Proper Throwing Mechanics

While some people will tell you that pitching and throwing are two completely different things, I am of the opinion that they are actually very closely related. I think pitching is just a modified form of throwing. I believe the only real difference between delivering the ball to the plate and delivering the ball to first base is the acceptable margin of error; it's obviously much smaller for a pitcher.
     That's why I often say that pitching is just throwing with less margin for error.
     As a result, I believe that every person who plays baseball should be able to at least pitch batting practice (meaning that they can at least throw strikes). The problem is that too many people can't even throw strikes in batting practice, much less a game.
     Over the years, I have found that this is usually due to an underlying problem with a player's throwing mechanics. Let me quickly discuss how I teach my players to throw.

Sideways, Shift, Swing, Step, & Throw

The mantra I use when working with my players on their throwing mechanics is "Sideways, Shift, Swing, Step, and Throw." If you stand next to me at a practice (regardless of whether I'm coaching 6U's or 11U's), you will hear me constantly repeating this phrase. Here's what I mean when I say that.

Sideways

The first, and most important, element of proper throwing mechanics is to start out standing sideways to the target like a pitcher in the Set (aka Stretch) position such that lines drawn through your heels, your hips, and your shoulders would point directly at the target. At this point your feet should be slightly more than shoulder width apart with your weight balanced across both your feet, both of your hands should be at the level of your belt buckle with your elbows slightly bent, and your eyes should be locked on the target.
     Getting sideways to the target is critically important because it enables you to throw with your entire body and not just your arm. Too many people who don't get much on the ball -- who are guilty of "throwing like a girl" -- do so because they aren't utilizing the rotation of their hips, torso, and shoulders to propel the ball. Instead, their only source of power is the extension of their elbow and wrist and the internal rotation of their shoulder. The problem is that, while you can get some power that way, because of the relative size of the muscles involved -- small for the rotator cuff, elbow, and wrist versus large for the legs, hips, and torso -- you can throw a ball much harder if you throw with your entire body and not just your arm.
     If I was a coach or a parent of a young ballplayer, and only had time to work on one thing with them, then getting them to always start out sideways to the target would be the one thing I would focus on. If you get this step right, then many other things will fall into place pretty much naturally. If you don't, then nothing else you do will make much of a difference.

Shift

As Charley Lau Sr. said with respect to hitting, you have to go back to go forward. The same principle applies to proper throwing mechanics. Before going forward toward the target, you first must shift your weight onto your back or Pitching Arm Side foot. This will create linear momentum that will be converted into rotational momentum and help to pull your shoulders around.

Swing

As you shift your weight back onto your Pitching Arm Side (PAS) foot, you should break your hands and pendulum swing both arms down, out, and up to the Ready Position as Greg Maddux is doing in the photo below.

Greg Maddux

Like Greg Maddux, you want to break your hands early -- as you shift your weight onto your back foot -- so that you give your pitching arm plenty of time to get up into the Ready Position before your Glove Side (GS) foot lands and your shoulders start to rotate.
     I define the Ready Position as one in which your shoulders are level, your elbows are just below the level of your shoulders, your PAS elbow is bent either 45 degrees or 135 degrees (not 90 degrees), and you are showing the ball to Third Base. That is what Greg Maddux is doing in the photo below.

Greg Maddux

At the Ready Position, your Glove Side (aka GS) arm should be pointed directly at the target as Kenny Rogers is doing in the photo below. This is to ensure that your shoulders stay "closed" for as long possible. As your hips open as you step toward the target, this stretches the muscles of the torso and increases the force with which they pull the shoulders around.

Greg Maddux

When swinging your arm up to the Ready Position, there are several other things that you want -- and do not want -- to do.
     First, when swinging them up to the Ready Position, your arms should move in line with the target, not to either side (e.g. behind your back).
     Second, you do not want to pick up your forearm or break your hands with your elbows to get to the Ready Position. Instead, you want a longer arm swing. I like players to start out with their hands at their belt buckle when they are in the Sideways Position because that it reduces the temptation to short-arm the ball; it makes it less likely that they will pick up the forearm and get to the Ready Position by bringing the ball past the ear rather than down, out, and up.
     Third, you do not try to keep the fingers on top of the ball and you do not want to show the ball to Center Field (or Second Base). The problem with following both of these --admittedly very common -- pieces of advice is that it puts your forearm in a problematic position and may increase the load on your UCL. Instead, at the Ready Position it is better if your palm is facing Third Base. This will force you to pronate your forearm to get your palm to face the target at the Release Point, which will decrease the load on your UCL.
     Finally, as you throw the ball you never want to bring your PAS elbow above the level of your shoulders. Some people believe that the way to throw from a higher arm slot is to get the elbow up. The truth is that the way to throw from a higher arm slot is to tilt the shoulders, as Jeff Suppan is doing in the photo below. That way the hand goes up but the PAS elbow always stays below the level of the shoulders (the white line).

Jeff Suppan

Step

After shifting your weight onto your back foot and starting to pendulum swing your arms up into the Ready Position, you should step directly toward the target, landing with your GS toe pointing at the target. This step should be as long as the steps you take when walking at a brisk pace.

Sandy Koufax

Don't worry about powerfully striding toward the target. Contrary to what many people believe, that is unlikely to give you much additional power. In fact, trying to get too much power from the stride can even decrease your power by limiting how much your hips can rotate or messing up your timing (which is known as rushing).
     Instead, the point of stepping toward the target is to open the hips and stretch the muscles of the torso while keeping your shoulders closed (facing 3B for a pitcher). This stretching of the muscles of the torso allows them to powerfully pull the shoulders around.

Tim Lincecum

One thing to keep in mind when stepping toward the target is that it is critical that your hips rotate ahead of your shoulders as is happening in the photo above of Tim Lincecum. If you have a hard time getting anything on your throws, then the problem may be that your shoulders are rotating with -- or worse, ahead of -- your hips. The longer your can keep your shoulders closed (with your glove still pointing at the target) while your hips are opening up underneath them, the more power you will be able to get on your throws.

Throw

Once your Glove Side (aka GS) foot is planted on the ground, you should allow your shoulders to be pulled around by the rotation of your hips and torso. To maximize the velocity of your throw, it is important that you do not starting rotating your shoulders -- or more accurately speaking let your shoulders be rotated -- until your GS foot has landed on the ground. If you start rotating your shoulders before your GS foot is planted on the ground, then you will end up throwing more with your arm than with your body. This will rob you of power and may increase the risk that you will injure yourself.
     If you are also a pitcher, then to ensure that you finish in a strong fielding position, as you start to rotate your shoulders you want to bring your chest to your glove. You should also try to bring your PAS knee past your glove-side knee, rather than leaving your PAS foot stretched out behind you, since this will maximize the ability of your hips to rotate. After you release the ball, it is best if you finish standing relatively upright with your glove at your GS pec as Greg Maddux is doing in the photo below.

Greg Maddux

This will maximize the ability of your shoulders to smoothly rotate and, if you end up pitching, will enable you to defend yourself against a ball hit toward your face or sternum.

How My Son Throws The ball

I came up with this approach to teaching throwing as a result of teaching my sons, and the other boys on their baseball teams, how to throw the ball. I am sure that some of you will be interested in how my boys turned out, so below is a video of my 8 year-old son throwing the ball around at baseball practice.

My Younger Son Throwing

There are a couple of things to notice in this clip.
     First, and most importantly, notice how he starts out sideways to the target. This enables him to throw the ball with his entire body, which is one reason why he can throw the ball as hard and as far as he does.
     Second, notice how he swings his arm down, out, and up into the high-cocked position. Also, notice that his arm is up and in the high-cocked position before his glove-side foot plants.
     Third, notice how, rather than keeping his fingers on top of the ball as long as possible and showing the ball to Center Field/Second Base, he shows the ball to Third Base relatively soon after breaking his hands.
     The only thing that obviously needs work in my son's throwing motion is that he flies open with his glove. I would prefer that he brought his chest to his glove rather than letting it fly out to the side. However, this is something that can be fixed relatively easily.

Other Examples

I have gotten a ton of interest in, and questions about, this article, so let take a few minutes to give some other examples of exactly what I'm talking about. In most cases I'll do this using photos of "ordinary" people (e.g. non baseball players) throwing out ceremonial first pitches. While some people will object to this approach, in my experience most people don't want to look like an idiot in front of tens of thousands of people, so they tend to try to deliver a reasonably good pitch (but rarely succeed).

Brittany Lincicome

The photo below of Brittany Lincicome is an example of someone who doesn't use the motion I describe above, and who "throws like a girl" as a result.

Brittany Lincicome

Leaving aside the whole flip flop thing (she obviously didn't come prepared to play), Brittany has a couple of serious mechanical problems.
     First, it looks like she started out facing the target rather than sideways to the target; this caused a cascade of problems. Second, she's taking a very short stride; in fact, given the elevated position of her PAS foot (it's unusual for the PAS foot to be in the air at this point), I wonder if she took a step at all with her GS foot. She is throwing largely with her arm, and not her body, and will probably not be able to get much on the ball as a result. Third, and likely as a result of the first two points, her hips look like they are rotating behind, rather than ahead of, her shoulders. Finally, her PAS elbow looks like it's slightly above the level of her shoulders. If she were a real pitcher, I'd be concerned about her developing shoulder problems.
     I do at least like her arm slot; it will help her use her height to her advantage and maximize the vertical movement of her pitches.

Danica Patrick

So that you know that I'm not prejudiced against women, let me now show you a photo of Danica Patrick throwing a ball with pretty much perfect mechanics.

Danica Patrick

There are a number of things to notice in this photo.
     First, she clearly started out sideways to the target; notice how her PAS toe is parallel to the pitching rubber and pointing toward 3B. Second, notice that she is taking a decent-sized stride; this will help her establish some momentum toward the target and help her hips rotate. Third, notice that she has come to something resembling the Ready Position. Her PAS elbow is bent more than I recommend (you could argue that she is short-arming the ball), but I don't think it's that big of a deal. Also, while her GS forearm arm isn't pointing at the target, her GS elbow and GS upper arm are pointing at the target. Fourth, notice how her hips are rotating ahead of her shoulders (notice how the line of buttons down the front of her jersey curves toward the plate as it goes down her chest); this will enable her to throw with her body and not just with her arm and get more on the ball as a result. Finally, notice how her shoulders are fairly level and still pointing at the target.

Harold Ramis

This photo of Harold Ramis throwing out a ceremonial first pitch shows pretty much the same mechanics as the photo of Danica Patrick with one important exception.

Harold Ramis

In the photo above notice how Harold Ramis is at pretty much the same point in the motion as Danica Patrick, and generally has pretty solid mechanics -- including rotating his hips ahead of his shoulders -- but his PAS foot has rotated so that his PAS toe is pointing pretty much toward the target (while the toe of Danica Patrick's PAS foot is pointing at 3B). This is a small mechanical flaw that some people have that I believe robs them of power (and possibly accuracy as well) by reducing how much the muscles of the torso are stretched and thus reducing how powerfully the hips pull the shoulders around.

Hideki Matsui

As a sanity check, let's now take a look at a picture of Hideki Matsui throwing the ball around in the outfield.

Hideki Matsui

First, notice how he started out sideways to the target with his PAS foot parallel to the path of his stride. Second, notice how he's taking a good-sized stride. I do believe that you can overstride and mess up your mechanics, but I also think that a reasonable stride (e.g. 70% of your height) can improve your velocity and accuracy. Third, notice how his GS foot is rotating to plant on the ground and his hips are rotating ahead of his shoulders. Finally, notice how he is pointing his glove toward the target; this helps to keep his shoulders closed as long as possible and increases his velocity.

Dave Winfield

As a second sanity check, he's a photo of Dave Winfield throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.

Dave Winfield

Notice how he's striding sideways to the target, is pointing his GS toe at the target, has his PAS foot parallel to the rubber, has his PAS elbow just below the level of his shoulders and bent 90 degrees, and is showing the ball to 3B (not CF or 2B).
    While it looks like Dave Winfield's PAS elbow is above the level of his shoulders at the Ready Position, it actually is just below the level of his shoulders since his shoulders are tilted downward toward the catcher.