High Pitching Velocity and Foot Sync

The reason synchronizing the feet before front foot strike is important is because it helps trigger hip rotation. The opening of the front foot will start the rotation of the hips during the stride. If the front foot opens early during the stride then hip rotation will start early. This will limit power production while also slowing hip rotation after front foot strike.

This is why it is important to trigger hip rotation just before front foot strike. Opening the hips just before front foot strike will promote more explosive hip rotation because the hip is forced to open faster due to the short amount of time it has to open before landing. It is also critical to understand that the front foot triggers the hip rotation but the back foot is what is driving the power of the hip rotation. This is why the feet must work together to create explosive hip rotation just before front foot strike.

Notice the animated clips here of Trevor Bauer and Aroldis Chapman. It is a close up of their feet moving together during the pitching delivery. What you see is the drive leg foot kicking the ankle through to complete triple extension just as the front foot is opening for landing. This synchronization of the feet is critical for power production, a good stride length and ultimately explosive hip rotation.

How to Synchronize the Feet During the Pitching Delivery?

The key to synchronizing the feet during the stride is in the “Load” position. This is the position where the pitcher is set up for launch, the clip here of Trevor Bauer starts in this position. The force vector (ankle to knee) is in a linear position and the lift leg is following the lead of the front hip. Most pitchers who open up the front foot early or who do not have a good drive leg ankle kick have a poor “Load.” The poor “Load” is mainly the result of a late linear force vector. The earlier the pitcher can line up the force vector into a linear position, the faster the pitcher is moving through the stride and the more distance the pitcher is covering in the stride. All that is left to do at this point is to throw open the front foot as you also fire the drive leg foot to extend just before front foot strike. Here is an animated clip of  Trevor Bauer moving from this “Load” position into front foot strike perfectly. Notice how his feet movements come before his hip rotation at front foot strike. There is several drills in the 3X pre and in-season program to train the motor coordination around these components.

It is important to note that if  Trevor Bauer  would have not aligned his force vector so linear early in his stride or lead so effectively with his front hip then he would have opened his front foot early and reduced his power production and explosive hip rotation that occurs just at front foot strike. This would seriously reduce his pitching velocity while also putting more work and stress on his arm.

The reality is, not until you get to professional baseball will ball movement start to become an important factor and at this level you will actually have coaches who will coach this with pitch grips. I really believe that changing mechanics to enhance ball movement is not a healthy approach for a pitcher. A great example was John Smoltz, at the end of his career the Atlanta, Braves made him a closer and also dropped his arm angle to a side arm position, so he could get a more natural run on the ball. This was effective at first, then he was put on the DL with bone spurs in his elbow. I believe he cut his career short when he made this mechanical adjustment for ball movement.

In my career, I never met a scout at any level who said all they are looking for is a pitcher who can throw strikes and has natural run on the ball. During my last recruiting visit, for one of the pitchers I have been working with, the first thing the coach asked was, how hard does he throw. He then told us that he wasn’t interested in anyone that was mid 80′s or less. We were expecting this and this pitcher did well and was offered a great scholarship because of his velocity.

The Road to Pitching Velocity

The best road that a young pitcher can take, in his career, is the road towards his top velocity. This means your main focus your entire career is to develop and maintain a high velocity fastball. Ever other pitch should work to complement the fastball. If a young pitcher will take this road and never go off path, his chances of making it to the top level, is a lot greater. For example, I was watching an MLB game this past season and the announcer pulled some stats on Bartolo Colon. He said that Colon averages 85% fastballs each game. Here is a veteran pitcher in Major League Baseball, he has made it to the top level and he is still throwing fastballs 85% of the time. So if you are a young pitcher playing high school baseball and you are throwing 45% or 65% fastballs then what are the chances you will be a Bartolo Colon or a hard thrower one day? Not good! Oh, by the way, the MLB only drafts hard throwers!

If you decide to go down the road to pitching velocity then you must make time for an off-season. You need an off-season to start a velocity program like the 3X Pitching Velocity program, if you want to increase velocity. Trying to use an off-season program to increase velocity in-season will have little effect. This is why increasing velocity can be such a big challenge, you not only have to work hard through the program but you also have to make at least a 16 week commitment, 5 days a week, 2-3 hours a day. So stop going from in-season to in-season and take the time to develop a high velocity fastball in the off-season.

Location, Location, Location

Before you even start thinking about movement, after you have established a good fastball, you  must master pitch location first. This means learn to place your dominate fastball on the corners of the plate. Your fastball can work as an off-speed pitch just by moving it inside and outside of the strike-zone. An inside fastball on the hands of a batter adds 5 mph in perceived velocity to the hitters eye. An outside fastball is just the opposite. This means just throwing the ball inside and outside to the hitter, will throw his timing off and you haven’t even changed your pitch. If you can master painting the corners with your dominate fastball then you could possibly take this strategy all the way to pro ball. Just imagine what scouts will think when they have a kid throwing upper 80′s or low 90′s and all he needs is his fastball to dominate the game. This is a major plus for all scouts!

Now comes the Movement

You don’t have to throw “Side Arm” or “Submarine” to have ball movement. Greg Maddux was the master at ball movement and he did it with an almost over the top release point. The key to his ball movement was pitch grips. Once you have established your fastball and you are throwing it 85% of the time or more, inside and outside, then now you can start to work with ball movement. This doesn’t mean everyone must have the same arm slot. I believe your bone and muscular structure will establish your natural arm slot. All it means is your ball movement must come from your pitch grips. Pitch grips should be a simple process of finger placement and wrist release point. The rest is up to you to spend the time working with the feeling of the pitch, until you can get some good movement out of it.

I highly recommend that you do not spend much time at all with ball movement, until you are heading way done the road to pitching velocity. If you are a young pitcher and you are getting hit around a lot in travel ball or high school baseball then make time for an off-season and develop a fastball.

The problem with over coaching front foot strike is that all of the power production that must occur before front foot strike is forgotten. This will develop an accurate pitcher but if the pitcher struggles with power issues then he will be a low velocity accurate pitcher with a higher chance of having arm problems. Unfortunately, this is not going to get him to the next level.

The key to coaching front foot strike is to first coach the power stride before you move into front foot strike. If the pitcher has done his job and conquered his power issues and has developed an explosive stride then front foot strike becomes critical in converting this power into torque.

How to Convert Stride Power to Torque at Front Foot Strike?

This understanding of stride power converting to core torque through front foot strike was developed here at TopVelocity.net first. This is the foundation of 3X Pitching. Before 3X Pitching was developed here, no other source had defined why harder throwers use longer faster strides to throw harder. The only source to come close to this discovery was the National Pitching Association in their 2005-2006 Velocity Study where they proved that more hip to shoulder separation creates more throwing velocity. The study acknowledges the importance of the stride power but does not define the conversion of this power into hip to shoulder separation and then into the velocity of the ball.

The Holy Grail to Power Pitching

This description of how power from the stride converts to hip to shoulder separation is the Holy Grail of the power pitcher. The better you are at converting stride power to core torque at front foot strike, the better your velocity and precision, therefore the more dominate you are as a pitcher.

This conversion occurs more efficiently and effectively when triple extension (3X) is achieved before front foot strike. This means the ankle, knee and hip flexor are all fully extended, in an explosive manner, before front foot strike occurs. This not only builds stride power but it also opens the hips to the target before the front foot lands. When the front foot lands it stabilizes and converts the 3X power, using ground reaction forces, back up the landing leg into the front hip. 3X power and stabilization of the front leg at front foot strike creates explosive hip rotation. If the shoulders stay in-line with the target during the stride then this explosive hip rotation will move the hips away from the shoulders before the shoulders have time to react and launch. This separation of the hips to shoulders creates torque in the core which multiples the force and launches the shoulders in the same direction towards the target. This process continues to activate and multiple force up the upper kinetic chain, until the ball is released.

How Placement of the Front Foot can Effect Velocity and Precission?

Notice the picture here of Tim Lincecum. He is not landing on a straight line towards the target (see original foot position). This is because for his front leg to stabilize and promote optimal hip rotation at front foot strike, his front foot must land on his center of gravity. If his foot had landed in a straight line towards his target then he would not have established good balance at front foot strike which good balance leads to good stabilization. He would also not have allowed his hips the opportunity to open completely towards the target. The front foot landing on line with his center of gravity is both critical for power conversion and complete hip rotation.

Tim Lincecum is not the only pitcher to do this in his delivery. Notice the other examples on this page of power pitchers landing with their center of gravity not always on a straight line.

* Important Notice *

Just because you land inside the straight line towards the target with your landing leg foot doesn’t mean that you are landing with your center of gravity. The only way to check this is using video analysis and filming the front side of your delivery.

You should only make these adjustments with your front foot strike once you have developed good stride power and distance using the 3X Pitching Velocity program and you have determined your center of gravity at front foot strike. Making these adjustments before developing good stride power and distance and achieving optimal hip to shoulder separation at front foot strike will be putting the cart before the horse and the result may only be accuracy without velocity.

More than likely your Pitching Coach has no idea what Force Vector Pitching is and why it is so critical for velocity. I would love to see the look on his face when you ask him what force vector pitching is and why is it so important.

I have talked about the Pitching Force Vector many times on this site and in my analysis. It is also in the 3X Pitching Velocity program and the fact is, I really can’t talk about this critical component enough.

What is the Pitching Force Vector?

The Force Vector is the angle of the line from the ankle to knee. It is called the Force Vector because in any athletic event, yes pitching is an athletic event, the athlete must use ground reaction forces to produce force which will initiate body movement. Therefore the drive of the leg from the ground is what I like to call Force Production. The more force you can apply into the ground, the faster and harder we move as athletes, but this force must be guided in the direction that the athlete intends to move. This direction of movement is based on the angle of the Force Vector. If your Force Vector is vertical, you move vertically like a basketball player, if your Force Vector is horizontal, you move along the surface of the ground like a pitcher in his stride phase.

Force production in pitching will occur in both legs during the delivery, which if performed correctly, will rotate the hips. If we compared these pitching mechanics to an engine, the legs would be the pistons and the hips would be the drive shaft. We apply force to the piston and it then rotates the drive shaft.

Improving Pitching Mechanics and Velocity

In 3X Pitching, triple extension is the movement to create force production in the drive leg and triple flexion is the movement to create force production in the landing leg. The 3X Pitching eBook which is a part of the 3X program defines this into more detail. What is important to understand is that triple extension followed by triple flexion, where the force vectors are both in line towards the hips, like in all the pictures here, is what produces a high velocity pitcher. This is why I put together these animated clips of some of the games hardest throwers and labeled their force vectors so you can see how similar they all are. If I was to label the force vector of a low velocity pitcher, the force vectors would not be in line with the hips at any point in the delivery. They would be more vertical. These high velocity pitchers are able to keep their force vectors in line with their hips because of both leg power and they have developed the motor coordination to use this leg power effectively. Why this c0nverts to velocity is because these pitching mechanics create more explosive hip rotation than any other mechanical movement in the human body. All they have to do after the stride phase is to make sure that the shoulders have separated from the hips during this explosive hip rotation and the rest will come very easy. Most velocity loss and inconsistency is due to the loss of leg power and the breakdown of the Pitching Force Vectors during force production.

I highly recommend that you either film yourself pitching to analyze your force vectors or educate someone who can be that third eye for you, especially your coach. You can also post your videos in the forums for a video analysis but don’t forget that this has as much to do with strength than with motor coordination. You need a strength and conditioning program like the Fusion System in the 3X Pitching Velocity program to make it possible for you to implement these mechanics on a consistent basis.

* The first person to post who these pitchers are here I will send you a 50% off coupon to the 3X Pitching Velocity program.

To understand how to implement this into your pitching delivery we must first define these terms.

Force Production

“Generally, nerves stimulate muscles causing the fibers to contract with tension placed on their adjoining connective tissues. Since muscle contractions create the forces necessary to overcome resistance, the nerves represent the control center, whereas the connective tissues transfer the forces to the skeletal system. Ultimately, it is the ability of the muscle to generate forces that determines whether it will perform a movement effectively.” www.nsca-lift.org

Triple Extension

The force production generated through the extension of the ankle, knee and hip flexor is the most effective and efficient way to move the body. The extension of these three joints is call triple extension.

What does it take to increase force production through triple extension?

First, you must train your muscles to generate more force. Even better is to train through triple extension. This would include heavy load training using Plyometrics and the Olympic lifts, like the cleans. The reason for the heavy load training is because this has been proven the most effective way to develop more explosive power from your muscles. Heavy load training forces the body to recruit more fast twitch muscle fibers and also will develop more motor units to fire those muscle fibers more frequently.

Second, you must make mechanical adjustments to take advantage of this increased force production. This is because there is two different ways to move through force production. One way is a vertical movement, like a jump and the other way is a linear movement, like in a stride or sprint. In pitching we move with a linear stride and that stride is also moving down hill.  Because we are moving in a linear movement, instead of a vertical movement, we must set what is called our force vector, with our center of gravity, before the launch. The 3X Pitching Velocity Program goes into this more but the basics of this mechanical adjustment is that you must line up your drive leg ankle and knee with your front hip, and these all should be pointing towards the target. Once this occurs, then the force production of triple extension will drive the body in a linear movement towards the target. If this does not all line up, then triple extension will not occur and force production is limited.

The 3X Pitching Velocity Program produces results because it trains you to generate more force production both physically and mechanically like describe in this article. You must have both to effectively increase velocity. The 3X Pitching Velocity Program goes into full detail on how to train 3X and force production and also has many drills teaching you how to do this.

Pitching injury is due to joint and muscle weakness. Muscle weakness from pitching is the result of overuse and abuse, but stronger joints can handle more overuse and abuse. The catch 22 here is that high velocity training can lead to overuse. So you can have too much of a good thing! Everything in moderation like your Mother says…. The problem with this revolutionary information is that most pitching coaches dismiss heavy weight training because they have no education on how to use it properly to build joint integrity, and enhance velocity. This is because the mechanics of this type of training is as intricate as high velocity pitching mechanics, which most pitching coaches have very little knowledge of as well. This is why the Major Leagues blow millions of dollars every year searching for hard throwers, instead of training and developing hard throwing pitchers! Why pay Stephen Strasburg 50 million when you could get someone like me for nothing, then train and develop me to throw as hard as him? They would say you do not have his genetics, and I would say I also do not have a torn UCL, but the point here is that this information would be more conventional wisdom if the elite would fund these studies to help them train pitchers to develop more velocity. Instead of only searching for the hard thrower pitchers and paying them insane amounts of money.

If you read my last article Heavy Weight Training Increases Pitching Velocity, then you may have added some extra weight on the bar during your last lift. If this was you then good for you, but remember if you are going to enhance your perform through resistance training, you must be aware of the catch 22. It is like going from your everyday car, to a race car. If you are not aware of the learning curve, then you could get hurt strictly out of ignorance. This would hurt your pride as much as your body. So, make sure you educate yourself as much as you train yourself with this revolutionary approach. This means you must have an educated program that has been proven to work, which you will find is the 3X Pitching Velocity Program. If not, you will then have to reinvent the wheel and start your lesson using basic trial and error. This is not recommended because you will loss a tremendous amount of valuable time in your very short pitching career!

Pitching in today’s game is a game of power and deception. Back in the day, pitchers could fool hitters without high velocity but in today’s game this isn’t the case. Pitchers are in serious need for velocity and the best place you can find it is in the weight room. The problem is it isn’t that simple. The weight room can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. It is a nightmare for those who do not have the education or the guidance to survive it. The reality is the weight room is a concentration camp, for the lack of a better word. It is a place you go to destroy your body to a point just before injury. The reason for this behavior is to force your body to breakdown and rebuild bigger, stronger and faster. The issue is this takes a lot of trial and error before you get it right because every one’s body is different.

The point I am trying to make is that injury is going to happen but serious injury can and must be avoided without abandoning your best friend, the weight room. This is why I put together this article on the most important things to look out for in the weight room when training in or out of season.

10 ways pitchers can injure themselves in a Weight Room

1. Over Training – This is when you stop listening to your body because your ego is getting in the way. Weight training for speed/velocity is a science and not a competition. The most important component of this science is the recovery part. So when your body is saying, “I am not recovered yet,” then you better listen to it or be forced to face the consequences. This is when you stop and take a day off. Taking a few days off after a hard week of training actually makes you stronger.
2. Sacrifice Strength Gains For Joint Integrity – Joint Integrity is balance in a joint. Our entire body is put together and functions around all of our joint systems. If we have poor integrity in these joint system then we have a poor performing machine. Do not push for strength gains when these gains are jeopardizing your joint integrity. A great example is bench press. Guys love to grow big pecs and talk about how much they can bench, which is fine, unless your back is now weaker than your chest. This will cause poor joint integrity in your shoulders because the chest and back muscles are apart of the shoulder joint systems. Remember, to keep integrity you must pull whatever you can push in the weight room.
3. Training Outside of Your Sport – This is why the label sport specific training is so popular today. This label isn’t for marketing purposes. It is defining the evolution of strength and conditioning. Athletes have learned that less injures occur when you are not training outside of the muscular demands of your sport. A good example would be with base running. If you train for more speed in the off season but your workload was only in a straight line then the day you showed up to spring training to show off your new explosive speed it could have gone down like this. Let’s say you got your first hit and when making it to first base the ball went past the first baseman to the back stop and at this point you quickly make a cut to second base. This cut will put serious amounts of pressure on your groin muscles as your body quickly changes direction. Because of your off season linear sprint training program you did not develop these muscles like you developed the quads and hamstrings. This makes you very vulnerable to pulling or tearing these groin muscles in this game situation.
4. Lifting With Your Friends – I never once had a great workout in the weight room with a friend. The problem is we all are such competitors that we will turn the lift into a competition instead of a training regimen. We will ignore the process to go for the most weight or most reps to show off to the friend. There is nothing wrong with this behavior in sports but in the weight room it is the number one ingredient for injury.
5. Bad Mechanics – I am  not talking pitching mechanics because this would not fit in this article. I am talking about training mechanics, especially with lifts like the Olympic lifts. The better lifts are usually the more risky lifts. These lifts are considered better because they are the lifts that have a more positive effect on the athletes performance. These are functional lifts like the Olympic lifts. They train the body as a single unit as opposed to isolating a single muscle.  They are risky because the movement to perform the lift is more complicated than a single movement isolating a single muscle. Therefore bad mechanics with the functional lifts can easily cause injury. This is why when starting off with these functional lifts you must have an experience trainer guide you through the workout.
6. Adding More Weight to Bad Mechanics – What is more risky than training with bad mechanics is adding more weight to those bad mechanics. If you do not feel comfortable with a lift or you do not feel that your mechanics are efficient then DO NOT ADD MORE WEIGHT! This is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Adding more weight when you are not ready can easily cause an injury.
7. Poor Training Program – There are a lot of workouts out there today. I was lucky to have been trained by the best because that was all I had to chose from. I can’t imagine what you guys are experiencing today with the web and the hundreds of training programs and gimmicks you come across but remember that a training program can make or break a season. Do not find yourself using a training program that was designed for Navy Seals or Hollywood Models. It is very important that you are using a training program that is either developed for the baseball player or the pitcher. If you ignore this piece of advice you could find yourself with an injury or very poor results.
8. Too Much Time in Weight Room – The weight room is a positive place until you have overstayed your welcome. I believe that where you spend most of your time has more of a dominate effect on your body. If you bench press all day every day then you will be pretty much a bench pressing machine and it will be very difficult to be as effective with any other skill. This means get in the weight room and do not screw around. Get your workout done and get back on the ball field.
9. Poor Nutrition – Most ball players pay little to no attention to diet until pro ball. This is a mistake. If recovery is such an important part of training and diet is such an important part of recovery then nutrition should be a top priority. You have a small window after you workout of about one hour when your body needs optimal nutrition before it goes into starving mode. This mode has an effect on your body chemistry and development and can throw everything out of whack. Miss a good meal after a good workout and you will probably not sleep well that night and you will wake up in the morning feeling like a truck hit you. Overtime this cycle will cause your body to breakdown more than build up. This breakdown is the beginning of injury.
10. Illegal Supplements – This is a no brainier. Illegal substances like steroids, amphetamines and HGH is not for the uneducated. Unless you are a medical Doctor then stay away from these supplements. Oh yeah, did I say that they are ILLEGAL. This means don’t mess with them. They make this stuff illegal for a reason and it usually has to do with your health. I trained with many ball players on these substances and I could still lift with them. I was blown away by their new found strength but it was always short term. They would either plateau or stop taking the drug and the effects would wear off quickly. Also the majority of the people I know who used these illegal substances wound up with an injury during the time period. Mainly because they over trained due to the quick strength gains.

If you feel more confident about the weight room then I would highly recommend that you start with the Ace Pitcher Handbook. It was developed by a pitcher to train a pitching machine.

Pitching velocity is the product of momentum and torque. You can read countless articles on this site about Momentum and Torque. Pulling the ball down during release prevents early internal rotation which is a key component to velocity as stated in the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) case study called Comparison of High Velocity and Low Velocity Pitch Deliveries.

Dr. Andrews case study states:

….the maximum shoulder horizontal adduction occurred later and maximum shoulder internal rotation occurred earlier at greater ball velocities.

Notice that Tim Lincecum, who’s fastball averages in the high nineties, proves this component in the case study true in his picture above. He is releasing the ball above his shoulder and head. He couldn’t release the ball any earlier than in his picture. There is no pull down phase in this high velocity delivery.  Early internal rotation occurred  because he has met ever component of greater ball velocity described in the ASMI case study. He has “less lead knee flexion velocity after front foot contact” which we find just before this image, “greater lead knee extension velocity at the time of ball release,” “Maximum shoulder external rotation” which also occurred before this picture and finally “forward trunk tilt at ball release.” Tim Lincecum is the epitome of this ASMI case study, especially early internal rotation.

To give an example of a pitcher who is fighting against his potential velocity by pulling the ball down to release would be this picture here. This happens because of a flaw in timing. When the front foot lands and momentum is slowing down then the arm must take over. The pitcher must pull the ball down to create more external rotation that was lost when his momentum slowed down. Momentum must accelerate all the way to ball release to support top velocity. Just like a plane taking off, momentum must not stop or velocity will suffer. In the case of pitching the arm suffers as well because this adds more wear and tear on the arm. Notice that both of these pitchers are almost in the exact same position but the pitcher here is releasing the ball in front of his face and his elbow has not extended. This tells me that his momentum has stopped and his arm is doing the majority of the work. This also means he created poor hip to shoulder separation at front foot strike which caused his arm to throw the ball too early in the delivery. The most important perspective of the ASMI Comparison of High Velocity and Low Velocity Pitch Deliveries is the timing of each component. If any of the four velocity components stated in the case study initiate too early then the proceeding component will not reach its maximum potential.

When you find yourself losing momentum and pulling the ball down to release you will notice that your ball pulls down as well as it reaches the plate but when you get early internal rotation you will notice that your ball jumps out of your hand and looks like it is rising as it reaches the plate. This is an increase in velocity. To prevent launching the ball high you must make sure you are achieving maximum forward trunk tilt at ball release.

When working to improve on these four components of velocity you must practice them in reverse not continuing until each component is mastered. This is the only way to develop top velocity and to break the conventional wisdom that says these mechanics can not be taught.

In conclusion, Alan Jaeger’s Long Toss program may sound good on video or his website but scientifically it fails. Next time you find yourself trying to pull the ball down at release to create velocity check your momentum because your velocity is slowing down.

Dr. James Andrews at ASMI put together a study of low velocity pitchers to high velocity pitchers to determine the difference in pitching mechanics. It was a good feeling after reading this study because the same information coming from Dr. Andrews is the same information Top Velocity has been preaching for years. It proves why I overcame a rotator cuff tear and was able to reach 94 mph on my fastball post surgery.

What these high velocity pitchers where doing different was transferring more momentum to the ball faster and more efficiently than the low velocity pitchers. There was four significant differences and these differences did not start until front foot strike. This means it doesn’t matter how you build momentum but you must build as much momentum as you can, then when your front foot lands your front leg must stabilize and continue to extend back into the hips before ball release. This front knee extension mainly occurred with the high velocity group of pitchers. The next major component of high velocity came with maximum external rotation of the arm when the trunk was tilted all the way over the front foot due to the excessive amounts of momentum generated into front foot strike. The study states that the reason for this maximum external rotation is because

“Greater shoulder external rotation causes a stretch of the internal rotators allowing energy to be stored in these muscles, and creating greater internal rotation during the arm acceleration phase.”

This leads into the next and most important component of the study. This component is by far a major component of not only velocity but arm health and pitch location. The study finishes with describing the importance of early elbow extension and internal rotation once the arm begins its launch to the target. I can’t stress the importance of this component enough. I have to admit that Top Velocity has not focused enough on this component and doesn’t have it in the Ace Pitcher Handbook. This will be added soon!

Early elbow extension and internal rotation is even more important when throwing a football. This is because to throw a good spiral you must have early elbow extension and early internal rotation to spiral the ball to your target. I recommend using a football in your warm ups to help improve on this component. The key to getting early elbow extension and internal rotation is keeping the arm relaxed the entire pitching delivery. The main focus of the arm is to be in position to receive the transfer of momentum and to transfer that momentum quickly and almost effortlessly. The only part of the arm doing work is the forearm. It is holding onto the ball with the finger tips. This is what controls pitch movement and location.

To learn more about this study please read the reference article here:
Comparison of High Velocity and Low Velocity Pitch Deliveries