All About Pitching

Improving Pitching Velocity With Hip And Trunk Rotation

Is hip and trunk rotation a key component for developing more pitching velocity? No! Everybody seems to be looking for the secret to pitching velocity.

If you ask most college pitchers who are still trying to find that secret, they will tell you that they have tried it all such as long toss, weighted balls, weight training and all sorts of pitching drills and yet improving pitching velocity continues to allude them. Pitching velocity does not come from building more arm strength.

Dr. Jobe, the famous orthopedic surgeon, proved back in 1983 that during the acceleration phase of pitching, when the arm was moving the fastest just before ball release, that there was very little muscle activity going on in the pitcher's shoulder. In other words there were no muscle contractions in the shoulder helping to produce arm speed. Only after the ball was released did muscle activity resume in the shoulder, which was the rotator cuff helping to slow down the arm…so it did not fly out of the socket… since the pitcher's arm during acceleration is the fastest human motion in sports.

So we know that pitching velocity will not come from trying to gain more arm strength in the shoulder. That's the reason why long loss, using weighted balls, or trying special shoulder exercises, will be a futile waste of time and effort for improving pitching velocity.

Pitchers Are Wasting Valuable Time On What Does Not Work

Pitching velocity has since been proven to be a full body activity where all the muscles of the body should be recruited which together are quickly put on stretch in order to produce elastic energy which is responsible for whipping the arm through. We know that the pitcher's arm is actually whipped through from all the forces built up from the body moving fast and stretching out like a huge rubber band. No amount of additional arm strength will improve pitching velocity.

Because of this, I personally estimate that at least 50% of a pitcher's time practicing is wasted on activities that do not improve pitching performance. Right now we have a group of pitching instructors who would like pitchers to believe that one phase of the pitching delivery has more to do with velocity than any other part. And that is hip and trunk rotation.

Hip And Trunk Rotation Does Not Produce Velocity

I say they are wrong to emphasize hip and trunk rotation. Hip and trunk rotation occurs primarily after the pitcher's front foot hits the ground. It is at that point that forces are transferred from the lower body to the trunk which then delivers the arm at high speed. This speed comes from elastic energy. So now we have hip and trunk rotation advocates saying it is the most important part of helping a pitcher produce more velocity.

I used to think that also, until I learned the science behind pitching mechanics and how the body actually produces and transfers forces during pitching.

Pitching velocity is not produced from hip and trunk rotation anymore than the transmission of a car produces more of that car's speed. If you want a faster car do you go looking for a better transmission or a bigger engine? Hip and trunk rotation is like the car's transmission…it merely shifts the engine's speed to the next gear.

Pitching Velocity Comes From Speed Of Movement And A Long Stride

Once a pitcher gets his front foot on the ground, he is decelerating, or slowing down, in order to shift all the forces he has produced to the next gear which would be hip and trunk rotation. Most of a pitcher's velocity is the result of the speed his body has produced while driving away from the rubber into a long stride.

The pitcher produces two kinds of energy when striding or lunging away from the rubber: kinetic and elastic energy. Those forces are what finally produce velocity at ball release.

So hip and trunk rotation is not the cause of pitching velocity anymore than a car's transmission is the cause of a car's speed. To focus on hip and trunk rotation will be a waste of valuable time for pitchers. Once again pitchers are now getting more very poor information on how to improve velocity.

One former minor leaguer is telling pitchers that they can improve velocity after landing by pulling their back knee forward and inward so it speeds up hip and trunk rotation. He even has drill for this. This is not only ignorance, but total foolishness. By the time the back knee has come forward which is the result of and not the cause of hip and trunk rotation… velocity has already been produced.

This same instructor is telling pitchers that a long stride has less to do with pitching velocity than hip and trunk rotation. Again, he just does not understand pitching mechanics and is leading many parents and pitchers down a path of ruin…and he doesn't even know it. Ignorance is bliss.

There are no drills to do that will speed up hip and trunk rotation anymore than overhauling a car's transmission will help speed up the car. Focus on the engine for building more speed.

Most Major League Pitchers Don't Even Understand Hip And Trunk Rotation

The engine in pitching is how fast and explosively the pitcher can move his body away from the rubber into a long stride…like Nolan Ryan and Giants Tim Lincecum. The hips and trunk will take care of themselves.

If you were to ask Nolan Ryan or any other major league pitcher, past or present, including me, how much time they put into developing more hip and trunk rotation they would probably look at you with a blank stare. Prior to about 1990, few, if any pitchers or coaches, knew about hip and trunk rotation. It was through high speed film that rotational forces being transferred were first discovered in pitching.

So if pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, or any other high velocity pitcher, did not even know about hip and trunk rotation, why would it be valuable to focus on it now? This is what you should ask instructors or coaches who are telling that it is so valuable for improving pitching velocity. Pitchers do not even have to know that hip and trunk rotation exists in order to throw with more pitching velocity.

In fact, it has been proven that if you focus on one phase of the delivery, such as trying to get the arm to move faster or trying to get the hips and trunk rotating faster, that you will actually slow down the total delivery. Pitchers do need to be fit to pitch and as I said pitching is a full body activity. Thus, pitchers should condition their entire bodies so that all the muscles of the body understand how to get put on stretch quickly.

Using a medicine ball is valuable for conditioning the entire body in pitching. And hip and trunk rotation is a part of how the body works when doing full body explosive exercises. So rotational exercises have value for pitchers…but only during conditioning.

However, focusing on hip and trunk rotation while pitching will not enhance pitching velocity. Pitchers would be far better off simply bracing up their front leg and hip upon landing so that the pitching delivery's transmission—hip and trunk rotation is able to transfer those forces more rapidly to the next phase without slowing down too much.

Remember that hip and trunk rotation speed is not a cause of velocity but is more a result of how fast the pitcher's engine (body speed) gets the body into landing. That is what pitchers should focus their time on.

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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