Hi. I'm a 2010 LHP, and I'm looking to play baseball in college. I throw around 85-86, and I'm wondering if I can get some help on my mechanics. My main problem has been that I rush through my delivery. I've seen some of the other critiques of mechanics on this site and they appear to be very helpful. I'm curious as to what I can do to get better as a pitcher. Thank you in advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dFxzSOHybc

kjam32, I don't see any problems with your mechanics. You actually look pretty fluid and relaxed to me. Usually rushing is associated with late hand separation, but I don't see that. Perhaps you're just rushing in a game situation? Are you more consistent in bullpens than in games? If so, just make sure you're breathing and keeping yourself calm. Good luck.

I gotta agree with Bum in that you got some nice mechanics. Real smooth, fluid and most importantly consistent. The arm action on all the pitches was almost identical which is awesome.

I think Bum hits the nail on the head when he talks about controlling your breathing and work on your focus. Without really knowing you in game situations I would guess that controlling your adrenaline would be key to not feeling rushed.

I'm going to throw something out there and see what you and others think. Your left foot drags a small bit which could possibly slow your arm action down. What I'm thinking is in a game situation the drag might be more pronounced which makes you want to hurry your arm up due to the slowing of the arm or it might make you think that way.

I can't say that for certain without seeing game film or watching you live but I've seen something like this happen with other pitchers.

Overall I think you got a great delivery and keep working at it. If you can spot your pitches and mix speeds you can be very successful.

My only critism is that you don't drag your post foot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kDVYYgW8Ag

Well.........first I said it MIGHT be a problem but not sure based on limited information. Second what the pitcher in your video is doing is totally different than what the opening poster is doing. Third the field conditions aren't the same.

In your video

1. The pitcher is a max effort looking kinda guy. He's putting a lot more effort into gaining a longer stride. When doing that the back foot almost has to drag the ground.

2. The mound that your pitcher is on is in pretty good shape. There is a very small rise / lip just in front of the pitching rubber. This won't affect anything.

In the opening post video

1. This kid is more efficient and low energy in his mechanics. He's not trying to gain a longer stride based on how he lifts, lowers and extends his front leg to create momentum. When doing this you won't be able to truly gain a lot of ground like in your video.

2. The mound this kid is throwing from isn't that great. If you look closely from the side pitches it looks like the toes on his left foot disappear into a hole before coming forward. This will affect your mechanics.

Overall no matter the mechanics there will always be some type of foot drag. It's unavoidable but if not watched it can affect performance.

So basically the two videos having nothing to do with each other.

My other criticism was that the kid should move to the other mound. He is trying to pitch in a confined area and it affects his motion.
Mechanics are mechanics. The toe drag is part of stabilizing the lower body to get the most leverage on the ball and extending as far as possible as he releases.

You arm action looks a little "stiff" to me (as when you pull the ball out of your glove you sort of hook it backwards, then you get the ball a little close to your ear when you're ready to throw).



It's not terrible and overall you look pretty solid. Just something you might want to look at.

I do not think you rush as your timing and rhythm seem pretty good.

I also do think you drag your back foot (whatever that says about mechanics I'm not really sure...).



Looks like he drags it to me.

Rob if you watched the video I posted it shows what I referred to as drag the foot.
Also notice where the hips are comparative to the RHP. The RHP's hips are parallel to the plate when he thrusts to wards the plate while the LHP's hips are still moving forward. That is why you keep the post foot on the ground and drag it allowing your lower half to stabilize.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
Also notice where the hips are comparative to the RHP. The RHP's hips are parallel to the plate when he thrusts to wards the plate while the LHP's hips are still moving forward.

I have no idea at what point of the delivery you are talking about. Is it at footplant?

BHD I got two questions about your video that makes me think it's contradicting itself.

1. The whole video is about generating momentum through a longer stride. I can understand that part but how does dragging the foot help accelerate when all it does is slow the body down?

It would seem to me that you would NOT want to have anything holding you back while generating momentum forward. You said the toe drag is stabilizing the lower body to get leverage on the ball and extending as far as possible as he releases. My problem with that is if you are trying to create leverage then you want to be as high as possible and that would include getting the backside into the air - not dragging the foot. Also if the dragging is what stablizes the lower body then what are you doing that creates an off balance and why would you do that?

2. What do you mean the hips are parallel to the plate? What is your definition of parallel? I'm inclined to think the hips are more perpendicular to the plate but this is probably just semantics.

One last question - why is the pitcher in your video got half of his foot on and other half off the pitching rubber?

1st you are trying to accelerate the upper body not the lower body. The lower body has to stabilize in order to create the max rotational torque. (Hip separation).
Here is everyones favorite pitcher showing the hips parallel to home plate as the arm is trusting forward. It is a fact that you cannot generate the upper body torque without stopping the lower body and creating a stable base to develop arm speed.
If your hips are still moving as you thrust you arm forward you lose some torque and control.
The hips have to lead creating separation and Tim shows it best. Notice his post foot stays down until after release.

http://www.chrisoleary.com/pro...ses/TimLincecum.html

The LHP here lifts too soon and doesn't allow his hips to get out front and stabilize.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
. The lower body has to stabilize in order to create the max rotational torque.

Agreed.

quote:

If your hips are still moving as you thrust you arm forward you lose some torque and control.

The LHP here lifts too soon and doesn't allow his hips to get out front and stabilize.

You can see from this clip that this players hips do not move forward once he reaches footplant. If you look at his right hip (and leg), it is quite solid and stationary at this point as the left hip (and the rest of his torso) continues to rotate and then he releases the ball.



His hips ARE parallel (as you say) when he releases the ball. Once the ball is out then he continues forward (from the remaining rotational force and momentum).

His base seems quite stable to me and I don’t know why you would want his back foot to be dragging any longer than it does.

In the dick mills video that player looks way more "unstable" to me as his posting leg foot is half on and half off the rubber most of the time.

This player may have some small issues, but the way he lands and what his post foot does isn’t one of them.

His hips do get out front late as his post foot has already lifted off. I guess you will see what you want. It is very clear in both clips I posted that the hips are out front before the post leg lifts off. His ball release is while his leg lifts and not while the post foot is still on the ground.

quote:

In the dick mills video that player looks way more "unstable" to me as his posting leg foot is half on and half off the rubber most of the time.

Most pitchers don't post on the rubber but in front of it. You must be one of the push off the rubber guys.

Look at Tim's slow motion from his right side. Toe is still contacting the ground after the ball is released. The post leg lift is a result of his follow through.
That is the 16th clip down.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:

quote:

In the dick mills video that player looks way more "unstable" to me as his posting leg foot is half on and half off the rubber most of the time.

Most pitchers don't post on the rubber but in front of it. You must be one of the push off the rubber guys.

And your point is?

Yes I agree. Most pitcher don't post on the rubber but in front of it.

The guy you show DOES post ON the rubber (and half off...very unstable).....so why would you accept that? You're contradicting yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
His hips do get out front late as his post foot has already lifted off. I guess you will see what you want. It is very clear in both clips I posted that the hips are out front before the post leg lifts off. His ball release is while his leg lifts and not while the post foot is still on the ground.

Your analysis is quite confusing.

This pitchers foot lands, he rotates, he throws the ball. His post foot drags slightly as the ball is coming out. It is up in the air AFTER the ball is out.

What's the big deal?

This frame of time isn't enough to cause any issues with stability of the lower half as far as I'm concerned. It is after the fact for the most part.

All of the stabilization is coming from (and should be) from the front leg & hip at this point.

My point is that whether they place their PF on the rubber doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with being stable. My son does both in front and half on and half off the rubber. It often depends on the rubber and the hole in front of it. What matters is getting the hips out, stabilizing the lower half, maximizing the separation and getting max leverage on the ball. The toe drag allows this.
The LHP here needs to keep his PF on the ground a little longer .

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
My point is that whether they place their PF on the rubber doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with being stable. My son does both in front and half on and half off the rubber. It often depends on the rubber and the hole in front of it. What matters is getting the hips out, stabilizing the lower half, maximizing the separation and getting max leverage on the ball. The toe drag allows this.
The LHP here needs to keep his PF on the ground a little longer .

Foot half on half off doesn’t matter eh?....OK.

Yes I agree if there is a big hole in front of the rubber this poses a problem. A lot of pitchers deal with that issue. But to say it doesn’t affect stability if the foot is half on/half off is incorrect IMO.

Regardless...this post foot/foot drag thing to me is just a distraction of cause and effect.

His foot comes of the ground because he has a long stride. That’s it.

If this player follows that advice (concentrating on what his post foot/drag is doing) he will be going down a road he doesn’t need to be on and cause more problems than he already has (of which are pretty minor IMO).

I cannot fathom how toe drag has anything to do with maximizing separation and getting max leverage. Toe drag is the effect of other things going on in a throw not the cause of those things.

If you believe that, then I will not try to convince you otherwise.

Tell that to Greg.

http://www.pitchingclips.com/players/greg_maddux.htm