Thread: For All You I/R Pitching Junkies........

7 3/4 Minutes of I/R Super Slo-Mo Men........Enjoy!

Guess I am a junkie. Fantastic! Thanks.

Not exactly what I wanted for christmas but I guess it will do.
Thats pretty cool thanks

BM-

Question about the first pitcher in the video – I noticed that he falls off to the left after release – is this just due to the pitch (riseball I think) or just how he finishes? I ask because I have a 13 YO tall lanky lefty student who does the same thing on her rise/drop/ change, especially on her rise and I have not been able to correct it with the usual fixes. Do you see this as a problem (falling off )or am I placing too much emphasis on correcting this.

Also, here is some feedback for you on IR. About a year ago I inherited a 14 YO athletic pitcher who had been taking lessons from someone for 5 years. We began working hard on IR drills and scrapped her weak curve and screw in favor of developing a rise / drop. She is very bright and understood the necessity of IR for her to progress and how proper IR ball position throughout the circle facilitates both the rise and drop. She is a different pitcher now, throws harder and is developing a usable, legitimate rise. She has gone from very average at best to someone who will play in college at some level.

So, thanks for sharing the IR principles. I never gave them nearly enough emphasis until your postings.

These IR discussion have been very good and its has open my eyes quite a bit. I have gotten where I can throw a FB, drop, curve, and even a change using it, but I can't figure out how to get the proper spin for a rise or a screw using IR. It seems to me that to throw these pitches you actually need an external rotation. Am I wrong or can someone enlighten me? BTW I am not a pitcher, just one of those goofy pitcher's dad that has learned just enough to almost put me in the crazy dad catagory.

Originally Posted by sjsss

BM-

Question about the first pitcher in the video – I noticed that he falls off to the left after release – is this just due to the pitch (riseball I think) or just how he finishes? I ask because I have a 13 YO tall lanky lefty student who does the same thing on her rise/drop/ change, especially on her rise and I have not been able to correct it with the usual fixes. Do you see this as a problem (falling off )or am I placing too much emphasis on correcting this.

"After Release" is the key phrase here. The first pitcher is shown twice. Once from the side throwing a rise, where his redirect is not very pronounced. And then from the front where he is throwing what looks to be a drop curve, where his redirect is more pronounced.

During his drop curve (front view), he is purposefully stepping across the line of force and keeping his hips open longer to allow his arm swing to be directed across to the front thigh. The energy developed with his throwing arm is pulling him toward that side because his hips never move the energy forward toward the target. So he is doing this on purpose.

In the case of your student, if she is stepping over the line to stay open from the target in order to throw across the front thigh, it will take her momentum toward that side. Some pitchers have more success using this technique then shutting the hips closed hard toward the direction of the curve. If she isn't losing velocity, and it's moving well I wouldn't worry about it.

You mentioned it being more pronounced on the rise. Again, keeping the hips open from the target allows the throwing hand to stay open and get under the ball while keeping the laces perpendicular to the target more efficiently. If the hips remain open, the energy generated from the arm swing can be redirected toward the open side. The only fear is IF the redirection occurs DURING release vs. after. If the energy redircts during release, then obviously power can be lost, as well as causing an inconsistancy in pitch direction toward the inside. If inside rise or screw is the goal, it's not necessarilly a bad thing.

Also, here is some feedback for you on IR. About a year ago I inherited a 14 YO athletic pitcher who had been taking lessons from someone for 5 years. We began working hard on IR drills and scrapped her weak curve and screw in favor of developing a rise / drop. She is very bright and understood the necessity of IR for her to progress and how proper IR ball position throughout the circle facilitates both the rise and drop. She is a different pitcher now, throws harder and is developing a usable, legitimate rise. She has gone from very average at best to someone who will play in college at some level.

So, thanks for sharing the IR principles. I never gave them nearly enough emphasis until your postings.

My Pleasure.........

Outside of creating my own pitching DVD, it's the best way I know to get the word out to all the coaches out there trying to help kids be the best they can be.........Now if we could just get some of the "worlds best pitching coaches" out there to start teaching kids properly, and get rid of those rediculous "kneel down flip up under the thigh drills", and "push-down wave-up" mechanics, we'd have a lot more really good pitchers out there........

BM - excellent posts as always. Can you explain exactly what you mean by improper "push-down wave-up" mechanics. Just want to make sure our PC is not teaching my DD improper mechanics.

Originally Posted by sjsss

Also, here is some feedback for you on IR. About a year ago I inherited a 14 YO athletic pitcher who had been taking lessons from someone for 5 years. We began working hard on IR drills and scrapped her weak curve and screw in favor of developing a rise / drop. She is very bright and understood the necessity of IR for her to progress and how proper IR ball position throughout the circle facilitates both the rise and drop. She is a different pitcher now, throws harder and is developing a usable, legitimate rise. She has gone from very average at best to someone who will play in college at some level.

So, thanks for sharing the IR principles. I never gave them nearly enough emphasis until your postings.

I must have missed that if it was in the IR thread, what are some of the IR drills?

The first pitcher is Andrew Kirkpatrick, #2 pitcher in the world and from Australia... the gold medal winning team at last year's Men's world. Nicknamed "Cheese" cause he throws so hard. I can ASSURE you all... he does NOT throw a drop curve. Neither does 8/10 of the people who think they do.

Japan used to be at the top of the food chain in men's fastpitch but has fallen off lately as they have imported pitchers (like Cheese) instead of developing their own. I don't think any of these Japanese pitchers (even though this video was made at their national tournament) are their top of the line pitchers, as in National team. If they are, they would get destroyed against the likes of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and USA as nearly all of these pitchers are doing that huge back swing with the hand, exposing the ball and it's grip to the batter. They may as well just tell the hitters what is coming, preferably in English.

Bill

Who would you consider are the top 5 pitchers in the world by their performances as of late?