Pitching Velocity and Mechanics
April 3, 2011
The Nasty Curveball Award Goes To…
April 6, 2011
Lately we’ve been talking a lot about how pitchers can generate more momentum to the plate creating more torque to increase pitching velocity.
Today I want to show you a brief pitching mechanics video of Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants. Matt, like many other pitchers at this level, creates a ton of torque utilizing his legs and hips correctly. I’m sure you have heard that you “throw with your legs” and that is certainly true. Most power does come from your legs and total hip rotation.
Here is a perfect example of what I mean.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCxlHY3tLis-A&w=320&h=240]
At about .20 seconds into the video Matt is in an excellent balanced position. Head over center of gravity, weight on the ball of his pivot foot, level shoulders and he is leading with his hips. Look at how he is “loading up” his energy with his leg lift. Again, he is leading with his hips.
If you stop the video at 26 seconds you will see he has started hip rotation before his upper body. This gives him excellent leverage and torque. This is a great example of what we mean when we talk about delayed shoulder rotation. Hips rotate before upper body. As you look at that frame you can also see why we stress core strength training is important to your success.
At release of the baseball (27 seconds) his hips are clearly rotated all the way around. Matt starts leading with his hips, he begins to rotate the hips right before foot strike (delayed shoulder rotation) and then he rotates all the way around right before release of the baseball. If you watch it again you can almost imagine him loading and unloading the hips to receive as much torque as possible into the throw.
Many youth pitchers try to get too much power from their upper body when they lean into the pitch instead of allowing their legs, hips and core to do the work pitching requires. This is one of the many reasons why youth pitchers leave games with a sore arm.
In our Pitching Mechanics Video we show you step by step how to throw with your legs and hips to not only increase velocity, but to stay healthy for years to come. If you are looking to gain 3-5 mph this year make sure you take advantage of this weeks special. We wish you the best of luck this year!
