A New Pitching Velocity Tool That Is Foolish And Dangerous
Baseball coaches and pitching instructors today more than ever seem to continue to try to invent ideas that may sound good for improving pitching performance but these actions may actually be counterproductive and maybe even dangerous. Or they try to teach something that does not feel natural to the pitcher. Some actions in the pitching delivery do not have to be taught at all because they are natural.
One such action that is now referred to as scapula loading is being hyped as a velocity booster and being taught by high school and college coaches as well as private pitching instructors. But does it make sense to actually teach this type of pitching arm action…when arm action should be left to the pitcher to figure out…as has been the case for well over 100 years of baseball?
Scapula loading was first promoted maybe four or five years ago as the latest and greatest way to improve pitching velocity. Here's how it works. Scapula loading is a particular type of arm action that occurs after hand break where the shoulder blades are pinched together thereby pulling the elbows behind the line of the trunk in order to create more range of motion at the pitching shoulder.
The idea being to put more muscles on stretch at the shoulder area thus providing more elastic energy. This may seem to be a good idea until you consider it more closely.
One problem with scapula loading is that you should never emphasize one particular movement action in the pitching delivery since we know that velocity is produced not from the arm but from the momentum of the entire body as it moves quickly into a long stride thus building kinetic and elastic energy. To focus on a positioning factor such as putting the arm in a certain position at an extreme range of motion will more than likely take away from the full intention of moving the body and the arm fast.
This will more than likely create an arm action that looks foreign and unnatual because it is an action that does not have to be coached. And more than likely this will not feel natural to the pitcher. And because this action does not feel natural, the pitcher will have to think about doing it thus further interfering with his over ability to move his body quickly toward the plate.
There are certain actions that should not be overly coached and arm action is one of them. We as coaches can help a pitcher with his timing of when to break his hands (late as possible) and where so that he keeps his arm in good alignment with his trunk. But to tell a pitcher to pinch his shoulder blades to create more range of motion at the shoulder joint is poor advice and a good example of today's biggest problem…over-coaching.
When one action is emphasized which should be performed naturally then that action will either slow down or will slow down another action in the movement. An emphasized action normally will look choppy, slow or will produce a hesitation. It will interfere with good timing of the entire delivery and thereby will take away from a normally smooth looking delivery.
The other problem with scapula loading is that the emphasis is creating an extreme range of motion at the shoulder joint by pinching the shoulder blades and pulling the elbows back behind the line of the shoulders. Every pitcher does this naturally to some degree when his mechanics are not over-coached. But every pitcher has a normal range of motion at every joint in his body. To coach him to go beyond that normal range of motion may not only reduce performance but can lead to injury.
Going beyond a pitchers normal range of motion at the shoulder joint can only serve to increase the looseness of the shoulder by over-stretching the connective tissue thereby adding to arm stress. The shoulder is already the loosest joint in the body. What the shoulder needs is a combination of natural flexibility or range of motion and also stability. Loose shoulders have proven to markedly increase the risk of shoulder injuries in pitchers…which can be career threatening.
Scapula loading is simply another example of instructing complicated actions that should be naturally developed. Every pitcher from the time baseball began developed their own natural way of getting the ball into the throwing position. This is why if you look at ten different pitchers you will see various arm action movements. This should be an individual natural action.
Until scapula loading came along, pitchers over the first 100 or so years of baseball required little if any coaching of this arm action. Why start coaching something that should be done naturally? It makes no sense and in my opinion is dangerous and will increase shoulder and elbow injuries.
Do the advocates of scapula loading know how much this action increases velocity? Of course not. There is no evidence or any studies, but there are many studies that prove that developing more looseness in the shoulder or extreme ranges of motion will lead to more shoulder injuries. It is therefor a very poor trade-off.
What if it was found that scapula loading increased velocity 2-3 mph. Would you rather have that 2-3 mph by increasing your chance of a career ending shoulder injury or would you rather learn how to get 6-12 mph by using your body more efficiently to produce velocity?
There is a pitching school in Houston, Texas, that has been promoting scapula loading all over the country to misinformed high school and college baseball coaches over the past two to three years. The owner of the school actually took the idea from another source because he thought it was a good idea…not because he did his homework to make sure it was not counterproductive or dangerous.
These high school and college coaches who are listening to these belief based instructors apparently would rather try to find magic bullets than learn how a pitcher's body produces velocity by speed of movement and forward momentum into a long stride. This Houston baseball school also promotes weighted baseballs, towel drills, crow hopping down the mound, pitching from balance beams, and, of course, lots of long toss and flexible tubing exercises.
This school would like pitchers and coaches to believe that velocity comes from the arm and by focusing on the arm you build more arm strength. In a recent previous article I explained why arm strength is not much of a factor in producing pitching velocity. When will baseball coaches and instructors get it. When will they start reading the evidence based research that is out there that disproves much of what they are presently teaching?
And if they do get it, will it be too late for all the pitchers who believe these instructors did their homework. Sadly for pitchers today most have not.
When evaluating an instructor or a college program, I would highly suggest that you ask about their pitching improvement or training philosophy. If they believe in weighted balls, scapula loading, towel drills, pitching from balance beams, heavy or a lot of weight lifting to build strength or any activity that emphasizes arm strength, then you would be well advised to find an alternative situation.
The arm strength advocates, whether scapula loading or weighted balls do not have your best future pitching interests in mind. All they want to do is promote activities that are new and different but that have proven do not work and cannot work.
We provide the scientific evidence to back it up in our book. They have no evidence just really good stories. You would also be well advised to ask yourself whether the time you are putting into certain practice activities makes sense for improving your ability to be more successful as a pitcher.
Most pitchers today and parents seem to blindly turn themselves over to coaches and instructors whom they believe have knowledge that has been proven to increase performance. That is not true today in the large majority of cases. Because of unnatural actions being taught such as those mentioned in this article thousands of pitchers will waste years practicing activities that have no basis for producing improvement…but many are responsible for leading to injury.
Again, if coaches or instructors tell you that velocity is about arm strength or some certain arm action, get away fast. If a coach cannot explain to you how pitching velocity is produced from start to finish then your pitching is in deep trouble.
Pitching velocity is produced by the body as it moves from the back leg to the front leg. What is required is faster tempo for more speed of body movement, and forward momentum into a stride of 100% of the pitcher's height.
As Giants rookie phenom Tim Lincecum says…who is 5'10" and throws 95-100 mph—the arm is along for the ride. If you want to throw fast you must move fast.
Find an instructor who fully understands that and you have a chance of reaching your potential velocity. With an arm strength model of boosting velocity…you are doomed to mediocrity.
Don't Forget - My Complete Pitching Instruction program is the only complete "pitching clinic" home study course available that is backed by real sports science research. It's designed for parents, coaches, and players of all ages. Whether you're a pitcher just starting out, or an advanced pitcher looking for answers, we make it simple to understand for both the parent and pitcher.
"Dick’s program has given me the knowledge I need as a pitching coach to help young people succeed. I highly recommend it to any pitcher Little League through college. From mechanics to conditioning to the mental aspect, everything he does is top notch. His program helped our pitchers go 29-1, have a 0.80 ERA last season, and win a State Championship."
Banks Faulkner, Gilbert Indian Baseball, Gilbert, SC
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