All About Pitching

Are Baseball Coaches Encouraging Nonsensical Pitching Mechanics?

Pitching mechanics are considered the foundation of successful pitching. Efficient pitching mechanics help produce maximum pitching velocity, better control while reducing the risk of injury.

I admit I pitched back in the early 70's, long before coaches introduced activities such as pitching drills, long toss, flat ground throwing or weight training...to name a few of the popular practice activities encouraged by today's baseball pitching coaches. In fact, prior to about 1985 the large majority of major league pitchers did nothing but pitch from the mound. I cannot recall any of my teammates spending time throwing long or pitching off of flat ground. Or certainly not doing pitching drills.

And of course weight training was just about non-existent until the introduction of Nolan Ryan's and Tom House's book The Pitcher's Bible...which demonstrated him doing a weight training routine.

What I find interesting is that it certainly seems like there are far more arm injuries in baseball today than when I played professionally over 30 years ago. And pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, threw with much higher velocity prior to his doing any weight training or spending time throwing on flat ground, throwing a football or doing long toss. It seems that his velocity and control was actually reduced by engaging in those newer modern day practice activities.

And do you know what...sports science has an answer for that. Recent research, detailed in the book The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching, says that today's modern day practice activities have proven to actually be the reason that pitchers are performing more poorly today and are getting injured at such an alarming rate. And yet, baseball coaches and instructors do not look to see if mechanical actions can be improved.  http://pitching.nexcess.net/product/the-science-and-art-of-baseball-pitching/

What about the pitching mechanics of former Hall of Fame pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford and many others? What did they all have in common that you do not see in today's pitchers...even current major league pitchers.

There are two words that describe what the Hall of Famers used to do to build velocity from their mechanics that they don't do today. BUILD MOMENTUM! When we talk about how pitchers can improve their velocity quickly we must talk about momentum or how pitchers move their bodies faster from their back leg to their front leg.

Building momentum is the key to improving pitching velocity fast! It beats every other method by a long shot whether it's long toss, pitching drills or getting bigger and stronger from weight training. Nothing works faster than building more forward momentum.

So how did pitchers from the past do that? Here's what almost all pitchers from the past did. Almost all of them took a step back toward second base as their first movement...where today pitchers are encouraged to take a step to the side.

Why would you first step to the side if your intention is to move in a direct line forward toward a target? Does it even make sense!

If you come upon a narrow stream and there is no way across but to jump, how will you build enough momentum to jump across that little stream? Will you step to the side first, will you run from the side, or will you take a step back or get a running start from straight back?

The answer is obvious. You would never step or run from the side.

Then why do coaches encourage pitchers to take a step to the side before they lift their leg up? Doesn't that action slow the pitcher from moving forward?

Do you really want pitchers to start slow? Coaches really don't know why they encourage pitchers to step to the side. I guess they haven't really thought about it much. Because some high profile pitching coach at some point thought stepping to the side had a benefit for better balance then others just copied that without even thinking.

How does stepping to the side encourage better balance for a pitcher? Isn't being balanced while moving the body toward the target the only thing that matters? A pitcher is either balanced or he is not. If he is falling to one side or the other he should be made aware of that.  If he is not balanced then videotaping will reveal that and that feedback should help the pitcher fix his balance problem with several practice repetitions. Also, doing balance drills on 2 X 4's or by standing on one leg for 10 seconds will not help a pitcher improve his balance while moving explosively from the back leg to the front leg.

So how would stepping back first create a balance problem? Can't imagine. It didn't hurt all those Hall Of Fame pitchers such as Sandy Koufax or Whitey Ford or Bob Gibson.

A pitcher cannot build forward momentum into a long stride by taking a step to the side first. It slows him down.

However, I would love to hear your comments about this. If you have an answer as to why pitchers are encouraged to step to the side first, please send me an email to and I will post these explanations for others to read and think about.

And tell me why stepping back is not encouraged by pitching coaches.

Dick Mills

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