Losing Your Legs and Your Velocity Early in the Game

Losing Legs and Velo

It’s that time of year when I go out and watch all my guys (with a great sense of pride I might add) play ball and in doing so, get a chance to watch many other young pitchers on the mound as well. A common thread that I see with many of them is the similarities in the breakdown that happens in the later innings.

More often than not, I believe this is fatigue of the lower half. The pre-mature change in lower extremity kinematics and timing can generally be attributed to a lack of strength (or a loss of strength if they have stopped training in-season) bringing on many command problems as well as velocity issues. Today, we’ll touch on three topics. Continue reading “Losing Your Legs and Your Velocity Early in the Game”

Baseball Launch Angle and Exit Velo, The Good, Bad and Ugly!

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It’s no secret that there is an enormous amount of player data coming out of MLB these days.  The Statcast system was installed in all 30 Major League ballparks beginning with the 2015 season and the data coming out of this system is already changing how coaches are preparing and working with players.  It measures and records pretty much every single play from pitch velo, to exit speed, to hit distance and more.  It even calculates the probability that an outfielder will make a specific play at a given distance to the ball.  It’s great stuff.  But, what does it all mean for baseball players? Continue reading “Baseball Launch Angle and Exit Velo, The Good, Bad and Ugly!”

3 Reasons for Lower Back Pain after Pitching

Lower Back Pain after Pitching

Unfortunately, 90% of the pitcher population cannot handle the amount of lumbar extension Tim Lincecum put his body through. It’s no mystery that low back pain can severely compromise velocity, as well as command, in pitchers. In Part 3 of this series on Pain Site vs. Pain Source, we’ll look at low back pain and some possible “sites” distally that could be causing it. We’ll also look at some things we can do from both the strength and mobility (mechanics) side that may help to relieve unwanted stress in the area. Lower back pain after pitching can be caused by many things, but for the scope of this article, we’re going to concentrate on… Continue reading “3 Reasons for Lower Back Pain after Pitching”