Comparison of High Velocity and Low Velocity Pitch Deliveries
June 18, 2009
Stodden DF, Fleisig GS, McLean SP, Lyman SL, Andrews JR. Relationship of pelvis and upper torso kinematics to pitched baseball velocity. Journal of Applied Biomechanics 17(2):164-172, 2001.
Matsuo T, Escamilla RF, Fleisig GS, Barrentine SW, Andrews JF. Comparison of kinematic and temporal parameters between different pitch velocity groups. Journal of Applied Biomechanics 17(1): 1-13, 2001.
Stodden, DF, Fleisig, GS, McLean, SP, Andrews, JR. Relationship of Biomechanical Factors to Basebal Pitching Velocity: Within Pitcher Variation. Journal of Applied Biomechanics 21(1): 44-56, 2005 Read more
Popularity: 11%
What is Momentum Pitching?
June 14, 2009
The online world of pitching experts have been throwing around the buzz word “Momentum pitching” recently. This isn’t anything new unless you are up to date on the breakthroughs of pitching science. Pitchers have been trying to find better ways to generate more momentum in their deliveries for years but what is changing is the science behind this matter.
During the prime of the likes of Nolan Ryan, the popular way of generating more momentum back then was the “Stand Tall and Fall” style developed by Nolan Ryan and his pitching coach Tom House, who may have coined the term. This proceeded the popular style of “Drop and Drive” used by the great Tom Seaver. These two styles of pitching are still used today. What is changing is pitching mechanics are evolving from an art form into the world of science. Read more
Popularity: 23%
Tim Lincecum teaches Top Velocity
May 5, 2009
There are two forces that add velocity to a pitch:
Momentum
Rotational Torque
For momentum to effectively transfer to the ball, the pitcher must use all rotational pivots in order from the bottom up. The hips must rotate before the shoulders and the shoulders before the arm internally rotates. For this to happen effectively these pivots must be free to rotate completely. Notice the picture of Tim Lincecum (Tim Lincecum is a phenom because of his size and ability to reach his top velocity continuously.) Notice in the picture his weight is slightly leaning to his left. This would be like tilting an open door backwards so the open door slams closed due to gravitational forces. This gravitational pull is helping to create full range of motion in Tim Lincecum’s hips and shoulders at front foot strike. If he or the door was tilted the opposite way then these gravitational forces would work against his momentum by decreasing full range of motion in his rotational pivots. Using the force of gravity to increase the range of motion in your hips and shoulders will have a significant effect on your velocity. This is a big reason why Tim Lincecum can throw so hard for his size. He is working with the forces of nature to generate his power. Read more
Popularity: 33%
The Hip Slide to Pitching Velocity
February 12, 2009
The biggest problem I find in young pitchers is that they have poor separation in hips to shoulders. There are many articles on this site covering the pitching component “Separation.” It is so important because having separation from your back hip to back shoulder before the shoulders rotate to the plate, is critical for velocity and the health of your arm. What “Separation” does is it builds core torque. It puts more torque in the big muscle groups of the core, instead of mainly in the small muscle groups of the shoulder. Read more
Popularity: 47%
The Major Misconception of Pitching
January 30, 2009
Pitching is a very complex sequence of movements that involve building torque and force to generate velocity. So many things happening during a blink of the eye within the pitching delivery. What is even harder than pitching, is explaining this stuff. This is why every coach has his own interpretation. This is also why science wins over conventional wisdom. If you can prove it scientifically then conventional wisdom is forced to listen. If you eliminated ever coach in baseball who could not explain pitching scientifically you would have about 2% of them left to coach the position. This is why so many misconceptions plague baseball today, especially pitching. Read more
Popularity: 36%
Pitching Velocity keys found in a car crash!
December 7, 2008
I am sure you are asking, “What does a car crash teach us about pitching velocity?” It actually teaches us pitchers everything we need to know, to truly understand, how pitchers generate top velocity. The reason for the correlation of the pitching delivery to the car crash, is the car crash analogy really helps us visualize the complex dynamics of momentum transfer. The reason for the complexity is because of the speed of the event. The moment in the delivery when momentum transfers into the ball to start its propulsion to the target, is as long as a split second. The problem is analyzing this event for educational purposes takes a lot longer. So this is where the car crash analogy will help us. Read more
Popularity: 24%
10 Legitimate tips to Pitching Velocity
December 1, 2008
If Velocity could be administered with a syringe, then every pitcher in baseball would be an addict. Oh wait, it is and it is called steroids but steroids is NOT the answer here. Just look at my ex-teammate’s life Jose Canseco. He is now having medical problems. His body’s production of testosterone is failing. He will be forced to fight severe depression for the rest of his life.
The question is how do we develop velocity legitmately?
There are hundreds of articles on the web titled something similar to this article, but most of them are worthless, because they focus mainly on upper body mechanics as the only means to developing velocity. Any hard thrower will tell you, there is a lot more to velocity than just your arm. If you want to see significant gains in velocity read this entire article and the articles linked to it. The only way you are going to see improvements, is if you develop a good understanding of how velocity is generated.
Remember you are bound by nothing. You have the ability to throw 90+ mph. Doctors told me I would not be able to and I proved them wrong. These tips will help you do the same. Read more
Popularity: 100%
Lift for Show, Load for Doe!
November 22, 2008
Ok, the leg lift isn’t only for “Show.” There is a lot of momentum that can be generated by the leg lift which transfers into velocity. The question is, “How come pitchers who have big leg lift’s in the wind up, when pitching in the stretch, have a lower leg lift but still throw the same velocity?” The answer is called the “Load.”
“Loading” is when the pitcher holds his weight back over his back leg, while his front side continues building momentum towards the target. This is why strong legs and core, produce powerful pitching. Look at Eric Gagne in this picture. He is squatting on his back leg, waiting for the perfect time to fire his hips and then his shoulders. Read more
Popularity: 44%
Weight for it!
October 20, 2008
Momentum transfer is a key component of velocity. There are many different ways to transfer momentum. You could transfer the momentum slowly over a certain period of time, randomly over a certain period of time or in the case of generating efficient and explosive velocity, you must transfer momentum as quickly as possible during your pitching delivery.
Notice pitcher’s like John Smoltz here, he has a delivery that looks effortless. This is because the explosiveness of his delivery comes at a point in time that is so fast it fools the human eye. Think of a golfer like Tiger Woods. When he swings the club back, if you blink your eyes he has already hit the ball and is following through. The same is with pitchers like John Smoltz. He throws in the upper 90′s but it sure doesn’t look like he does.
The question is, “How does this happen?” What these pitchers are doing, as they start to build momentum, is hold all of their weight back waiting for the last possible second to transfer the momentum as quick as they can. The best way for you to get a good understanding of this is with video. I hope this helps. Read more
Popularity: 17%
The Principle of Specificity and Sport
August 24, 2008
by Chad Englehart
Introduction
Specificity of Training principle is one of the most utilized training principles used by exercise professionals today. (Kramer et al., 2002) discussed the principle of training specificity and explained that the training responses elicited by a given exercise mode are directly related to the physiological elements involved with coping with the specific exercise stress. What this means is that if an athlete’s want to perform better at a particular event or skill they must train specifically for that particular skill. For example, if an athlete wants to become stronger one must lift heavy weights and if an athlete wants to jump higher one must jump. As a strength and conditioning Read more
Popularity: 31%
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