- Jun 16, 2008
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Cheri Kempf does concede that the shorter stride will decrease speed, but her emphasis on learning and teaching it is that you must have the correct angles.
Pitching, both overhand and underhand, is a systems problem and an intent problem. Cat and Finch are about the same height and both stride out around 8 feet, but throw at different speeds. My opinion is that this is primarily because they have different intent: one is a finesse pitcher and the other a power pitcher. Comparing them presents a number of difficulties similar to comparing Greg Maddox to Billy Wagner in their primes. One is trying to throw a 100 mph while the other is spotting pitches. You can look at the mechanics and spot similarities and difference, but what may appear to be a flaw in one may be a difference in intent. It is virtually impossible to discern intent from looking at mechanics alone.
The web page referenced earlier makes three points that are all reasonable, but really don't mean much as they are too vague. Pitching as a systems problem requires one to think of the whole system even when considering isolated parts of the system such as stride length.
Looking at the three points begs more questions than it answers.
(1) a powerful push-off from the pitching rubber: Someone competing in the long jump has a powerful push off, but they prepare their body differently and produce different results. So, a powerful push off is meaningless if you don't prepare the system properly.
(2) a strong, fast, and long stride: It is very easy to leap fast and long, but it doesn't guarantee you'll pitch faster. In fact, it can cause you to decelerate at release because you have spent your energy early and the system is out of synch at release.
(3) a push-back against the stride leg as the pitching arm comes down through the release point: I'd be willing to bet that this, by itself, could generate a dozen pages of discussion.
Additionally, looking at stills of pitchers at various points in the motion is of limited value because it doesn't tell you what the system is doing. A pitcher can stride out to 8 feet, look great at the 12 O'clock position and throw 50 mph. Did they break down after that point or did they never have a chance because of how they got to the great looking position while striding 8 feet.
The point is that the stride, just like in hitting and overhand pitching, should be viewed as a systems problem: the real purpose of the stride is to give the body time and space to dynamically prepare for the intent.
Rick, do you have any examples or clips you can post?