Pitching Mechanics
April 29, 2011 | 
Author I made the analogy of colored dye to a young pitcher the other day when discussing his practice habits. If his old habits represented red dye, and his new mechanical adjustment represented blue dye, and he had a cup of red and a drop of blue to add to a bucket of water, what color would the bucket turn?
He answered red, to which I told him that he had to dilute the old by practicing the new mechanics as much as he could, until, over time, his mechanics changed. The more you practice, the more the new overtakes the old.
That being said, I got some photographical confirmation that I had improved my mechanics via the energy angle, but not quite to the degree that I had hoped. While the change is clearly visible, I more or less diluted my old mechanics with new, averaging the two together and finding myself in the middle. Yet, I’m ok with this, and it represented the best I could do given 4 months of practice and thousands of throws doing it. Check out the photos and see for yourself where I ended up.
A snapshot of the old…
I just got off the phone with my friend Zach, and we were talking about creating more energy toward the plate. Zach is with the Orioles, and as it turns out, we had both come to a similar epiphany this offseason while trying to find ways to get more out of our bodies. The solution? For me at least, it’s utilizing a “hip bump” and creating an “energy angle.” I believe Tom House coined the term “energy angle,” though I’m not sure.
So, let’s look at the changes I’ve made this offseason. My big thing is pushing my ankle back, past the rubber, to allow a more drastic hip bump. What I mean by this is, I push my heel backward, then push my hips forward toward the plate to create a triangle between my head, left hip, and foot. This creates the energy angle, which is basically a lean of the lead leg toward the plate. The upper body remains upright while the hip travels forward, thus creating the triangle.
The effect this creates is one of falling – because your hips travel forward in front of your body, the angle gets steeper and steeper until you feel that youre about to fall forward. At this point, the foot and the lift leg shoot forward (to save you from falling, more or less), thus creating more forward energy toward the plate. The weight shift is so dramatic that you can feel all of your core muscles turn on, and you legitimately get a falling feeling. The increased momentum puts more load on your hips and core while allowing your arm to whip through almost effortlessly. Let’s look at the first video of me doing this…
I talked with a father the other day and explained to him exactly what it would take for his son, or any hypothetical high school pitcher, to earn a college roster spot.
When I was in high school I remembered being extremely confused about what it took to get scouts at games. Our star pitcher was big, left-handed and threw harder than I did, but barely anyone came to watch him, either. I just felt like there was something that I didn’t understand that it took to get to the next level – something intangible, something that I didn’t have in me.
But it’s not like that. Upon getting into my college program, my coach started to break down for me what it took for high schoolers to impress him at showcases, and for our players to earn playing time. Further, he explained what pro scouts looked for. My summer ball coaches, both of whom played professionally, shed more light on the issue, and the more and more I watched other players, I started to understand. Read the rest of this entry »
The trunk, or torso, is an often overlooked contributor to pitching velocity. For those without excellent front side recruitment, an improvement in trunk flexion can make a big difference both in velocity and consistency of release point . The following video is of 14 year-old Andy Winton, one of my students who made a great adjustment to his mechanics this past week. This is him throwing before we made the change.
What do you see? I see that he has great body control and mechanics that are very solid, regardless of age. His tempo is excellent, his hands break evenly, his weight stays back, and he is very in control. Yet, his torso is too tall as he shifts forward, which in turn prevents his release from gaining ground on the plate. His arm is also a tad late getting to the top, likely because his stride isn’t as long as it could be. His follow through stops short; you can see his arm slow down well before the ground. This is all due to a lack of trunk flexion – the forward lean of the torso as it moves toward the plate and the lead knee.
Now here’s Andy after we tweaked his motion… Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll share a story about something that helped me recently. I hadn’t been able to long toss much this summer because of the rigors of the starting rotation. When we had nearly a whole month without a day off, 4 days in between starts was too little rest to drain my arm with long toss. But in late July I had to take time off when I got a massive blister that left my middle finger with a dime-sized piece of skin missing. It took much longer to heal than I had anticipated, but it gave my arm some rest. So, I got to long toss when the skin toughened up a bit.
And having not long tossed in over two months, I had forgotten how it felt. We threw at a bandbox field, GCS Ballpark, that had a 301 foot fence extending straight out to center field, parallel to the left field line. So, even at the power alleys, the fence was 342 feet from home plate and just 301 feet from the other foul line, making it a great long toss goal. 300 feet should be an easy chuck for anyone with 88+ in his arm, so I wanted to see it go over onto the berm.
GCS Ballpark: The shortest, most poorly designed bandbox ever. Most suitable for little leaguers.
If you watch a major league baseball game, pay close attention to the velocity differentials of each pitcher’s offerings. As I am writing this, I am currrently watching Brian Duensing of the Twins throw a 92 mph fastball and an 80mph curve. Duensing throws what coaches would refer to as a pro curve. What is the difference between and pro and amateur curve, you ask? Speed and, subsequently, deception. Read the rest of this entry »
I was recently checking out some slow-mo clips of top-ranked college pitchers and I came across a video of this kid named Logan Verrett, now a sophomore at Baylor. At 6’2” 170lbs the kid is a beanpole, and yet he was gunned as high as 94 mph when this clip was taken his freshman year. Given another couple years to keep maturing and build up some strength, this kid should be touching upper 90sby the time he’s draft eligible. The scouting report on this website had only positive things to say about him, until it mentioned that his mechanics included a common flaw of “traditional” mechanics: “reverse forearm bounce.”
I was scratching my head at this point. That’s a BAD thing? You see, every high level thrower (yes, this includes outfielders and anyone else who throws at least mid 90s) that I have ever seen, not to mention nearly all amateur players as well (to varying degrees) exhibit this mechanical trait. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me first present you with the definition of “reverse forearm bounce” that the website provided, and explain why it was called a “flaw.”
Check out my newest installment, part 3, of my throwing anatomy articles. Part 3 is published on InsidePitching for it’s debut, and it covers the legs, hips and core.
It’s a little more complex than the first two articles, but give it a read and let me know what you think!
If you haven’t read my articles titled Do You know Your Throwing Anatomy, now is your chance to catch them! InsidePitching.com is running parts one and two on March 15th and 22nd, respectively, and my third and all new installment is due to premier on their site on March 29th! Check them out!
This is a drill that I have been doing for about 9 years now. I learned it from my friend Duane Rhine, who taught me the curveball that got me into college. My hammer was the only reason my 78-81 arm ever saw the mound as a freshman, and this drill helps tremendously to get the spin and consistent release down.
The point of the bucket? Well, that’s your “strike” release point. Don’t expect the ball to break at such low velocity; just work on getting tight spin from your grip and follow through. Learn to nail that bucket on a consistent basis and you will have no trouble spotting up that curve in game situations. It’s all about repetition with proper mechanics.
This is a pretty neat drill that my friend Joe Cusimano showed me today. By grabbing the weighted ball (2lb) as your arm comes through in a pitching motion, you increase demand on your rotator cuff, thus strengthening the muscles that decelerate the arm through the zone. If you aren’t familiar with said decelerators, read my two posts on Throwing Anatomy (Part 1 and Part 2)
This video is of Frostburg freshman Adam Baxley banging out a box drill. We use this to develop both foot speed and conditioning. Having him block increases game carryover as well, and will give him the stamina to perform pop-ups from his knees into the late innings. Hip flexor, leg and core strength are all stressed in this drill.