I already know I reverse rotate too much; I’ll be working on that before summer season starts. I also noticed from these pictures that my front knee collapses quite a bit after release (more so than most pitchers). Is this a problem?
Feel free to tear it apart.
Over all, your mechanics look pretty good. Here’s my comments:
(1) I don’t see a problem with too much reverse rotation. Are you referring to shoulder rotation? Knee/hip rotation?
(2) I don’t understand your comment about your front knee collapsing after release. After release, it straightens. Before release, you track forward onto a bent front knee and that’s fine so long as you don’t bend it less than 90 degrees. EDIT: I think I understand your comment now. After foot strike, you track forward onto a bent front knee. That is normal. Different pitchers bend their front knee different amounts. And as I said previously, it’s not an issue unless you bend the knee to less than a 90 degree angle.
(3) It appears that you take your stride knee up, down and then out and that you lead with your foot as you stride. You should try to get your hips going sooner and faster and lead with the front hip. Make sure you don’t sacrifice your knee lift and you’ll end up with a longer stride and a release point that’s closer to home plate. Your foot will probably need to take a more direct path to foot strike.
(4) Your pivot foot is lifting off of the ground before you release the ball. In the big leagues, all of the elite pitchers keep their pivot foot on the ground until after they release the ball. The back leg mirrors the torso so if the back foot is lifting too soon, then the torso is tilting forward too soon. Try to keep your head and spine upright longer so that your shoulders rotate around an upright spine. This will require flexibility and strength in the lower back. (Tom House has a couple drills - the mirror drill and the stack & track version of towel drill - that will help. You can get the Performance Drills video at http://www.nationalpitching.net. No, I do not work for them nor do I get any kickbacks.)
(5) You tend to pull the glove to the side which can lead to an inconsistent release point due to premature or over rotation. Premature rotation can cause you to throw more with your arm and less with the rest of your body so you’ll be putting more wear and tear on your arm. I’d suggest that once the glove gets out over the front foot at foot strike, you should leave it there. Simply turn it over, firm up the front arm and bring the torso to the glove. This will give you a more stable front side which should lead to a more consistent release point.
That’s it. Take this with a grain of salt since it’s based only on what I think I can see in a set of still photos.
Still Photos are a bit misleading. See if you can get yourself on video and not just a digital camera. Looking at a couple of photos and I think you are stalling a bit with your hips. You can get your body moving towards homeplate a bit better. When I say moving towards home I do not mean rushing but basically showing your back pocket a bit and moving those hips towards homeplate. I worked for with my son for about a month on this movement and he felt awkward at first but really got the feeling and effect of it. A good minor league Pitching coach also showed him a drill where he would get in front of a wall about a foot away and made him lead with his hips. Looked very awkward at first but it did improve his Velocity and also maintained it throughout some playoff games.
Good luck !
I C what you mean about the knee bending, but I wouldn’t worry about it… Do you tuck the bottom of your pants into your shoes?? You should stop doing that IMO…
Your mechanics look quite good to me.
For instance, you do a good job of striding toward the plate with your front hip still closed…
…which probably means you have above-average velocity.
You also do a good job of rotating your hips well before your shoulders, which is a key to efficiently producing velocity (aka throwing with your body and not just your arm)…
I also don’t see any signs of rushing (which means your timing is good). Notice how in this picture your PAS forearm is pretty much vertical but your GS foot has not yet planted…
The only picture that bothers me is this one…
…and this one…
You seem to be trying really hard to keep your fingers on top of the ball. I believe that this may lead to elbow problems. I would prefer if at this moment your palm was facing 1B (3B for a RHP).
I see what you are talking about, but don’t think you do it too much. You reverse-rotate your hips much more than your shoulders, which is the right way to do it.
Not really.
yeah, he looks good leading with closed hip of his stride leg.
Notice how he leads with his GS heel (and GS toe pointed to OF side of 1B)…
Reminds me of Steve Carlton.
You mechanics look fine. Someone at your level should have pretty good mechanics. I can only tell so much from pictures. Without seeing you throw, these pics look good. So, exactly what kind of problems are you having. Remember, you can’t take a picture of a pitchers mentality. If you are having problems pitching “up to par” it maybe mental. The mental game is the most important.
Only real problem I see is that your pivot foot has already left the mound before you release the ball, which could lead to a loss of balance/command.
It is hard to tell from the photo but it looks like you are over rotating when you hit your power postion. You arm can get hurt over time by doing that. Make sure when you get to your power position that your pitching arm is directly behind your head. It is all about straight lines. Shoulder , arm alinement to the target
it really looks like ur trying really hard to keep ur finger on top of the ball
not to burst your bubble buddy but the last post before yours is about a year and a half old…
i don’t see a problem. looks kind of glavine-y to me which is a good thing. are you concerned about anything in particular?
is that inverted w I can’t tell sense its just pictures?
[quote=“futureKazmir”]
is that inverted w I can’t tell sense its just pictures?[/quote]
no, it isn’t. Why wouldn’t you be able to tell?
At the time of that post i didn’t know much about inverted w now that I know more I can tell its not