ChrisOLeary.com > Projects > Baseball > Pitching > The Pitching Mechanic > September 2007

The Pitching Mechanic
September 2007

Real-Time Illustrations and Analyses of
Proper and Improper Pitching Mechanics

 

The Pitching Mechanic - October 2007

 

9/27/2007

Mark Prior's Pitching Mechanics: A New View

Yesterday, a client sent me a clip of him pitching against Mark Prior. I have extracted a few key frames from that clip and put together an analysis of Mark Prior's pitching mechanics that points out the root cause of Mark Prior's elbow and shoulder problems.
     Before anyone gets on me about Mark Prior's having supposedly perfect pitching mechanics, let me explain something. The person who said that Mark Prior had perfect pitching mechanics is a guy named Tom House. Tom House also happened to be Mark Prior's pitching coach and designed Mark Prior's pitching mechanics. As a result, Tom House shouldn't be considered an impartial, objective observer and his pronouncements about Mark Prior need to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

 

9/26/2007

New Blog: The Hitting Mechanic

Those of you who are also interested in hitting might be interested in my new blog, The Hitting Mechanic. In it, I apply the same visual, science-based approach to the act of hitting a baseball. For those of you who are familiar with the term, my perspective is pretty consistent with what is called Rotational Hitting.

 

9/25/2007

Book Review: Coaching The Little League Pitcher

I was in the bookstore today and came across the book Coaching The Little League Pitcher by Randy Voorhees. While the book may in fact contain some good advice, I couldn't get past the fact that the book is riddled with errors, misconceptions, and bad advice.
     First, the book advocates the use of radar guns. On page 8 the author says "A radar gun is useful for measuring the improvement of a pitcher's velocity". While this is true, the problem is that using radar guns turns velocity into an end in and of itself, rather than a means to an end. I never use radar guns with my young pitchers. Instead, I see if they are getting batters out. If they are, then I figure they are throwing hard enough. If they aren't then I focus on things like location and movement before I start worrying about velocity. I think the use of radar guns at the youth level, and the fixation on velocity that this leads to, helps to explain the rise in injuries among young pitchers.
     Second, Randy Voorhees advocates mechanics that in my experience lead to shoulder and elbow problems. On page 16 and 17 the author twice says that at the high-cocked position the pitcher's Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow should be at shoulder height and the hand should be showing the ball to center field. On page 19, the author reiterates that at the Power Position "the baseball faces center field".
     The problem with this advice is that it isn't what great, long-lived pitchers do.

 

Greg Maddux

Notice how in the photo above of Greg Maddux his PAS elbow is just below the level of his shoulders and he is showing the ball to third base, not to center field.
     Third, in direct contradiction to what Greg Maddux is doing above, on page 24 Randy Voorhees says that collapsing the PAS leg and dropping the PAS elbow below the level of the shoulder causes "the pitcher to get 'underneath' his pitches".

Jeff Suppan

Randy Voorhees clearly doesn't understand that one's arm slot is a function of the tilt of one's shoulders at the release point, not the height of one's elbow at the high-cocked or power position.
     I could go on and on, but you get the point. Like many people Randy Voorhees clearly does not understand the major league pitching motion and, as a result, what he has to say about pitching is not worth reading.

 

9/21/2007

Pitching Myth Busters: Leading With The Elbow

I've tripped across the same myth a number of times and thought I should try to bust it. The myth is that pitchers should not lead with their elbows. I don't know why people think this is bad, or what the alternative is, but I do know that EVERY major league pitcher, and most pitchers period, lead with their elbows.
     Below are a number of pictures of prominent, and in some cases very long-lived, pitchers leading with their elbows. This includes two of my favorite pitchers, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens

Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers

Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon

Chien Ming Wang

Chien Ming Wang

Leading with the elbow is a by-product of the process of throwing a ball hard, and let me use a number of frames from a clip of Greg Maddux to explain what happens and why.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux - Frame 319

In Frame 319, Greg Maddux's Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) forearm is just passing through the vertical high-cocked position.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux - Frame 320

In Frame 320, Greg Maddux's shoulders have just started to turn. The weight of the ball in his hand, at the end of his PAS forearm, has caused his PAS upper arm to externally rotate, and his PAS forearm to lay back or bounce toward 1B.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux - Frame 321

In Frame 321, Greg Maddux's PAS forearm has laid or bounced back 90 degrees and his PAS forearm is lagging behind his PAS elbow as it is pulled around by the rotation of his shoulders. Greg Maddux is clearly leading with his PAS elbow at this point.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux - Frame 322

In Frame 322, Greg Maddux's shoulders have stopped rotating and his PAS elbow has rapidly (in 1/30th of a second) extended 90 degrees. Notice that his PAS elbow and hand are at the level of his shoulders and his arm slot is determined by the tilt of his shoulders, not the angle of his elbow.

Jeff Suppan

You can see the same thing in the photo above of Jeff Suppan at the Release Point. His PAS elbow and hand are at the level of his shoulders and his arm slot is determined by the tilt of his shoulders (the white line). While Jeff Suppan isn't leading with his elbow at this moment, he was just 1/30 of a second before.

 

9/21/2007

Mark Mulder Revisited

A couple of weeks ago I was at the stadium with my family to see Mark Mulder's first start after coming off the DL. He didn't pitch that badly, but his velocity wasn't great (he hit 88MPH and then they turned off the radar gun at the stadium) and he had a tendency to leave the ball up in the zone. Now Mark Mulder is back on the DL and just underwent additional surgery to clean up his shoulder. As a result, I decided to take another look at his mechanics and see if I can figure out the root cause of his problems.

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

The thing that is most obviously different about Mark Mulder's mechanics is how low his PAS elbow gets. You can see this in both of the photos above of Mark Mulder. Now, I don't think a low PAS elbow is necessarily bad because it can reduce the strain on the shoulder. As a result, I see far more problems with PAS elbows that are too high rather than PAS elbows that are too low.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson

If you look at the two photos above of Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, you will see how low their PAS elbows are as their PAS forearms are vertical.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

I call this the "W" and I have highlighted it in the photo above of Greg Maddux. As a result, I don't think a low PAS elbow is the root cause of Mark Mulder's problems.
     What I do think very well may be the root cause of Mark Mulder's problem is a timing problem that goes by the name of rushing.

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

It was the (teeny) little photo above that led me to focus on rushing as the root cause of Mark Mulder's problems. The thing that's odd about this photo is that his timing is completely screwed up. Notice that his hips are completely open and are in the process of pulling his shoulders around. However, his PAS forearm isn't yet vertical. If you look at pictures of other pitchers at this moment, aside from their PAS elbows being much higher, their PAS upper arms are generally much more externally rotated at this moment, with their PAS forearms laid back 45 or so degrees.

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

You can see the same basic thing in the larger photo above of Mark Mulder, which is taken from a slightly different angle. Notice how his hips are completely open and his shoulders have started rotating but his PAS upper arm is lagging behind (e.g. very adducted) his body. It's almost as if he's dragging his arm behind his body. This puts a tremendous amount of strain on the shoulder, and in particular the Labrum.

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

Mark Mulder

You can also see the same basic thing in the two photos above of Mark Mulder. Notice how he is pulling in his GS elbow and starting to rotate his shoulders before his PAS forearm is vertical.
     So what does this mean?
     First, I think it means that Mark Mulder's dropping his PAS elbow is just a symptom of a much larger problem (e.g. rushing), and not the root cause of his problems. I think he may be (unconsciously) dropping his PAS elbow because that is the only way that he can comfortably pitch. Dropping the elbow can reduce the level of stress on the shoulder, but can only do so much to help a damaged shoulder.
     IOW, it's a Band-Aid and not a permanent fix.
     Second, in my experience serious timing problems such as rushing ultimately lead to Labrum problems, which are EXTREMELY hard to fix. I would not be surprised if Mark Mulder experiences another bump on his road to recovery and we end up hearing about his going down with Labrum problems in Spring Training or early next years.

 

9/20/2007

Proper Pitching Mechanics

Up to now, I have focused my efforts on explaining what not to do. However, many people have asked me about my opinion of proper pitching mechanics. As a result, I just put together a piece on proper pitching mechanics that illustrates my points using the pitching mechanics of Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux as examples. I believe that the effectiveness, and the longevity, of these two pitchers is directly related to their superior pitching mechanics.

 

9/17/2007

Quick Look: Francisco Rodriguez

A number of people have asked me what I think about Francisco Rodriguez. While he does seem to be a max-effort guy, and max-effort guys make me a little nervous, I think that fact that he pitches out of the bullpen and has decent mechanics mean that he should probably hold up better than average.

Francisco Rodriguez

There's no question that the photo above of Francisco Rodriguez makes me nervous. His Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow is quite high.

Francisco Rodriguez

However, as the photo above of Francisco Rodriguez shows, his PAS elbow seems to drop before his shoulders start to turn, which means that he shouldn't be as vulnerable to impingement problems as people like Mark Prior. My current sense of Francisco Rodriguez is that he could fall into the same category as John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez, guys whose mechanics were a little borderline but whose elbows dropped before their shoulders started to turn, which allowed them to pitch mostly unscathed.

 

9/17/2007

Pitchers Who Make Me Nervous

A couple of folks over at Rotoworld.com recently asked me which pitchers, who to date have been relatively injury-free, make me nervous due to their poor mechanics. Below is a small set of pitchers who fall into that group, generally because of how high their Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbows get.

Aaron Laffey

Aaron Laffey

Notice the hint of Inverted W in Aaron Laffey's arm action.

Andy Sonnanstine

Andy Sonnanstine

Notice the major Hyperabduction in this photo of Andy Sonnanstine.

Bobby Seay

Bobby Seay

Notice the signs of Inverted L in Bobby Seay's arm action.

Kason Gabbard

Kason Gabbard

Notice the borderline Hyperabduction in the arm action of Kason Gabbard.

Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum

Notice the Hyperabduction and Inverted W in the arm action of Shaun Marcum.

Shawn Hill

Shawn Hill

Notice the Hyperabduction in the arm action of Shawn Hill.

Josh Beckett

Notice the borderline Hyperabduction in the arm action of Josh Beckett.

 

9/17/2007

Quick Look: AJ Burnett

AJ Burnett's name has come up a couple of times in the last week (including as a possible acquisition for the Cardinals), which has led me to take a look at his mechanics.
     I do not like what I see.
     There is no doubt in my mind that his injury problems are related to his poor mechanics, which include a significant Inverted W.

AJ Burnett

AJ Burnett

As you can see in the two photos above, AJ Burnett breaks his hands with his elbows, which results in his elbows getting quite high quite early.

AJ Burnett

AJ Burnett

His elbows keep coming up until he is in a classic Inverted W position with his Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow both above and behind his shoulders.

AJ Burnett

AJ Burnett

As the two photos above show, AJ Burnett's PAS elbow stays quite high, in a position of Hyperabduction, rather than dropping as his PAS upper arm starts to externally rotate. What this does is increase the distance over which, and the force with which, his PAS upper arm externally rotates, which increases the stress on both the elbow and the shoulder. 

 

9/16/2007

How Tim Lincecum Does It

As I have said before, I am a big fan of Tim Lincecum. He combines a great arm action -- namely a pronounced W rather than an Inverted W or Inverted L -- with an extremely efficient body motion.

Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum

As the photo above shows, Tim Lincecum achieves a tremendous degree of hip/shoulder separation. This stretches the muscles of his torso, which enables them to powerfully pull his shoulders around. As a result, he throws the ball with his entire body and not just his arm, which is why such a relatively small guy can throw the ball so hard.

 

9/13/2007

How Bob Cluck Is Destroying Pitchers' Arms

If you are familiar with my work, you know that one piece of advice that I absolutely despise is the advice that you should "show the ball to Second Base" (or "show the ball to Center Field"). The reason I am on such a crusade to rid the world is that it contributes to numerous elbow problems.
     If at the high cocked position you are showing the ball to second base (or to center field), then you are almost maximally. As a result, in order to get your palm to face home plate as your Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) upper arm externally rotates, you will have to supinate your forearm through the release point. This focuses the load on the UCL and causes problems with the Medial Epicondyle in young players and UCL problems in older players.
     Near as I can tell, this very common piece of advice showed up in Bob Cluck's book How To Hit/How to Pitch. This absolutely terrible, and borderline dangerous, book is full of other terrible advice about pitching (and hitting).
     First, on page 78 of How To Hit/How To Pitch, Bob Cluck advocates that the PAS elbow be at least as high as the shoulder at the Power Position or High Cocked Position, IOW in a position of Hyperabduction, and that the pitcher show the ball to Second Base. The reality is that, if you look at great pitchers like Greg Maddux, their PAS elbow is below the level of their shoulders at this moment. Greg Maddux also shows the ball to Third Base, not Second Base or Center Field at this moment.

Greg Maddux

On page 82 of How To Hit/How To Pitch, Bob Cluck also states that the pitcher's hips should be closed at the moment that the Glove Side (aka GS) foot lands. However, if you look at the photo above of Greg Maddux, you will see that his hips have opened 45 to 60 degrees at this moment. This hip/shoulder separation stretches the muscles of the torso and enables them to powerfully pull the shoulders around.
     The bottom line is that you should not buy this piece of drivel.
     Instead, I hope that you will discourage people from buying it and burn it if you happen to own it. If you sell it online, then you might be contributing to the destruction of another young player's elbow.

 

9/11/2007

Jeremy Bonderman: Why I Said What I Said

Back in December 2006, I expressed concerns about the long-terms deals that were given to Chris Carpenter and Jeremy Bonderman during the off season.
     I didn't think they would turn out to be wise investments.
     Back in August and July I explained the problems I had with Chris Carpenter, which are generally related to his significant Inverted L. I thought I should do the same with Jeremy Bonderman, and explain why I think his current problems aren't just a blip. Rather, I think they point to serious problems in his elbow that will likely affect him over the next two or three seasons.
    After that, his shoulder will break down.

Anthony Reyes

Anthony Reyes

Mark Prior

Mark Prior

First, like Anthony Reyes and Mark Prior, Jeremy Bonderman has a significant Inverted W in his arm action.

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

In each of the photos above of Jeremy Bonderman, notice how he takes his Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow both above and behind his shoulders. This will increase the distance over which, and the force with which, his PAS upper arm will externally rotate and put significant stress on both his elbow and shoulder.

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

In each of the photos above of Jeremy Bonderman, you can also see evidence of a problem with Hyperabduction. In particular, note how high Jeremy Bonderman's PAS elbow is in the last picture. This indicates that his PAS elbow is still quite high as his shoulders start to rotate, which makes him vulnerable to an impingement injury of his rotator cuff.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Notice how much lower Greg Maddux's PAS elbow is at the same moment in time.

Jeremy Bonderman

Jeremy Bonderman

Finally, in the photo above of Jeremy Bonderman, you can see that he employs one trick that I do not like. Notice how he has locked his Glove Side (aka GS) knee as he nears the Release Point. While this can give a pitcher a small velocity boost by increasing how much his hips rotate, I do not like this trick because at a minimum it can lead to hyperextension of the GS knee and this knee problems over time. I am also concerned that locking the GS knee can reduce the shock-absorbing capabilities of the body and increase the stress that is placed on the elbow.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Nate Robertson

Nate Robertson

There are also better ways of increasing how much the hips rotate, including not leaving the PAS foot behind on the rubber but instead driving the PAS knee forward toward the plate as Greg Maddux and Nate Robertson are doing in the two photos above.

 

9/9/2007

Impending Trouble For Ian Kennedy?

I just came across a photo of Ian Kennedy that makes me nervous.

Ian Kennedy

Ian Kennedy

In the photo above of Ian Kennedy, notice how his Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) elbow is at or above the level of his shoulders with his PAS forearm hanging down vertically beneath it. The is the classic Inverted L position that I think leads to elbow and shoulder problems.

Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter

BJ Ryan

BJ Ryan

You can see the same Inverted L in the arm actions of Chris Carpenter and BJ Ryan, both of whom have had elbow problems. Notice the PAS elbow at or above the level of the shoulders and the PAS forearm hanging vertically beneath it.

Ian Kennedy

Ian Kennedy

You can see the same thing in the arm action of Ian Kennedy from his time at USC. Again, notice the Inverted L with the high PAS elbow and the forearm hanging down below it.

P.S. Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader for letting me know that the first photo had been mis-labeled by Yahoo as being Joba Chamberlain. I was surprised to see such bad mechanics, given that I generally liked Joba Chamberlain when I looked at him last month. It makes more sense that the first photo was of Ian Kennedy, whose mechanics I have never liked.

 

9/8/2007

Quick Look: Chad Billingsley

A reader recently asked me to take a quick look at Chad Billingsley. While I initially liked what I saw, I have since come across some photos that make me nervous.

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

As you can see from the two photos above, Chad Billingsley's elbow gets quite high quite early. This is often what happens when a pitcher breaks their hands with their elbows.

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

As the two photos above show, Chad Billingsley's elbow goes above and well behind his shoulders as he starts to turn his PAS arm over.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson

While you see this amount of adduction in pitchers like Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, it usually occurs later and with the PAS elbow significantly lower.

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley

In the photos above, you can see that Chad Billingsley's PAS elbow stays quite high as his PAS forearm comes vertical.

Cole Hamels

Adam Wainwright

This hint of Hyperabduction is the same thing you see in Cole Hamels and Adam Wainwright, and is one reason why they both make me nervous.

 

9/6/2007

Dropping, Driving, And Pushing Off The Rubber

I'm in the middle of a conversation with one of my readers who is a HS pitcher who I gather has some talent. The problem is that I think he has a number of misconceptions that are holding him back, perhaps as a result of what I think is some questionable advice from one or more pitching gurus (e.g. Dick Mills).
     I thought all of my readers would be interested in his questions and my answers to them.

Q: I have been having trouble with my leg drive to the plate.

What exactly do you mean by this? Just to be clear, I believe that pitchers do get their bodies moving toward the plate by pushing sideways at the top of their leg lift.
However, I do not believe that most pitchers push off of the rubber as or after their Glove Side (aka GS) foot lands. I know that some people teach this, but I think it's wrong. Only 5% of pitchers actually push off the rubber as or after the GS foot lands.

Q: I have read your article on leading with the heel and striding sideways and I am a firm believer of it. However, I have also come across online about leading with the hip, which I believe is basically the same thing as leading with the heel.

Correct. You can lead with either the GS butt cheek or the GS heel.

Q: When my front foot plants, after i have tried to solely lead with the heel and stride sideways, my weight has shifted too far out forward and isn't centered. It is not a big weight shift but it is enough to rob me of proper velocity and rotation and make me feel like I am getting out in front and feel like I am throwing all arm.

I'm not convinced that this is bad.

Q: And when I lead with the hip, I feel like I am not getting a strong enough drive with my Pitching Arm Side (aka PAS) leg. I feel like I am falling to the plate and not using my leg strength (I'm about 6' 2" and only 170 lbs so its not like falling to the plate will get me good velocity, haha unless I gained about 50 lbs). I feel like a mess.

As I said above, while I do think that pitchers push off sideways with their PAS foot to get their bodies moving sideways to the target, the majority of pitchers do not push off the rubber with their PAS foot as or just after their GS foot lands. Instead, the rotation of their hips pulls their PAS foot off of the rubber.
     What I want guys to focus on is letting their hips pull their PAS foot off the rubber so that they do not leave their PAS foot behind on the rubber. This maximizes the rotation of the hips. The photo below of Nate Robertson is an example of what I'm talking about.

Nate Robertson

Nate Robertson

Notice how far his PAS foot is off the rubber at the release point, which maximizes the rotation of his hips.

Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

You see the same thing in the photo above of Greg Maddux. Notice how far his PAS foot has come off the rubber. However, this happened because his PAS foot was pulled off the rubber, not because he pushed off the rubber with it.
     Also, let me make it clear to everyone that I don't think it's accurate to say that a pitcher gets much power from their legs. Instead, it's more accurate to say that the majority of a pitcher's power comes from the muscles of the hips and lower torso (e.g. their core). If you talk about how pitchers throw with their legs, then people start thinking that pitchers drive off the rubber as or close to their GS foot lands, which simply isn't the case. For the vast majority of pitchers, all that their legs do is start the hips moving sideways toward the plate at the top of the leg lift.

My arm swing has improved a good amount after the work I put in, however, I seem unable to have a good leg drive to the plate.

See above. I think people who advocate the leg drive are misguided.

I also feel like I am off balance at the top of my leg lift.

Technically, you should be. While you don't want to be falling off toward 1B or 3B, at the top of your leg lift your hips should start sliding toward home plate.

I have paused at the top of my leg lift to insure balance and staying back,

The balance point is a myth. If you look at the best pitchers, they do not come to a complete stop at the top of their leg lift. Instead, they start sliding their hips toward the plate at the top of their leg lift.
     Check out this video clip of Mariano Rivera the I found on www.pitchingclips.com.

Mariano Rivera

Notice how his hips start sliding toward the plate at the top of his leg lift. Based on the actions of his PAS foot, you can also see that -- rather than pushing off of the rubber -- his PAS foot is pulled off the rubber by the rotation of his hips.

Nolan Ryan

You can see the same things in the clip above of Nolan Ryan. Notice how, rather than coming to the balance point, his hips start sliding sideways toward home as he nears the top of his leg lift. You can also see that he does not push off the rubber with his PAS foot after his GS foot lands. Rather, his PAS foot is pulled off the rubber.
     All of this is why I think the term "Drop and Drive" is not an accurate representation of what most great pitchers do. Instead, what great pitchers do is better described as "Drive and Drop". They get their hips moving toward the plate with a sideways push (back toward 2B) of their PAS foot and then stride.
     While I love and respect Tom Seaver, it could be that his use of the term "Drop and Drive" has set the world of pitching instruction back by 20 or 30 years.

 

9/4/2007

Kerry Wood: Same Old Same Old

I have been following the reappearance of Kerry Wood with some interest. I have been hearing that he has been working hard to improve his mechanics and conditioning.
     While Kerry Wood does appear to have put more focus on his conditioning, I don't see a significant difference in his mechanics.

Kerry Wood

Kerry Wood

As the two photos above show, Kerry Wood's arm action still falls into the range of the Inverted L and the Inverted W. As a result, Kerry Wood is likely putting a significantly increased load on both his elbow and his shoulder.
     The only thing that might save Kerry Wood is the fact that he is now pitching out of the bullpen. The simple reduction in the number of innings he pitches may help to prolong his career. However, the root cause of Kerry Wood's problems has not been addressed.

 

The Pitching Mechanic - August 2007

about | contact | copyright | sitemap | liability policy