The Main Limiting Factor For Maximizing Pitching Velocity For All Pitchers
by Dick Mills on July 22, 2009
There is a limiting factor for all pitchers that prevents them from throwing with more pitching velocity...once they have developed rock solid pitching mechanics and are fully conditioned to pitch.
Do you know what that limiting factor is? If you do not know it then you can waste valuable time trying to gain something that will have no positive affect on improving your pitching velocity.
What I mean is that every pitcher is limited physiologically to a maximum velocity. They will reach that maximum velocity and will not be able to gain any more. For some high school pitchers it might be 85 mph. For a few major league pitchers it might be 105 mph. They will reach that limit and not be able to surpass it
The one limiting factor is not arm strength, leg strength, core strength or height or weight.
The one factor that limits all pitcher's velocity
The one limiting factor for all pitchers with good mechanics who are fit to pitch is speed of movement of the body. The faster you move with good mechanics away from the rubber the faster you will throw. But you must sequence those movements properly.
This is exactly why Tim Lincecum at 5'10" 170 lbs. is able to throw 95-100 mph. He moves faster down the mound than most other major league pitchers into a stride that is 120% of his height.
If you do not move fast enough or create enough kinetic energy moving from the back leg to the front leg then there will not be enough energy to transfer from the legs to drive hip rotation and to the trunk to drive trunk rotation...which is what whips the arm through at high speed.
Move slow - throw slow. Move fast with well sequenced mechanics and you will maximize velocity.
So there are three things recommended today by most coaches and instructors that will not allow a pitcher to improve his velocity. Long toss, pitching drills and weight training. None teaches a pitcher to move down the mound fast focusing on using the body while getting the arm involved as late as possible. In the weight room you train mostly slow. Therefor you are teaching the body how to move slow.
Long toss is not practicing pitching from the mound. It is not specific to pitching and does not help teach the proper sequence of moving down hill driving away from the rubber going from one leg to the other.
So to maximize pitching velocity you must first develop rock solid mechanics so the body delivers the arm as late as possible. Thus why a long stride at least the pitcher's height is valuable. You must use the body to move as explosively as possible from the back leg to the front leg and get the body into a good power position at landing so that maximum elastic energy is stored within the entire body as it is fully stretched out like a huge rubber band.
This is what I have been focusing on in our Explosively Pitching DVD program since 2004. We teach parents how to help their sons use their bodies to pitch instead of just their arms. Not only does this improve velocity but reduces the risk of arm injuries. http://www.pitching.com/products/
"My 14 year old son's velocity jumped 12 mph, his control improved dramatically and his arm pain vanished. For the first time since he has been pitching, he finally understands what he is doing...what causes the ball to do what it does and how his body functions to be effective...now that is priceless."
Mark A Smith, Downers, Grove, IL
