Three most important parts of the pitching motion

[Rotation 123]

What if you only had 3 pitching mechanics to teach, what 3 would you choose?

SLUGGERS: This is a real interesting question...so, I've hijacked it. Anyway, what are the three most important parts of the pitching motion? Don't cheat--Rotation123 asked for THREE (not 4 or 5). Thanks...Ray

 

[tojo]

What if you only had 3 pitching mechanics to teach, what 3 would you choose?

Are you asking about mechanics or pitchs to choose? I don't understand the questions as asked. Please clarify.

 

[sluggers]

Boy, tough question...so, I would go with:

1) Getting open
2) Good circle
3) Staying back

My reasoning is that unless you do all three of these, there is no point in having a strong push off and "IR". But, I'm begging for an argument...

 

[abbygale]

I'm going to give up the staying back and use the internal rotation part of throwing. Down the road I'll be hoping that they realize how important staying back is for consistency.

1) Throwing with IR to start.
2) Getting open
3) Good circle

I hate giving up the staying back but I could have used the "throwing the ball " knowledge first in my journey. I would really like to sneak in the elbow whip also but will have to wait.

 

[madtown]

1. Posture--gives you control
2. Body Rotation--gotta open up
3. Wrist Snap--put the spin on the ball

That was hard to narrow down. Because good circle is a key. I thought I should through something new out there.

 

[halskinner]

"The Big Three"

Here is an article I wrote for Softball Magazine several years ago. I posted the old scanned article first but the clarity was not good. I finally found a text copy of the article on one of my old Zip disc files. Hope you enjoy it.

Hal

The Big Three.

FOR THE BEST PITCHING SPEED, NEVER SLOW DOWN ONE OF ‘THE BIG THREE’.

The biggest request I receive as a pitching instructor is ‘How can I get my young pitcher to throw faster?’.

I look at pitching speed in two forms; ‘old speed’ and ‘new speed’. If the pitcher’s motions are smooth and mechanically sound, then they are probably throwing with nearly the best speed they can achieve right now.

Before I get into what can be done to build ‘new speed’, I have to make sure they are getting every single bit of the ‘old speed’ they have available right now. Trying to build new speed without making sure that every bit of old speed is being reached, is mostly an effort in futility.

Most of the time I will watch the pitching student throw for awhile and I will see one or a few things they could do a little differently or a little quicker that will speed up their ‘overall motions’ and result in a little faster ball speed.

If you look at all the different things a pitcher has to do in the act of throwing a pitch, anything there can have an effect on ball speed produced. However, there are three things in particular that will always have a MAJOR impact on them being able to attain all the speed they can right now, before any attempt to build their strength and gain ‘new speed’ can even be considered. I call those, ‘The big three’.

They are;

1. The upswing.

2. The downswing.

3. Stride length and the quickness of that stride.

Any of the other things can have an impact also but nowhere near the impact one of ‘the big three’ can have if any of those are not quick, aggressive and correct in their timing.

If one of ‘The big three’ is too slow, that one part will also slow down at least one of the other parts as the pitcher adjust to stay in sync.

Here is a key component for correct and safe pitching mechanics. This is a medically proven fact and NOT just my opinion;

At the exact instant the landing foot touches down, the ball MUST be to the point where it has just started into the downswing behind.

Now, if the stride length is good and it is done quickly but the upswing is too slow, the pitcher will not reach the point in their arm circle to where it is just into the downswing to be in sync, for it to feel right and not look and feel 'jerky'.

If this is the case, if the upswing is lazy and too slow to be in correct time with the stride, have the pitcher pull the ball up through the upswing faster, pull it up with a little more force and make that part quicker to stay in sync with the longer and quicker stride. Don’t shorten or slow down the stride, speed up the upswing. Many folks will try and have the pitcher shorten their stride to try and get things to be 'in sync'. The pitcher’s motions are now in sync but the ball speed has suffered greatly because two of the three parts are now much slower than they could be. A longer stride is more aggressive than a short one and it is almost always done faster than with a shorter stride.

When I analyze a pitcher’s motions, I look for whichever of those three parts are not quick enough to keep them ALL in sync with each other.

Then I try and focus on speeding that one part up rather than slowing another part down to keep the motions in sync.

If you slow down one of those three parts, your ball speed will suffer for it.

Watch the pitcher practice and find out which one of the three parts is not quick enough, chances are one of them is not being done as quickly as it could be to get the best speed.

Normally the downswing is at least OK, they will power through the downswing OK but one of the other parts is probably too slow.

If the pitcher starts her forward momentum and carries the ball in the glove well into that and THEN separates the handsstarts the upswing, that can also slow down everything. This is very common and carrying the ball in the glove too far can slow down the upswing a lot and prevent the pitcher from getting full available speed.

As soon as that stride foot starts to come forward, the ball should be starting up through the upswing.

Have her pull that ball up in front faster than she does right now and keep the stride length the same. You might find out she can get the ball through the upswing a lot faster than she does right now and you might then want to speed up and extend the stride to keep it all in sync. If that is the case, the pitcher will pick up some more speed immediately.

If the pitcher’s upswing is strong and quick but the stride is a little slower than it should be, many times you will see what I call the ‘freeze frame’ in the arm circle. The ball will reach the beginning of the downswing BEFORE the landing foot touches down. When that happens, the pitcher might slow the arm circle down for an instant to give the landing foot time to touch down. You will see a little hesitation (and sometimes they will even appear to stop the ball) at the beginning of the downswing, at around 1:00 to 1:30.

When this happens, the arm speed they have developed through the upswing was just killed. The only speed they will achieve will be through the downswing. The pitcher will look and feel very ‘jerky’ in her motions and will NOT have all the speed that they could have if the timing was correct and the stride was a little quicker.

If the timing is off on one of the ‘Big three’, pitchers will usually try to slow another part down to make the timing right. Watch for these three things very closely. Most of the time, you will see one part that is holding back another part and that combination is a speed killer. I make it a rule to never slow down one of the ‘Big three”. Find out which one is too slow and speed THAT one up for the best timing and ball speed.

 

[sluggers]

Hal, the story isn't readable--of course, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Boy, tough question...so, I would go with:

1) Getting open
2) Good circle
3) Staying back

My reasoning is that unless you do all three of these, there is no point in having a strong push off and "IR". But, I'm begging for an argument...

Slug, since you've seen my DD pitch, how do you teach ' not opening the hips too much '? She is keeping them more tight since you saw her and being very successful, but I wonder if there is a training tool I'm missing??

Thanks, GD.

 

[Rotation 123]

Mechanics not pitches

 

[Rotation 123]

I would like to read the article could you resend....tried copy and enlarge but won't stay readable...thanks