Pitching Mechanics That Reduce Pitching Velocity And Increase The Risk Of Arm Injuires.

by Dick Mills on March 23, 2010

For many pitchers  the high school and college baseball season is just getting under way.  This is the point where pitchers want to show how much they have improved and how much their velocity has increased because of what they did during the off-season.

Many high school and college pitchers put in a lot of time on conditioning, strength training and other types of pitching workouts in hopes of increasing their pitching velocity.  Few however, spent much time trying to improve their pitching mechanics which is the single most important aspect for improving pitching velocity.

This video of a 16 year old high school pitcher reveals the typical lower body mechanical problems that dramatically reduce pitching velocity.  As Red Sox set-up pitcher and flame-thrower Daniel Bard has said when asked where he gets his velocity he says: "It all about the back leg."  In Hall of Fame lefty Sandy Koufax's book he too has said basically the same thing - it's all about the back leg.

And yet, when my son Ryan and I do video analysis or one-on-one instruction we see similar lower body mechanical problems from over 95% of pitchers.  It is clear these pitchers get little instruction on how to use the lower body to develop and maximize their pitching velocity.

In this video I explain many lower body mechanical problems. 

One of the biggest problems we see is the back leg collapsing which prevents the pitcher from developing back leg drive which is a big component of producing lower body power.   When the back leg collapses like as does with this pitcher, notice that he ends up rotating into landing rather than driving his front hip forward toward the target.

Notice the collapsing back leg.  See how the pitcher's back knee ends up moving out beyond his back foot toe.  At this point the pitcher will not be able to use his back leg to develop lower body power so will have to try to make it up by using his arm more. Thus why there are so many arm injuries today.

Maximizing lower body mechanics and insuring back leg drive is a key component for improving pitching velocity. 

These pitching faults can only be recognized by videotaping and then showing the video to the pitcher so he can get real feedback and then begin making the needed adjustment. 

But remember this... there are no secrets to pitching improvement. Just sound sports science principles that we apply to pitching that just make common sense. No magic spoken here.

A video analysis is your best insurance policy against poor instruction, guaranteed improvement and added arm insurance against injury.  http://www.pitching.com/video_analysis/

Our Explosive Pitching DVD program teaches 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.  We also teach them proper conditioning.

One last thing about Momentum Pitching. It is simple to teach and will get most pitchers throwing harder within one session.

See our Off-season discounts on our instructional DVD's:  http://www.pitching.com/products/

"I had spent several hundred dollars on a pitching coach who was leading my son down the path to ruin. He embraced every failed philosophy and technique you've identified - long toss, towel drills and more drills ad nauseum. My son's skills were deteriorating. When I found your website and read your report, I sense intuitively your words had merit and deserved further study."   Mark Smith, Downers Grove,IL