A Father’s Question And Why You Must Do A Video Analysis Of A Baseball Pitcher’s Mechanics

by Dick Mills on December 03, 2004

Here is an email I received today from a typical youth pitcher father asking about why his 13 year old son's control is getting worse as he has moved from 46 ft to 60 ft. His father believes his timing is off "when landing on his left foot." He also says:"people say his delivery and mechanics are very good?"

He wants to know what difference our program will make. And what can I teach him so I can help him or others? And finally he says: "I think I have a very good understanding of the mechanics of pitching, make me better!"

Perry I appreciate the email and the question because this is very typical and you are one of thousands who have the same question.

I would estimate that there are literally thousands upon thousands of parents who have all these same problems and questions. The biggest problem is listening to people who say "I think your son has good mechanics" or as many fathers believe "I think I have a very good understanding of mechanics."

My response normally is "says who." And how did those who believe that any pitcher has good mechanics arrive at that conclusion?

My first question to Perry would be—have you videotaped your boy from three angles and broken down his mechanics frame by frame to find "the problems." And I could tell Perry with certainty that his son has more than one problem that left undone more than likely will continue to cause lots of frustration with himself and worse his son.

And one problem can create many because you are dealing with a chain of movements that must be all tied together with proper timing of all the parts.

This is the only possible way to be sure of fully understanding what his problems are.

What are some things that Perry should look for and be able to recognize?

1. good posture and balance—chin over the belt with an erect trunk?

2. tall and fully loaded over his back leg before moving toward landing or is his back leg collapsing?

3. Is he moving toward landing leading with his front hip but getting his pelvis moving using his back hip? Or is he trying to move using his legs which will create problems.

4. at what point does he start to move toward landing? too early or too late (back leg is collapsing)?

5. is his lower body moving toward landing prior to hand break—should be?

6. is he rotating his hips too early—back leg collapses where back knee starts to turn down toward mound (should be using a lunge type move off the back leg)?

7. does his nose stay over his bellybutton all the way until landing (draw an imaginary line upon landing from the ground to the sky—the nose should be on or behind that line)? This will indicate whether he is rushing his motion or not where he is not leading with his lower body

8. does he land on the midline with his front foot slightly angled or is he landing more toward first or third base (both ways he will lose power and add stress to his arm)

9. does he land on a flexed leg and does the leg not begin to straighten until just prior to ball release (big control problems is front leg is beginning to straighten as the pelvis and trunk are rotating)? This will indicate whether his stride is long enough or not. Should be somewhere between 85-90%.

10. upon landing is his back leg nearly fully extended (straight) or is the back leg flexed too much (if it's flexed he is losing velocity and trying to get power from his arm instead of his lower body)?

11. is he directing his body sideways so his trunk (front shoulder) is pointing directly at the target upon landing? Is his trunk erect with his head over his belt or is he leaning back with his head over his butt?

12. Does his throwing arm elbow reach shoulder height just as his front foot is getting ready to turn and land or is his arm getting up too early or never reaching shoulder height? This will indicate proper timing between his arm throwing arm and his lower body.

13. Is he rotating his trunk before flexing his trunk forward?

…end of finding mechanical faults

Perry,

You will find his control and inconsistency on that list. That is not everything but that list will also show why most youth and high school kids do not throw harder and why they end up with sore arms. They do not fully understand what they should be doing and feeling. They don't fully understand how to use their bodies to deliver their arm.

You won't find all those problems watching a pitcher throw a bullpen. And throwing weighted baseballs with those problems will simply make things worse as focusing on the arm is not the problem.

Our program shows you exactly how to videotape any pitcher at any level using a major league pitcher as a model. You will see him throwing from all three angles at game speed, slow motion and frame by frame while I explain all of these important points to watch for.

It is not rocket science and we have single Moms who are doing this helping their sons become more successful pitchers.

Guessing what the problem is will not work because you will miss the big problems such as timing. Are all the parts timed up properly so that one part of the body is handing off the power efficiently to the next part? If not…the arm is not going to be in the correct position at ball release. You cannot manage a pitcher's release point by working on his arm…you can only change his release point by understanding how to get his body into the correct position at landing. That will change the pitcher's release point.

The bottom line is that the large majority of youth, high school and many college pitchers do not understand what they should look like at finish or how they should start moving off their back leg. They have no understanding of how to generate power. So they will try to get it from their arm. And that is what creates control problems, lack of velocity and arm injuries.

So we give you the tools to do this yourself…so you are not relying on those who say your son has good mechanics and find out years later that his biggest problem could have been fixed and that is what stopped him from being the best he could be.

Also there might just be something you have a question on. You will have a written "mechanics model" that allows me to help you by phone so I can explain to you what you might be missing. As I said this is not rocket science. We take the guesswork away.

The same goes for strength and conditioning. I am well versed but my wife Ginny is also an expert certified by The American College of Sports Medicine. So we cover all the bases.

There are a lot of fathers and coaches out there who know just enough to be dangerous. And who loses in the end. The pitcher with a dream.

Hope that helps. And good luck to you and your boy.

Dick Mills

Dick,

I'm assuming you really answer these emails? My son is going to be 13 in January, he was the dominate 12 year old pitcher in little league this year yet when we moved up to 60 feet playing some fall AAU ball at 60 feet he could not get comfortable, he was high in the zone or just off the plate outside to righties, he still had the velocity but the good hitters would take the walk rather than swing at some of the marginal pitches.

His control seems to be getting worse. Yet he's not wild? It's like the umps are shrinking the zone? I noticed even at little league distance he was starting to lose his control? A lot of just off the plate to righties.(he a righty). In reading your news letter you sent, my observations are right on. His timing is off when landing his left foot. It started in little league all stars and is even worse on the big mound now. I know I'm his father, but people say his delivery and mechanics are very good? What difference can your system make?

What can you teach me so I can help him? Or others?

Perry

If you have questions about this blog post or on any phase of pitching—mechanics, strength and conditioning, mental training, strategy send those questions to dickmills@gmail.com and I will answer them here.

If you want an explosive body and explosive mechanics you need to get my Free Report at www.pitching.nexcess.net. We won't waste your time. We show you how to recognize exactly what is holding back most pitchers…find the problem—fix the problem. I show you a comparison between two high school pitchers and a major league pitcher who throws mid to upper nineties. You will see the biggest problem that reduces velocity in the majority of pitchers.

(If you are a high school or college coach, ask for our special Free Coach's Report.)