? re: timing, arm action, delayed arm & drills VIDEO

Pitching Mechanics
#1

I sent this video in back in Jan and got some good feedback. This sight & feedback has led me to some other ?'s. Relative to timing & early cock/late cock position.

My son gets his arm behind his back. In some cases its so extreme that his forearm layback is pointed severely towards 1st base as he’s 140 degree elbow angle/transitioning from early to late cock position. If anything I see most pitchers forearms pointed towards third base @ the same point vs his forearm angle.

The other flaw that stands out is his arm position & foot strike. He’s past late cock position & already getting into the acceleration phase at foot plant. Some days better than others, but never have I filmed him where his arm is coming into late cock with a near 90 degree bend (or vertical vs layed off-abducted).

I do know that he aggressively gets his arm moving after breaking his hands. So much that he stiff arms. I believe the early external shoulder rotation & forearm layback is as much inertia & premature timing as it is taking it back too far inside.

I have tried everything to delay his arm swing… talking about relaxing arm, slight flex in elbow, later hand break (with out details), using lower body, shoulder tilt/lead glove action, shown him comparison videos/images etc… This is a kid with pretty solid mechanics who picks up things fast outside of this issue.

He throws strikes (3+ to 1 K/BB ratio in decent travel league), throws hard (59 on a legit juggs gun, flat surface from stretch) etc… but he had discomfort in the front of his shoulder @ times last year. In addition to injury prevention I’m of the school of thought to correct it now if its an issue that will long term develop into a problem.

a) is my analysis of “all arm/premature upper body” & early rotation accurate?
b) is it a fix that is in immediate need?
c) if so, what drills, exercises or “other” would you advise?

Edit: UPDATED VIDEO FROM MOUND 1B & 3B VIEW

#2

I think he looks generally fine mechanically, and he seems to do a lot of things well…

One problem w/ the indoor video set-up: Your boy isn’t wearing a baseball glove and I imagine he also is not pitching 5 oz baseballs in your front-room. In any case, there are some subtle balance issues that perhaps should only be looked at under real pitch delivery conditions.

One other point: I couldn’t really tell from this video whether or not your son always keeps his eyes focused on the target during his delivery, with his head tracking straight toward the target.

If he is doing those things, keep up the good work. If he is taking his eyes off the target at any point during the motion forward, that would be something to correct, in my opinion.

I look forward to seeing some more video of this young man, perhaps from side-view (like the current clip) as well as frontal and even rear-view.

What pitches does he throw?

#3

You asked me to take a look, and here is my feedback.

  1. I don’t like his glove side. It looks like he’s just letting it flail, something I used to do. This can cause control problems and (in my case) velocity problems. This can cause control problems because you could be going up, down, around, wherever. It will cause the body to tilt unnaturally and throw off his location. This can cause velocity problems by opening up too early. To help this, I’d tell your son to keep his glove at his glove side pec, or over his heart throughout the delivery.

  2. To me, it looks like he is doing tall and fall. That is, stopping (even for a split second) at the top of his leg lift. Your son is not generating enough momentum towards the target to produce good/great velocity. To help this, I’d tell him to push off as hard as he can slightly after leg lift.

Otherwise, he looks fine. Tell him to keep working and love the game. :smiley: :smiley:

#4

I like his athleticism, he seems to understand the idea of the motion (I like his kneee lift). Like La, I’d really like to see the other side (Hands, seperation etc). Any chance you can get him to an indoor facility that will give us a better representation of his delivery?

#5

Thx Gents, the video was impromptu in the basement trying out his new backstop. I’ll get better angles with glove, cleats on etc…

Sounds like I can give him the “drive-push off” thought to work on with his back leg. What are some lower body thoughts to work on @ pre release/release? I know in golf I have a take away thought & a thought 18" before impact. Is there something he should be thinking or feeling as he plants his left foot etc?

He’s threw straight fastballs last year, with the exception of his last 2 outings. He mixed in a few changes & went 4 seems on a couple of pitches but that’s it. We mostly worked on location (in out up down).

He did well keeping it low and away, he’s a lot quicker than most of the kids in his league by a good 5-7 mph. The better teams in his travel league got to him pretty good in a couple of games. I’m sure next year he’ll need to have a change up ready or the rest of the league will catch up to him as well.

My thoughts have been focus on mechanics and confidence & location before worrying about adding pitches.

#6

Tell him that once he brings his hands together he is considered in a set position so remind him that he should not to bring his hand to his glove before he steps back in to his actual set position I did the same thing then I called for a balk. He probably doesn’t have to worry about that right now but you may as well teach him so it doesn’t end up bighting him in the future.

#7

I wouldn’t “do” much more than get his front hand a bit more stablized out front (He looks like he pulls it). I would make him aware of posture (Meaning I would try to get his head as stable over time as possible). I’d advise you to look into some of Nymans thoughts, see where they might fit with this model. I like House for mech basics and I think your son, for his age, is nicely fundemental in his delivery and so you, as his primary protector should invest the time to understand how to (As safely as possible over time) build velocity. This way he can build to it in a methodical and reasonably consistant and safe manner. Left to his own devices he may go all out for velo without proper conditioning to gain without injury.

#8

… bumping to top of board.

#9

overall looks good