The Pitching Mechanic
October 2008

Real-Time Illustrations and Analyses of
Proper and Improper Pitching Mechanics

The Pitching Mechanic - November 2008

10/29/2008

Elevator Pitch Essentials Now Available!

I'm busy working on analyzing some great new hitting and pitching clips. While I'm doing that, I would appreciate it if you would take a look at, and consider buying, my new business book Elevator Pitch Essentials. Elevator Pitch Essentials explains how entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions can get their point across in two minutes or less.

10/23/2008

The Stages of the Throw?

People wonder why pitching injury rates having come down in the past few years, despite significant research. I would argue that a big part of the problem is that some of the people who study pitching don't have a complete understanding of the process of pitching. I give you the diagram below as evidence of this.

The Stages of the Throw

The thing to pay attention to is the fourth figure from the left (labeled "Maximum External Rotation").
    The problem with this representation is that it's not what you see, and isn't even physically possible, in a high-level throw.
     In a high-level throw, you will see 180 or so degrees of external rotation at this point, not the 90 of external rotation that is shown in the picture.

Roger Clemens

The Stages of the Throw

Whoever put the diagram in question doesn't understand this fact. They also seem to believe the myth that arm slot is a function of the bend of the elbow at the release point rather than the tilt of the shoulders.
     While all of this may seem to be nit picking on my part, my question is how we are supposed to trust the conclusions of people who don't actually understand what they are studying.

P.S. The whole idea of the Late Cocking phase is also bogus. In the vast majority of pitchers, when the glove side foot plants (e.g. Foot Contact) the shoulders start to rotate and the acceleration phase begins. As a result, there is actually no Late Cocking phase as the diagram above suggests.

P.P.S. I'm not thrilled that in the third picture from the left the pitcher is making the Inverted L. That suggests that whoever put this diagram together thinks the Inverted L is a natural, or even good, thing which it most certainly is not.

10/20/2008

Dr. Mike Marshall on Hip/Shoulder Separation

I recently expressed concern in my piece Dr. Mike Marshall: My Current View that Dr. Mike Marshall wants his pitchers to rotate their hips and shoulders at the same time. Dr. Marshall holds this view for the following reason...

With the hip/shoulder separation forward rotation technique that traditional baseball pitchers use, they suffer injuries to their Oblique Internus Abdominis muscle on the glove side of their rib cage.

The truth is that these are minor injuries that are generally due to a lack of conditioning and are easy to recover from.
     Nobody was ever forced into retirement due to problems with their obliques.
     In my opinion, Dr. Mike Marshall is being overly, and needlessly, cautious about this. Hitters often have minor problems with their obliques when they move to a rotational swing, but they recover quickly and don't have further problems once they condition their core. Dr. Mike Marshall also believes...

With my hip/shoulder together forward rotation technique, in addition to the Oblique Internus Abdominis muscle, my baseball pitchers use the Oblique Externus Abdominis, Transverse Abdominis and the Quadratus Lumborum muscles. These are the four muscles that attach to the triad of hip bones and the rib cage that rotate the shoulders relative to the hip.
     When my baseball pitchers use these four powerful hip/shoulder rotational muscles, they not only do not suffer injuries to their Oblique Internus Abdominis muscle, but they also rotate at considerably higher velocities.

The problem is that ASMI's data disproves this claim.
     Dr. Mike Marshall's pitchers do not achieve superior rates of torso rotation, and I think that helps to explain the velocity problems his pitchers experience.
     By design, Dr. Mike Marshall's pitchers are arm throwers. Unfortunately, they do not use their bodies to their full advantage.

10/19/2008

Does Tom House Understand Arm Slot?

I'm in the middle of a debate with a Tom House trained pitching coach. He says the photo below, and how the pitcher's shoulders are tilted and he seems to be leaning over toward 1B, is evidence of a possible postural problem. I say the photo below is normal and shows a pitcher who is throwing from a higher (high 3/4) arm slot.

Shoulder Tilt Driving Arm Slot

The fact that a Tom House trained guy is labeling a normal photo to be evidence of a postural problem makes me wonder whether Tom House, like John Bagnozzi, doesn't understand that shoulder tilt, and not the angle of the elbow at the release point, determines a pitcher's arm slot.

10/14/2008

Pitching Mechanics Analysis - Curt Schilling

I've recently been working with a big-bodied HS pitcher and I've been comparing his pitching mechanics to those of big-bodied ML pitchers like Roger Clemens. As part of this process, I just put together an analysis of the pitching mechanics of Curt Schilling.

10/10/2008

A Growth Plate Fracture is a BAD Thing

As a result of spending some time over at ASMI's web site, I have come to understand that some parents don't understand the diagnoses that their sons are getting. In an effort to try to clear up some of this confusion, I just completed an essay entitled A Growth Plate Fracture is a Bad Thing.

10/2/2008

Pitching Mechanics Analysis - Jonathan Broxton

A while ago I came across the photo below of Jonathan Broxton, which just screams "timing problem" to me.

Jonathan Broxton

A recent e-mail from a reader led me to do an analysis of the pitching mechanics of Jonathan Broxton, which confirms that he does have a significant timing problem and is at a significantly increased risk of experiencing elbow and shoulder problems.

10/1/2008

Dr. Mike Marshall: My Current View

I just completed an essay entitled Dr. Mike Marshall: My Current View. In sum, I think Dr. Mike Marshall is now pushing ideas, such as the elimination of hip/shoulder separation, that are crazy, if not actually dangerous (due to their being highly inefficient). I don't know why Dr. Marshall has gone to this extreme, but it doesn't make any sense.

The Pitching Mechanic - September 2008