Drive Mechanics

[javasource]

Touchdown - Part I

It’s an interesting revelation that a few of you assumed the subject of this post would be in reference to the position of the arm on plant…

The arm circle is so dominate in the minds of pitchers and parents – and although arm position is important – it’s not the focus of this post… sorry! (I’ll get to that soon in the Timing posts) This post will deal with the position of the foot on plant. I know… it may not seem nearly as glorious – but how we ‘deal’ with the shock of over 200% of our body weight is just as important – and sets the ‘foundation’ of our whip phase. This is a teachable subject matter, too.

Ever hear someone say to land “toe first”, “heel first”, or “flat-footed”? I’ve heard a pretty steady dose of all three… and sadly they are often incorrectly advocating something they know nothing about. Which is fine - at times… but most of you know that I’m an information junkie… and if you’re reading this entire thread… there’s a chance you are, too.

Before we get into the differences in the foot striking patterns (touchdown) – it’s important to review some key concepts. Remember, our goal is to create a catapulting system from the ground-up…and this is only possible if our body is put into a positive position to harness this collision of energy. Hopefully, you’ve read and understand the importance of conditioning these muscles… and hopefully… you appreciate that trying to support 300 pounds of force on a single leg will require conditioning and controlled striding.

You should also know that our goal is NOT to turn 100% of the 200+% of available energy into ball speed. Our goal is to efficiently transfer as much lateral force as possible to the ball without sacrificing control of our body. This may sound like an odd proposition (not focusing on the vertical forces)… and if you want to continue this conversation… feel free to ask more...

For now, suffice it to say that our pelvic region is a pre-stressed system… and like a spoked bicycle wheel – our tension and support comes from the top of our leg… not the bottom (even though ground forces are imposed into our body from the bottom). So, when our stride foot contacts the ground, it should reduce the tension in the lower leg… and increase the tension support in the upper leg/hip. Excessive vertical forces can do the opposite, and are viewed as negative by many. This was tough to find, but take a look at the illustration:

If you want to feel this support tension, here is a quick primer on the ‘trochanter and iliac bone’ or what some people call the iliac crest - with a simple illustration:

Put your finger where the trochanter meets the iliac crest, and take a few steps. You'll feel this pre-stressed system and the tension... I’ll leave it at that for now… getting into biotensegrity is confusing… and on the surface… too much information (even for junkies, like me).

So, if we have destabilized joints, misalignment, and muscular imbalances – the ground reaction forces – coupled with gravity - will perpetuate what many call a ‘degenerative cycle’. An interesting quote on the matter:

“However, when a total body clinical assessment is performed in a softball pitcher who has sustained an overuse injury to the upper extremity, it is almost guaranteed that the individual will display a lack of pelvic stability, which will be evident in weakness of the lumbopelvic-hip complex, as well as decreased scapular stability. - Marion J.L. Alexander, PhD”

As mentioned, a key concept is that the 'goal' when you drive off the plate is to transfer weight forward – all of it. Those that over-perpetuate ‘reverse posture’ often do more harm than good. In the last post, we talked about hip adduction torque being a non-weighted move – and retaining weight on the drive foot can, and often will, eliminate it. The hips should close half way and hold this position through release (read: 45 degrees).

Retaining weight on the rear foot will eliminate this ‘controlled release environment’… and will cause a disconnection in the torso AND/OR make it too active… in ways that do not enhance the pitch. We’ll get more into this when we get to the Posture posts – but I introduce the concept… so that you are reminded that we DO want all the weight/momentum to come forward… we just need to learn to control and utilize it.

Okay, some basics have been covered... now it's time to talk about the specific foot striking patterns that can occur on Touchdown... (just waiting on the next Boston album...)

 

[javasource]

Touchdown – Part 2

As mentioned in the previous post, there are three striking patterns; heel strike, midfoot strike and forefoot strike. I’m all about putting the body in the right positions – and this post will go in to detail about what happens to your body naturally when you use these three. I could just say - do this, not this (as I’m sure some people would prefer) – but IMO, that doesn’t answer WHY. If I’m going to tell my DD or some other DD to do something, I want to know why it’s best – and not secretly hope everything is going to be ok. Here they are, illustrated... note the directions of the ground reaction forces:

Heel Striking - Simply put, don’t teach it, and don’t encourage it. Doing so results in body articulations that we do not desire - as well as multiplicative trauma to the skeletal and nervous system.

I bring it up first… because some of you may make the connection with achieving a dorsiflexed ankle in the OP… and believe you must maintain this position throughout the stride. You do not. Once the foot passes in front of the stride knee, it’s ok if it doesn’t maintain dorsiflexion; its job of activating the glutes, quads, calf muscles, and Achilles has been accomplished.

Here comes the WHY… With heel strikes - the toes curl inwards and then the midfoot and forefoot are subsequently weighted; a rolling forward motion.

• On impact, the resulting plantarflex (toes down) results in the arch of the foot not loading – and Achilles and calf muscle shortening… we want lengthening… or stretch.

• As the forefoot contacts the ground, the knee and hip will continue to flex (not desired)

• The heel strike does not utilize or gain (as much) from Newton’s # 2, and the momentum of our body continues forward… often resulting in substantial ‘forward lean’…

• The foot and lower leg come to a dead stop, and a large amount of stress is put on the knee – and this impact breaks the kinetic chain… it is absorbed in the lower leg.

• It creates what is known as a ‘high impact transient’… i.e. a car hitting a concrete wall… increasing the risk of injury significantly. We do want to collide with the ground - but the impulse (which, for you science buffs is the Mass times Change in Velocity) cannot be too sudden. We need to lengthen the impulse, instead.

• A high impact transient causes a shock-wave up through the body via the skeletal system.

• The rolling effect of heel to toe that happens - when coupled with the horizontal inertia, is a really poor braking mechanism – and often impacts the timing of the pitch negatively. It will also magnify muscular imbalances in the hip and/or pre-existing weakness in the medial longitudinal arch.

So, in summary – The heel strike breaks the kinetic chain – terminating the upward forces we could gain from - at the knee. The lateral forces do not get absorbed (as much) and our upper body will want to continue forward. Lastly, the muscles and ligaments are not ‘primed’ in this position – and the resulting trauma in our skeletal system will prevent the stabilization of our pelvis from occurring… which prevents the scapula from stabilizing...

Lastly, another great side-effect of reading all of this, is that you just learned one of the largest sources of shin-splints. Sharp heel striking causes most of the impact to be absorbed in the lower leg… and the repetitive magnitude of these strikes lead to this pain… This is why many runners, soccer players, and even some ball players experience these painful side effects of utilizing poor foot strike mechanics.

Forefoot Striking – This is the exact opposite of heel striking – and although we do lose some of the impact force potential – this position allows for control of the vertical and lateral reactions. This is where you start. Here’s the why…

• As you land, the ankle will dorsiflex (toes up, heel down). The arch becomes loaded (or begins to stretch and flatten).

• The heel comes down under the control of the Achilles and the calf muscles (which are on stretch)

• The heel and lower leg will continue to fall under control, keeping the kinetic chain intact.

• The impact transient is nearly ZERO – which your spine thanks you for.

• Believe it or not, the rear foot (drive) momentum can be and is converted into rotational momentum. This is not possible with a heel strike – as the momentum is absorbed by the collision force.

• This ‘gentle’ landing will allow for the body’s center of mass to continue moving downward – allowing the proximal leg muscles the opportunity to do their work (quads and such) – and allowing the catapulting mechanism to take place.

As you can see, the forefoot strike allows for the proper sequence of muscle activations and cushions the high impact forces. There aren’t many downsides to this method – and I firmly believe this is the place to start all beginners. The impact muscle sequence will become ‘trained’ and eventually – you can move more into a midfoot strike…

Some of you may be quick to point out that many – if not the majority of - world-class pitchers utilize more of a midfoot strike. Eventually, I get more of my students to use the midfoot strike, too. But, this is a trained movement – and the body must develop the strength and posturing that enables proper use of a midfoot strike – so that all the negative traits that accompany heel striking are not present. Truthfully, although it may appear to be midfoot, it’s usually just a lesser forefoot angle.

Lastly, when teaching it… the best point of impact is the inside of the ‘ball’ of the foot… that protrusion you see below the big toe…

Midfoot Striking: We’ve already started talking about this one… Many bucket dads and moms are too impatient… Although I’m a firm believer in modeling professional pitchers, we must understand that the movements that they perform are ingrained, trained, and a result of thousands of positive repetitions. Certain movements that they perform are arrived at through a gradual process… and I believe that this is one of those…

Midfoot strikes are – the space in between – or a continuum between heel strikes and forefoot strikes. The key to properly utilizing a midfoot plant is to develop the ‘muscle memory’ involved in forefoot strikes – because this determines where the center of pressure is at impact. It also helps determine how stiff the knee and ankle are at impact.

You can and should utilize a quasi-forefront/midfoot plant – as it is better for timing, but learn to land with forefoot – with a low impact transient first. Almost all that start with a midfoot plant, become encumbered with ALL of the negative heel strike traits, because anatomically – this is the angle the foot will travel to the ground. The larger surface area of a properly utilized midfoot strike also reduces the stress on the foot and ankle.

Next up - Stride Foot Angle…

 

[Rick Pauly]

This thread needs to become one of those sticky subjects....very good stuff!

 

[JJsqueeze]

I agree....I think you should boycott this thread and don't read or post in it anymore OILF, that'll show em.

 

[MonkeyAbs]

Good stuff JS, keep it coming. Devil is in the details!

 

[Boomers2012]

I agree....I think you should boycott this thread and don't read or post in it anymore OILF, that'll show em.

Lol! I agree with ya JJ.

 

[3DD'sDAD]

Yes.



Cool observations, you make some good points.

Conversely (to staying too closed), many young pitchers reach with their legs and open too much, too early. The result of this is even more painful to watch....

1) Their drive foot turns out towards 2nd base, on their heel...
2) Their stride foot plants at a negative angle beyond the 'powerline'
3) Their legs are so far apart, that the legs cannot close at all (read: split)
4) The ball gets lost behind their back, they pitch across their body... and then their parent wonder why their shoulder is sore... and typically are still wondering how the thousands of dollars they spent on "open-style" pitching mechanics have landed them on IR... and I don't mean internal rotation, either...

Not condemning getting open... that's important, to a literal 'degree'... but I will not ever support staying open...

Marion Alexander, PhD says:



Just some added thoughts to your great comment, Rope. Thanks!

A question. The quote above suggests that the hips/torso are facing the batter at release. Don't they close immediately after release? If I am reading this correctly this seems to contravene the teachings of others here. I am confused but it is New Years Eve

 

[javasource]

A question. The quote above suggests that the hips/torso are facing the batter at release. Don't they close immediately after release?

Good observation. As the quote didn't show up in your post... here it is again:

The stride onto the front foot should not be too long; as if the stride is too long the pitcher will be unable to fully rotate the hips and trunk to the position facing the batter at release.

I used this quote to point out that stride length can prohibit movement of the torso... namely the negative influence it creates on the drive leg.

Real quick note: 0-degrees is closed. 90-degrees is open. Safe to say 45 is in the middle... I don't like generalizing... but the majority of pitchers out there release with hips at or less than 45... and in this position, the shoulders will definitely give the appearance of facing the batter...

I shoot for getting to 45 during the release phase (9-6)... which usually results in the shoulders being less at release of the ball.

This may contravene other 'open-style' teachings... but to me it's one of those Hansen principles... Do what the best do, not necessarily what they teach.

 

[starsnuffer]

Good observation. As the quote didn't show up in your post... here it is again:



I used this quote to point out that stride length can prohibit movement of the torso... namely the negative influence it creates on the drive leg.

Real quick note: 0-degrees is closed. 90-degrees is open. Safe to say 45 is in the middle... I don't like generalizing... but the majority of pitchers out there release with hips at or less than 45... and in this position, the shoulders will definitely give the appearance of facing the batter...

I shoot for getting to 45 during the release phase (9-6)... which usually results in the shoulders being less at release of the ball.

This may contravene other 'open-style' teachings... but to me it's one of those Hansen principles... Do what the best do, not necessarily what they teach.

I'd be careful with this. Many pitchers close the shoulders AFTER the release. Some start closing the shoulders and release while their shoulders are in motion. This has a lot more to do with the twisting and resisting strength in the core and how much muscle strength the pitcher is trying to use. For many, they will view the follow through rather then the relaase when they apply their own "Hansen principles". A lot of old guys focus more on what happens after and what they can see what their eyeballs vs. what actually happens. More importantly, however, is that when you are trying to teach a resisting principle, you generally want to under-emphasize the movement to the student. While I agree that 45 degrees is what the best use, if you tell a student this they'll overshoot their target and end up more closed then open. If you emphasize that they stay more open, they'll end up at 45 degrees.

It's important to understand that explaining exactly what happens isn't always the best way to teach what happens.

-W

 

[javasource]

Many pitchers close the shoulders AFTER the release.

Yep. It's a result of momentum and follow-through.

Some start closing the shoulders and release while their shoulders are in motion.

Yep. Not preferred. In younger pitchers, this is quite common. They lack the core strength and/or try to muscle-through the pitch.

A lot of old guys focus more on what happens after and what they can see what their eyeballs vs. what actually happens.

There has been lots of talk of old people lately... Still in my thirties... hope that doesn't put me in that category... lol

While I agree that 45 degrees is what the best use, if you tell a student this they'll overshoot their target and end up more closed then open. If you emphasize that they stay more open, they'll end up at 45 degrees.

It's important to understand that explaining exactly what happens isn't always the best way to teach what happens.

I don't think I said I teach 45 (and if I did somewhere, it was figurative)... but you're exactly right in regards to modifying teaching instructions... so that the result is an evolution into a modeled product.

This said, and I'm sure this will raise the hair of someone I'd rather not hear from... Hips and shoulders at 45 is something I don't teach or ever really say to a student. Instead, I just make sure I put them into the correct positions so that something near a stabilized 45 is happening at release.

Another great observation and post SS. I like your thoughts and it's cool that you point this stuff out... it shows you process stuff and think before you speak - and POSITIVELY contribute... just wish that was a universal thing...

Good segue, too! The stride foot angle post is something I have to get moving on...