Hi guys, I'm been lurking around this website for a about a month now and really enjoy reading the discussions you guys have. I am a 17 year old high school pitcher and weigh 140 lbs. I'm looking to add velocity to my pitches. At the bottom is a link to a video of me pitching. I want somebody to tell me if it looks like I'm getting the most out of my body. I believe there is a lot still in me. I do not know how fast I throw. If you have some time, I would really appreciate some feedback.

Also, can somebody tell me how to slow down my video or what program I could use?


This is me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ae3o_TYBpk


Thank you

-Steve

Steve - I am not a pitching guru but will give you my 2 cents based on what I see.

You look like you have a good body. The first part of the video you seem to be pitching more in stages. Try to make it more fluid and natural without thinking so much. In the last part of the video, it seemed more fluid but as in the first part you seem to be stopping short in your follow-through.

I think you have tools that a good pitching coach can work with. Keep up the good work

You actually look pretty good to me. Very smooth delivery, sound mechanics. The only thing I would think is that you should just try to throw the ball harder. By that I mean I think you are just trying to smooth it out. Nothing wrong with that, but a little more umph in your throwing might help.

I only say this because when you finish, you finish with your leg stopped up in the air. Your follow through should carry that leg through at least up to the front leg so you are standing on both feet at finish.

Hope that makes sense to you. Just keep your same mechanics, but try to throw it harder.

I agree with BBMAN. The second part is better than the 1st part. The stride is better and may be a function of the hole where your stride foot is landing.
Let your post leg kick up a little higher before swinging around as bbman said. Drive to wards the plate and let your momentum carry you to a squared up position. I like how you keep your head low for a second to get a read on the ball after release.
You should end up squared to home plate, low and ready to field your position.

Thank you ClevelandDad, bballman and BobbleheadDoll for your replies. I will keep in mind what you guys have said during my next practice. I will update with a new video today or tomorrow.

Agree with BHD. Throw the baseball HARD

Get out and long toss and see how far you can throw it. Work out to your maximum distance and work their trying to throw the ball farther. You have to develop the concept of throwing the ball HARD.

Next on your video get in close. so you fill the frame so someone can see you better. If you can edit the video and slow it down it will help. Forget about video CB's right now. Also get some from behind the mound, again get in tight.

Good luck!

I agree in part and disagree in part.

First, I take it you're a bit of a Tim Lincecum fan. There's an apparent desire to mimic his windup and delivery in your delivery. Well, that's OK by me.

Where I agree with the above is that right as your left foot lands, you become very careful and your entire motion slows down. This is a habit young pitchers often develop when they experience wildness and some coach gives them my least favorite advice, "Don't throw so hard, just throw strikes!" (Anytime someone tells you that, mark them off your list. They are not to be listened to any more.)

If you watch your idol you will see that he is a very strong finisher, as are all high level pitchers. Instead of starting to slow your arm down as it gets into the throwing action, work on accelerating it forward until the ball is long gone and your hand is ahead of your left foot.

One way to help this is to reduce the extent to which your throwing arm straightens out. If you keep more flexibility in your right elbow, you will get a more whippy action. You can also enhance that if you worry less about your shoulder turn and more about your hip turn action. Again, if you get a clip of a guy like Lincecum, just focus on his belt buckle and see how his hips turn with explosive speed to get the whip action going up through his arm to the hand at release.

The fact that your right leg can stop at the end of your delivery is a symptom of your slowing down through the delivery phase. If you were whipping forward as is desired, there's no way that leg would stop. It would have to come around.

That being said, the leg coming around is a byproduct of a proper delivery and not something you focus on in and of itself. So, don't think about what your right leg is doing. Just work on your hip turn and arm whip and things will fall into place.

Where I disagree with some of the above is that far too many young pitchers turn their hips and shoulders at the same time and that links the arm to the leg so that the arm cannot move forward any faster than the leg does. If you focus on bringing your right leg forward, this will happen and it will cost you MPH big time. There is a microsecond lag between when your hips unlock and start turning, and when your shoulders rotate. This is where you are cracking the whip. Hips, then shoulders, then elbow, then hand.

So, get your whole body whip going and the leg will take care of itself. The leg is a symptom, not the disease. Don't focus on treating the leg or you'll head in the wrong direction.

Thank you BOF. I have done some research and I've decided to use the Jaeger Long Toss Program in my training.

Midlo Dad, first of all, you are correct saying that I am trying to mimic Lincecum's mechanics. He is my favorite pitcher afterall, but for a reason! I thought that if I were to "copy" any pitcher, it should be Lincecum because we share the same body type and he throws 95+.

I have watched my video in slow motion and saw that my arm is actually perfectly straight like a cricket pitcher at one point. I will loosen up my elbow in my next video.

I think that my shoulder/hip separation is good, but not great. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Attached is a slowed down video of me pitching where my leg does not stop at the end. Also, I have added some standstill pictures. I will update with a new video very soon trying to incorporate what you guys have said to me.


Thank you for your ideas everybody.

-Steve


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnm4KpWj7F8

Sounds like some very good advice from Midlo Dad, although you'd probably have to stop listening to 99% of HS coaches. There aren't that many HS coaches who can see past the current inning and in any one inning taking something off to throw strikes is almost always going to work best. In the longer run learning how to throw hard strikes will win out.

My son used to get quite frustrated when he'd hear his HS coaches tell him to "stop overthrowing" when he was throwing 5 or 6 mph below his top speed and struggling because he was aiming the ball instead of letting it go.

Steve - much better with following through as MidloDad pointed out.

Now that MidloDad mentions it, you do remind me of Tim Lincecum

Don't know if it will help, but I have attached a link to my son pitching early last HS season. I am posting it because you can see the whip in his arm as he brings it forward and follows through. As Midlo stated, it is his arm and follow thru that brings his leg around fully. He has been described by a number of people as having a very smooth delivery and looking effortless. However, he brings his arm forward with a lot of force and a good follow thru.

I am not claiming that he has the overall mechanics you want to emulate, just want to point out the umph he puts into bring his arm forward and how the follow thru carries his leg completely thru his delivery.

BTW, your newest video looks much better in terms of following thru.

Anyway, here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3JgNkBWZh4

bballman - your son has excellent stuff - even more impressive considering his age.

I am assuming those are sliders he is throwing? Whatever they are, they appear devastating at the high school level.

Again, I am not really that knowledgable about pitching techniques but whether they are sliders or curve balls it is a fine pitch nonetheless. Also, good arm action on his change-up.

Well, I just like to call them breaking balls. Too much controversy on another thread on the slider. He basically holds the ball off center and throws it like his fastball. Basically comes off the side of his index finger instead of the tips. And yeah, when it is working, it is pretty hard to hit.

He has worked very hard on keeping his arm motion and speed the same for the fastball, change and breaking ball. I believe on this clip, he struck guys out with all three. The tailing fastball is tough on lefties. Starts way inside and tails back over for strikes. Hope he keeps it up.

BTW, thanks for the compliment Cleveland.

Second clip does look much better, Steve.

bballman, I doubt that many HS players will hit whatever that pitch is. Yikes! He's using more of a Halladay type delivery, though, kind of a rotational swing instead of the more whippy, Lincecum style. Just goes to show, there is no one mold for pitchers.

CADad, I do think you run into situations where someone is trying to force velocity by straining their arm muscles, and for them the advice to let up and relax is sound. But too often you see kids with a mechanical issue that leads to wildness being told just to let up, instead of someone working with them to fix their specific delivery issue. As the saying goes, two wrongs don't make a right. Better to fix the mechanical issue, than to add a second problem to the mix. Now you've got a guy who doesn't throw too hard, but on the other hand, he still has no control. Genius.

My experience has been that when your delivery is sound and you exude confidence, you can really let the ball go, and your control is better when you have that confidence flowing than if you start introducing fear of a wild pitch into the mix by suggesting you let up.

Unfortunately, a whole lot of your youth coaches don't know spit about pitching, so they just go out there pleading for strikes. As if the guy weren't already trying to throw strikes!

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:

You should end up squared to home plate, low and ready to field your position.

Excellent advice.

I read recently that no pitcher should emulate Lincecum's mechanics, those are his, unique to himself and learned at a very early age. At best, you should study pitchers that use the classic mechanics. Just a thought.

bbman,
Hope your son is not throwing a slider. I was wondering, if he is, he should save that for later. Trust me on that one, most pitchers in HS throwing sliders have huge issues later on, other than that, nice stuff.
JMO.

That field looks like Centennial HS. Could be wrong.

Good catch YoungGun. It is Centennial. Guess you've played there before.

Yes, Younggunson played for a summer team one year and that was his "home field". One of his coaches was Chuck Lusted and CJ was on the team.

I know of those guys. CJ graduated the year before son started HS and then the family moved, so I really don't know them. Heard CJ was a good ball player though.

Steve, your delivery looks very good...from the naked eye. My strong recommendation....and I apologize in advance because this is the business we are in.... is that you should get a biomechanical analysis done on your delivery. Dr. James Andrews (our partner) has proven research that shows the way to get more velocity/command while REDUCING YOUR RISK OF INJURY is through identifying where you have flaws in your delivery (95% of pitchers...pro and amateur have flaws) and then correcting them. Candidly, every pitcher should be tested this way...to reduce injury and improve performance. The analysis looks at 14 points in your delivery to determine where you have flaws. This is the same analysis hundreds of MLB players have had done.