All About Pitching

How To Boost Velocity During The Off-Season Like Tim Lincecum

Eliminating time-wasting activities such as drills, long toss or flat ground pitching would force all coaches and pitching instructors to educate themselves about pitching mechanics. How different would clinics be without pitching drills?

I imagine drills and other irrelevant practice activities such  as long toss or flat ground pitching take up at least 50% of instructor's time.

What if coaches and instructors were were all forced to teach using a video camera during bullpens?

The body is the key to producing more velocity...not the arm

For all these pitchers who are looking for that extra velocity which will push them to the next level with better control, they must get their focus away from their arms and onto their lower body...speed of movement, forward momentum and a long stride.

They must first remove any slow movements and hesitation which for many means not lifting the leg up so high and then while lifting it to continue their forward movement...as Nolan Ryan did throughout his career. As I said if his leg lift was not so high I believe he would have thrown much harder...even though Tom House, his pitching coach said "the higher his leg lift the harder he threw".

There is no evidence that a high leg lift produces more velocity but it is obvious that if a pitcher has to lift his leg up it must slow down his forward momentum.

Hall Of Fame Pitchers Sandy Koufax Found The Key

As Sandy Koufax said years ago when he was trying to improve his mechanics and found the key one day during a bullpen session - "the key to pitching is the back leg". It is also keeping the back foot down in contact with the ground as long as possible as the pitcher moves his body sideways as quickly as possible and continues to move his front hip as long as possible before anything else happens.

Swinging the lead leg out and around which is lateral movement...slows the pitcher down. Drive the front hip right at the target while keeping the lead leg bent.

The support foot heel coming up too soon indicates early rotation and an incomplete leg drive. The pitcher is simply landing too early and wanting to throw too soon. All beginner and most high school pitchers and many college want to throw too early because they have been taught that velocity is about the arm.

Giants' Tim Lincecum Learned To Get His Arm Involved As Late As Possible

Remember the later everything happens the more energy is available for the fingers to impart forces onto the ball. This is another reason to break the hands as late as possible. That way the arm gets up as late as possible just at the right time. Notice how late Giants right-handed pitcher Tim Lincecum gets his arm up. He allows his back shoulder and hip to lag way behind. But the arm will always get up when timing is correct.

The idea that the arm will not get up in time with a late hand break is obviously a fallacy. The body understands exactly what it is supposed to do as long as you let it do it and don't over-coach every little movement.

The pitcher must flex his back leg and begin his leg drive while finally completing it into a stride of 100% or more of his height. The back leg drive is complete when it is fully extended just before the lead leg lands.

The position of the head should be back behind the belt buckle so the pitcher has enough distance to force the trunk forward into a flat back. This is the final component the pitcher has for producing velocity - trunk flexion or slamming the trap door shut.

Remember the faster the pitcher is moving the less chance of mechanical error and the better is the velocity and control. Of course coaches believe the complete opposite that you should slow down pitchers to improve control. 

Motor skills experts have known the answers for decades. Sacrificing velocity for better control does not work.

Dick Mills

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