal rotators of the hips, along with the core, rotate the midsection to face the plate.  The hip external rotators, if tight and inflexible, will impede this rotation.  (Remember that the hip internal and external rotators are antagonist muscles, which means they oppose each other and that one must stretch while the other contracts.)

So while the internal rotators fire, the external rotators relax and stretch.  If the external rotators are tight and do not stretch to their full and normal range of motion, the whole kinetic sequence is impeded.  This, in turn, makes the arm bear an extra burden by being in the valgus position longer while trying to catch up and get in the proper position to deliver the pitch. Dr. Morgan and others told me that they believe this leads to elbow problems, including UCL tears.

Having tight hips is a bad for arm health and detrimental to one’s throwing velocity.  Having loose and fluidly moving hips will make anyone a healthier and likely harder throwing pitcher.  Rotating against tight muscles causes a loss in transferred power, which in turn is a loss in velocity.  Get it back with just a few sets of stretches done daily.

Do you have a problem?

First thing’s first: You need to find out if your hips are tight.  Now, when I say hips, I really mean the singular hip on your stride leg.  Because of the constant rotation around that hip from so many throws, the stride leg will get tight but the back leg will remain normal.  

So, you compare.  At the doctor’s or PT’s office this will be done with a goniometer, but you can get a general Yes or No diagnosis without one.

Test # 1: Lie on your back, bend your knees to 90° and let them fall to either side as far as they will go.  Do this facing a mirror, or have someone assess you from behind.

 

Test #2 (and Stretch #1): Try the knee-in stretch, and self-diagnose any differences.  If one hip is tight, you’ll feel the difference and see that it won’t go down or over toward the midline very well.  

The goal in the knee-in stretch, which I feel is the best stretch to cure hip external rotator tightness, is to pull the knees down and in while maintaining your feet flat on the floor, toes pointed straight, and lower back flat on the floor.  You can vary the stretch by arching your back while on the floor, or sitting.  You’ll feel a difference each way.

 

Stretch #2: Knee Cross-over

This is one where I feel a glaring difference between my left and right.  Start on all fours and cross your tight leg behind the other.  While maintaing good posture squat back until you feel the stretch in the side of your hip, while keeping your knees on the floor.

 

Note that in the pictures the difference between start and finish is small.  I actually had to use my loose leg (my right) for the picture to show a difference.  On my left I can only squat back about 4 inches or so, which is hardly a perceivable difference on film.  It really takes a lot of stretching to gain symmetry on this one.

Stretch #3: Hip Mobilization

This mobilization drill was shown to me by my friend Nick Tumminello.  It works the hips in a similar way to the knee cross-over, and really shows the difference between legs.

To perform, you get on all fours with back straight and arms straight.  Point your off leg straight back, and then squat backward as far as you can while maintaining straight arms and a straight back.  Hold for a few seconds, then come back up. Dont let your body roll to either side, and go straight back, hinging at the knee. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps.  

 

This exercise is easy on my right, looser hip.  I can sit back all the way with no problem.  It’s downright difficult on my left, both in range of motion and in stabilizing myself.  When an exercise is hard like this, though, it means you’re really going to benefit from it.

Stretch #4 : Seated piriformis stretch

The piriformis is a strong external rotator that also acts as a hip abductor (helps move the thigh bone away from the body).  This stretch and the next one I’ll show you target the piriformis.  To perform, sit in a chair and cross one leg over the other. GENTLY press the knee down, while pushing your chest out and sitting up very straight and you will feel the stretch.  It is important, as Coach Nick was explaining to me, to keep the knee within the body, so the piriformis can relax fully.  If the knee is outside the body, then the piriformis will engage as an abductor, thus preventing it from relaxing and ruining the stretch.

Stretch #5: Wall figure-4 stretch

This is another stretch pioneered by Nick Tumminello, and stretches the piriformis better than the laying figure-4 stretch (not shown).  It is again imperative, as previously explained, to keep the knee within the body.  One slides up close to a wall, and with legs straight crosses one over the other at the thigh.  Then you press your butt into the ground and bend your knee.  Pull the crossing leg in to the chest if more stretch is desired.  The closer your butt is to the wall, the stronger the stretch will be.  

Final Thoughts

Be gentle with all these stretches, as they all involve the knees.  If your knees hurt on any, back off and maybe choose another that works for you. I recommend the knee-in, one on all fours and one of the piriformis stretches, but try them all and find out which ones work best for you.  The seated piriformis tends to give me some problems, but the knee-in and both on all-fours get me in great shape.  Everyone’s different.  

If your hips are far from symmetrical like mine once were and sometimes still are, it’s necessary to do a few of these stretches everyday, 3x each for 30 seconds.   Remember that the goal is symmetry and not hyperlaxity.  We’re ballplayers, not dancers, so don’t go overboard. There are also a few dynamic stretches for the the same symptoms that I’ll post in the future.