EP92 – Does a Pitching Leg Kick Increase Velocity? What to Throw in a 3-2 Count, and How NOT to Pitch Injured

Does a pitching leg kick increase velocity? Do higher leg kicks = faster fastballs or better mechanics? Dan also talks through the idea that what a pitcher throws 2-2, he should also throw on a 3-2 count. Lastly, the question of the week is about pitching through pain, and when it’s time to pull the plug and come out of the game.

To submit a question for the Q&A segment, email a voice recording to Dan at hello@danblewett.com.Want to support the show? Buy a copy of Dear Baseball Gods on Kindle or Paperback, or listen on audiobook. Or, pick up Pitching Isn’t Complicated, his advanced-but-understandable pitching manual.Enroll in one of Coach Dan’s online pitching courses or his mental skills course. Use code BASEBALL GODS to save 20% on any course, just for being a listener.Sign up for Dan’s Email list and get a free pitching checklist, and follow up with him on the interwebs: YouTube Channel | Twitter | Danblewett.com

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EP92 Full Transcript – Does a Pitching Leg Kick Increase Velocity? What to Throw in a 3-2 Count, and How NOT to Pitch Injured

You’re listening to the Dear Baseball gods podcast. I’m Dan Blewett. And on this show, you’ll learn advanced concepts in baseball. Explain simply I’m here to guide you on your baseball journey and help you paddle through. What’s now an ocean of misinformation, guru wisdom, and overly technical diamondbabble.

Hey, welcome back. This is the Dear Baseball Gods podcast. I’m Dan Blewett. And on today’s episode, we’ve got three great topics. Number one for pitchers does a higher leg kick mean higher velocity. Number two: when we’re talking about 2-2 and 3-2 counts, there’s a common wisdom that says what you throw to two is what you should also throw three, two.

So we’re going to discuss why that is in fact valid. And number three, when should you remove yourself from a game due to injury? So I wrote an article about playing through pain and. The difference between being hurt and being injured, which is a common sentiment. We’ll talk a little bit about when you should alert your coach as to when you’re going to be essentially hurting the team.

Okay. So first topic: pitching leg kicks. So Nolan Ryan is famous for saying that if he could lift his leg higher, he would have thrown harder. And of course that’s just his own anecdote and him sort of knowing his own body, but he also had a super highlight gig. So if you are a younger person and a don’t know what Nolan Ryan’s mechanics look like, he had a really highlight kick and he was, I’d say reasonably explosive.

Um, With that leg kick in general. So he wasn’t these very slow, deliberate. He was, I’d say a little bit farther on the faster side of his delivery. So his leg kick went up and down and then it was kind of go time. So from my experience, you know, as a pitching instructor and as a baseball Academy owner, when we would do our velocity programs where we’d be slowly ramping kids up for the season and then have a longer, you know, maybe like.

Six to 10 week phase where we’re throwing harder in the nets and doing some different types of mechanical drills, stuff like that, trying to help kids get their arms into full speed shape, and also help them develop some increased philosophy. And we’d be thrown into radar guns a little bit when we would do that.

What we would commonly see when kids were trying to break a previous record on our radar gun. So they’re thrown from the stretch or throw them from the windup and they hit 79. They’re trying to hit 80. What they would typically do. We would see their legs go higher and we would see their leg kicks move faster.

Um, And of course, this can be a bit of a red herring you’re you don’t really make your money as far as velocity in the early parts of your day, which is why you can see a pitchers in the big leagues. Like a lot of the, and players who are very slow, sometimes have big pauses. They’re very slow and deliberate in the early parts of their delivery, because ultimately it doesn’t matter that much until they start to stride down the mound.

When they start to stride down the mound. That’s when they’re putting ground forces, um, well into the ground, they’re putting force into the ground. That’s when the whole sort of kinetic chain starts to really matter, right? The force you put into the ground matters. And as you start to strike self down the mound, that’s when all of your body parts have to really be in sync.

And then as soon as you’re front foot, your stride foot touch she’s down. That’s when things mattered the absolute most, this is the landing position. That’s the key spot where just like, as a hitter, if you. You know, take your little stride, whether you have a light kicker or you don’t, if you’re lunging your weight for before that foot hits, or if you’re picking that foot up and your hips are rotating before that foot comes back down, what’s going to happen.

You’re going to be either sort of flying, open your barrels in and out of the zone or you’re on your front foot. And you have that sort of butt out swing, and you’re not gonna have any power left. And it’s the same exact thing with pitchers. So the biggest thing as a pitcher is what happens, what position you’re in.

When your, your stride foot touches the ground, right? That’s the biggest checkpoint in the delivery. So that being said, um, the stuff that comes before it, especially this stuff that comes before you actually start striding down, the mound definitely is important, but a lot less. So as far as like tempo and speed and stuff like that.

So the big things with like Kik, I don’t really have an answer as to whether leg kicks increased velocity. I think if you look as like a. Other more of like a meta analysis. If you’re looking at, is there a correlation between velocity and Lake kick height? There’s definitely not. So if you, you know, you go in the major leagues, it’s not like the hardest throwing players all have a higher leg kicks and slower throwing players I’ll have lower leg kicks.

That’s definitely not true. Um, you know, the, the correlations between really high throwing or hard throwing players in general and lower throwing players. They’re mechanical. They’re also how well they, they move their body, their flexibility, their mobility, their body control. There’s lots of factors.

Right? Muscle fiber type is another. Um, and so as far as leg kick height goes, does it, does it add velocity? Well, by itself, it’s just lifting your leg up and back down, right? So you can, especially for pro pitchers, they typically throw the same speed out of the stretch in the same speed, throwing from a slide step as they do from their windup, or if they throw slower, it’s maybe one miles per hour.

And the reason there might be a difference is because it’s simply easier to keep your weight back and sort of like go down the road at your best pace. When you have a leg kick, you have a little more time, it’s easier for you to hit, to lead forward. It’s easier to keep your weight back over the rubber a little bit longer.

So you don’t have that front foot kind of landing again. I think a good analogy is kind of like a hitter. So. Really what I think the mechanism that’ll like kit gives you is more so, so helping you stay in proper timing. And this is something we see a lot with it, youth pitchers, where they really struggle going in the stretch because now they don’t have the hip strength.

They don’t know how to control their body as well. They don’t lead with their hip as well. They don’t keep their weight back over the rubber longer. And so now when they go the stretch. You know, which doesn’t really have a leg kick so much. Now they’re throwing slower. They’re walking guys, whatever. It’s not really because of the leg kick it’s because they don’t know how to.

Get the things that maybe the leg kit gives them, which is sort of more time in the air to figure their body out and keep their weight back and get their hip going. So the Lake in itself, I don’t think we could really, you say it causes higher velocity. Okay. But I do think it gives pitchers a little bit of a better chance, especially when they’re younger to put themselves in a good position to reach their best velocity.

So I wouldn’t conflate that with saying this causes more velocity because again, at high levels in college and pro ball, It’s just not, it’s just definitely not true that higher leg kick pitchers throw harder than lower leg kick pitchers. And it’s also not really true that pitchers throw harder from the wine other than the stretch.

There’s really not much of a difference at all. Especially when you consider the difference in one mile per hour, between 90 and 89 is. 1%, right? It’s very small difference. Obviously it’s a meaningful difference sometimes to pitchers, but in the way we really start to think about performance. One mile per hour is like 1%.

That’s very, very small impact for any different, you know, part of the body or piece of your mechanics. Now, if something is said, Oh, I do this and I throw seven miles per hour harder. That’s a really significant difference, obviously. So. No leg kicks don’t really help you throw harder. But I think especially for younger pitchers, the pronounced benefit of having a leg kick is just helping them keep on time, keep their weight back longer, use their hips better.

It’s easy to do a lot of those things then from the stretch.

All right, let’s do our 92nd mindset. So today we’re gonna talk about why, what you throw to two as a pitcher is essentially the same and correct pitch call for three, two. So I put out a poll asking what people thought that I gave a hypothetical situation. There’s also a YouTube video where I give a detailed explanation.

So feel free to look for that on my YouTube channel, where, what the question was, what should you throw? Three, two, given a bunch of different, multiple choices. One was a slider. One was a change up. One was a fast ball I gave them percentages for or the different options. And I’m asking that question in general, a lot of people said, Hey, you know what you throw two, two is what you should throw three, two.

And that was also something that was told to me a long time ago when I was in my early twenties. And I thought a lot about that statement. And I wonder, is this really true? Um, And I came to believe that it is, and this was something that I pass on to my players as a coach. And here’s why I think what you throw two, two is what you should throw.

Three, two. I mean, the difference between the two counts, the only major difference is that three, two, if you throw a ball, you walk there, but both counts are obviously two strikes. They’re both where a, hitter’s seen a lot of pitches in the bat, so it’s a minimum of four. And then a minimum of five, obviously.

Good math, an and then they’re both very swing happy counts because of a hitter feels relatively comfortable in two, two or three two, and that they’re going to get a fast ball. They also feel relatively comfortable that they’ve seen a bunch of pitches. So they probably seen at least one of your off speed pitches.

So they know what stuff looks like at this point. They’re also comfortable with how hard you throw your mechanics, all this stuff. Cause he bats again, pretty deep at that point. You know, two, two could also have a couple of foul balls. So this could be a six, six pitch at bat, um, on that first two to counter seven pitch of battle in that first two to count one on the first two to count.

But, um, so basically the goal here is if you say, yeah, the way I’ve set this hitter up or the way the bat’s gone, I think I should throw a two, two slider. Okay, great. So if, if your rationale is because of everything that’s happened, we’re gonna throw a two, two slider and you miss the question is what’s changed.

Has anything really changed? Um, you know, it depends, so he could yank that ball foul. Right? Pull it down the line. Now that’s still a two, two counts. Let’s say you throw that slider again and it’s a ball, you know? Is it three to what you’re going to throw again? Maybe, maybe not, but in general, if we just say we’ve gotten this a two, two, then you throw a ball, then we go to three to the two to pitch your read on it.

Is is not going to change that much. If you miss in the, and the real big test here, I think this is the, I think the most important part of it is hitters. Essentially, always guests fast ball in three, two. They always essentially know that a fastball is coming three, two, and they’re geared up and ready for it.

That’s why there’s tons of swings on three, two, there’s tons of foul balls on three, two as well. Here’s often will swing at fastballs out of the zone on three, two, a little bit as well. So when you throw something to, that’s not a fast ball, especially change up a curve ball or slider. If you miss, you’re just giving the hitter more comfort that the fast ball is coming, right?

Oh, he tried to trick me with a Tutu slider and he missed. So here comes the fastball and that’s where you really get hurt, unfortunately, where if you do want to throw a breaking ball, And, uh, and you decided to choose the good time to do it. Basically what you need to tell yourself is all right, I’ve got two chances to make this pitch.

You know, I’ve got two chances to throw this to this curve ball over the plate or the slider of the plate, or this change up over the plate. And basically I’m not, not good enough to do that. Then. Oh, well then he’d beat me, but that’s, I think the most important factor is that if you throw them that too, to change up curve, ball slider or whatever, and you miss the hitter is very much ready for a fast, well now in three, two more so than otherwise, more so than, than if you’d thrown him, you know, a slider early and then three fastballs in a row.

Now you’re two, two, you throw them another fastball. He might have a little more. Inkling that he could get something other than a fastball. Cause he’s only seen, he hasn’t seen a breaking ball in a while, but when you throw it to two and you miss, they’re going to be like, okay, he tried your comes a fastball.

And if they’re right, if you don’t have the guts to throw it again, and now you switch to the fastball three, two. They’re probably going to be as, as, as ready as they could possibly be for your well, in any situation, because they’ve seen tons of pitches, they’re guessing correctly, they’re guessing that you were kind of a coward that you threw that slider and you missed, and now you don’t want to throw it again because you’re afraid to walk him.

And it’s really just a bad situation. So I think that’s the long and the short of it, but I generally agree, obviously there’s never anything set in stone, but as a general rule, that pitchers are trying to pave out their bat when they say, okay, two, two curve ball, alright, I’m gonna throw this pitch, but I know if I miss I’m going to come right back with it.

Cause I think it’s the right pitch now. And if I throw for a ball, it’s still going to be the right pitch and I’m not gonna just going to give in to him. So that’s, I think the overview of two, two, and three, two counts.

Alright, now it’s time for our listener Q and a portion of the show. If you have a question you’d like answered on the show, please email a voice recording to hello@danblewett.com. All right. Lastly, on our Q and a section, I got an email this week asking about an article that I wrote, which was, um, it was titled what playing through pain, taught me about excuses and leadership.

And, uh, in this, in this email, he just asked me, Hey, you know, I’ve had some shoulder problems and at times I’m only like 75%. And, uh, I’m not sure if I should play or if I should sit on the bench, I don’t want to be hurting my team. I also don’t want to be, you know, we can making excuses. So, you know, what should I do?

And, uh, this is a tough question. Um, essentially what I wrote in that article, which I’d suggest you go on my website. It’s Dan blewett.com backslash the dash journey is my new blog on a little more of like the real world side of, um, being a baseball parent and as an athlete. In general. And in this article, I basically explained that if you suit up the play and this was coming from my experiences in pro ball, so it’s different at different levels.

But essentially if you, if you tell your manager that you can play, they expect you to play at a hundred percent. So even if your ankles a little messed up, even if your shoulders a little banged up, if you’re in the lineup, You have to be, you’re going to be graded and judged as if you’re a hundred percent.

Everyone’s going to expect you to run full speed. After every ball they’re gonna expect you to pitch the same as you otherwise would. Even if you’re not truly a hundred percent, you don’t get any, you don’t get any points deducted and you don’t get any leeway. For being 92% because your knee really does hurt, but you’re going to suck it up and play.

So if you do decide to suck it up and play, you can’t use it as an excuse. That’s essentially the rule. Um, the guys that do do this stuff, or they go out there hurt and then they, when they don’t play well to go, Oh yeah, my knee was hurting. He, I know my ankle is really bugging me, man. It’s like, nah, we don’t care.

If you said you could play, then you’re expected to be. Play as if you’re a hundred percent and if you truly can’t play at a hundred percent, then you need to tell the manager that you can’t, and that’s the time to go on the DL or whatever, get a couple of days off. So the question of when you hit that point is what the email was asking and that, and that point is really when I genuinely can’t do the stuff that I normally do.

And that’s ambiguous. I realized, but it’s essentially the right answer that if you can’t go out, like for me, I threw, you know, 90 to 94. If I’m my arms, to the point where I’m going to go out there, throw an 87 to 90. I probably need to be on the disabled list if you’re an outfielder and you really can’t get to a ball in the gap that you’d normally catch nine out of 10 times because your ankles are so swollen.

You need to be in the disabled list. Um, if you’re, you know, uh, another example for a position player, if you’re gonna hit a ground ball, you know, a double play ball and you can’t run full speed down the line to break it up, you probably need to be at to lineup. So those are the situations where you really can’t do the normal things that you’re capable of doing.

Where it’s becomes a very uncertain of whether you can actually get people out or actually get hits or actually contribute, at least the average expected play that everyone expects. So again, that’s like if I can flag down this ball in the gap typically, and now I just can’t, then we need to get someone in there that can cause they always have someone ready to do that.

Now there’s exceptions. Like if you’re, you know, a superstar, sometimes you’re. 80% is just better than everyone. Else’s 95% that doesn’t apply to almost everybody. It applies to all it applies to almost nobody. So sure. Mike trout, they might keep in the lineup, even though you might have to jog down the line because they know you’re going to hit a couple of balls out, or you’re gonna hit a couple of doubles in the gap where you can just try it in a second base anyway.

And you’re still probably going to provide more value than maybe replacement level player that they’d have to sub in for you. Like they’re not going to have another superstar on the bench, right. So. I think that’s, um, in a sense, in a nutshell, what this is about. So. For young players, they should be telling their coaches when they have pain, because we’re trying to protect them and their, and their career and give them and give them longevity.

But when you get to a certain point, whether it’s high school baseball or college baseball, definitely pro baseball, you’re going to have aches and pains and ups and downs. They’re just always going to be there. And if you’re one of those guys who can’t be in the lineup, when he’s not a hundred percent, then you’re not going to last and pro ball, those guys get noticed very quickly.

Um, and it’s a very big negative. Everyone knows who you are when you go five innings and you just dive out of the game. Oh my shoulder, starting to feel bad. I gotta come out. Coach. Everyone knows who you are and it’s not a respect. It’s just very, you don’t have much respect. And, uh, everyone, again, we know who you are, so there’s a certain amount of toughness, but it just hits a point where when you actually can’t do the job the way it’s expected to be done.

That’s when you have to pull the plug and say, Hey coach, I think I need a couple of days off, or I need to get some treatment or I need to go see the doctor, or I need to go on the disabled list. Well, that’s it for today’s episode of dear baseball gods. If you enjoy the show and would like to support me while improving your baseball IQ.

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