Pitching Technique The more you understand how you throw different pitches and the actions that you rely on for most of your power the more you can improve or enhance what you are already doing. It will enable you to modify or change your technique so that you can throw a greater variety of pitches or be able to throw harder and more accurately.
Regardless of your exact pitching technique there are some key elements that all pitchers must possess in order to pitch well. Not all pitchers use these actions to the same extent and it is possible to see differences in the range of motion of each action, the sequence in which each action occurs and the amount of force that is applied to each action. The key point here is that all of these actions are used to a limited or greater extent by different pitchers. Following is a breakdown of these common actions and the role that each plays.
Pitching Technique Elements NOTE: All actions are based on a right handed pitcher.
1. The initial windup. In the initial stance before turning and starting the forward stride each pitcher has his own particular technique in swinging the arms forward and back and shifting weight. The movements are used for rhythm but more importantly to get the body weight on the forward foot and to turn the body to the side facing position as you raise the forward leg
How high it is raised is not important in regard to force production.. You can throw with the same amount of speed from the stretch (when a man is on base) as you can with a full windup with no one on base. Because these movements are not critical and depend upon what feels comfortable to you they are not discussed in detail here.
2. Initiating the forward stride. After the preliminary movements and after you assume the side facing position all the body weight is placed on the now rear right leg in contact with the rubber. The first joint action to occur at this time is hip joint abduction. In this the muscles on the side of the right hip (for a right handed pitcher) contract to push the hips forward. Since the center mass of your weight is concentrated in the hips, once you get the hips moving your body is in motion. As the hips are driven forward, the upper body (head and shoulders) remain basically in the same position. At the same time there is hip abduction in the front left hip joint to initiate the stepping out action to give you a long stride. Note that the hip abduction moves your body weight forward so that when the push-off (rear) leg straightens it moves you forward, not upward.
3. The Push Off For greater force in pushing the body forward the rear leg straightens forcefully in the hip, knee and ankle joints. The main force producing joint actions are the knee and ankle extension if you rely on a powerful leg drive. The more forcefully you extend the leg the more you shift your weight forward and the more resulting force you can generate later. For example, this force from weight shift is then transferred to the hips or trunk once the forward leg is planted.
4. Hip Rotation. As you stride forward, the front leg is rotated outwardly in order to plant the foot so that the toes face the batter. This action prepares the medial hip rotator muscles in the left hip joint for rotating the hips. Note that some pitchers also rotate the hips forward (begin to open the hips ) as they stride forward. This usually occurs when there is insufficient flexibility in the hip joint to outwardly rotate the leg.
For the greatest force production and transfer, however, it is important that the front leg be held rigid soon after contacting the ground so that the weight shift can be transferred to the hip and trunk rotation. The more you sink the more you will absorb the weight shift forces.
5. Shoulder Rotation. As the hips rotate forward, the shoulders should remain in a side facing position. As a result the abdominal oblique muscles involved in rotating the shoulders to the front facing position are placed on stretch. This action prepares them to more forcefully pull the shoulders (upper body)around. The upper body has great mass and when placed into acceleration creates a tremendous amount of force.
In addition to being an important force producing action the shoulder rotation whips the arm back into external rotation (cocks the arm) in preparation for its important action. Note that you do not forcefully cock the arm by yourself. It happens as a consequence of powerful shoulder (trunk) rotation. If you bring the arm back and cock it by yourself you will not be able to generate as much force.
6. Spinal Flexion. This action is another very powerful action but it is not used by all pitchers. In order to include this movement you must have a forceful stride to get the hips out in front and rotated while the head and shoulders remain back. In this case the hip rotation places your spine in a hyperextended position so that your trunk is arched backward ready for a forward whipping type action.
When the spine is hyperextended you can then forcefully contract the abdominals to bring the upper body forward to create even more force. The spinal flexion occurs quickly after the shoulder rotation. In these two actions the arm is forcefully cocked in preparation for the next action.
7. Lateral Spine Flexion. Lateral spine flexion or bending the trunk to the side occurs together with the shoulder and spinal actions and is executed by all pitchers. The main purpose of this action is to raise the throwing arm shoulder and to get the push-off leg more directly in line with the throwing hand (ball). In this way all the forces generated by the body can be passed directly into the ball.
If you maintain a vertical trunk position the ball would release on the side of the body and you would not have full use of all the forces generated nor will you have good alignment of the body to get the maximum range of motion and effort from each action. Throwing from this position most often leads to shoulder and/or arm injuries.
8. Horizontal Shoulder Joint Adduction If you have a powerful shoulder turn and if you have good shoulder joint flexibility, the arm with the ball will stay back as the shoulders rotate forward. In essence the upper arm ends up behind the shoulders so that the elbow points back and to the side. From this position the upper arm is then driven forward (horizontal adduction) until the elbow lines up with the shoulders when shoulder joint medial rotation takes place. 9. Shoulder Joint Medial Rotation (Inward rotation of the upper arm). In the cocking action the arm is outwardly rotated so that the forearm is laid back. In pitchers with good shoulder joint flexibility it is possible to see the forearm level with the ground when the arm is fully cocked. This range of motion is extremely important if you use an arm whipping action.
In this action the elbow remains bent at approximately a 90? angle. As the medial rotation takes place the upper arm rotates but the elbow remains in line with the shoulders. As a result the forearm rotates upward and forward in preparation for the release when the forearm reaches the vertical position.
10. Elbow Extension. Some pitchers, instead of maintaining approximately a 90? angle in the elbow joint as the medial rotation takes place, extend the arm so that the release is further out to the side and the arm is almost straight. (In this case there is also greater lateral flexion of the spine.) The key action here is elbow extension which takes place together with the medial rotation in the shoulder.
Note, however, that as the arm becomes straighter it becomes more difficult to hold the hand vertical, which is important throwing a fast ball. The hand must be vertical so that the fingers will be directly behind the ball near the top. The straighter the arm the more the fingers are to the side or in line with the arm (horizontal) which puts side spin on the ball.
Thus the exact hand position depends upon the amount of flexibility that you have in the wrist joint as well as how straight the arm becomes. This is why for some pitches it is important to keep the elbow slightly bent as the medial rotation takes place. This allows you to throw a greater variety of pitches.
11. Forearm (hand) pronation. Forearm pronation occurs on every pitch except for the curve (sinking) ball. In pronation you turn the palm of the hand so that it faces the batter. This action is critical to getting the fingers behind the ball so that all the forces generated are transferred to the ball and so that the fingers can apply their force during the release. In essence it ensures that all of the forces that you generate are imparted to the ball.
If you did not have sufficient pronation the fingers would be on the side of the ball which would create a great amount of spin but very little force to drive the ball toward home plate. Pronation occurs mainly when the elbow is bent. The more flexion there is in the elbow joint the greater the amount of pronation to get the hand behind the ball. If you fully extend the arm you rely more on medial shoulder rotation and there is less forearm pronation involved. Note that both of these actions bring the hand around so it is behind the ball during the release.
In no circumstances should you ever execute supination, the opposite action of pronation. In supination you turn the back of the hand toward the batter and the palm of the hand faces you. This is an extremely dangerous position for the elbow and if you threw hard the chances of injury in the elbow are extremely high. The more speed you try putting on the ball the greater will be the stress in the elbow joint. This is the main action responsible for elbow injuries especially to young pitchers. The curve ball is not the culprit, it is the improper hand action that is executed.
12. Wrist Flexion. As the forearm pronation and/or medial rotation take place the hand with the ball is laid back in wrist hyperextension placing the wrist flexors on stretch in preparation for their action. Wrist flexion, i.e., bringing the palm toward the anterior forearm occurs as the palm of the hand faces the batter during the release. The action occurs when the hand is alongside the head or in line with the shoulders. The wrist flexion continues until the ball leaves the fingertips when the hand is somewhat in front of the head.
Wrist flexion is not a major force producing action. It appears to be so mainly because of all the body forces that are transferred to the ball and released by this action. You can easily test this by clamping the forearm in place so that it will not move and then throw with only wrist flexion. The ball will not travel the length of an average room.
13. Ulna Flexion. Ulna flexion is the key wrist action in throwing a curve ball, i.e. a sinking or dropping ball. In this action the little finger side of the hand moves toward the forearm. This action enables the fingers to travel over the top of the ball to impart top spin which forces the ball downward on its flight to the plate. In pitching, the curve ball and some of its variants are the only pitches that require this action. Note that this is also the wrist break action in batting.
14. Finger Flexion. Finger flexion is the last action in all pitches except for the curve. Its main function is to concentrate all the forces into the fingertips and then into the ball to produce different effects. In essence the forces are directed into specific parts of the ball in order to create different pitches, i.e., so that the ball breaks in a specific way to create a specific pitch.
15. Finger Extension: When throwing a knuckleball the fingers must extend so that the ball is released with no spin as this action is more for effect rather than force.
The pitching motion is often broken down into three phases: the stride, the power phase, and the follow through. These phases can be used for a general overall description of the pitch but not for precise detailed actions. The reason for this is that there are many actions occurring simultaneously but yet in sequence. For example in the power phase or in the forward throw, preparatory, power and follow through actions occur in a very complex manner.
It should also be noted that preparatory, power and follow through actions overlap one another in sequential actions that occur during the pitching motion. For example, during the push-off power phase there is preparation of the hip joint medial rotator muscles for the next action of hip rotation. This is considered the preparatory phase. Once the leg is firmly planted on the ground, the muscles of the left leg then undergo an isometric contraction to hold the leg position. This is a follow through action.
As the hips rotate forward (power phase) the abdominals are prepared for shoulder rotation (preparatory phase) and go into action (power phase) when the hips stop in a forward facing position.. The muscles work concentrically (shorten) to rotate the hips which in turn prepare the midsection rotators (eccentric stretch) for the following shoulder rotation. Once the hips come to a stop, the hip muscles undergo an isometric contraction to create a firm base for the abdominal oblique muscles to contract concentrically to pull the shoulders around. As shoulders rotate forward the arm goes into preparation, i.e., the cocking (preparatory) phase in preparation for the next action. Thus in each action there is an overlap of not only preparatory movements but power phase movements and what can be considered follow through movements when the joint is stabilized to allow for the transfer of forces to the next joint. These actions take place separately but yet overlap one another in a particular sequence of events.
This is what makes pitching so complex and why it requires a high level of coordination. There are many actions occurring in sequence and simultaneously, but with good coordination (technique) they all contribute in a smooth fashion to the production of force. Since force is equal to mass times acceleration (F=Ma) the large body movements such as the stride, hip and shoulder rotation and spinal flexion, involve the largest masses of the body.
When they are placed into acceleration they quickly create the greatest amount of force. Even though the arm has less mass it is capable of moving faster and as a result creates great acceleration which contributes to overall speed.
The main contribution of arm action should not be to create most of the force in throwing. You should get most force from the stride and from rotation of hips and shoulders. The arm action, when it follows these actions, still contributes force but can be used more to ensure accuracy of the pitch. The wrist, forearm and finger actions play even more important roles in regard to accuracy. But if you use these fine actions for mainly additional force it will detract from your accuracy.