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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

Arm Path and Pitching Velocity

Conventional wisdom would say the path that the arm takes during the delivery is significant to velocity. If you look at Newton’s Second Law of Motion you will find that the path has nothing to do with the velocity of the ball. Acceleration or the velocity of the ball is determined by the force applied, divided by its mass. We know that the path does not change the mass or the force applied, so conventional wisdom would be wrong in coaching the arm path as having an effect on velocity. 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

Brent Pourciau Statistics

After spending almost five years from when my college baseball career ended, trying to get my arm back from rotator cuff surgery during my freshman year in college, I finally decided it was time to take my last shot at reaching my dream of throwing 94mph and playing pro ball.

College was not much of a career because I constantly struggled with my velocity. I topped out at about 86 mph my senior year, though I did get a lot of playing time in college. I finished my career at an NAIA school because NAIA gave me two more years of eligibility due to my almost career ending surgery (The NCAA would have forced me to petition to get these two years back). This was a problem because I graduated college at 24 years of age and I was not even touching 90 mph. Not many pro scouts are looking for 24 year old college graduates who can top out at 86! It took the next five years, searching for some expert advice, to help me reach my velocity goals. I was lucky enough to find some of the best coaches in pitching mechanics and strength and conditioning in the game. This advice, along with a relentless desire to reach my goals, I started to feel a change occurring. I would continue refining my pitching skills after college by playing in almost every well known amateur summer league in the country, along with an opportunity to play professional baseball in the European leagues, including the European Championship in Rotterdam, Netherlands. When I turned 28 years old I decided to move to Los Angeles and try a new career. Read more

MLB tryouts 101

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 being a Major League ball 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. Which means I beat the odds of playing professional baseball which is 1 out of 3700. Not as impressive as the MLB but still an amazing experience that changed my life forever. Read more