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Pitching Velocity Before Ball Movement

I have worked with a lot of “Side Arm” Pitchers who are worried about losing movement when I am training and coaching them to increase velocity, with 3X Pitching. I am not talking about pitchers who throw upper 80′s, because most of the pitchers I work with are more like upper 70′s. It just blows my mind that an upper 70′s pitcher would rather have ball movement than more velocity.

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. Read more

Pitching Velocity Specificity

Pitching Velocity Specificity is based around two variables; pitching mechanics and physical fitness. The baseball world has a descent understanding of how important sound pitching mechanics are in producing an above average pitcher but they have very little understanding of how effective physical fitness is in producing an above average pitcher.

This has a lot to do with the trickle down theory. Most of baseball gets their education from Major League Baseball. The problem with the MLB is that they are made up of an elite group of athletes. Therefore the league does not have to spend a lot of time in physical development of their players because everyone they acquire is already developed. This is why they draft athletes over baseball players. If you want proof just look at the 2000 MLB draft when the Colorado Rookies Drafted Michael Vick in the 30th round. The last time Michael Vick played baseball was in the 8th grade. They drafted him because he is one of the best athletes in the country. The MLB would rather draft athletes than just baseball players because they know it is easier to turn an athlete into a pitcher than a pitcher into an athlete. This is why the MLB has very little knowledge and experience in physical fitness and development. So why does all the levels under the MLB look to them for guidance in physical fitness and development? Good question! Read more

The Tim Lincecum Trap

The Lincecum Trap is out and I am hearing some buzz about his career from the great marketer, you should know his name. I am hearing that he is making claims that Lincecum is doomed. If his career is doomed then he still probably is a candidate for the Hall of Fame. He has 2 Cy Young Awards and a World Series Ring. Nolan Ryan doesn’t even have that!

Who cares if his career is doomed, I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t see it but who really cares. He has made a major impact on this game. How many young pitchers out there were inspired by this little Giant? How many young pitchers copied his delivery and benefited from the results? How many young pitchers, who wanted to give up because they thought they couldn’t do it because of their size, pushed even harder when they saw Lincecum dominating in the MLB? Tim Lincecum has changed the game and it has been for the better! Read more

Welcome to the 90 MPH Club!

“Welcome to the 90MPH club,” is the catch phrase that we all would love to hear in our careers. More than likely this is your ultimate goal as a pitcher, because if you make it to the 90MPH Club, then you have put yourself in the recruiting pool for Professional Baseball. If you have ever been to a MLB tryout Camp then you will hear this phrase a lot, “Throw 90 or go home!” At most camps they are not as blunt but this is what they are thinking when they are holding that gun to your back when you throw your first pitch. Read more

3D Doppler Radar Launches 3X Pitching

This may be the first sign of the beginning of a new era for baseball. A Danish company called Trackman has planted some 3D Doppler Radar’s in Major League parks across the country and the data is revolutionary. They can scientifically produce data that shows why two 90 MPH pitchers are not the same. Why one may be seen as having a “Sneaky” fastball when the other is throwing the exact same velocity. This is because this new technology uses distance and speed to measure velocity, instead of only using speed. Therefore, someone throwing 90 mph with a release point that is 53 feet away from the hitter is throwing harder, as perceived by the hitters eye, than the pitcher with the same velocity throwing the ball 55 feet away. Trackman has determined that the average release point from the rubber for an MLB pitcher is 5.10 feet but some of the “Sneaky” fastball pitchers are reaching release point distances of 7 feet or more. The ESPN Sports Science video about Chapman, which I cover in one of my previous articles, made this same discovery but Trackman is calculating this information on the fly. Based on their data one foot past the average 5.10 feet equals about 2 mph in increase perceived velocity. Trackman feels that this 3D Doppler Radar will eventually make the radar gun, as we know it today, the thing of the past. This is because their data gives an organization a lot more scientific data to evaluate talent than the traditional radar gun. This 3D Radar can also record spin rate of all pitches. Pitchers with higher spin rates have higher strikeout percentages. Read more