If You Cannot Understand Pitching Instruction Then It Is Not Good Information

All About Pitching… Since 1995

If you are seeking pitching instruction advice isn’t it important that you first understand what the pitching instructor is saying? Shouldn’t the advice not only be clear but accurate?

I was recently reading an article in the Friday, March 25, 2005 issue of Collegiate Baseball magazine written by a pitching instructor who not only has written a thick book on pitching but regularly puts on weekend clinics. He is also a big advocate of weighted baseballs and uses lots of drills—neither of which I agree have much if any benefit. I will let you decide whether this is the type of pitching instruction that you would want for yourself or any aspiring pitcher including your son. But this is what you will get at clinics all over the country.

“The average stride is between 4 to 5 feet and has to be consistent.” I must ask: average compared to what? He must be talking about Little Leaguers but does not say so. If he is talking about high school or college pitchers then he is talking about pitchers who are short striders who will have problems with power and control.

“A lazy back leg produces high pitches for one doesn’t “get out and get over.” My question is what does he consider to be a “lazy” back leg and how does it produce high pitches. A so-called “lazy back leg” has to be the result of a pitcher who simply does not know when or how to shift his weight away from his back leg. He just does not understand how to use his lower body correctly.

“Right or left-handers hip roll (close) shouldn’t bring the shoulders farther around than in a direct line with the plate.” What is “hip roll”—what does (close) mean and what does he mean about the shoulders being in direct line with the plate? Is there any clarity to this statement? And he never goes on to explain it.

Please understand that what you are reading is supposed to be an instructional article for high school and college coaches. Do you wonder why these coaches do not understand pitching mechanics. How are these statements instructional if you cannot understand what the writer and instructor is saying. I certainly am not clear on what he means and I consider myself a very advanced instructor. Is it possible to create a “word picture” from what this instructor is writing?

“Using a slow wind-up is best. All smooth pitchers start with a slow wind-up and come fast from the ear to the release point (maximum acceleration here).” What! The fact is that smoothness is the result of good timing. And you cannot develop good timing if you are using a slow tempo to start and then a faster tempo at some other point. The reality is that you don’t use two different tempos within the same delivery. Starting slow will normally keep you slow. Any time you try to change tempo within a movement you will further slow down that movement and disrupt it. That is simple biomechanics.

“A proper follow through can increase speed by as much as 10 percent.” But I say how? A follow through cannot increase speed. If a pitcher does not finish with a flat back and proper deceleration it is not about his follow through but about how he generates power moving from the back leg to the front leg. It’s all about starting poorly. A poor follow through is a “result” not a cause. If a pitcher finishes too upright it is usually because his stride is too short from poor weight shift which causes his front leg to straighten too early. The fix is to lengthen the stride using proper weight shift while moving off the back leg with more tempo or explosiveness onto a flexed front leg. Fix the beginning and you will fix the end.

“This (going over “the wall”) is an absolute and an art in itself, however it can be taught in a fairly precise manner. The “wall” itself is an imaginary structure which enhances the concept of going forward at the correct time. As the pitcher approaches the wall and begins his forward thrust, he then commences a controlled fall over the wall until he lands with his lead foot and brings the force of acceleration to a “pitch,” and then begins the force of deceleration (slowing down). Note: (the “wall” is a spot approximately one-half way thru stride length.)”

This last paragraph is very disturbing to say the least. Understanding it is another challenge. Does anyone understand what he is trying to communicate? Let me see if I can help you understand what he is trying to say…even though it is difficult for me also.

Let me clear up something that is very important and that this instructor does not understand. When a pitcher is landing he is decelerating not accelerating. Acceleration happens just after landing only after energy is passed to the next part of the body—from the legs to the pelvis (hips), then to the trunk. So in order to accelerate you must first decelerate. This passing of energy efficiently from one part of the body to the next with proper timing is how velocity is produced.

The “wall” is apparently an imaginary point about half way through your stride. He is saying that something happens at this point (half way) where the pitcher should begin his “forward thrust” and then also does a controlled fall until he lands. So he does a thrust at this point and then a controlled fall?

This would be two things that a pitcher would be thinking about doing in the middle of an explosive movement. Does this make any sense? No it does not. Won’t this thinking about some action in the middle get the pitcher to slow down? I would certainly think so.

He is also insinuating that there is a change in tempo somewhere half way through a pitcher’s stride where he is to thrust something—which I assume he means thrusting the back leg. There is however no thrusting of the back leg until the pitcher lands with his front foot. At that point the back leg will extend which provides the thrust or the acceleration of the pelvis. It is not a push but an extension getting the full use out of the length of the entire back leg including the foot.

And it is not a controlled fall. Moving from the back leg to the front leg is an explosive action with no changes in tempo. If you change tempo and ever try to speed it up at some point you will actually slow down the movement.

The point of this article is that if you cannot understand it then it is not information…certainly not good information. This article has far too many holes in it to be considered pitching instruction. And yet this is what you will get at clinics, from many high school and college coaches and certainly as you cruise the internet.

Again, be very careful which pitching instruction “poison” you choose. it can be dangerous to your pitching health and career.

Dick Mills website www.pitching.nexcess.net

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.

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