A Common Lower Body Mechanical Flaw That Reduces Pitching Velocity

There are many mechanical flaws that reduce a baseball pitcher’s velocity and ,his control. Many also increase the risk of pitching arm injuries.

This major league pitcher is swinging his leg out and around into landing. This mechanical flaw is very common in youth, high school, college and even professional pitchers. This mechanical flaw produces a slowing action of the entire body moving directly at the target. If the pitcher’s body moves slower than his pitching arm speed and his velocity will be slower.

This is a common mechanical flaw I see regularly and one I have my students fix immediately. Fixing lower body mechanical flaws first is the key to building a rock solid pitching delivery with good mechanics. The way to recognize these mechanical flaws is of course to videotape the pitcher during a practice bullpen. Without videotaping there is little chance these common flaws can be recognized.

For high school and college pitchers who are looking to improve their pitching veocity a video analysis by an expert instructor can easily show which flaws are preventing the pitcher from maximizing his velocity. http://www.pitching.com/product/professional-video-analysis/

This pitcher also exhibits another major flaw reduces velocity and adds stress to his arm. He lacks good trunk flexion. This means that after he has rotated his body where it is facing the plate, his trunk should flex forward into a flat back position. As you can see he is much too upright. This indicates he is not developing enough forward momentum to produce a longer stride and faster trunk rotation and thus better trunk flexion.

Because his trunk is too upright his arm is taking on more stress.