The Legal Rock Back - increasing speed

This is a chapter of one of my books. This will not be applicable to pitchers that use the double-pump wind up. It is a method to increase forward momentum speed. The softball phrase "Rock and Fire", this is where it came from and that saying has been around alot longer than me.

I hope you find it useful.

Coach Hal
Sneaky Softball Pitching | Unconventional Tactics to Dominate Hitters



THE LEGAL ROCK BACK ã 1999,2001

There is a section in every rulebook that refers to rocking or the rocking motion.

When a pitcher gets ready to start their forward momentum they will lean back and shift their weight to the non-pivot foot. They will then lean forward a little and transfer their weight to the pivot foot as they begin their push off. Doing this gives you a little extra push because your body is already traveling forward before you even start to push off the rubber.

Rocking is when you lean backwards and lift your pivot foot OFF the pitcher's rubber, start your forward momentum, then bring your pivot foot back down for the push off. It is an illegal action because you are losing contact with the rubber. The phrase, 'Rock and fire', has been shouted to pitchers for a lot longer than you and I have been around the sport. It is an advantage to the pitcher, as long as it is done correctly and legally.
When you lean back you must keep the ball of your pivot foot in contact with the front top edge of the rubber. This keeps the pivot points in line with each other. You lift the heel of your pivot foot and extend your foot by straightening your ankle. Doing this allows you to lean way back.

YOUR DRIVE LEG IS NOW A COUNTER-BALANCE FOR YOUR BODY WEIGHT as you are leaning back. The center of your body weight is now BEHIND the rubber instead of directly over it.

Now you lean forward and pivot on your pivot leg while keeping the knee slightly bent and the ball of the foot in contact with the front top edge of the pitcher's rubber.

Once you start your body coming forward, you bring the heel of the pivot foot back down and push off the front edge of the rubber with the ball of your foot.

Now, here is the big secret; you don't start your push off until the center of your body weight has traveled PAST THE FRONT OF THE RUBBER! Doing this allows for straight forward energy/momentum and eliminates almost all upward force in the push off. The farther forward you can bring the center of your body weight before pushing off, the longer your stride length potential.

This is why a leap and drag pitcher gets the longest stride, the strongest push off and the smoothest motions. The smoother your motions, THE FASTER YOU CAN THROW!

The closer to the batter you can release the ball, the less time they have. Doing this will definitely add to your stride length and speed and that is always an advantage for the pitcher. You must be very aware of your pivot foot and make certain it stays in contact with the rubber.

Occasionally, even the best pitchers will lean a little too far back and the pivot foot will come up off the rubber. When this happens, you must keep your hands together and immediately take a backward step off the rubber. Step back with both feet, THEN separate your hands and start over. This does happen every once in awhile, even to me.

Here is a video of the footwork when using the legal rock back

Question here that might be a bit specific but you thread here got me thinking about DD's "initial lean". You video here just shows the feet but I am wondering what the best way to "lean" is.

There are two ways to get into the lean => One is to fall forward. The second is to use your abs and pull your body down/forward.

Do you guys that study deep into the pitching motion have anything to say about this lean-initiation difference?

My concern is that after viewing DD's motion that she mostly pulls with her abs to get the lean started. In doing a "pull" to get the lean it appears that it doesn't allow the fullest of all her body weight to get past the rubber before push.

I thinkat our next workout I am going to have her try "falling" into a lean more than "pulling" with her abs and see what happens.

(hope this made sense.....)

RB, the center of gravity must be forward of the feet. Most kids mess up because when they pull their body down/forward, they stick their butt out and put their arms back, keeping their center of gravity exactly where it was before. This accomplishes absolutely nothing besides expending additional energy and creating long-term back pain.

The center of gravity is about 3-6 inches beneath the belly button on most people. This is about where the hips are, maybe slightly above. To make things easier, understand that the HIPS have to move forward compared to where the feet are. The upper body is much less relevant and paying attention to it instead of the hips will just confuse things and you'll end up with what I mentioned in the first paragraph.

-W

Kinda interesting: 2009

RB, just brought back a post from early last year called the fall forward drill that should help

I really like the two videos that Carly made demonstrating the proper and improper ways to load. FFS made gif's of them but I can't seem to find them.

-W

Here's a thread that had Carly's gif:
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/11802-video-2.html#post139106

OK this is starting to come together in my head here,... maybe - thanks for all the great help.

Like you stated in that thread Ken I would have liked to have seen the video there progress into the drag phase.

What I think I am starting to conclude is that DD here could gain a little stride-speed (maybe) by stopping the butt moving back in the initial motion. I am thinking now that the butt, and its weight, go back and they never progress fast enough forward across the rubber to fully allow the leg push to push against the mass of the butt. (which is what I think you want for maximum push speed). DD's push-leg is pushing her body in a bit of a "V" yet (as viewed from the side).

A potentially goofy analogy my brain goes to is this : if you want to push a straw into the cover of a drink cup do you want to push it with a bend in it or do you want to push it with the straw being completely straight? The straw-push is much stronger when it's straight. I am now thinking that the leg-push should be pushing against a more straight body and not one where the butt is dragging and inducing a bend in the body.

Am I making sense?

Related question => In what angle should the hips be in at the initial rubber push? My DD appears to be completely closed at initial push followed by getting to fully open at the K part of the motion. Should the initial part of the push have a "partially-open" angle as I think I am seeing now in some other pitchers?

I don't care for a deep bend at the waist when loading, but if you watch a lot of video, you'll see it is not uncommon. I like to think lean, or fall into the drive along with a bend/load onto the pivot leg. I kinda like Coach Hillhouse's teaching to start tall with the shoulders back prior to the drive.

Interesting question about the initial hip angle. For me it is a non-teach. My thinking is that you feel/think square and hard to the catcher, then the other mechanics act to open the body up as they do their thing. In watching some of the Japan pitchers in the video above, I noticed that about half cock the pivot foot a little which opens the hips a touch at initial drive.