Hey guys,
I’m looking for some mechanics tips, so feel free to tell me what you see and things I need to work on.
A little about me:
17 Years old
6’3" 185 lbs
Sit 79-81 top out at 82-83
Junior in high school
I would like to be in mid 80s by spring time, so if you see anything in my mechanics that would help that would be great. I have some side view and behind view videos both in normal and in slo-mo in 120fps. Thanks!
You appear to have very little dive to the plate. you have to build forward momentum throughout your stride. That includes gettingyour hips moving toward the plate and lengthening your stride to build momentum. Look up the Hershiser drill on you tube.
Also you have very little hip shoulder separation and a lack of external rotation of your throwing arm.
I would first work on the momentum issues and then arm action and separation.
[quote=“Turn 22”]You appear to have very little dive to the plate. you have to build forward momentum throughout your stride. That includes gettingyour hips moving toward the plate and lengthening your stride to build momentum. Look up the Hershiser drill on you tube.
Also you have very little hip shoulder separation and a lack of external rotation of your throwing arm.
I would first work on the momentum issues and then arm action and separation.[/quote]
Thanks. Anyone else?
You are throwing the ball with authority, for all the angles and slo-mo, not being on a mound makes real assessment difficult. As I watch, you lose a bunch with changing directions (A bunch goes toward the 1st base side) but this could be a by-product of not being on a mound in cleats.
Reproducible efficiency is what you need (Efficiency as in flow to target)…I think you have a ton in your tank, don’t push it though, build incrementally. Go to our log forum and look at Lanky Lefty’s log…you’ll see early on how he approached velocity increase (He was an avid SetPro/Nyman guy)…the thing I want you to notice is that he approached it with 3 paths…conditioning, mech development and diet…if you want velocity, you had better consider what your body needs to get there and stay there, build yourself a plan (Another thing you’ll see in that log) be determined, at your age every distraction takes you away, not towards your goal.
You have fair lower body rhythm connecting to the upper body. But the lower body is giving very little power.
And now—THE SECRET.
I learned it many, many moons ago, when I used to go to the original Yankee Stadium every chance I got. I would sit in the upper deck behind the plate, where I could get a nice panoramic view of the whole playing field, and I would watch the pitchers, particularly the Big Three—Reynolds, Raschi and Lopat. And I saw what they were doing—and how they were doing it.
They were all driving off the lower half of the body, using the legs, the hips and the torso in one continuous (and, it seemed to me, seamless) motion, creating a nonstop flow of energy all the way up through the shoulder and the arm to the fingertips: as if the ball itself were an extension of the arm. They were generating power behind their pitches, even Lopat who was not a fireballer, and throwing harder with less effort, which took a lot of pressure off said shoulder and arm.
I saw what they were doing, and how they were doing it, and I made some careful notes so I could start working on this essential element of good mechanics. As I practiced this I discovered that I was doing the same thing those three pitchers were doing, and because I was a natural honest-to-gosh sidearmer my delivery acquired more snap and sizzle—including the crossfire which I had just picked up.
I don’t know what they called it at that time, but nowadays there’s the “Hershiser” drill, which aims at getting the hips fully involved in the process of throwing the ball, and you would do well to look it up (I think you can find it on YouTube) and get to work on it. There’s no special equipment involved, just a fence or a wall. That will do for a start, and later on you can work on picking up more arm speed and the like. The whole idea is to get the entire body involved!
:baseballpitcher: