MLB Pitching Articles
Major League Baseball holds some of the hardest throwers in the game. To learn more about these pitchers and what it takes to become a major league baseball pitcher then check out these revolutionary pitching articles.
Here are some pitching articles on this important pitching velocity topic. This topic is currently open for discussion. You can either comment on the articles below or start a thread in the pitching forums.
Holy Grail Study Proves MLB Players Produce More Vertical Power
by Brent Pourciau · February 10, 2013
Yes, it is proven that the MLB has the highest verticals in the game of baseball. Not only that but when it comes to pure power production, no other level of professional baseball even comes close.
Did you really believe that the Major Leagues wasn’t made up of the bigger, stronger and faster athletes? Well if you thought otherwise then you where completely wrong. Matter of fact, it would be a good idea if you just forgot everything you know about baseball because I would bet most of it is not doing anything for you. It isn’t your fault though, but it is now your responsibility to learn the truth.
This game and most of the coaches in it have loaded you with complete BS for, more than likely, most of your career. Look on the bright side though you are reading this article, which means you are going to walk out of the cave when most of your peers are going to stay chained to the wall and continue believing the shadows to be real people. Read more
The Secret To Increasing A Pitcher’s RPM’s And K’s
by Brent Pourciau · May 7, 2012
This is an exciting time for baseball because science is starting to have a major impact on the game. A sign of this impact has been the increase in pitching velocity across the board. We are hearing more and more about 100 mph pitchers coming out of high school and college ball today. Pre-Steroid ERA this would have been unheard of.
TopVelocity.net has been at the forefront of this cutting edge information. What we have done here is interpret this new scientific data into laymen’s terms to help the young pitcher benefit from it. One of the latest studies to come out, which shows the relationship of pronation speeds to vertical ball movements, is some of this cutting edge science that has been right under our noses but now that it is documented, it will begin to impact the game. Read more
Major League Baseball Tryout Schedule 2012
by Brent Pourciau · May 6, 2012
Check out the 2013 MLB Tryout Camps!
Here is the 2012 USA Major League Scouting Bureau tryout camps schedule for the 2012 summer.The camps are open to all players 16 years or older. The camps are free. You must arrive 30 minute before the camp begins to register. No equipment is provided so all players are required to bring proper equipment.
All players must sign a liability waiver before attending the camp. If the player is younger than 21 years of age then a legal guardian or parent must sign the waiver on the players behalf. You can download a player liability waiver here from the MLB website. Read more
Pitching Velocity Before Ball Movement
by Brent Pourciau · November 3, 2011
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
by Brent Pourciau · July 19, 2011
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 world. The MLB would rather draft athletes than just baseball players because they know it is easier to turn an athlete into a baseball player than a baseball player 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
by Brent Pourciau · June 4, 2011
The Tim Lincecum Trap is out and I am hearing some buzz about his career going around online. I am hearing some of his critiques are making claims that Lincecum is doomed. In his defense, I would have to say that 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!
by Brent Pourciau · May 27, 2011
“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
by Brent Pourciau · April 22, 2011
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 pitching velocity. This is because this new technology uses distance and speed to measure pitching 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 pitching 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
MLB Using Glorified Physical Therapy Instead Of Explosive Strength Training
by Brent Pourciau · March 30, 2011
In my last interview with the legendary guru of Speed and Strength Training, from D1 Sports in Tennessee, Kurt Hester. He stated that Major League Baseball is using glorified physical therapy instead of strength and conditioning. This was a shot at the lame approach to training and rehabilitating athletes in the MLB organizations. This is coming from a guy who trains some of NFL’s most explosive athletes and who was label as Gorilla Ball, when he was training the LSU tiger baseball team in the 90′s.
Kurt says that fear is a major problem with baseball players. They train the way they do because of the fear that comes from the higher levels of the game. He also says that if young baseball players trained like Major League ball players, they would never get better.
The fear is that weight training, especially heavy weight training, will make you bulky and will cause injury. Kurt says the MLB’s athletic trainers are running glorified physical therapy programs and not actually training their athletes to become bigger, stronger and faster. This is why I believe top draft picks and big salary pitcher’s like Mark Prior leave the league with a career ending injury, after only 3 years in the show, and never make it back. Read more
The 3X Power Pitching Stride
by Brent Pourciau · January 11, 2011
Most young pitchers do not have the leg power (power is strength and speed) necessary to generate the energy needed, through the pitching stride, to reach their top velocity. If you are a pitcher who uses mainly your arm to generate velocity then you will find yourself shortening your stride to quickly get your front foot planted. After front foot strike you then will use your glove side and throwing arm to generate most of your pitching velocity. Not only is this approach to pitching not efficient, it puts unnecessary wear and tear on the rotator cuff. Learning how to use the stride to generate power to be transferred into the ball as pitching velocity is far superior than the later approach. Read more
The Adventures Of Long Tossing!
by Brent Pourciau · January 23, 2010
Long tossing has been a heated debate on TopVelocity.net in the past month. The day I posted my first article against the practice of “Extreme Long Tossing” I was contacted by Alan Jaeger with Jaeger Sports. Lets just say he wasn’t happy with my research. The problem is Alan Jaeger and I have totally different back grounds. He played a little college baseball and I played a little pro baseball. Jaeger is a yoga instructor and I am a strength and conditioning specialist. It isn’t that I do not agree with everything he teaches, I just don’t agree with a lot of it but that is the best part about the internet. We can all have our own opinions and programs. Read more
FAQ MLB Tryout Camps
by Brent Pourciau · October 22, 2009
Frequently Asked Questions About MLB Open Tryout Camps.
*Note: The information below comes from Major League Baseball at MLB.com. Please read the frequently asked questions below before posting a comment or sending us an email. Read more
MLB Folds Under Pressure!
by Brent Pourciau · August 12, 2009
It took steroids in the game of baseball to wake up the MLB. They learned quickly that the old school mentality that weight training will not make a baseball player better probably was dead wrong but instead of the MLB opening the game to the latest advances of the strength and conditioning world, they decided to fold. Now why would they fold such a big hand that was dealt to them with a hard slap across the face? This is because of the pressures of the United States government. Congress threatened the MLB to a point of no return. To remove steroids from the poisoned roots of Major League Baseball they pushed out everything that resembled the disease. This meant strength and conditioning practices that juiced athletes used to develop their steroid-induced gains. Read more
MLB Tryouts 101
by Brent Pourciau · July 19, 2009
Every ball player wants a chance to be evaluated as a potential Major League Baseball player. It is a chance to chase a dream and the opportunity to put yourself out there hoping for the best.
The problem is the odds of becoming a Major League Baseball player is 1 out of 290,000. That is like winning the lottery. I am the last guy who wants to shoot down someones dream, especially someones dream to play Major League Baseball, because I had the same dream. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the MLB but some of my friends did and I at least had the opportunity to play professional minor league baseball. This means I beat the odds of playing professional baseball which is 1 out of 3,700. Not as impressive as the MLB but still an amazing experience that changed my life forever. Read more
Major League Baseball Is All Growns Up, Almost!
by Brent Pourciau · June 22, 2009
Greg Bishop for the NY Times wrote an article, “When Radar Gun Hits 100 M.P.H., There’s More Than Meets the Eye.” View the link to the article below and read my response.
It feels like us online pitching guru’s are being let out of our caves into the new world when the main stream media starts to ring our bells. Reading this article I also wondered if Topvelocity.net is being plagiarized but who really cares. I am just glad that Major League Baseball (MLB) is growing up. The article quotes Rick Peterson, the founder of 3P Sports, who has worked with Dr. James Andrews for years on the bio mechanics of pitching. He is the first guy within the MLB to take a different approach to pitching than the conventional wisdom that hasn’t changed for decades. Read more
2009 MLB Tryout Camp Schedule
by Brent Pourciau · April 30, 2009
Major League Scouting Bureau: 2009 Tryout camp schedule
Tryout camps are open for all players over 16 years of age. There is no fee. Registration will be done 30 minutes prior to start of camp. All players must bring their own equipment. IMPORTANT: Each player must sign a liability waiver to participate. If player is under age 21, a parent or legal guardian must also sign the waiver. A waiver can be obtained in advance at mlb.com or at tryout camp registration. Tryouts subject to change.
Note: Please read the FAQ if you have any questions. Read more
Little League Pitching
by Brent Pourciau · December 3, 2008
One of the most common questions I get as a Coach is, “How old should a kid start pitching?” I was pretty young myself but then again I also had major shoulder surgery in college. With my experience, I would say, “Wait as long as you can to start making pitching your number one position.” If you have the dreams of playing Pro ball one day, I would definitely keep your arm as fresh as possible. Pro scouts drool over live fresh arms. Their eyes pop out of their heads when they learn that a young live arm has little time spent on the mound. So that being said, focus more on throwing mechanics than getting time on the hill in the little league to junior high ranks. Read more
TopVelocity.net And The Lincecum Revolution
by Brent Pourciau · July 3, 2008
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Well, it looks like the baseball world is seeing the light. Thanks to little giants like Tim Lincecum and his father.
His father Chris works for Boeing, which is why he produced a son with such a perfect understanding of physics driven mechanics. Tom Verducci has written the article of all articles when it comes to the revolution of the pitching delivery. Verducci writes for Sports Illustrated. In this article he expresses a better understanding of physics driven pitching mechanics than some of the best Coaches in the game. It goes to show how baseball’s ego has prevented its own evolution. MLB has been drafting young, tall and lanky pitchers for years because these pitchers can get away with more and therefore Read more
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