Longer leg stride does not increase pitch speed, but it does decrease the pitching distance, which decreases the batters reaction time.
Height in Relationship to Pitching
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Longer leg stride does not increase pitch speed, but it does decrease the pitching distance, which decreases the batters reaction time.
- Jun 18, 2010
- 2,623
- 38
I agree, however, every once in a while you'll see a size/speed difference in baseball and softball pitchers.
Yordano Ventura
5' 11"
180lbs
Fastball 102mph
Madison Bumgarner
6'5"
235
Fastball 95mph
Does Yordano have better mechanics than Bumgarner?
- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
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Is this an IR thing? I admittedly don't understand IR. I leave the instruction up to her coach so I haven't looked into it much. I hear her use terms such as arm whip and I haven't heard "Hello Elbow" since 10U so I suspect she's doing something simliar to IR, but I really don't know.
Whatever the method, my understanding is that a large portion of the pitching speed comes from the legs. Longer legs, more powerful stride, more speed? What am I missing?
Building on that concept, the length of the glide is twice as effective as the length of the stride.
- Dec 20, 2012
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Well he maybe right. Less distance or ball to travel, so ball is subject to less drag, less drag would give more speed. It may be so miniscule that you wouldnt notice but in theory he is probably right.
- Feb 7, 2013
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- 48
Jennie Finch has a big stride and frequently reached the front of the circle. She also has a long wing span, created a big arm circle, and pitched at speeds of over 70mph. Very good technique but I would venture a guess that she would have topped out in the mid-60's or less had she been 1/2 foot shorter.
Maybe harsh, but the chart doesn't show anything other than numbers that may or (more likely) may not have anything to do with each other. It's not exactly a scientific study.
Softball Pitching at the 1996 Olympic Games
Read the above. The highest arm speed isn't the fastest pitch, and the findings actually state that to increase pitch speed, arm speed needs to come down: "At the instant of ball release, pitchers with great arm speeds tended to have lower ball velocities. Therefore, it appears that the arm circle needs to slow down prior to ball release for optimal ball speed." It appears to obliquely refer to resistance and the whip/IR.
Looking at #17 there: lowest windmill speed, highest pitch speed. Now check out #1: highest or 2nd highest windmill speed, one of the lowest pitch speeds.
I can't find the raw data for this anywhere, but to me the implications are clear: technique is the most important factor. Interesting to me that pitcher size wasn't a factor, and I'm wondering why the authors didn't consider it.
- Nov 18, 2013
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Very cool study. And I agree, the link I gave is in no way scientific.
It is interesting that the study didn't consider a pitchers size. It does appear that taller pitchers tend to be faster and I always thought longer levers were a contributing factor. I know mechanics are #1, but it would seem that two pitchers with equal mechanics that the ball would be faster from the taller pitcher. Perhaps that's not the case.
MN...I do think you are correct in thinking a taller girl with longer levers would be faster than the shorter girl if they had the exact same mechanics. Some just pointed out that the longer stride does not make the pitch faster...it just makes the reaction time shorter. Strong use of the legs are vital to the pitch IMO though.
