PITCHING TIPS - June
Lead Arm - From the Cocked Position to the
Follow-Through
When the throwing arm arrives in the cocked
position, the lead arm is bridged – the lead elbow is up at shoulder height and
pointing toward home plate. Simultaneous with the turning of the hips and shoulders, the
lead elbow is pulled down to the side of the body. This is called the tuck and it helps to
generate the speed with which the hips and shoulders turn. The glove remains in front of
the elbow during the tuck and is held close to the body. After the follow-through, the
lead arm should be brought back in front of the body with the glove up to protect the
pitcher from hit balls. A good defensive position after the pitch is often lacking at all
levels.
A major problem for young pitchers is the habit of throwing the glove behind the body
during the follow-through. This is easy to spot when looking for it and can easily be
corrected with practice.
PITCHING TIPS - May
Throwing Arm - From the Cocked Position to the
Follow-Through
When the arm arrives at the cocked position, the
stride foot is planted and the front hip and front shoulder are at pointed at the target.
As the hips and shoulders turn or open up, the throwing elbow points to the target and the
palm turns from facing sideways to facing up. The acceleration of the hand (including the
snapping of the wrist) determines the ball's velocity. The throwing hand proceeds past the
head and the ball is released at a point where the ball and the rear foot form a line that
is approximately 45 degrees. The hand then crosses the chest to a point below and outside
of the knee of the stride leg. This follow-through allows the arm to decelerate.
Deceleration protects the arm. Pitchers should concentrate on throwing the ball downhill.
This will occur if they have their elbow up at the beginning of this sequence.
PITCHING TIPS - April
Throwing Arm - From the Break to the Cocked Position
After the hands break, the throwing arm should take a down, back and up
path until arriving at the cocked position. Young pitchers should focus on the throwing
hand. The ball should be pulled out of the bottom of the glove when the hands are
breaking. The hand should stay on top of the ball (palm down) when taking the ball down
and back. The action here is circular. As the arm comes up, the ball and palm of the hand
turn outward (toward the short stop for a right-hander). When the elbow of the throwing
arm reaches the height of the shoulder and the hand is over the biceps, the pitcher is in
the "cocked" position. The palm should still be facing outward. At this point,
the front leg should be planted and the non-throwing shoulder should still be pointed
toward the target.
When taking the ball back, some pitchers extend too far and are not able to get the ball
in the cocked position soon enough. Their front leg is planted, their body is ready to
turn for the throw, but the ball is too far behind them. Throwing the ball from this
position greatly reduces velocity and, more importantly, puts a great deal of stress on
the shoulder. Another problem occurs when the palm turns toward the target while bringing
the ball up to the cocked position. This also puts too much stress on the arm during the
early acceleration of the hand.
PITCHING TIPS - March
Breaking the Hands
Breaking the Hands
Many young pitchers break their hands improperly.
Although when and where a pitcher breaks his hands may not seem real important at first,
the break affects arm mechanics and is a root problem with many pitchers. I have been to
clinics where pitchers are taught to break during their knee lift – "breaking an
egg with the knee" is the mental image they teach. This should be avoided. The
breaking of the hands should occur after the pitcher’s weight begins moving toward
home plate.
A more serious problem, in my opinion, involves where the hands break. Pitchers should
break their hands directly in front of their bodies, preferably up around the letters.
Many young pitchers like to break their hands behind them (RH pitchers breaking by their
right hip). This often creates many problems (and is thus a root problem itself).
First, the throwing arm will often stop after the break to allow the lead arm time to
catch up, ruining a smooth, continuous circle action with the ball after the break.
Second, the lead arm does not get to the bridge position soon enough, and often arcs out
away from the body instead of moving directly toward the target. (The bridge here is a
line between the elbows when both are lifted, pointing toward the plate.) This arcing of
the arm and the time it takes to bridge can throw the lead shoulder open way to early.
When the shoulder opens before the lead foot is planted, velocity is reduced and arms can
be injured.
PITCHING TIPS
- February
Beginning the Windup
Many young pitchers have difficulty with balance.
One of the reasons is poor mechanics at the beginning of their windup. Many are taught to
take their rocker step (the initial step behind the rubber) straight back. The reasoning
for this is that you want the pitcher to take his weight straight back so that all of his
weight is coming forward toward the plate when the pitch is delivered.
One problem with this advice is that the pitcher’s weight shift is stopped during the
knee lift (thus his weight does not continue forward after stepping back). The
pitcher’s weight should be back when the front knee is lifted and he should be able
to balance on one leg. A second problem with this advice is that many young pitchers lose
their balance going from a straight back rocker step to their pivot (with their other
foot) inside the rubber.
Young pitchers should begin their windup by positioning themselves (if right-handed) so
that their body is facing between third base and home plate (or between first base and
home plate if left-handed). The rocker step should only be a few inches and angled toward
first base (for righties). Importantly, the pitcher should try to keep his head and weight
over his front foot. This will allow him to make a smooth and balanced pivot into the knee
lift part of the windup.
PITCHING TIPS - January
Pitcher’s Lead Leg
Stride
Many young pitchers fail to keep their weight back when striding toward home plate. They
often start with their weight forward before their leg lift is complete and they often
loop their front foot toward the plate in a way that shifts their weight forward too
quickly.
Young pitchers should consider adopting an "up-down-out" movement with their
lead leg. The knee comes straight up (to the point where they can balance themselves), and
then goes straight down within a few inches of the ground, and then slides above the
ground toward home plate until the stride is complete.
Landing of Lead Leg
A common problem with young pitchers is the mechanics of their lead leg. When striding
toward home plate, some pitchers come down on a completely stiff leg, with their knee
locked. This creates a whipping motion in their delivery and will generally create arm
problems at some point. In fact, a few major league pitchers having this problem had their
careers cut short after a couple of years because their arms went bad.
Another problem, perhaps more common, occurs when pitchers fail to stiffen the lead leg
after it comes down. This greatly reduces the velocity on the pitch.
When the stride foot lands, the knee needs to be bent. As the pitcher’s weight comes
forward, the lead leg must stiffen up, providing resistance to the pitcher’s weight
and thus producing more velocity on the pitch (the same principle holds true when
hitting).
Additional
Pitching Tips by Jon Hoelter are available on-line at the Competitive Youth
Baseball Home Page - click on the links below. Also check out
Jon's Illustrated Hitting
Guide.
