One Answer To Pitching Velocity

One Answer To Pitching Velocity How To Use The Body To Develop Maximum Velocity And Better Control While Reducing Stress To The Arm Written By Dick Mills Copyright 2007 All About Pitching www.pitching.com Since 1995

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Acknowledgments I want to thank Dr. Brent Rushall of Sports Science Associates, who provided much of the scientific verification behind Momentum Pitching. I also want to thank Max Couret, whom I believe to be the first Momentum Pitcher, for his willingness to take a risk so others would be able to learn. 1

CONTENTS A New Answer To Improved Pitching Velocity 1 Initial Focus - Speed Of Movement 1 The Timing Trigger 2 Figure A - Up, Down and Out 2 Figure B. Proper Stride Length 3 The Power Position - The Pitcher At Landing 4 Figure C. Sandy Koufax displays an extreme trunk lean 4 The Back Leg Is The Key To Pitching 5 Pitchers Cannot Effectively Throw From A Downhill Angle 5 A High Leg Lift Slows The Pitcher Down 5 Figure D. Example high leg lift 6 Pitchers Should Not Be Encouraged To Slow Down For Better Control 6 Why Study Pitchers From The Past 7 The Start Of Momentum Pitching 8 Figure E. Japanese Pitcher Matsusaka 9 Stepping Back Toward Second Base Instead Of To The Side 10 Figure F. Sandy Koufax with a high leg lift and strong leg drive 10 Figure G. Whitey Ford Displays Momentum Pitching 11 Figure H. Explosive Pitching Sequence 12 Steps To Momentum Pitching Described 12 Figure I. Eleven year old - first session learning Momentum Pitching 15 The Timing Element Of Handbreak 16 Figure J. Nolan Ryan - high leg lift - late hand break 16 Figure K. Giants Tim Lincecum at 5 10 170 lbs has reached 100 mph 17 Start With A Small Step Back And Then Increase It 17 Figure L. Here is a before and after Momentum Pitching sequence 18 Figure M. This high school pitcher is attempting classic Momentum Pitching 19 Positioning The Body Sideways To The Target 19 The Back Foot 19 Figure N. Koufax demonstrates back foot action 20 Back Leg Drive 20 Back Leg Flexion Of Knee 21

Completing Leg Drive Into A Long Stride 21 Figure O. Here is a 12 year old demonstrating his version of Momentum Pitching 22 Figure P. The same 12 year old 30 days later 22 Figure Q. Here is an example of a high school pitcher who has very little back leg drive 23 100% or More Stride Length 23 Bracing Of The Front Leg And Hip 24 Figure R. Bracing the front leg and hip 24 Squaring the Body Into Ball Release 25 Figure S. Arm acceleration 25 Arm Action - Throwing Arm And Lead Arm 26 Figure T. Two types of arm action 26 Lead Arm Action 27 Figure U. Lead arm action 27 Checklist Of The Sequence Of Momentum Pitching 28 Common Faults You Should Recognize In Explosive Pitching Or Momentum Pitching 28 Figure V. Leaping out 29 Figure W. Pushing like a sprinter 30 Figure X. Variations of Ball release positions 30 Critical Areas Of Momentum Pitching To Watch For 31 Figure Y This pitcher displays keeping support foot down 31 Pitching Out Of The Stretch Position 32 Figure Z. Stretch Position - slide step or knee to knee 34 Hurrying Momentum Pitching 34 Figure Z.2 Hurrying the motion 35 How To Firmly Plant The Sequence Into The Pitcher's Brain 36 Main Benefits Of Momentum Pitching 36 What Can The Pitcher On The DVD Do To Improve 37 Figure Z3. Pitcher before and after Momentum Pitching 39 Conclusion 40 Sometimes You Must Stick To What Feels Right 41 How To Integrate Momentum Pitching Into Explosive Pitching 41 What About The Resistance From Coaches? 42 Comments from parents, high school and college players 43 Let Your Pitching Do The Talking 46 What About Pitching Drills? 47 Going Forward With Explosive-Momentum Pitching 48

A New Answer To Improved Pitching Velocity In the spring of 2004, I became known as - "the pitching rebel". That name occurred and has stuck with me because I was forced to take a different path in my search for better information on how to help pitchers improve their pitching performance. All of the belief based information coming from coaches and instructors no longer made sense and they were clearly not producing better pitching performance. And injuries seemed to continue escalating...at a rather alarming rate. In a recent seven year period high school arm injuries have increased ten fold according to USA Baseball and the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. As many already know, I hired a couple of sports scientists to consult with my wife and I as I began questioning the actual mechanics of pitching as were being described by many of today's most popular pitching instructors...some even referred to as "gurus". I questioned what I had been teaching. I also questioned the benefits of many of the most popular practice activities that were being advocated by the large majority of coaches at all levels of baseball...such as long toss, drills, flat ground throwing, weighted balls or the overemphasis on weight training. This questioning led me to Dr. Brent Rushall, a world renowned sports scientist who is not only a biomechanist but more importantly a sports movement specialist. That association over a year long period produced the first fully evidence based book on pitching - The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching (Mills/Rushall, 2006). What is known today without question is that throwing is a natural activity. After all it has been around for thousands of years. Cave men threw rocks and spears and today in parts of the world throwing is still an activity that helps natives acquire food for their families. Initial Focus - Speed Of Movement In 2004 I introduced a unique idea into pitching that I coined Explosive Pitching. The emphasis was that in order to produce maximum velocity, a pitcher should move his body faster going from the back leg to the front leg without stopping or hesitating...even though the idea of lifting the leg up remained. However, as Explosive Pitching gained more popularity I recommended that the idea of a balance position had little benefit so there was no need for the balance position...which was a place that pitchers were coached into reaching before they moved their bodies toward the plate. We removed the importance of a balance position and focused on increasing the pitcher's starting tempo so that his first movement was quicker in the delivery to get his body moving faster. Although the leg lift remained I introduced a timing element that helped speed up the movement toward the plate. Many pitchers typically are instructed to drop their lift leg down to the mound surface before moving their body aggressively toward the plate. The sequence was referred to as "up, down and out." In other words, lift the leg up to balance, let it down to the mound surface and then stride out. (See Figure A.) This action, which I had previously taught along with the balance position, only served to slow the pitcher down. I needed something that would help pitchers move faster. I called this timing element the timing trigger. This timing trigger idea became opposite to what was currently being coached. Instead of lifting the 1

leg and moving in the sequence of "up, down and out", I emphasized that as soon as the leg started down from its highest point that the pitcher should at that moment, aggressively drive away from the rubber leading with his front hip. As a way of getting pitchers to understand the timing of this, I told them to pretend that there was an invisible "little man" or coach behind them and at the moment the leg started down to pretend that the invisible coach was forcefully pushing them from the back hip...aggressively forward. This also served to get them to understand that the front hip should lead the shoulder. Figure A. The top row is a high school pitcher who shows the up, down, and out sequence with much less momentum. The bottom row is a major league pitcher who has thrown 100 mph and displays an aggressive leg drive. Notice how far the lead hip has moved in relation to the high school pitcher and the difference in the back leg knee flexion angle. The idea of Explosive Pitching was to put the focus on the speed of movement of the body as the cause for producing velocity instead of the arm. The arm was delivered at high speed by the forces of the body. The arm was along for the ride. My one answer to pitching velocity was that the body and not the arm produced forces that created arm speed. This idea took hold with our own clients, however mainstream pitching instruction still focused on the building more arm strength or general overall strength to improve velocity. People are beginning to realize that focusing on the arm for more velocity is leading them down a blind alley. Much time is being wasted that pitchers will not get back. I had watched many high velocity pitchers to observe how they used their bodies. I noticed, for example, that even though Nolan Ryan had a high leg lift, he never hesitated in any way. Even as he lifted his leg up to his balance position he continued to move his entire body toward the plate leading with his front hip. And as his leg started down, his move became aggressive and explosive. We have to wonder if this was one of the big reasons why Nolan Ryan had such a long career because his focus was an explosive move toward the plate...the body taking precedence over the arm for producing velocity. 2

Some other elements of Nolan Ryan's delivery are worthy of mentioning. Because his movement was so explosive for a 6'2", 212 lb. pitcher, his stride length ended up greater than his height. This longer than normal stride in most pitchers, positioned Nolan Ryan much closer to the plate at ball release. At his ball release position, many instructors have observed that his back foot was dragged as much as 17" away from the rubber. This was the result of his explosive hip and trunk rotation, which was the result of his aggressive speed of movement away from the rubber. I also observed that Nolan Ryan removed the ball from the glove (hand break) very late in his move toward the plate. How late? If you use 30 frames per second as a timing element going frame-by-frame and you started counting as Nolan Ryan let his lift leg down until he landed, it took him a total of 21 frames. His hand break occurs at frame #10. In terms of speed of movement toward the plate, he breaks his hands almost 50% into his stride. I believe that is an important timing element because it allows the pitcher's throwing arm to reach the cocked position as late as possible just before arm acceleration begins. This is important because we don't want any hesitation of the arm and have it sitting waiting for the pitcher to land. This would reduce the amount of elastic energy available to help accelerate the arm. If you observe most power pitchers today you will see, that even though they look slow their delivery has a much quicker tempo than most amateur pitchers. One indicator that can be used is to time the delivery of today's pitchers from the moment their lead leg starts down from the balance position until the lead leg foot lands. For Nolan Ryan that took 21 frames at 30 frames per second. I have observed some at 19-20 frames. Then I have looked at high school pitchers who are near 30 frames per second. If you observe that high school player with the naked eye you will notice that he is slow and controlled in his movements. When good pitching mechanics are understood by parents and players, then by simply speeding up the tempo of the pitcher's mechanics with the objective of moving as fast as possible from the front leg to the back leg, then velocity increases are easily attained, as long as the objective is a long stride. However, the timing of the delivery and skilled movements are most important. Getting to ball release quickly can be counterproductive and actually reduce velocity. Figure B. Proper Stride Length. The high school pitcher on the left has a stride length of about 80% of his height. The major league pitcher on the right is striding out about the length of his height. Stride length is a good indication of how fast the pitcher is moving away from the rubber as well as his ability to build forward momentum. Both contribute greatly to pitching velocity. 3

I explained many of these mechanical elements in The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching (Mills/Rushall, 2006). A key element discussed at length in that book is the idea that it is the body's energy from speed of movement and a long stride that produces elastic energy. It is the spreading out of the pitcher's body, like a huge rubber band, that provides the elastic energy that is responsible for whipping the arm through. A large focus in that book was the idea that the body produces velocity and the arm is along for the ride. In fact, once the front foot hits the ground much of velocity has already been produced with the exception of trunk rotation and trunk flexion. This dispels the idea that added strength is valuable for improving velocity. It is speed of movement, a long stride and elastic energy that produces velocity...not strength. Sixteen pages of that book were used to explain scientifically why weighted balls do not or cannot work to improve a pitcher's velocity. Understanding that should save pitchers a lot of wasted time and effort. The Power Position - The Pitcher At Landing Having the pitcher's trunk in a mechanically sound position at landing has been observed in most high velocity throwers besides Nolan Ryan. Sandy Koufax, the Hall Of Fame lefty, has what one would call a distinct lean to his trunk, which I would not recommend. But it certainly worked for him. It may have worked better for him because he threw from a 15" mound instead of ten. I personally was pitching in pro ball during that transition time so I know the difference between pitching one year from a 15" mound and the next from a 10". Koufax's extreme leaning back was the result of his very high leg lift and his emphasis on his back leg drive. Plus his high leg lift kept his trunk back much longer into a leaning position. Something else that is notable about Sandy Koufax and his understanding of pitching mechanics. It is told that one day in the bullpen, after he struggled for years to gain control, he found the one movement idea that they say turned his career around. The idea he discovered for himself was to move the front hip as far as possible during his stride...before anything else happened. So his focus was on a longer stride which allowed more energy to build and which also allowed his throwing arm and shoulder to lag behind longer until he landed. Figure C. Sandy Koufax displays an extreme trunk lean and powerful back leg action which he used to develop a strong leg drive. Koufax said the back leg and leading with the hip as long as possible were two of his keys for pitching success. 4

The Back Leg Is The Key To Pitching On my Explosive Pitching DVD's I emphasized that pitching velocity was mainly the result of how the pitcher moved from his back leg to his front leg. An important point that Sandy Koufax made, which is also not emphasized today, is that "the back leg is the key to pitching". The focus of Koufax was to use a strong back leg drive to get his body and front hip moving faster and further toward the plate. If we observe Koufax from the first base position, upon landing his stride is very long and his center of gravity is very low. This is also what you will notice about Nolan Ryan. Two very powerful and successful high velocity pitchers with strides longer than their height stretch out long and low. Pitchers Cannot Effectively Throw From A Downhill Angle This idea of stretching the body out long and low runs counter to what many instructors teach today...even high level big league coaches. The common idea today is to throw from a downward plane or angle. This would indicate that upon landing, the pitcher's arm should be in a position to throw in a downward trajectory for some marked advantage over the hitter. On the surface this might seem to be beneficial but in reality does it really happen and has it proven to be an advantage for the pitcher? Sandy Koufax understood the idea of angle of trajectory at ball release. I am surprised that more coaches and instructors today have not read his books and listened to what a true master and practitioner of pitching has to say. Here is what he had to say about pitching from a downhill or downward angle: "You have to stay low," he said, simulating with his hand the motion of a plane taking flight."if you look at pictures of Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, myself, the back leg is on the ground. You have to get your center of gravity (bellybutton) low so that when you're throwing the ball, you're throwing it straight out, rather than down. You can't defy gravity." He never threw downhill. "Throw through the target, not to it." (Sandy Koufax, Leavy, Harper Collins, 2002) As has been mentioned many times, Sandy Koufax was quite a student of mechanics without having any formal education in biomechanics. Koufax simply understood how his body worked naturally to produce a high velocity pitch with outstanding control. We only assume that other pitchers knew this also. A High Leg Lift Slows The Pitcher Down What we have since realized is that a high leg lift does not improve velocity but only slows down forward momentum. Forward momentum or speed of movement away from the rubber is the driving force behind velocity. Some pitching instructors would like you to believe that hip and trunk rotation is what pitchers should focus on for improving velocity. What they fail to realize is that hip and trunk rotation is the result of forward momentum into a long stride. Without forward momentum speed, the hips and trunk would rotate much too slowly for adequate velocity. Besides that there is a very limited distance for the hips and trunk to rotate through that could rival the building of energy from a long stride. Forward momentum is what effects how fast the hips and trunk will rotate. Trying to rotate them faster will be a futile attempt at more velocity and 5

largely a waste of time and effort. In fact, focusing on such a movement on its own, would more than likely only serve to slow down the entire movement sequence. As we looked at and studied today's baseball pitchers we saw many common elements in their pitching deliveries that were not natural movements but were movements that had been "coached" in by instructors who had no background in biomechanics or sports movement skills. What most of these coaches had used for instruction was a wide range of baseball beliefs that had been erroneously passed down for years and sometimes decades. Figure D. Unusually high leg lifts such as this are just style but do not contribute to velocity. They actually slow down forward momentum and are unnecessary and actually give hitters more time to react.. Pitchers Should Not Be Encouraged To Slow Down For Better Control This belief based coaching or more accurately "over-coaching" created more rather than less problems for pitchers. The biggest problem being that pitchers were being encouraged to produce slow movements and hesitations in their deliveries. These slow movements and hesitation at the balance position acted to expand rather than reduce their mechanical problems. I also believe these slow movements, which tend to emphasize the arm as the source of velocity, are the cause of so many arm injuries today. Probably the most noticeable and most over-coached technique that has been encouraged by coaches for at least the past 25 years is that pitchers need to attain a good "balance position" in order to have an effective delivery. This has produced a movement where the pitcher must first lift his leg up, sometimes well above his waste, which can produce a slight hesitation, before then moving the entire body toward the plate. This technique may be more responsible for reducing pitching velocity than any single element with the exception of pitching drills. The problem with having pitchers reach this balance position is that it dramatically reduces their speed of movement and forward momentum into a long stride...all important elements for producing better velocity. 6

During the early part of the 2007 season, a 21 year old RH major leaguer, considered a phenom by most, hurt his pitching arm and was on the disabled list for about six weeks. Upon his return to pitching, it was related in an article that the pitching coach would have this pitcher hesitate momentarily to gather himself at the balance position before moving his body toward the plate. This was done in an effort to reduce injury. This pitcher's fastball was regularly clocked in the mid to upper nineties. The idea of a gathering position of the body makes no sense. In all fast moving sports I know of none that teaches such an idea of gathering before continuing to move. It should be asked - why would you slow the body down? When this RH pitcher returned from the disabled list, I saw his velocity was in the low nineties. His hesitation at the balance position could only serve to reduce his forward momentum and thus his velocity. The biggest problem however, may come as a result of that pitcher observing the radar gun, and then attempting to force more velocity later in his delivery upon landing by trying to move his arm faster. This could very well result in two major problems. The first problem is that slowing the pitcher down reduces the ability of his body to produce maximum momentum and a longer stride. Then by trying to consciously move his arm faster he may very well create another arm injury since elastic energy will be less and the arm will have to do more to make up for that loss. The second problem may occur as a result of trying to move the arm consciously faster and thus may adversely effect the natural sequencing and movement of the arm in the total pitching motion. This may very well result in less ball control. What has been proven is that if you want better velocity and control, then move the body faster toward the target...not more slowly. The faster you move the body the less chance of mechanical error. This is easily observed in youth pitchers who spend a great deal of time doing drills which cause pitchers to think about body parts instead of one fluid motion in the delivery. These pitchers are the ones who have the balance problems during their pitching delivery because many have actually been working on a static balance drill where the leg is lifted and held for a count of five or ten seconds. If we simply understand that all a pitcher has to do is realize what position he needs to be in by moving the body faster and removing any slow movements and hesitation, that his balance problem is naturally removed. When a pitcher understands what good body posture is and can maintain that along with keeping his head level, while moving faster, his balance problem will disappear on its own. All parents or coaches have to do is try this to see how effectively it works. If we go back and look at Sandy Koufax or many other pitchers of that era you will not see any emphasis on a balance position. In the case of Sandy Koufax, you will see a very fluid and quick moving delivery where the goal is to go as fast as possible from the back leg to the front leg. You will see no slow movements or hesitation in Koufax's delivery. This author pitched in the era of the fifteen inch mound through high school, college and part of professional baseball. I never did pitching drills, long toss or lifted weights. None of the exceptionally high velocity throwers of my era did either. The focus was on pitching and pitching from a mound a lot of the time. Why Study Pitchers From The Past The reasons for bringing up pitchers from the past is that, because throwing is a natural activity, most of the 7

pitchers prior to the eighties did not engage in unnatural practice activities that were unrelated to pitching at as high a velocity as possible...with good control. It seems then that pitchers from the past obviously understood how to produce velocity naturally. They did not instinctively use long toss as a justifiable means of producing more velocity. Outfielders were the only position players who threw the ball long because that was a prerequisite of their position so that when necessary they could make long throws to third base or home. We have to wonder whose idea it was to conclude that if a pitcher can throw the ball a long distance that he will be able to then throw at higher velocities from the mound. Both activities have little in common with the exception of the 5 oz. baseball. Mechanics in both long toss and pitching from the mound are totally dissimilar in just about every way. Thus doing long toss does not relate to throwing faster from a pitching mound. This is easily understood by most college pitchers who have long tossed all the way through high school and college and still have not seen the promised improvements in velocity from long toss. Or the college or minor league pitcher who cannot understand why he can throw the ball fifty feet further during long toss than a fellow pitcher who is pitching with 5 mph more velocity. I am surprised that experienced coaches have not concluded this as justification for wasting time on long toss as a velocity improvement tool. There also is no evidence that long toss reduces injury. One has to wonder how much more skilled all pitchers would be today if long toss was never used during the season, as anything more than a warm-up device! Successful pitchers from the past instinctively understood how the body should work naturally to produce a high velocity pitch. After all, back then as opposed to today, they had little coaching from reliable biomechanical sources. Plus the use of high speed film had not yet been introduced. However, not being coached as pitchers are today, may have been their saving grace. It seems that when the coaching of pitchers became a more prominent part of baseball, that we have seen confusion, the removal of natural actions while coaching-in of irrelevant and inhibiting movements...such as slow movements, hesitation at the balance position, pitching on flat ground as opposed to pitching from a mound and all the pitching drills such as the towel drill, balance drill or kneeling drill that in this author's opinion have produced more slow moving and over-thinking pitchers. The result being less velocity, poorer control and more arm injuries. The Start Of Momentum Pitching In January of 2007, I received an email from a client, who happens to be the director of a youth baseball from Korea. He had emailed me a video clip of a top Japanese pitcher, whose mechanics he wanted me to evaluate...since this pitcher was the idol of many youth baseball players from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. So many of these youth players were copying the delivery of this successful Japanese pitcher. This pitcher happened to be Red Sox RH pitcher Matsuzaka. What I noticed with Matzusaka that was unusual was that his first step in his delivery was back...instead of what pitchers have been doing and that is stepping to the side. I shared this video with my colleague Dr. Brent Rushall, who was my coauthor in the book The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching. Dr. Rushall confirmed that the step back move, when emphasized along with removing any other slow movements or hesitations would allow a pitcher to develop more forward momentum...unlike stepping to the side which is the style of most pitchers today. This stepping to the side provides no valuable mechanical advantage but 8

instead is simply wasted movement. The step back, when emphasized, would help the pitcher increase the distance through which he could move his body thereby increasing the amount of momentum. The step back that Matsuzaka used did not however help him improve his forward momentum or his velocity because of the double hesitation that he makes before starting his body toward the plate. If Matsuzaka used a more pronounced step-back and then eliminated his double hesitation, then he would have the capability to move his entire body faster thereby dramatically improving his velocity. Little did I know it then, but watching that video clip of Matsuzaka was the impulse from which a new action in pitching would be created which could be used to enhance our already effective Explosive Pitching. I referred to this new action of stepping back and lifting of the hands at the same time as pump and drive. The step-back toward second base was the pump and the drive occured as the pitcher pushed off that step-back leg into the pivot where the second push occurred. A couple of months later I coined the term Momentum Pitching to refer to the entire action. In Explosive Pitching I emphasized speed of movement going from the back leg to the front leg and the important bracing action of the front leg and hip once the pitcher landed. Now by adding a step back toward second base, and by lowering the leg lift, it would allow the Explosive Pitcher to move his body even faster. This would help improve his stride length up to 100% of his height or more. Figure E. Japanese Pitcher Matsusaka. This sequence shows some good attributes of mechanics used in both Explosive and Momentum Pitching. In photo 1 we can see he is coming from a step back position not a side step. In photo 3 we see the hip has already started to move toward the plate with a late hand break out over his lead knee. Notice the bend in the support leg which allows the pitcher to initiate leg drive and start his body moving down low. In photo 5 we see landing with a long stride and a braced-up knee and hip. Trunk flexion occurs in the next three photos. When watching Matsuzaka at game speed he does however hesitate before moving toward the plate. He also demonstrates too much lateral (side) movement in swinging his lead leg into landing. Both of these faults reduces forward momentum and thereby reduce velocity. 9

Stepping Back Toward Second Base Instead Of To The Side When I understood that the step back with the pitcher's lead leg clearly created a mechanical advantage by moving the pitcher a greater distance away from the plate, I immediately remembered some noted pitchers who used a step-back as a first means of getting their bodies started into the pitch. Today pitchers are encouraged to take a small step to the side or just slightly back at a small angle as a way to get their body moving before lifting their leg up to the balance position. When thinking about past pitchers who used a step-back toward second base as their first movement, three notable Hall Of Fame pitchers came to mind...sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford And Nolan Ryan. However, none of those three used the step-back toward second base to their advantage. In the case of Koufax he only stepped back minimally but it did help get him going. Both he and Nolan Ryan many times would start their delivery in a bent over position when taking the sign. But like Koufax, Nolan Ryan did not fully capitalize on using a bigger step back. Plus I previously mentioned that both pitchers had a high leg lift which does not produce more velocity because it actually slows down forward momentum. This is contrary to what many pitching coaches agree with who believe that a high leg lift produces some mechanical advantage. It does not. All it can do is slow the pitcher down and take more time getting his body moving faster. The difference between the high leg lift of Koufax and Nolan Ryan was that Koufax kept his lead leg knee out in front of his body oriented more between first base and home as it lifted to its highest point, where Nolan Ryan lifted his leg up high but kept it in against his chest with his lead leg knee more oriented toward third base. Coaches observing both pitchers would say that Nolan Ryan closed his body off more than Koufax. However, at this point in the delivery, being more closed off is not important. All that is important is that the pitcher get his body oriented in a sideways position before starting his leg drive. Figure F. We observe Sandy Koufax with a high leg lift and strong leg drive into a long stride. Notice at the height of his leg lift that his lead leg is out in front of his lead hip and not closed off knee pointed at first base which probably feels more natural and allows him to move faster. Other notable feature are how he lets his arm lag until just before landing and the slight lean back of his trunk. Upon landing we can see the bracing action of his front leg and hip which provides the axis of rotation. However, both Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax moved their bodies with good forward momentum and much faster than most pitchers today...who have more slow and controlled deliveries. Slow and controlled deliveries cannot produce maximum momentum. 10

On the other hand, Yankees lefty Whitey Ford used what appeared to be a bigger step back but in actuality he used it more as a means of rocking back his weight instead of using a distinct step back. Whitey Ford also used his hands in a swinging action forward and then back to help get him going. Today you don't see this style very often. Paul Bird, who pitched for the Indians in 2007 is the only pitcher I can recall who uses the technique of swinging the arms back in order to get his wind-up going. Whitey Ford also oriented his lead leg knee out in front of his body between first base and home, similar to Koufax. The distinct difference being that Whitey Ford did not lift his leg up above his waist. This had the advantage of allowing his body to move faster toward the plate. That would allow the pitcher to gain more movement speed and forward momentum with increased velocity. We've already mentioned that for pure mechanical advantage, a high leg lift serves only to slow the pitcher down. It cannot help produce more momentum or velocity. Figure G. This shows an effective way of keeping the body oriented online with the plate by stepping back toward second base instead of to the side. We can see how Whitey Ford rocks back onto his lead leg. Because his step-back leg is not bent this indicates that he is not getting the most from an initial push-off which would help him gain more momentum moving into his pivot. This also prevents him from producing maximum leg drive with his support leg pushing away from the rubber. We can see how he orients his lead leg out ahead of his support leg and drives his lead hip at the target. By using a more pronounced step-back and stronger leg drive Whitey Ford s stride would have been longer and the added momentum would have pulled his support foot further away from the rubber for more velocity. Below is a typical sequence demonstrating Explosive Pitching where the pitcher stepped to the side and lifted his leg up to whatever height was comfortable. However, once the pitcher started his leg down, he was instructed to quickly shift his weight and drive away from the rubber explosively. The term leg drive or 11

push-off the rubber was not used. We know now that emphasizing leg drive at the right time is essential in order to gain maximum forward momentum. Figure H. Explosive Pitching Sequence. This is a good example of a major league pitcher demonstrating Explosive Pitching. We can see in photo 3 where the hip is already moving toward the plate as his lift leg is coming down. At #4, just after hand break he is initiating leg drive. Notice the flexion of the back leg. Also notice the long stride, the extension of the back leg, the bracing action of the front leg and hip and strong trunk rotation and trunk flexion into ball release. At ball release you can see how his front leg has extended more from landing. This pitcher has thrown 100 mph. Steps To Momentum Pitching Described I am not exactly sure when pitchers were coached to step to the side of the rubber instead of straight back. However, I am sure this was the beginning of slowing pitchers down. After stepping to the side, they were directed to lift their leg up to a balance point or gathering point for some unknown reason before they started their move to the plate. This balance point or gathering point became a point that was aggressively coached. This was the beginning of the famous balance drill where a pitcher is coached to lift his leg up to waist height and hold it there for five to ten seconds. This of course serves no known purpose in pitching. It only serves to slow pitchers down or make them think there is a hesitation point in the delivery. The coaching of stepping to the side and the balance point are two big reasons why pitchers move so slow and cannot produce more momentum or more velocity. I explained in detail how detrimental pitching drills are to pitchers in our book The Science And Art Of Baseball Pitching (Mills/Rushall, 2006). Of the pitchers in the past that we have observed, none used the step back toward second base to their full advantage. In order to develop more momentum toward the plate the pitcher needs to create more distance initially. In order to gain full advantage of gaining more momentum, a big step back toward second base is required. This step should be as large as possible and yet be comfortable so that the pitcher is able to push off that foot immediately so he can move his body forward as his support leg pivots in front of the rubber. If the step is too short you can't gain full mechanical advantage and yet if the step is too big, it might cause the 12

pitcher to delay the immediate push-off that is required so there is no hesitation which could reduce momentum. Like Explosive Pitching, the pitcher starts by facing homeplate and with both feet on the rubber. Instead of stepping to the side, he steps back toward second based as his hands move up. Keeping The Body Directed In A Straight Line Toward The Plate: Stepping straight back allows the pitcher to keep his body inline with the target. Try to think of a rail running from homeplate to second base. The pitcher should start with his support foot on this rail and keep his body moving along this imaginary rail throughout the movement. We want all the energy directed toward the plate. The Step Back And Hand Action: As the pitcher steps back, instead of keeping his hands stationary, I suggest the hands move up. This allows the pitcher to create some rhythm and has a timing benefit when the hands come down. How high the pitcher lifts his hands is a personal choice. Some feel comfortable going over their head like Koufax, Nolan Ryan or Whitey Ford or today like Greg Maddux...while others will just lift them up chest high. Or start them at waist height and then lift them up. The step-back and hand movement up occur at the same time. What you don t want is to have the hand movement interfere with the timing of the step back and then positioning the body as the hands come down. This is a critical timing element which I will describe more fully. My personal choice is to have the hands low initially on younger pitchers and for more advanced pitchers to take the hands just above the head. Some pitchers will take their hand all the way back over their head. But again, this is a personal choice as long as it does not interfere with the timing of the entire movement. Positioning The Body Sideways: Once the pitcher steps-back onto a bent leg, he should immediately shift his body forward so his support foot pivots in front of the rubber. This occurs before he fully pushes off his step-back foot. As he is positioning his support foot in front of the rubber before he has fully pushed off his step back foot, he is also starting to turn his upper body in an effort to direct his front shoulder toward the target. Then once his foot is parallel to the rubber and he has pushed off his step back foot he should immediately position his lower body fully sideways so his lead hip and shoulder are directed at the target...right along our imaginary rail. At this point his lead hip and leg will be forward of the rubber and his support leg will be comfortably bent or flexed fully supporting his body. His hands will have been brought down ready to break once he starts his second push with his support leg and should commence once his body is positioned sideways. His body will be in a low position as he gets ready to push the second time away from the rubber. Hand Break: The timing of the hand break is important as we want the hands to break late so all the elastic energy of the body gets to the ball as late as possible. An early hand break can get the arm up into the cocked position too early so it just sits there waiting for the lead foot to land. So when should hand break occur? Ideally, as the pitcher positions his body sideways his hands should be ready to break low as the front hip has already started to move away from the rubber. So the hands will come down when the body is positioned sideways. Or some pitchers will just naturally carry the 13

hands along a bit longer in an effort to break them later. The hands will break out away from the body. If we watch Koufax, Whitey Ford or Matsuzaka we can see that they broke their hands out over the lead knee. Nolan Ryan broke his hands in closer to his body. Doing what feels comfortable and natural is always the best way. Lead Leg Action: There are two different types of lead leg action that may occur. Whitey Ford displays one type of lead leg action where his lead hip directs his lead leg slightly out in front of his lead hip. If you watch a video clip of his delivery, it appears that when his lead knee comes up to waist height after he has moved his body ahead of the rubber, that his lead leg stays momentarily in a stationary position controlled by his lead hip. Koufax on the other hand did thrust his lead knee out in front of his lead hip but his leg was lifted up high. The second type of lead leg action is where the lead leg knee is thrust out and forward directing the lead hip. It seems this second type of lead leg action is what occurs naturally when a faster movement occurs. Agressive Leg Drive: With the front hip leading his shoulder and the body now dropping down as the leg drive is initiated, the pitcher should aggressively drive with his back leg until the leg is nearly fully extended, which happens just before the lead foot turns to land. If speed of movement is sufficient and the leg drive is aggressive, it should allow the pitcher to reach a comfortable stride length at least his body height...if not a few inches more. Pitchers Can't Stay Tall: It should be clear that once the pitcher shifts his body forward from a bent step back leg position onto his support leg getting ready to pivot, his support leg will be comfortably flexed and his body will naturally be low. The pitcher cannot stay tall unless he is not stepping back far enough or flexing his support leg enough to get an effective but natural push away from the rubber. Remember, what Koufax had found to be effective. He emphasized that the body's center of gravity should be low upon landing and that a pitcher can't really throw downhill but should really be throwing straight ahead. The idea of having the body in a low position is likened to a sprinter before pushing out of the starting blocks. Important Note For Explosive Pitchers: For those who are using Explosive Pitching, there is something you can borrow from Sandy Koufax that should help give you a better leg drive while positioning the body lower sooner. As Koufax started to lift his lead leg up, he also flexed his support leg which provided him with some extra loading capacity. So an Explosive Pitcher should experiment with this. This means he will be bending his support leg sooner when the lift leg goes up instead of waiting until it starts down. Bracing The Lead Leg And Hip: The pitcher, should land on a flexed but braced front leg and lead hip, just as I had recommended in my Explosive Pitching DVD program. His landing foot position should be on the imaginary line from the ball of his support or posting foot that runs toward the plate...or one to two inches on the glove side of his body. For a RH pitcher his landing could be one to two inches toward first base. The actual angle of this bend of the knee upon landing will vary. However, we can see by observing Koufax and Nolan Ryan that the angle is much less than 135 degrees...which had been noted as the most common by the American Sports Medicine Institutes biomechancal lab and biomechanist Dr. Glenn Fleisig from 14

observing a few hundred major league pitchers. This is probably due to over-coaching many pitchers into shortening their strides or not emphasizing the importance of a long stride for both improving velocity and control.. As was noted in Explosive Pitching, the bracing action of the lead hip allowed it to act as the axis of rotation and to speed up the upper body. Stopping the body quickly upon landing allows all the forces to shift quickly to the next part which is the upper body. This quick shifting of forces is what releases the built up elastic energy which will finally whip the arm through into ball release. Land On The Line: Just as was described in Explosive Pitching, the pitcher should never land across the imaginary line because it will inhibit the hips from fully rotating which will reduce velocity and control and adds additional stress to the throwing arm. The main difference between Explosive Pitching and Momentum Pitching was mainly the step-back toward second base. Once the step back is initiated, it forces the pitcher to move his body faster so that there would not be enough time to lift the lead leg up high. The other difference between Explosive Pitching and Momentum Pitching is that Momentum Pitching is easier to teach because it is a more natural movement. There is far less to think about because there are fewer steps and less check points. Initially I referred to Momentum Pitching as pump and drive. The pump being the step back with the hands moving up and the drive was the second push or leg drive away from the rubber. In actuality, it s just a step-back toward second base, push off the step-back foot, pivot in front of the rubber and drive the body leading with the front hip down the rail away from the rubber as fast as possible. Figure I. Here is an eleven year old during his first session learning Momentum Pitching. Notice the big step-back, how he pushes off and then orients his front shoulder sideways, leads with his front hip then breaks his hands late and stays low. Nice leg drive, lands on a braced front leg with a long stride. Notice how his hands start chest high and then move down and break after he has oriented his body sideways. Almost perfect. His leg lift and front knee orientation are the only things that may be slowing him down. If the lead knee is directed more toward the front he will move faster. But this is a natural movement that is easy to learn. 15

The Timing Element Of Handbreak In both Explosive Pitching and Momentum Pitching, the timing of hand break is important. Ideally you want the pitcher s hands to break late instead of early. By late I mean they should break once the pitcher has his body sideways to the target and after his lead hip has moved toward the plate just as leg drive is getting ready to begin. Referring back to Nolan Ryan, as I previously mentioned he is a good example of a pitcher with a late hand break. If you observe the position of his front hip and his front leg when he breaks his hands you can see that they are well ahead of his front shoulder and well ahead of the rubber. We can also see this in both Sandy Koufax and Whitey Ford and in many high velocity pitchers today. Figure J. Nolan Ryan with his signature high leg lift. Notice he steps back and not to the side. In photo 3 he breaks his hands late when he begins leg drive well after his front hip has moved away from the rubber. His trunk lags back until just before landing. He stretches out into a stride longer than his height. This is an example an Explosive Pitcher who uses a minimal step back to get going forward. The idea is to put the focus on the body producing the energy...not the arm. We want the lower body to be the impulse for producing energy as it stretches out creating a large rubber band effect so that upon landing, the arm is naturally whipped through by the trunk from the build-up of elastic energy from the entire body. We want pitchers to fully understand that the body produces velocity and the arm is for control. As 23 year old 5 10 170 lb. Giants rookie phenom Tim Lincecum has said who throws 95-100 mph: My body does all the work and my arm is like a whip that comes along for the ride. The idea that the body does the work to produce velocity and the arm is for control runs counter to what most of today s coaches and instructors preach. This has led to the emphasis being on the arm for producing velocity using such tools as long toss, weighted balls or the emphasis to have pitchers get bigger and stronger in order to improve velocity. We know from our research in our book The Science And Art Of Pitching that this emphasis on building more arm strength or overall body strength doesn t produce the promised results. Emphasizing arm movement or trying to have the pitcher speed up his arm is one of the reasons that more pitchers cannot throw with higher velocity or why so many are being injured. 16

There is nothing a pitcher can do to speed up his arm except get his body moving faster into a longer stride. Anything else that is attempted will have the opposite effect of slowing down the arm. Hand break then should be a very natural feeling once the pitcher is focused on getting his body moving faster toward landing. Figure K. Giants Tim Lincecum at 5 10 170 lbs has reached 100 mph. He demonstrates here impressive speed of movement and back leg drive into a very long stride. Once his back leg has completed driving his body it gets ready to land on a braced front leg. Two other notable features are how he lets his throwing arm lag very late...almost until landing. Also notice that his throwing arm is not at shoulder height which may actually help prevent injury. I believe there is a critical position that the body must be in before the hands break...whether Explosive Pitching or Momentum Pitching. Once the pitcher starts to move his body from the step-back position into the pivot, his body should be positioned sideways to the target just as his hands come down to break. And of course we want the hands to break down, back and up like a pendulum swing. Having the hands come down from chest high or above the head helps this occur more naturally. Some pitchers like Giants Tim Lincecum let their throwing arm drop down into an almost stationary position so the arm lags back until very late. What we do not want to see occur is the hands breaking at chest high. Not only is this not a natural throwing action but it creates another timing problem with the throwing arm getting up too early before the pitcher lands. This would have the throwing arm waiting in the cocked position too long where elastic energy would dissipate. The late hand break with a more circular arm swing will naturally have the arm get to the cocked position just as the pitcher lands. Start With A Small Step Back And Then Increase It I started working with an 18 year old pitcher in January of 2007 on using some of the concepts of Momentum Pitching, which Dr. Rushall and myself had discussed, after concluding that a big step back was important in developing more momentum while eliminating any slow movements or hesitation...while using a two-stage push-off into a long stride at least 100% of the pitcher's height. This pitcher was 5'8" 150 lbs. He had a traditional Nolan Ryan type high leg lift delivery. However, when I first saw videotape of this pitcher I was pleasantly surprised that although he lifted his knee up to almost shoulder height, he did not hesitate. Like Nolan Ryan he continued to move his body toward the plate. I 17

especially liked his fast tempo and felt he would be a good candidate to try Momentum Pitching. His velocity at this point was 73-75 mph. A big step-back toward second base and then making the transition into the pivot with the support foot is the biggest challenge of this delivery since most pitchers have been taught to take a small step to the side. The biggest problem that most pitchers will have is not hesitating when the lead foot steps back. This pitcher started with a step back that was about 15" and then progressed to his present step back of 31"...which is exceptionally long for a pitcher of his height. But he worked many hours perfecting the entire movement of the step-back into the pivot until is was smooth but fast without any hesitation. Is a long step such as this necessary for maximum benefit? Only if the pitcher is able to do it and remain fast and yet keeps the delivery smooth. If it slows him down or creates a hesitation then the step is too big. It should be a big step back but it should still be comfortable for the pitcher. I suggest encouraging a big step back and then monitor how if effects the entire delivery. Figure L. Here is a before and after sequence. The top photos show the traditional step to the side then lift the leg up high. The bottom sequence shows this pitcher converted to Momentum Pitching where his first step is back and then his leg lift is not higher than waist height. Notice the bend in the step-back leg which indicates a large step back. If the step-back leg is not bent it would indicate a larger step back could be employed for added momentum. This would be considered Explosive-Momentum Pitching because a step-back is used but the leg is lifted up. The photos above were our first attempt at integrating the step-back toward second base with a minimal knee lift before using a strong leg drive away from the rubber. After watching some Little League pitchers perform we found that their interpretation of Momentum Pitching produced a more natural movement where the lead leg was thrust further out ahead of the front hip before leg drive began. This new interpretation provides important information that suggests why we should allow pitchers to perform more natural 18

movements before over-coaching something that is better left to the pitcher to figure out. The figure below shows the newer interpretation using minimal leg lift but a much shorter step back. If this pitcher steps back further he will improve his forward momentum and thus his velocity. Figure M. This high school pitcher is attempting classic Momentum Pitching where he steps back, pushes off the step-back foot into the pivot, positions his body sideways and then initiates back leg drive from a lower position. This would be considered excellent natural timing of breaking the hands just as the body is positioned sideways. This pitcher could however employ a larger step back to his advantage. Notice that there is little bend to his step-back leg indicating too short a step. Positioning The Body Sideways To The Target A key element of any pitching delivery is to have the body positioned to the side with the front shoulder and hip pointed at the target before leg drive begins whether the pitcher is using a traditional delivery or Momentum Pitching. As I previously mentioned, as the hands are ready to break the body must be positioned sideways ready to begin leg drive. The Back Foot In Explosive Pitching I emphasized the importance of using the back foot for stability and as a way of forcing the body to move in a sideways manner. Keeping the back leg down as long as possible is the key that allows the body to move sideways until just before landing. A pitcher should feel the dirt firmly under his foot and should attempt to keep his entire foot parallel to the rubber as long as possible...as if the foot were semi-glued to the ground. This will insure that the body will be forced sideways and will not turn or rotate too early over the back leg and hip. If the back foot heel lifts off the ground too early, this is a good indication that the pitcher is not moving his body sideways long enough. This is a cause of early rotation which prevents maximum elastic energy building in the back leg and thus a loss of velocity. Many pitchers have been taught that rotating both the lower body and upper body back toward beyond first base for a lefty or third base for a right-handed pitcher will improve velocity. This is not accurate. This does not improve velocity in an activity such as pitching where forces should be directed in a more linear or 19

sideways fashion. In fact, this actually slows the pitcher down as he must now reposition his body sideways before he starts his movement toward the plate. Rotating over the back leg then is just an extra movement that has no benefit. However, it can cause control problems because it can adversely effect the body from moving in a straight line toward the plate. Many pitchers who over-rotate over the back leg end up swinging the lead leg out and around in a swinging-gate manner. This puts forces away from the straight line we are trying to achieve. This can adversely effect velocity as we want all forces moving down the rail right at the target. Figure N. Back foot. Koufax demonstrates keeping the back foot parallel to the rubber as long as possible in order to allow the body to move sideways longer. His back heel lifts up later...just before he lands. Back Leg Drive I am reminded again of left-handed pitcher and Hall Of Famer Sandy Koufax who found a key timing element one day in the bullpen which he felt was a turning point in his career. That timing element was to keep the front hip moving toward the target as long as possible before any thing else happens. If you were to focus on his back leg and foot you would notice that his foot stays parallel to the rubber until just before his lead foot turns to land. Koufax also, as many other pitchers of his day, did not place his foot completely parallel and in front of the rubber. He placed his foot slightly angled across the rubber so that the toes of his foot were in the rubber and on the mound surface in front of the rubber and his feel was firmly positioned against the edge of the rubber. This apparently gave him a better feel of pushing against the rubber...like a sprinter would push against the starting blocks. I think this is worth trying, however, it is difficult to do when the mound is poorly maintained, with a big hole in front of the rubber. With the heel positioned as Koufax has it up against the edge of the rubber that forces the pitcher to keep the foot well anchored so that driving the body sideways is easily attained. The heel is less likely to come up which may indicate early rotation. 20

As was previously mentioned Koufax said that the key to pitching is leg drive. To Koufax the back leg provided three things. Stability, direction and the driving force of the body toward the target. The pitcher should continue to drive with his back leg until that back leg is almost fully extended at which point his lead foot will turn toward the plate and land. Back Leg Flexion Of Knee I get asked frequently about how much the back knee should flex before leg drive begins and when to flex the back knee That of course is going to be different for every pitcher. I can only tell you that it is something that each pitcher will have to feel. But it is something that certainly does not have to be coached. In Momentum Pitching, the back leg will start to flex as the pitcher begins his pivot and moves his body weight onto his support foot. Once his body is turned fully sideways his leg will be comfortably bent in order to begin leg drive. When a pitcher is moving his body sufficiently fast from the step back position, his body will fully understand how much the back knee has to flex. This is a very natural movement and again does not need to be coached. However, the idea of staying tall, which is commonly coached of course makes no sense at this point. The back leg must be flexed enough to keep the pitcher moving in a low position...not tall. For example, if a person is being instructed on how to do a skater lunge, which is a side lunge that forces the body out to the side stretched out long and low while landing on a bent leg, all that needs to be coached is the idea to move the body sideways aggressively. When and how much the back knee will flex will naturally take care of itself. If a pitcher s back leg knee flexes too much then it is a good indication that he is just moving his body too slowly because he is keeping his weight on it too long.. If the focus is on gaining maximum leg drive then the pitcher should focus more on the timing and positioning of his body rather than how much the back leg flexes. The back leg flexion will take care of itself naturally. Completing Leg Drive Into A Long Stride Leg drive today is not emphasized by most coaches or instructors. I think this is true because there is so much emphasis on what the arm is doing. This is why the value of the lower body as the impulse for velocity and direction is almost foreign to most pitchers. I personally was always reluctant to use the idea of pushing off the rubber because I feared most instructors did not understand the emphasis must be on leading with the hip. If you tell a pitcher to push off the rubber, as you will hear at most Little League games, they have no concept of the importance of timing or that the front hip must lead the front shoulder. In most cases you will see the front shoulder moving toward the plate on the same line as the front hip. This puts the pitcher in a weak position at landing with his trunk too far forward. 21

When leg drive begins the front hip must lead the front shoulder. This should occur in Momentum Pitching more naturally because from the step back position the body is being forced forward so that the lead hip is pushed well ahead of the front shoulder when the body is positioned sideways just prior to leg drive. Because of this lack of emphasis on leg drive or moving the lower body faster while leading with the front hip, many pitchers strides are far too short. Figure O. Here is a 12 year old demonstrating his version of Momentum Pitching. The hands come down to meet and break low as the pitcher positions his body sideways. Notice how low his body gets as he initiates leg drive without collapsing the support leg. The lead leg is thrust out in front of the lead hip so the pitcher s trunk is in a good position at landing at 100% stride length. Figure P. The same 12 year old 30 days later but with a different emphasis of not staying as low while getting the lower body more positioned sideways. In Figure O, notice the position of the lead knee pointed more at home plate where in this sequence the pitcher has positioned his lower body more sideways. Speed of movement is important however so isn t positioning and timing. If the pitcher were a bit lower in this sequence from more back leg bend, he would get more leg drive and keep his center of gravity low. Bending forward too much at the waist in order to stay low could also reduce speed of movement. Find a balance that works. There has been an emphasis to stay tall...which I used to emphasize. The idea being to stay tall initially so you are not squatting down too soon, but once the weight shifts to the support leg in front of the rubber, the leg bends while the pitcher is lowering his body to start to think about leg drive. This should feel natural. Most pitchers are not getting low enough while continuing to move fast. Once the weight shifts to the support leg it will bend and the pitcher positions his body sideways and lunges sideways staying low...similar to what happens when you have someone do a skater lunge. It should feel natural. 22

So the idea of staying tall is something that actually cannot happen throughout the delivery unless the pitcher remains in the position of taking the sign at the rubber. There are two concepts in pitching. One is Tall and Fall the other is Drop and Drive. The tall and fall was something that Nolan Ryan was supposed to do. Stay tall and then fall. That is hardly what Nolan Ryan did as once his lead leg started down he used a very aggressive drive toward the rubber. Hall of Famer, Tom Seaver, who started his career with the Met s with Nolan Ryan, was the poster body for drop and drive. He immediately dropped his body down very low and stayed low until landing. The idea of immediately dropping I think might contribute to pitchers over-flexing their back leg and staying over it too long thus actually slowing them down. But there is a balance each pitcher must find. Finally, once leg drive is completed the pitcher needs to get his foot down so he can transfer those forces quickly to the next segment where the hips and trunk rotate to whip the arm through. I believe that if a pitcher simply focuses on gaining speed from the step back, moving faster, positioning his body sideways and then driving away from the rubber, this should surfice to produce an explosive movement that should naturally occur. When leg drive is completed, the back leg should be near full extension just before the lead foot turns to land. If the back leg is still flexed then we know that the pitcher was not moving his body fast enough and not focusing on a strong leg drive...as a sprinter would do in order to get out of the starting blocks faster. Figure Q. Here is an example of a high school pitcher who has very little back leg drive thus he will land too early with a short stride. The pitcher on the right is a major league pitcher who has completed his leg drive and as you can see the back leg is nearly fully extended. Because he has developed enough momentum his stride leg is long. The high school pitcher could easily improve his velocity by simply using a step-back and driving his body sideways faster. This would help complete his leg drive and get him out 100% stride length. 100% or More Stride Length The result of a strong leg drive into a long stride is that the pitcher should land at a stride length of 100% of the pitcher s height or more. This landing position will see the pitcher in a long and low position with the center of gravity very low to the ground. The pitcher cannot stay tall as many coaches believe. 23

As Koufax said, the idea of throwing downhill does not happen when the pitcher has a stride length of 100% of his height...when the idea is to stay low. Koufax said that throwing directly straight on at the target was his intention while letting gravity take the ball down. Throwing downhill is something that can only occur if a pitcher has a stride that is much too short. Even in professional baseball you will hear an emphasis on throwing downhill. From these types of statements it must be clear that few coaches are watching video of what actually happens during a pitcher s delivery. Bracing Of The Front Leg And Hip Just as I have emphasized in Explosive Pitching, upon landing the front leg must brace-up. The landing position is vitally important because this is when forces are shifted from the lower body to the upper body. If the pitcher lands softly or does not emphasize this bracing action, then he will lose the opportunity to quickly transfer the energy from the large muscles of the legs to the large muscles of the trunk. This would slow arm speed and reduce velocity. Bracing the leg and hip allows the front hip to act as the axis of rotation of the pelvis as the pelvis and trunk are rotating and squaring itself to face the plate. Landing softly without bracing the front leg and hip would be like landing on sand. This would not work as the soft landing would act as a braking action and slow the transfer of forces to the next segment...the upper body. We know that if you are riding a bicycle down a hill and were to hit a wall, that you would fly over the handlebars. This is similar to what a pitcher wants to happen upon landing. You want the stopping of the lower body to accelerate the upper body and finally to whip the arm through. How does a pitcher brace his lead leg? By simply understanding what the body is supposed to do at landing and by emphasizing a fast movement into landing and then knowing that the leg and front hip stop the body from moving forward. When the lead foot hits the ground that means STOP the lower body from moving. How important is this for producing more velocity? I was observing some video of a student who showed one pitch at 80 mph and another at 84 mph from the side angle during the same practice session...a significant difference in velocity. After viewing the video it was clear that the lead leg had better bracing action on the 84 mph pitch than on the 80 mph pitch. Figure R. Bracing the front leg and hip. Notice that the 84 mph pitch on the left has less of an angle indicating that the bracing action creates front leg extension just prior to ball release. 24

Squaring the Body Into Ball Release Once the pitcher lands and braces the glove side of his body, his hips and trunk will square themselves so the pitcher is facing the hitter. As the trunk is rotating it will reach a point where it will begin to flex forward. This is the last opportunity for the pitcher to improve velocity. The action of the trunk flexing forward has proven to be a large contributor to pitching velocity. After all this is the point at which the arm is being delivered. If the pitcher's trunk upon landing is not in the correct position then velocity is reduced. Upon landing, ideally the pitcher's head should be positioned between his two feet. More specifically, especially in high velocity pitchers, you will notice that the pitcher's nose is behind his bellybutton. The trunk being back in the correct position allows more time and distance to rotate and flex the trunk forward to transfer energy into the waiting arm which has also stored elastic energy waiting to whip through into ball release. At ball release the pitcher's arm will be slightly bent and the ball will be released out over his landing leg foot. The head should be as level as possible as the pitcher tracks the ball into the glove and makes himself ready to field the ball if necessary. Once the ball is released the trunk should continue to flex forward into a flat back position parallel to the ground. The flexing of the trunk forward will lift the drive or back leg off the ground as a counterbalance. Figure S. Arm acceleration. From landing until ball release the pitcher is releasing all the stored elastic energy he has built up by focusing on speed of movement and forward momentum into a long stride. At this point the arm is along for the ride as the hips and trunk rotate squaring the pitcher so he is facing home plate. Notice the large amount of trunk rotation and trunk flexion displayed by the major league pitcher in the top row. Hopefully you are beginning to recognize the difference between an explosive delivery which stretches the body out as opposed to a delivery like the high school pitcher where the pitcher is trying to gain his velocity from his upper body from litte momentum. 25

Arm Action - Throwing Arm And Lead Arm In Explosive Pitching I demonstrated the two predominant types of arm action. I referred to them as arm swingers or elbow lifters. Although I don't believe there is any reliable data to prove one is less stressful than the other, my preference is to teach taking the ball out of the glove, and swinging it down, back and up like a pendulum. As the hand goes down the elbow leads but is then overtaken by the hand on the way up to shoulder height. Elbow lifters take the ball out of the glove by lifting the elbows up to shoulder height while the ball remains below shoulder level just before landing. I don't believe this is a natural throwing action. You will not see pitchers from fifties, sixties or seventies lifting the ball out of the glove with their elbows. This would indicate then that elbow lifting must have been coached into pitching. Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens or Yankees closer Mariano Rivera would be considered arm swingers. None has had arm problems to speak of. Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and John Smoltz would be considered elbow lifters. All have had shoulder and/or elbow surgery. Figure T. The first two photos indicate a pitcher with what I refer to as an arm swinger type of arm action where the throwing hand swings down back and up and eventually passes the elbow on the way up to shoulder height. The second two pitchers are what I refer to as elbow lifters where the throwing elbow is lifted up as the hand comes out of the glove and carries the throwing arm.. The elbow lifter type of arm action has now led to another action referred to as scapula loading, where instructors are encouraging pitchers to lift the elbows up and then pull them back behind the line of the shoulders so the shoulder blades are pinched beyond a normal range of motion. The problem with this is that it is not a normal or natural throwing motion. Anytime you encourage an athlete to go beyond normal ranges of motion you are encouraging injury and creating movements that do not feel natural. Cubs Mark Prior would be an example of scapula loading which I believe will lead to more arm injuries. Does this look like a smooth and natural action? Those who are encouraging these types of belief based movements in their instruction, are actually creating more injury along with less natural movements that inhibit a pitcher s overall performance. 26

Lead Arm Action The lead arm is primarily used by pitchers as a direction finder or site in an effort to move the body in the direction of the pitch so that the front shoulder is pointed at the target upon landing. There are various types of lead arm action that do not have to be coached. Let the pitcher determine what feels most comfortable for him. Lead arm action is something that I rarely have to instruct. Some will lead with the glove taking the arm out to a more fully extended position with the glove facing the ground, then upon landing will turn the glove so it is facing palm up before it is quickly pulled back in toward the chest. Others will lead with the elbow and then tuck the glove back in just prior to trunk rotation. The key is to have the glove pulled in prior to trunk rotation so that trunk rotation occurs at normal speed. If the glove is left out too far it could slow trunk rotation. This would be similar to what a skater does when doing fast rotations of the entire body. When the hands are pulled in to the body, the skater is able to turn much faster. The hands out away from the body would slow down rotation. I would encourage pitchers not to let the glove go up above the height of the lead shoulder after hand break. This would have the effect of too much backward lean of the throwing shoulder which could slow down the entire delivery. I don't normally coach lead arm action unless there is a timing problem that sticks out. If you coach this action you may end up interfering with the timing of trunk rotation. If the pitcher is told to pull the glove in quickly he may do it too early which would force the trunk open too soon which could adversely effect velocity and add stress to the shoulder. If someone is throwing rocks at a mailbox they will use a natural type of arm action in order to balance the upper body in making a more accurate throw. Nobody has to tell anyone how to throw a rock at a mailbox. It comes naturally. The arms in pitching should not be tense...they should be loose. The body on the other hand will naturally tense since the idea of building velocity must come from the tension and energy built up in the muscles that are being put on stretch. Figure U. Lead arm action What a pitcher does with his lead arm should be generally coached by the pitcher since it is a natural result of throwing. I have seen many pitchers whose performance was adversely effected because a coach thought that one specific type of lead arm action should fit every type of pitcher. 27

Checklist Of The Sequence Of Momentum Pitching: Start with both feet on the rubber and the glove comfortably at the chest or belt buckle. Start with the hands at the waist or chest. Take a large step straight back toward second base onto a bent leg while the hands lift up to a comfortable position to chest high, just above the head or over the head. After contacting the ground with the step back leg, immediately push off and move the support foot in front and parallel with the rubber before the step back leg comes off the ground. As the step back leg comes forward the hands will start down until the body is positioned sideways to the plate ready for leg drive. Once the body is positioned sideways onto a flexed support leg with the lead hip ahead of the rubber and the lead shoulder, the hands should break down, back and up. The support foot should feel firmly planted against the ground. With all the weight on the back leg it will be comfortably flexed and bent enough to keep the pitcher moving in a low position toward landing. Once the hands break, leg drive should begin with the total area of the back foot and should occur as fast and aggressively as possible leading with the hip. Leg drive should continue with the support foot parallel to the rubber as long as possible As back leg drive is nearly complete the support leg will be in a near fully extended position and the lead foot will begin to turn toward landing. Once leg drive is complete the lead leg, still slightly bent, will turn to land with a stride length 100% of the pitcher's height or several inches beyond. Upon landing the lead leg and front hip will brace the entire body. The throwing arm will be back and in the fully cocked position. Just after landing the glove will be pulled in and the hips and trunk will begin to rotate to square the trunk so it is facing home plate. As the lead shoulder rotates the throwing shoulder will go into a fast stretch so that the throwing arm lags momentarily building more elastic energy. As the trunk flexes forward the throwing arm elbow will begin to extend into ball release After ball release the trunk will continue to flex forward into a flat back position parallel to the ground while the head remains level to track the ball toward the plate. The pitcher should now be a ready position for fielding the ball Common Faults You Should Recognize In Explosive Pitching Or Momentum Pitching 1. Hurrying or rushing toward ball release - When learning Momentum Pitching the pitcher must understand the difference between maximum speed of movement under control and hurrying or rushing the total action in an effort to get to ball release quickly. The idea is not to get to ball release quickly but to put 28

the body's muscles into a fast and fully stretched position with the body under control. This allows the body to build maximum elastic energy. In the initial stages of Momentum Pitching I have seen many pitchers who are hurrying their action in an effort to get their front foot on the ground quickly while sacrificing a stable base with the support foot and thereby causing them to turn or open their lead hip and shoulder much too early. 2. Stride length - since shooting the video five months ago more has been concluded about at what point the pitcher should land. We often hear about over-striding but most do not understand what that means in the context of mechanics. My position is that once the pitcher finishes his leg drive he should get his lead leg and foot on the ground. Any time that he is airborne he is not producing force. Max, in the video is landing on the 80" line, which for him is a stride length of 115% of his height. Looking back we had not considered the idea that he might be airborne a bit too long and therefor not developing force. Plus it put his trunk too far forward. Max has since adjusted his stride length to about 74" which is 107% of his height. This seems to be more productive for Max. However, one student, throwing out of the stretch, and very explosive is reaching a stride length of 118% of his height. This has helped him improve his velocity from 78-87 mph over a five week span...just by focusing on being more explosive away from the rubber. Remember the pitcher must be moving fast enough into any stride length so that he is able to get his body up over his lead hip so his head and chest are in a direct line with his front knee or out over it. That will insure that he is in a strong position and as close to the plate as possible at ball release. If the head and chest are back behind the front knee at ball release that is usually an indication that he is not moving his body fast enough. Figure V. Leaping out. Here is a pitcher who has substantially increased his stride length because of speed of movement. He is 6 ft. tall and appears to be 20 away from the rubber at landing. However, he is actually airborne a substantial amount of time. When you are airborne you cannot develop force. It would be wise for this pitcher to work on moving his body straight ahead instead of leaping up first. This should speed up his total action and help produce force sooner. This pitcher did however increase his velocity from 78 mph to 87 mph in less than five weeks. Note the leg drive..hip lead. His explosiveness and overall mechanics are very impressive. He pitches only out of the stretch at this time 29

Figure W. Pushing like a sprinter. We can liken this pitcher to what a sprinter does driving away from the starting blocks. Notice the impressive leg drive to completion. However, once leg drive is complete the pitcher must get down on the ground so he can transfer all the explosive forces to the next stage. Although airborne he manages to move sideways directing his body in a straight line toward the target putting him in a good position at landing and ball release. If the back leg does not leave the ground and the lead foot lands sooner I believe both velocity and control will improve. This pitchers focus was on control rather than velocity improvement. It seems he got both. 3. Leaning Of The Trunk and Head - Every pitcher has a natural position from which he releases the ball that feels comfortable. This does not normally have to be taught. Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Josh Beckett released the ball from what is considered a low 3/4 arm position. Roger Clemens, would be considered more high 3/4 arm. Sandy Koufax and Yankees Mike Mussina would be considered more straight over-the-top pitchers...which you see very few of today. If we observe Sandy Koufax, at a straight over-the-top ball release position, we can see that he maintains a fairly level head. His trunk remains upright. Too much trunk lean puts too much of the force off to the side. The further the trunk leans to the side the less force on the ball. Since trunk flexion is the last opportunity to produce velocity it only makes sense to keep the trunk in a more upright position. We want all the forces to be moving as close as possible in a direct line toward the target. Figure X. Ball release positions We see here various ball release positions or arm slots. Coaches may be better off focusing on preventing too much body lean and letting the pitcher figure out what arm position feels more natural. 30

Coaches today may be over-coaching the position of the arm when they would be better off insuring that the pitcher is not leaning to one side too much with his trunk or even swinging his lead leg out and around. I suggest that when you direct the pitcher to move his whole body at the target with a level head, that normally produces a natural and comfortable arm slot or arm position at ball release. 4. Lead leg swinging out to the side - Many pitchers do not keep their lead leg bent long enough as they direct their front hip toward the target. If they let the lead leg swing out to the side like a swinging gate this reduces speed of movement and can adversely effect control. This normally occurs if the pitcher starts to rotate his body over his back leg in an effort to try to get more on the ball by swinging his lead leg and trunk back toward the outfield. This is counterproductive. The result is that the pitcher ends up swinging his lead leg out and around which can cause early rotation. Early rotation occurs when the support foot lifts off the ground too early not allowing the pitcher to direct his body at the target longer and does not build enough tension in the back leg. Early rotation is normally observed by noticing that the pitcher's back leg remains in a bent position rather than nearly fully extended just before landing. The pitcher should strive to keep the support foot down and not turn his lower body or trunk beyond the line between home and second base before he starts forward. Remember lateral movements or movements of the body out to the side, slow down the delivery, reduce force production and can adversely effect control. Focus on driving the body sideways with as little lateral lean or swing as possible. Critical Areas Of Momentum Pitching To Watch For 1. Make sure the pitcher's lead foot is parallel with the rubber or if slightly angled (like Koufax or Whitey Ford) to be firmly planted from toe to heel against the rubber. If the total foot loses contact with the ground or rubber where the heel lifts up early, the support hip will begin to turn thus effecting the pitcher's ability to move sideways longer and remain closed upon landing. Figure Y This pitcher displays how the support foot should stay parallel to the rubber as long as possible and roll forward instead of lift up at the heel too early. I can't stress enough the importance of the support foot staying down as long as possible. This allows and forces the pitcher's rear hip to remain back so that the body can efficiently move sideways. Anyone can test this themselves. Just put your support foot down and firmly planted on the floor so it feels almost anchored. Then just move your body sideways as far as you can. You will notice that it is difficult to start turning early 31

with that foot firmly anchored on the floor. However, if you lift the heel off the floor as you are stepping notice how much sooner you will land. Those pitchers who lift their support foot early will force the hips and trunk to open early. This reduces velocity because maximum elastic energy is not stored long enough. This also adds stress to the throwing arm because if the trunk is already opening then the arm has to do more work. Another way to recognize if the rear foot is not staying anchored to the ground long enough to cause early rotation, is to watch the back leg. If the back leg does not get to an almost fully extended position just prior to landing and is seen as still flexed and the leg is turning, this indicates that the back foot is lifting off the ground at the heel too early. 2. Does the pitcher position his body completely sideways before breaking his hands and beginning leg drive? If the pitcher is not fully sideways when he starts his leg drive, it will be difficult to move the body sideways long enough. Thus he will not build enough tension or elastic energy in the support leg and will more than likely land too early with a shorter stride. 3. Do his hands break late...and not too early? The pitcher's hands should come down ready to break just after leg drive begins. At the point of hand break, his lead leg should be out ahead of his front hip before hand break. This indicates that the body is moving toward the plate before the hands break. This will get the hands to the cocked position as late as possible thus putting more energy into the arm before it starts to move toward ball release. 4. Does the pitcher get his foot on the ground after his leg drive his complete? What we do not want to see is the pitcher staying airborne too long. If the pitcher is airborne too long then he is not producing force. Once leg drive is complete, then the pitcher should then land in order to transfer the energy that was built up from the long stride so it can transfer into the next segment of hip and trunk rotation. Energy does not transfer until the lead foot plants. What would force a pitcher to be airborne too long? If a pitcher performs a leaping action where his support foot is unnaturally dragged too far. The lead foot will drag away from the rubber naturally when the movement is fast. However leaping is not beneficial as not only would it produce less force but would adversely effect ball control. The back foot should always remain in contact with the ground until ball release. It should drag away from the rubber in a straight toward the plate inline with the lead leg. Pitching Out Of The Stretch Position In figures V and W we observed a pitcher pitching out of the stretch position. This pitcher improved his velocity from 78-87 mph only pitching out of the stretch by focusing on one important element...speed of movement away from the rubber. In Explosive Pitching, I emphasized the idea of shifting the weight away from the rubber and leading with the front hip. I suggested that when pitchers were ready to make their move toward the plate that they imagined an invisible coach pushing their back hip toward the plate as forcefully as possible. The pitcher in figures V and W did exactly that by simply focusing on driving his front hip at the target as fast as possible but he also emphasized a strong leg drive to completion. 32

It should be apparent then that not only did he use speed of movement and a strong leg drive to move his body fast and into a long stride building impressive elastic energy but he also used a strong intention to accomplish that. We could say that his intention to build speed of movement and the strong intensity that he used was also a big factor for creating such a quick increase in his velocity. Many pitchers do not understand that it takes intensity and strong effort to get the body to do what you want it to do in order to create speed of movement and more momentum to improve velocity. When you put that intention together with good timing then you get the look of a smooth delivery. It has the appearance of explosive but also looks smooth and fluid. We already know that we do not have to lift the leg up to produce velocity. That is also true out of the stretch. Lifting the leg up will only serve to slow the pitcher down and with runners on it gives them more time to steal. You cannot move toward the target with maximum momentum when you are also lifting the leg up. There are two variations you will normally see when pitching out of the stretch without lifting the leg up to waist height. The Slide step: The slide step is used conventionally to speed up the pitcher s move toward the plate when there is a fast runner on base in order to give the catcher a little extra time to make the throw. The focus should be on leg drive and moving the hip toward the target as long as possible. Here is the sequence of the slide step. The pitcher starts with his feet about the width of his hips...fairly close together so that his head and all his weight is directly over his support leg. This positions the pitcher as far away from the plate and hitter as possible allowing maximum momentum to be built. His hands can be positioned at his bellybutton or at his chest. Three things will happen simultaneously. The movement of lifting the hands either up slightly from the bellybutton or bringing them down from chest high also signals the bending or flexing of the support leg (leg drive) and moving the front hip toward the target. When the hands move, the back leg bends and the front hip moves the lead leg straight ahead. When the hands break the pitcher s lead leg will be well out in front of his lead hip and shoulder. Remember we want the body to be moving toward the plate before we break the hands. The intention of the pitcher should be to reach 100% stride length by focusing on bending the back leg and initiating leg drive quickly. The focus should be on how quickly the pitcher can complete his leg drive just before he lands. The idea of flexing the back leg and getting a strong leg drive is to put the muscles on stretch as fast as possible. That builds maximum elastic energy. Knee to Knee: The second stretch position is often referred to as going knee to knee. This is not quite as fast a move because the pitcher has to first shift his weight back over his back leg before he initiates back leg drive. Here is the sequence for knee to knee. 33

The pitcher starts with his feet spread apart. His head will be positioned back but not over his back leg. His lead foot will be either in line with his front shoulder or out ahead of it slightly. The first movement that the pitcher will make is to quickly pull his lead leg knee back toward his support knee while shifting his head over his support leg. Again, he is trying to position his body as far away from the plate and hitter as possible. At the same time his back leg is bending or flexing and his hands are moving. Because his back leg will be bending his body will be lowering. As soon as the lead knee comes back and nearly reaches the support knee he must immediately initiate a strong leg drive. His hands will again break after his front hip has started to move toward the plate. Important: The pitcher should not try to turn or rotate his body more to the outfield as this turning at this point will only serve to slow down the total action. It should be noted that many coaches teach pitchers to turn more believing it helps create more velocity. Not so. I would suggest that pitchers eventually learn both types of moves out of the stretch in order to give runners and hitters a different look which can confuse their timing. However, become proficient and comfortable with only one initially. Figure Z. Pitching from the stretch: The top row of photos demonstrates the knee to knee move. The bottom row demonstrates the slide step. Notice in photo two of the slide step pitcher how he is turning his lead leg too early causing early trunk rotation. Hurrying Momentum Pitching It is important to distinguish between speed of movement and hurrying the action toward the plate when using Momentum Pitching. As has been previously stated the pitcher is not trying to get to ball release 34

as quickly as possible but is trying to move his body as explosively as possible while using skilled movements with proper timing. Obviously the quickest way to get to ball release would be using a short stride. But that reduces velocity The photo sequence below demonstrates hurrying without proper timing for getting the body into a proper landing position. In the second photo in the top row he starts to move from a nice low position but then comes up in photo 4 where he breaks his hands before he has positioned his lower body sideways to the target...an important positioning and timing factor. His early hand break is telling him he needs to get ready to throw but it is much too early. Also, his support foot is not fully anchored at the rubber or the mound surface which will cause early rotation. The end result is that in photo 7 lower row far right, he has landed and is nearly ready to release the ball. At this point...at landing his front shoulder and back hip should be directed between home and second base. His lower body turning too soon creates the end result...a timing error that disrupts the landing which forces him to throw early without maximum force prodution. The solution is easy. All he has to do is delay bringing his hands down to break them until after he has positioned his front hip sideways at the target and his support foot is firmly anchored to the rubber or mound surface. It should be apparent at this point that using a video camera during practice sessions is not optional. I hear parents and coaches saying that they videotape once or twice a season or even once a month. In just one month, without videotaping it is very possible that a pitcher could get much worse and build in a very poor movement pattern that could take many practice sessions fixing...since using the naked eye to just eyeball the delivery is very risky. Figure Z.2 Hurrying the motion: This pitcher has the right idea in trying to move fast. However, everything he is doing is getting him to ball release too early. This would be considered an example of early rotation where upon landing his hips and shoulders are already rotating. 35

How To Firmly Plant The Sequence Into The Pitcher's Brain Whether you are working on Explosive Pitching or Momentum Pitching, it is important that the pitcher fully understands the steps before he attempts to perform the delivery. An effective way of doing this is to have him walk through the steps slowly so the instructor knows that he fully understands the sequence of what should occur. The instructor, coach or parent should first explain the sequence of the delivery to the student pitcher and all of its benefits. He should then have the student feed that back to him so the instructor knows he fully understands it. Next he should have the pitcher walk himself through the delivery without throwing the ball while verbalizing what he is doing. This should help firmly fix the movement into the pitcher's brain. Then before each practice pitch he should play a little mental movie of himself performing the sequence perfectly. Again, this should be performed before every practice pitch. Main Benefits Of Momentum Pitching Momentum Pitching has several benefits, not only for the pitcher but also for the instructor. Easy to learn and teach - because Momentum Pitching is a more natural way of throwing it is easy for the pitcher to learn. He understands that all he has to do is take a big step back toward second base, push-off into the pivot, and then push again moving the body sideways toward the target. See immediate velocity improvements - because the focus is on building more momentum into a long stride pitchers should see immediate gains in velocity that can almost be guaranteed as long as they follow the steps and don't have any hesitations Better control - because the pitcher will be moving his body in a direct line toward the plate and will be closer to the hitter upon ball release ball control should immediately improve Less chance of mechanical errors - because the pitcher will be moving his body faster there is actually less chance of mechanical problems. Problems such as throwing across the body or balance are easily removed because the pitcher is moving faster. Upsets hitter's timing - because hitters will have no typical checkpoints to key off of such as the balance position they will less time to react Hitters have less time to react - because the delivery is so much faster and because the pitcher will be closer to the plate due to a longer stride, hitters will have much less time to react to the pitch. This provides a virtual velocity benefit where the ball seems to be moving faster. Pitcher looks totally different than other pitchers - because Momentum Pitchers simply look totally different than traditional pitchers this too can be disconcerting to hitters because traditional deliveries will be much slower and are more easily keyed off of. Less stress to the pitcher's arm - because the focus is on speed of movement and a longer stride, the pitcher's arm has to do even less work. More elastic energy is built up during Momentum Pitching. 36

Off-speed pitchers are more effective - because Momentum Pitchers are moving faster their off-speed pitches are far more effective. Mixing Momentum Pitching with Explosive Pitching - at certain times a pitcher can implement different tempos into his delivery by using a variation of Momentum Pitching or Explosive pitching which will also serve to upset a hitters timing. For example, I have worked with one Momentum Pitcher who varies his delivery nine different ways. Hitters do not like to face him. It is very uncomfortable. Allows the pitcher to throw more volume of pitches in practice and therefore improve much faster - because the body is doing more of the work and the arm is taking on less stress, pitchers will be able to throw more pitches in practice thus improving their skills even more on all their pitches. What Can Max...The Pitcher On The DVD Do To Improve And What Have We Learned Since Shooting The Video Footage? When I first saw Max pitch, the pitcher I used as a model on the the Momentum Pitching DVD, I was impressed with his explosiveness. However, he had the traditional Nolan Ryan type high leg lift but did a nice job leading with his front hip out into a nice long stride. The idea was to reduce the high leg lift and use the step back while eliminating some other little errors such as leaning. The main focus was speed of movement into a long stride. Max is 5 9 and it appears that with his old delivery he was getting to about his height which is 69. In Max s old delivery he was not focused on leg drive. On the DVD Max is striding out to 80 which is 116% of his height. The question we must ask ourselves is: Is there a maximum stride length %. I believe there is. So was having Max stride out to 80 too ambitious? I think it was and I had a gut feeling about it at that time for a number of reasons which I will explain. Looking back, I had mentioned to Max my concern because I could see that his trunk was not positioned, in my opinion, optimally. I thought his trunk was too far forward at landing. I had sent the footage to Dr. Rushall for his input. I remember mentioning my concern about his stride length but Dr. Rushall didn t see it as a problem. Our entire focus at that point was speed of movement into a longer stride. We had worked in January with a major league pitcher, whose stride was far too short. He was 6 4 and maybe getting out to 65 at best. I remember our first session with him. I drew the white stride line at 80 (which I do on all lessons) and before that first session was over...which lasted about four hours, he had landed at 86, which is 105% of his height. Over the next four weeks he had pretty much settled back to between 80-82 by shortening up his step back because it was a bit too big and was actually slowing him down because he could not quickly push off into the pivot. I suggested he take a smaller step back which was still probably at least 20 behind the rubber. For this major league pitcher his 80 stride worked well and there was noticeable improvement in not just velocity but with all his pitches. His feedback after facing some top major league hitters during a practice session was that his fastball had a late jump to it, his curveball had a quicker break and more bite and his change-up had a later break. 37

Why the improvement? Remember the longer you hold onto the ball the more energy is built up and is transferred to the fingers of the throwing hand as late as possible. The pitcher throws later and has more energy transferred to his fingers before leaving the ball. The fingers provide force and ball control. So we knew the benefits of more speed of movement into a longer stride for a high level major league veteran pitcher. Besides the position of Max s trunk I also noticed that his back hip was almost on the same plane as his front hip at landing. In other words at landing his hips were level when I felt that the back hip should be positioned higher than the front hip as a more optimal means of transferring the body up and rotating around that lead hip. Finally it was early June when I mentioned all this to Max about shortening his stride. I drew a line at 74 or 107% of his height. We also talked about leg drive and that once leg drive was completed that the lead leg should get on the ground and brace-up in order to transfer all those forces to the next segment...the hips and trunk. Tim Lincecum, the Giants rookie is a good example of this. He uses a long stride but once leg drive is complete his lead leg foot turns to land and braces up. The important factor to consider when looking at stride length is that once leg drive is complete and the lead foot gets down, is the trunk still must be back so the pitcher s nose is ideally positioned behind the imaginary line drawn vertically from the ground up through his bellybutton. If the trunk is not back then it means the power is being transferred to the trunk too early...instead of as late as possible. A late hand break or letting the throwing shoulder and arm lag back, (like Koufax and Lincecum) prevents the pitcher from wanting to throw too early. The focus must be on leg drive and getting the lead hip out quickly ahead of the lead shoulder. Most pitchers do not get enough bend in the back leg while focusing on moving fast at the same time. Squatting down will slow the pitcher down. The back leg must bend sufficiently to help lower the pitcher s center of gravity but he must flex it quickly. Koufax knew the importance of this more than any other modern day pitcher. Although arthritis shortened his career, no pitcher had any more success during any one six year period than he did. That s why we need to learn from the past. Hopefully at this point you have learned some new things as I have since we shot the video footage back in early May of 2007... five and a half months after the writing of this report. Much learning has taken place, as I said, by simply observing what both beginning and high school pitchers were able to accomplish by simply listening to verbal instructions from my Member s Forums about how to perform Momentum Pitching while letting their natural movements take over. These pitchers, willing to try Momentum Pitching, created from nothing what they felt was natural and for most of them it worked quite well. After all this is exactly how pitchers from the past came up with their deliveries. The knowledge of pitching mechanics was not available then so there were no pitching coaches tinkering with this or that. The pitcher was left to figure it out for himself. That was true in my case as well having pitched in the late sixties and early seventies. The coaching I got went something like this: throw it down the middle and let the natural movement take care of itself. Nobody tinkered with my delivery. And that is the big problem today... over-coaching. And 38

much of the over-coaching is all about what the instructor believes to be true. At some point we have to guide the pitcher from solid information, educate him, use video constantly and then let the pitcher figure it out. Figure Z3. The top row of photos is Max before Momentum Pitching. Notice the bend in his back leg and leading with his front hip. Those are good things. He is actually in a better landing position than in Momentum Pitching because his body is further out at hand break. Can you see in the bottom row photo #3 that his throwing arm is up too early so it must wait for landing thus losing elastic energy. A later hand break would prevent this and would keep his trunk back longer so the energy is not getting to the trunk too early. The fix here: Flex the back leg sooner and get the hip out further before hand break and get the lead foot down once leg drive is complete. So what would you have Max work to improve?. Watch the video and make your own assessment. If we watch the younger kids doing Momentum Pitching and what they did naturally, it seems they are able to understand the back leg action and getting the hip out in front so the hands break later. My suggestions are: Take a big step back and then immediately push and position the support leg at the rubber Get enough bend in the support leg without slowing the action Position the trunk or front shoulder sideways first Bring the front hip into position sideways leading the shoulder Once the lead hip passes the rubber and gets positioned sideways initiate leg drive Break the hands later Complete leg drive and then get the foot down 39