Matsuda Slow Motion

[kibadbo]

-3 and -5 big barrel wood bats, heck yeah, I'm in!

I could use a break from the $350 bat prices. But I know they would just think of a way to make wood bats just as expensive.

 

[radness]

When Anna was 11, 12, 13, she would occasionally let her bad habit of leaping creep back in, not hopping, but leaping, especially when she was pressing! It was minimal but every now and then we'd get "that" ump that leaping was his trigger! Correcting that was a struggle but she / we finally fixed it!

Her first pitching coach used to tell me that when we faced a team where the opposing pitcher was hopping or leaping (and everyone on the bench and all the parents were screaming) to just leave her alone and keep our mouths shut. He said when she starts pitching correctly with proper mechanics she'll start pitching better and faster than she is with her hopping and leaping! He said it was a crutch, not an advantage, I'll always remember him saying that! Right or wrong.....?

Theres that other word 'leaping'
and/or crow hopping.
Either way launching.

Well right or wrong
We can say when given the option to Leap/hop or not there are pitchers who chose one over the other

 

[Gags]

The arm timing is different because of the length of time the men spend in the air between launch and landing. This makes me wonder about the absolutes that are often used here regarding where the arm/hand/ball should be at certain points in the motion. If you look at this pitcher the ball is at about 5 o'clock when he leaves the ground, the standard used here is usually about 3 o'clock. Then on landing the ball is around 8-9 o'clock, 10-11 o'clock is the standard here.

I don't have the video up right now to compare, but I when watched it, I noticed the bend in his throwing arm was greater than probably every other DD video posted here. I mention this b/c I'm wondering if ball position is the wrong visual (metric?) to use? Do you see the same difference when you compare the angle of the humerus (upper arm) b/w the "standard" and Matsuda?

My overall impression from watching the video is that men 'throw' the ball underhand more than the women do and rely less on arm circle speed to generate velocity.

I agree with this - it's the best explanation for what I've been feeling with my own (feeble) attempts at throwing underhand - speed (for me) seems to come from the pull down. Mechanically, it seems more comfortable to almost pause in the K position while waiting for my stride foot to land. Speeding up the front-side of the arm circle seems to utilize more rotator / shoulder muscles and straightens out the arm. (Perhaps the real jump in speed comes from the ability to harness both the arm circle/rotational muscles with the throwing/pull-down muscles?)

I also believe this is reflected in my daughter's throwing - "effortless power" is good way to describe it, especially when she's not using a windup during warmups. At the younger ages, it seems like the HE girls are the ones looking like a windmill, while the IR throwers are able to stay more relaxed.

 

[ArmWhip]

I don't have the video up right now to compare, but I when watched it, I noticed the bend in his throwing arm was greater than probably every other DD video posted here. I mention this b/c I'm wondering if ball position is the wrong visual (metric?) to use? Do you see the same difference when you compare the angle of the humerus (upper arm) b/w the "standard" and Matsuda?


I agree with this - it's the best explanation for what I've been feeling with my own (feeble) attempts at throwing underhand - speed (for me) seems to come from the pull down. Mechanically, it seems more comfortable to almost pause in the K position while waiting for my stride foot to land. Speeding up the front-side of the arm circle seems to utilize more rotator / shoulder muscles and straightens out the arm. (Perhaps the real jump in speed comes from the ability to harness both the arm circle/rotational muscles with the throwing/pull-down muscles?)

I also believe this is reflected in my daughter's throwing - "effortless power" is good way to describe it, especially when she's not using a windup during warmups. At the younger ages, it seems like the HE girls are the ones looking like a windmill, while the IR throwers are able to stay more relaxed.

I went back and looked and since his arm is bent he is even further away from the norm. I have the feeling that he could just slingshot the ball and forget the arm circle. He spends so much time in the air the whole motion has a strange feel to it, like there is a part in the middle that's in slow motion.

There are pictures of the glove in other videos and it has the team name on it, Hirakin.

 

[Quasimodo]

I know nothing about softball pitching but if it is possible to have the proper mechanics and leap then the advantage would be you are releasing the ball closer to home plate..right?

The pitching distance is 43 feet. Let’s assume for arguments sake, that the release point, or the hip, is typically about 37 feet from home plate at release and the stride about 7 feet long makes the front foot land at 36 feet, one foot closer to home plate than the release point.

The question is, how much speed does adding 1/2 foot, or 6 inches to the stride length and release position add? Will 58mph become 60mph? Is the “shove the glove” invested in quicker legs, or just a longer stride?

Well that extra .5 foot is 1/72 of the remaining total distance to the plate.

Lets assume for arguments sake that the stride speed stays the same, and there is no predictable loss in the time it takes to get the ball to release, then you would increase the speed by what? In truth, if the stride speed, the time it takes the front foot to get down is the same, you would at best have a distancre advantage of .5 feet, but what about an increase in pitch speed? That is not the case unless the pushoff becomes stronger, faster. Otherwise you are going backward in the quest for speed if the release time increases with the increased distance. The only payoff is going to be the batter loses about 1/2 foot in reaction time. Think about this! Is stride length the key?

There are 5 things as a pitcher that stride mechanics can affect.

1. Pitch speed
2. Pitch control
3. Pitch height
4. Pitch movement
5. Endurance plus or minus

I am sure I missed something

In general, a longer stride does not help at all, because the arm circle is directly tied, dependent, on the leg’s required time to get to a balanced release position over the front foot. In reality the longer the stride, the longer the time frame it takes to get to the release position. It is impossible for them to work independently! Often the hips are lifted in an arc to create a longer stride just to achieve the increased length. That increases the time it takes to achieve the added six or twelve inches. So what is the key to increasing speed? Sure, maturity is a part of it, but what if your 19 year old Sophomore in college is throwing 58mph and her colleagues are throwing 62?

The answer is somewhat counter intuitive. The reality is that pitch speed is at least mainly directly related to arm-circle speed. If the legs do not close faster, then the arm can not spin faster. Leave out the IR and other elements and work with fixed input or elements that apply to everyone.

I try to get my pitchers to combine a stride and create an arm circle that are matched, but the leg speed must be created near the maximum tolerance that the arm can handle.

Reverse the logic. How do you increase throwing speed over-hand? Take an outfielder into consideration while catching a fly ball. Set up behind, quick footwork with a strong, fast projection toward the target increasing throwing velocity. You don’t walk through it. The throw is connected to the leg speed. What if you could decrease the time it takes your arm to go around that 30’ arm circle? Say the stride to release currently takes 0.4 seconds. What if you could decrease the time by 10%? If you did, and your pitcher threw 58mph, then the speed would increase by 5.8mph. Now your pitcher is throwing 64mph.

The stride is 7 feet as I posed. So reduce that stride by 6-8 inches. That isn’t a 1/72 improvement by adding stride distance, but a 1/14th to 1/10th improvement in arm speed. Again, the length of time invested in the stride should be matched to the maximum controlled arm-circle speed.

That is what shortening the stride, to a power focused release can do. Because the arm speed is tied completely to leg speed. I believe in “shoving the glove”. But I don’t believe in it as a tool to increase stride distance, but for stride speed.

Look at Rachael Garcia and how long it takes her to get over her front foot!
I also focus on creating speed separation, or mechanical separation between the arm and legs, loading up at the end of the arm swing in any positive change. That is what men are doing with their pause out front and above with the arms and pitching hand.

Hitting and pitching are physics! Prove me wrong.

 

[_MIA_]

The pitching distance is 43 feet. Let’s assume for arguments sake, that the release point, or the hip, is typically about 37 feet from home plate at release and the stride about 7 feet long makes the front foot land at 36 feet, one foot closer to home plate than the release point.

The question is, how much speed does adding 1/2 foot, or 6 inches to the stride length and release position add? Will 58mph become 60mph? Is the “shove the glove” invested in quicker legs, or just a longer stride?

Well that extra .5 foot is 1/72 of the remaining total distance to the plate.

Lets assume for arguments sake that the stride speed stays the same, and there is no predictable loss in the time it takes to get the ball to release, then you would increase the speed by what? In truth, if the stride speed, the time it takes the front foot to get down is the same, you would at best have a distancre advantage of .5 feet, but what about an increase in pitch speed? That is not the case unless the pushoff becomes stronger, faster. Otherwise you are going backward in the quest for speed if the release time increases with the increased distance. The only payoff is going to be the batter loses about 1/2 foot in reaction time. Think about this! Is stride length the key?

There are 5 things as a pitcher that stride mechanics can affect.

1) Pitch speed

2) Pitch control

3) Pitch height

4) Pitch movement

5) Endurance plus or minus

I am sure I missed something



In general, a longer stride does not help at all, because the arm circle is directly tied, dependent, on the leg’s required time to get to a balanced release position over the front foot. In reality the longer the stride, the longer the time frame it takes to get to the release position. It is impossible for them to work independently! Often the hips are lifted in an arc to create a longer stride just to achieve the increased length. That increases the time it takes to achieve the added six or twelve inches. So what is the key to increasing speed? Sure, maturity is a part of it, but what if your 19 year old Sophomore in college is throwing 58mph and her colleagues are throwing 62?

The answer is somewhat counter intuitive. The reality is that pitch speed is at least mainly directly related to arm-circle speed. If the legs do not close faster, then the arm can not spin faster. Leave out the IR and other elements and work with fixed input or elements that apply to everyone.

I try to get my pitchers to combine a stride and create an arm circle that are matched, but the leg speed must be created near the maximum tolerance that the arm can handle.

Reverse the logic. How do you increase throwing speed over-hand? Take an outfielder into consideration while catching a fly ball. Set up behind, quick footwork with a strong, fast projection toward the target increasing throwing velocity. You don’t walk through it. The throw is connected to the leg speed. What if you could decrease the time it takes your arm to go around that 30’ arm circle? Say the stride to release currently takes 0.4 seconds. What if you could decrease the time by 10%? If you did, and your pitcher threw 58mph, then the speed would increase by 5.8mph. Now your pitcher is throwing 64mph.

The stride is 7 feet as I posed. So reduce that stride by 6-8 inches. That isn’t a 1/72 improvement by adding stride distance, but a 1/14th to 1/10th improvement in arm speed. Again, the length of time invested in the stride should be matched to the maximum controlled arm-circle speed.

That is what shortening the stride, to a power focused release can do. Because the arm speed is tied completely to leg speed. I believe in “shoving the glove”. But I don’t believe in it as a tool to increase stride distance, but for stride speed.

Look at Rachael Garcia and how long it takes her to get over her front foot!

Hitting and pitching are physics! Prove me wrong.

You responded to my 1 sentence post with the second coming of War and Peace..impressive

I am assuming your response was an attempt to show that the qualifier in my statement isn't possible?

 

[Quasimodo]

I also believe this is reflected in my daughter's throwing - "effortless power" is good way to describe it, especially when she's not using a windup during warmups. At the younger ages, it seems like the HE girls are the ones looking like a windmill, while the IR throwers are able to stay more relaxed.

I believe this too, but I also termed it in my last post as separating the arm from the stride a little to increase that whip at the end. That time the legs set from start to finish is a pie that can be divided into pieces that are not all the same size. I want the biggest piece of arm speed at the end.

 

[Quasimodo]

You responded to my 1 sentence post with the second coming of War and Peace..impressive

I am assuming your response was an attempt to show that the qualifier in my statement isn't possible?

Well War and Peace was just about as impossible to follow as my so called logic! What I am saying is coaches should stop focusing on how long the stride is, and focus on arm speed which is limited by the time it takes to get into a release position. More time to the release point means less arm speed. So in a way it sort of is a "treatise", ha ha, on that issue.

 

[_MIA_]

Well War and Peace was just about as impossible to follow as my so called logic! What I am saying is coaches should stop focusing on how long the stride is, and focus on arm speed which is limited by the time it takes to get into a release position. So in a way it sort of is a "treatise", ha ha, on that issue.

Ok, well all I was saying was that all other things being equal, a closer release point is an advantage. No need to be
John von Neumann to understand the math behind that

 

[Quasimodo]

Ok, well all I was saying was that all other things being equal, a closer release point is an advantage. No need to be
John von Neumann to understand the math behind that

And I admitted that. In fact I said it was a 1/72nd decrease in response time on the part of the batter IF . . . . .
the shorter distance (6 inches) was created by increased push-off creating equivalence of time equal to the original stride so as not to slow down the arm circle.