Pitching Mechanics Analysis
Tim Lincecum

12/12/2007
Updated 6/15/2008

Tim Lincecum's pitching mechanics are extremely efficient, which is why such a relatively small guy can throw as hard as he does. However, his delivery is a little max effort, his arm action is a bit borderline, and he shows signs of a timing problem, which is why I don't rate him as highly as I do Justin Verlander or Dan Haren.

Arm Action And Timing

A pitcher's arm action and timing are the primary determinants of the long-term health of their arm, so it's always the first thing I look at. Tim Lincecum's arm action is mostly good, as the clip below demonstrates.

Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum has a plunge, out, and up arm action that bears some resemblance to that of Greg Maddux. However, Tim Lincecum's Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow gets higher than does Greg Maddux's; it almost reaches the level of his shoulders, which makes me a little nervous. At least Tim Lincecum's PAS elbow drops as his shoulders turn, which his good.
     I'll discuss all of this in detail below.

Overall Pitching Mechanics

Now that we've established that Tim Lincecum's arm action is generally good, lets look at some of the details of his mechanics.

Tim Lincecum

I'll do this using some individual frames from the clip above.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 54

In Frame 54, Tim Lincecum has broken his hands and has "plunged" his PAS hand to behind is PAS butt cheek. During his stride, he swings his leg out toward Third Base and then sweeps it around so that he lands with his Glove Side (aka GS) foot pointing at Home Plate.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 55

Tim Lincecum - Frame 56

Tim Lincecum - Frame 57

In Frames 55 through Frame 57, Tim Lincecum is starting to swing his hand back toward Second Base. His leg is also starting to sweep around in preparation for the landing of his GS foot. However, his his are still largely closed at this point.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 58

In Frame 58, Tim Lincecum is starting to bend his elbow in order to get his hand up to the high-cocked position. 

Tim Lincecum - Frame 59

Frame 59 bugs me a bit because in it your can see a fairly distinct Inverted L and a form of breaking the hands with the elbows, neither of which I like. While this will not definitely lead to elbow and shoulder problems, it's a cause for concern because it can lead to a timing problem and elbow and/or shoulder problems.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 60

In Frame 60, Tim Lincecum has kept bending his elbow and is starting to externally rotate his PAS upper arm. His GS toe is also pointed pretty much directly at the target and his hips are starting to open. 

Tim Lincecum - Frame 61

I see two things that are good in Frame 61. First. Tim Lincecum's PAS elbow is dropping below the level of his shoulders as his PAS upper arm externally rotates. Second, his hips are rotating well ahead of his shoulders, which means that he throws with his entire body and not just his arm. 

Tim Lincecum - Frame 62

In Frame 62, Tim Lincecum's PAS elbow has dropped to a position that is well below the level of his shoulders, which is good. You can also see Tim Lincecum's tremendous hip/shoulder separation. It's close to 90 degrees, which is in the top 5 percent of all pitchers.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 63

In Frame 63, Tim Lincecum's hips have continued to open, which has started to pull his shoulders around. This is causing his PAS upper arm to externally rotate and his PAS forearm to lay back.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 64

In Frame 64, Tim Lincecum's hips have continued to open and pull his shoulders around. At this point his PAS upper arm is at the point of maximum external rotation and his PAS forearm is level with his shoulders. His PAS elbow is bent slightly less than 90 degrees, which gives the impression that he is leading with his elbow, which is perfectly normal. 

Tim Lincecum - Frame 65

In Frame 65, Tim Lincecum's shoulders have stopped rotating, which has caused his PAS elbow to rapidly extend 90 degrees. You can clearly see that Tim Lincecum's fairly steep arm slot is driven by the tilt of his shoulders rather than the bend of his elbow.

Tim Lincecum - Frame 66

In Frame 66, Tim Lincecum has just released the ball. Notice how his PAS knee is bent and how he has not left his PAS foot behind on the rubber. 

Super Slow Motion Analysis

I recently came across some super slow motion video of Tim Lincecum that makes clear some of the things I think he does well, but also makes me more concerned about the long-term health of his arm.
     Let me explain why I say that.

Tim Lincecum - Super Slow Motion

In Frame 18 you can see how Tim Lincecum does three things that are good. First, he drives off the rubber toward the plate with his Pitching Arm Side (PAS) leg. Second, he sweeps his leg out toward Third Base and into foot plant, which is something that great pitchers like Greg Maddux do and I prefer to a more linear stride like Mark Prior's. Third, he leads his stride with his Glove Side (GS) butt cheek.
     In Frame 80, you can also see something that is good. Notice how he leads with his PAS hand, rather than his PAS elbow, as he comes out of the "plunged" position with his PAS hand behind his PAS butt cheek. This keeps him from getting into the Inverted W position (although he does show some Inverted L).
     Frame 92 is when I start seeing things that make me nervous. The thing to notice is that Tim Lincecum's GS foot has planted but his PAS forearm is only horizontal. Given that, as is typical, his shoulders start to rotate at this moment, this means that his PAS upper arm will externally rotate especially much and hard. This can significantly increase the load on both the elbow and the shoulder.

Tim Lincecum's Hip/Shoulder Separation

In Frame 110, you can see Tim Lincecum's best-in-the-world hip/shoulder separation. Notice how, as in the still photo above, Tim Lincecum's belt buckle is pointing at Home Plate while his shoulders are still closed and facing Third Base. In this frame, Tim Lincecum's shoulders have already rotated 15 or degrees and his PAS forearm is vertical (with respect to his upper spine) and in the high-cocked position.
     Finally, Frame 152 shows that Tim Lincecum extends his GS knee through the release point. While this can help to boost a pitcher's velocity, I'm not a fan of this because I know it can lead to knee and hip problems and think it can increase the load on the elbow and the shoulder.

The Bottom Line

While I still have tremendous respect for Tim Lincecum, what I see in the high speed film of him makes me nervous. He's got some Inverted L in his arm action, which can create a timing problem, and I see a timing problem in the high speed film. All of that puts his elbow and shoulder at risk.