changing arm action to stop curving of fastball | Nurtition and injury prevention | TopVelocity Baseball Forum
it started last year when my son was fielding and making throws from outfield early in the season. when he threw the ball, it curved right like a change up. a couple if days later we made changes in his arm action to get backspin back on his fastball instead of sidespin. season went ok.
this year he pitched great, then he got hurt and had surgery on his knee. during this rebuilding process we noticed that the sidespin was back and he seamed to be throwing from a lower sidearm slot. following a bullpin, his shoulder was sore. so in the last 2 weeks we worked on changing his arm slot again. he got the backspin working again and control is spot on. but the problem he has now is that when he really steps on the gas he gets a pain in his tricep near his elbow. it’s more like a soreness. so i have him stop throwing the minute that happens. i’m going to video him this Sunday and post the video to see if the problem can be found easily.
i fear any pain near his elbow because of the damage Brent went through in college. the elbow pain was the sign that things were going bad.
i’m guessing as to what the problem can be because there are so many factors that can be effecting him:
1) he grew 6″ since March. even though he worked out the whole time and has filled out well, could it be from the growth?
2) arm slot? he used to throw over the top, then it progressed to 3/4, now he throws almost side arm when his is not paying attention. he is having to work to keep the slot higher.
3) elbow position at release may be facing down instead of out?
4) he may be “pulling down” in an effort to get more speed?
i know that anybody that comments might be taking a good guess as to what the problem is (without seeing some video), but i welcome any suggestions.


Minor Leaguer
October 24, 2011

I had a very similar problem to the one you are describing, in last fall season. There would be some days when my back hip and back shoulder would go together and my arm slot would drop and I would get this annoying sinker that would always tail and die off to my arm side. I would be forced to pull down because I didn’t not have the kinetic energy to generate explosive arm speed.
For me it was my back hip not getting around early or fast enough and also not enough upper body strength. Then I got my bench press to 215 and I started getting that chest thrust and arm speed back.
Yeah and if he is growing a lot then the way his body moves through space is always changing.
the drill that Brent showed in the video link i posted pretty much cured the issue. and you are right, his kinetic chain was messed up. today Nic threw some balls from outfield to me and all of the balls had backspin like a 4 seam fastball, and they flew straight. he even picked up a few miles per hour on the pitch.
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