Why Pitch Down and Away?

6/25/2007

As I have said elsewhere, my son is a very effective pitcher despite not having overwhelming velocity. Several times this year he struck out 6 batters in a row. A conversation that I had today on Steve Ellis' Let's Talk Pitching web site made me think about why he is able to do this.
     It turns out that the secret is that he follows my advice -- that I got from Leo Mazzone -- and throws 90% of his pitches down and away.
     I believe that the reason that pitching down and away works so well is that it's (virtually) impossible to turn on a pitch that's down and away because you have to lean over and/or extend the arms to get down there and that kills your batspeed (I say "virtually" because I'm sure Albert Pujols will prove me wrong at some point).
     In other words, trying to hit a pitch that's down and away will destroy 99% of hitters' hitting mechanics.

Albert Pujols

Look at the picture above of Albert Pujols hitting a pop out.
     He looks like me.
     He's leaning over too far toward First Base and his arms are extended with his hands well out from his body. From a rotational hitting perspective, this is not a good swing.

Albert Pujols

Some people will tell you that pitching up and in is just as good as pitching down and away.
     While I do think that pitching up and in can be helpful on occasion as a way of backing a hitter off the plate and/or setting up the pitch down and away, the problem is that, while it's difficult, it's possible to maintain proper hitting mechanics when hitting a pitch that's up and in. If a hitter has fast hands -- and in the case of kids the assistance of an aluminum bat that is light and will not break -- he can get around on a ball that's up and in. That's what Albert Pujols is doing in the photo above of him hitting a home run.
     As a result, I teach my guys to throw pitches that are virtually impossible to hit well because to hit them you have to get away from solid (e.g. rotational) hitting mechanics.
     First and foremost, that means pitches down and away. However, that also means changing speeds so that hitters swing too early and end up with big, slow, arm-y swings.

TED WILLIAMS' VIEW OF THE SUBJECT
In his (excellent) book about hitting, Ted Williams has the following image.

This image illustrates which balls he hit the best based on their location in the strike zone.

If you look at this chart in depth, you will see a couple of interesting things. First, you will see that Ted Williams best hit pitches that were up (e.g. waist high) and out over the middle of the plate. Second, you will see that Ted Williams had the hardest time with pitches that were down and away. Remember that Williams was a lefty, so down and away to him is the lower right portion of the chart.
     This confirms that even the best hitters have a very hard time putting a good swing on a ball that is down and away.

ROTATIONAL HITTING 101
To understand why pitches that are down and away are so hard to hit well, you have to understand something called rotational hitting.
     Basically, rotational hitting describes the swing that is used by most major leaguers. It is a compact swing in which most of the power is provided by the rotation of the body. Because the power in the swing is generated by the large muscles of the legs and torso, rotational hitters can hit the ball very hard.
     In contrast, many lower level hitting coaches teach something that is described as "linear hitting", which places more emphasis on the action of the arms, hands, and wrists. The idea is to drive the hands in a straight line toward the pitcher and whip the head of the bat around at the last second.
     In my opinion, there are two problems with the idea of linear hitting. First, it isn't physically possible to hit the ball very hard using such an arm-y swing. Second, and more importantly, very few major league hitters have swings that are linear in nature.
     Instead, most major league hitters swings could best be described as rotational.
     The reason that pitching down and away works is that it forces the hitter to change his mechanics to get to the ball. In essence, it turns a compact, hard-hitting rotational hitter into an arm-y, soft-hitting linear hitter. Compare the two photos of Albert Pujols that I talked about above.

Albert Pujols

In the photo above, Pujols is using a prototypical rotational swing to hit an inside pitch. His weight is back and his arms are tight to his body, which allows him to rapidly spin to hit the pitch.

Albert Pujols

In contrast, the down and away location of the pitch in the photo above has turned Pujols into a more linear, arm-y hitter. Instead of being compact, his arms are extended, slowing down the rotation of his body and thus his batspeed. His weight is also too far forward, which will interfere with how well he rotates his body.

BEYOND PITCHING DOWN AND AWAY
The idea of turning powerful, rotational hitters into weak, arm-y, linear hitters doesn't just apply to keeping the ball down and away. Instead, the point of throwing pitches like change-ups is to interfere with a hitter's timing. If a hitter is thinking fastball and instead gets a change-up, then their swing will fall apart as they try to adjust to the lower speed of the pitch. As a result, it will be much harder for them to hit the ball well.