My 14 year old Son throws from a 3/4 slot. He is consistant in his delivery and keeps his elbow above his shoulder. All his pitches have movement, he throws a fastball, a great curve (tomohawk variety, no wrist movement) and is working on a change-up and he appears to have a "natural" slider...again, no wrist movement. No pain, other the occasional bicep after a longer then usual outing. His fastball is hitting 71, curve about 63. He is currently successful with his current arm slot. For the longest time we worked on trying to get him to an over the top delivery, but could never get him to adopt that. Any comments would be welcome.

For goodness sake, leave him alone.

Why would you want to get him over the top? If you mean overhead (as opposed to overhand), you're asking for shoulder problems.

The 3/4 slot is very natural for many pitchers.

Thank you, just wanted to be sure. For a long time many coaches tried to change his arm slot, it only led to frustration.

His arm slot is fine. The farther he can stay away from straight over the top, the better chance he has at not having shoulder problems in the future. I agree with Texan, leave him alone. Don't change something that ain't broken!!

Arm speed and arm slot are both genetic. You can try and change them but you will have poor results. Keep him at 3/4, thats a good slot for most pitches. Work on his change up and most of all learning to change speeds and locate with his FB. Check the Throwing Good Changeups, with a 3/4 slot he should have a good change.

Thanks,
Justin Stringer
Do It Right Baseball
www.doitrightbaseball.com

quote:

Arm speed and arm slot are both genetic.

Arm slot isn't genetic.

If it was, then pitchers wouldn't be able to throw from different arm slots during the course of a game.

All you have to do to change your arm slot is to tilt your shoulders more or less.

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy:
All you have to do to change your arm slot is to tilt your shoulders more or less.

Sorry, but that is wrong. Arm slot is the angle of the arm relative to the axis of the shoulders. Tilting the body does not change arm slot.

quote:

Sorry, but that is wrong. Arm slot is the angle of the arm relative to the axis of the shoulders. Tilting the body does not change arm slot.

thepainguy-

I feel your pain

And I should clarify, armslot is the angle of the foream relative to the axis of the shoulders. The upper arm should be aligned with the axis of the shoulders.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
Sorry, but that is wrong. Arm slot is the angle of the arm relative to the axis of the shoulders. Tilting the body does not change arm slot.

This is a very common misconception about pitching.

People think their elbow remains bent 90 degrees as they throw the ball.

The reality is that, for every pitcher older than 10 or 11 years old, the centripetal force of the shoulders rotating causes the elbow to extend such that the upper arm and forearm are aligned (and at the level of the shoulders).

In others words, the only difference between Jeff Weaver (a high side-armer)...



...and Daniel Cabrera (who throws high 3/4)...



...is how much they tilt their shoulders.

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy:
This is a very common misconception about pitching.

People think their elbow remains bent 90 degrees as they throw the ball.

The reality is that, for every pitcher older than 10 or 11 years old, the centripetal force of the shoulders rotating causes the elbow to extend such that the upper arm and forearm are aligned (and at the level of the shoulders).

What does that have to do with a proper definition of arm slot?

Nothing as far as I can tell.

A sidearm slot is a sidearm slot. The delivery may be from higher due to tilt. But the slot is still sidearm.

How many times have you heard coaches & scouts talking - "He looks like he is throwing overhand, but he really is in a 3/4 slot. He just leans a lot."?

I have heard that on many occasions.


I'm gonna leave it at that.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
What does that have to do with a proper definition of arm slot? Nothing as far as I can tell. A sidearm slot is a sidearm slot. The delivery may be from higher due to tilt. But the slot is still sidearm.

The point is that at the end of the day everyone throws "sidearm." Everyone has their pitching arm side upper arm and forearm at the level of their shoulders.

No high level pitcher whose throwing the ball with any speed releases the ball with their elbow bent 90 degrees (which some people think is what happens when someone throws from a 3/4 arm slot).

The only way to get the pitching hand higher off the ground is to tilt the shoulders.

We might just as well say that every pitcher starts with his hand at his waist/chest.

I have never known of anyone who talked about arm slot being the angle of the arm at release, which is what you are doing.

Certainly the arm extends at release. But the arm slot does have an effect on the pitch (what happens prior to release really does matter).

IMO this is a prime example of why you should never use "still" pics. How did each of these players arms get to the split second in time the photos capture ? That will illustrate their respective "slots".

quote:

Originally posted by Yankeelvr:
IMO this is a prime example of why you should never use "still" pics. How did each of these players arms get to the split second in time the photos capture?

Their upper arms were at the level of their shoulders and forearms were laid back horizontally with their elbows bent 90 degrees (e.g. extrenally rotated). Their elbows then rapidly extended 90 or so degrees (as their shoulders started to decelerate) to the position you see in the photos above.

And this one???

quote:

Originally posted by Texan: I have never known of anyone who talked about arm slot being the angle of the arm at release...
Certainly the arm extends at release. But the arm slot does have an effect on the pitch...

What's Mussina's arm slot and what are the determining factors?

Another area for clearification is arm angle and arm slot.

Arm angles are commonly referred to as over-the-top (Mussina), 3/4 (most everyone with varying degrees,) and side arm (R. Johnson.)

Are these arm angle terms totally different than your arm slots?

FYI- the Cabrera picture is bad technique. I would never teach a kid to throw that way because his body will end up pulling his arm through.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
And this one???

Pretty standard.

Shoulders pretty much level. Elbow at level of the shoulders. Hand is higher than the shoulder-shoulder-elbow line but there could be a couple of reasons for that.

First, the elbow could still be extending. Second, many pitchers have decreased range of motion in their pitching arm side elbow (which is why many cannot brush their teeth or comb their hair). Wood's elbow could be fully extended at this point.