Overhand throwing: Linear or Rotational?

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Jan 20, 2009
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So as not to hijack a different thread, I am starting a new topic.

It occurs to me that there are numerous references on this board that compare overhand throwing and hitting. In a recent thread a poster wrote:
This where learning to throw OH using step behinds or shuffle steps will help out getting the rotation part down in hitting. The player needs to figure out rotate around the front hip joint and I see the similarities in a good OH throw.

My experience leads me to question this. :confused:
My impulsive nature leads me to post this rather than look it up.:eek:

IMHO, a good swing is more rotational than linear and a good overhand throw is more linear than rotational.

I'll take it one step further, I disagree that the thrower should rotate the hips. Clearly, the upper body should rotate, but the lower body should thrust the hips towards the target (ref: pitcher's power line). This is where I get the linear reference.

My weak argument ends here. I am interested to hear what ye experts have to say.:cool:
 
R

RayR

Guest
So as not to hijack a different thread, I am starting a new topic.

It occurs to me that there are numerous references on this board that compare overhand throwing and hitting. In a recent thread a poster wrote:


My experience leads me to question this. :confused:
My impulsive nature leads me to post this rather than look it up.:eek:

IMHO, a good swing is more rotational than linear and a good overhand throw is more linear than rotational.

I'll take it one step further, I disagree that the thrower should rotate the hips. Clearly, the upper body should rotate, but the lower body should thrust the hips towards the target (ref: pitcher's power line). This is where I get the linear reference.

My weak argument ends here. I am interested to hear what ye experts have to say.:cool:

In a throw as the center of pressure moves to the front foot, the front hip joint acts as the axis for the lower body. There is little to no pressure on the back foot and thus the back hip is free to move around the front hip joint. This is the rotation I was referring to.
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
Nyman once described OH throwing as a ferris wheel on top of a merry go round riding a wagon or train or some such. The train being the forward movement of the stride, the merry go round being the rotation of the pelvis and torso and the ferris wheel being the movement of the trunk and arm forward if I recall all that right. More complex than a swing I think.
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
I have been really unhappy with my daughter's OH throw and we just started working on it tonight.

What she has been doing is what I describe as linear throwing. Her hip and arm both come through at the same time. There is no seperation of the upper and lower body.

Tonight we worked on getting her to keep her upper body sideways until front heal plant. When her front heal plants the upper torso rotates around and kind of down. We also played around some with shoulder tilt to adjust her throwing angle.

I definitely see similarities to rotational hitting. The hips lead the hands, the front heal drop seems like a good trigger, and you can control arm angle by tilting. One big difference is that the rotation is on a downward plane instead of an upward plane.
 
R

RayR

Guest
throw2.jpg
throw1.jpg
 
Aug 4, 2008
2,364
0
Lexington,Ohio
It's both. It is Linear with Rotational principles, just like we teach in hitting. All hitting camps we go thru throwing first. 90% of the time, if she can't throw correctly she is a poor hitter.we see that the female in general does not release from the back side and use their legs to throw as much as they do by being more upper body as to strength when throwing. Because they do not flex the knee or use it as a hinge. They land on the knee more like how a ball joint works. So we teach them to bend and flex the front knee when throwing to promote a weight transfer. Once they understand that concept teaching them to step on a flexed front leg is easier to understand when teaching hitting. Look at how many hitters are over the front leg verses up against the front leg.
 

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