Right about this time every year, as fall ball programs wrap up, pitchers and position players alike are faced with a few decisions about their upcoming off-season training. At the top of the list is a potential shutdown period at the end of the season. Should you or shouldn’t you? Well, like all things pitching the answer is, it depends.
Over the last decade, many new pitching stats have been created, including FIP, SIERA, CSW%, and xFIP, all with the single purpose of getting a better understanding of a pitcher’s ability beyond the ERA. Recently, a new pitching stat was created by Eno Sarris which he calls Stuff+.
What is it? and how can it be helpful?
When you train as many pitchers as we do, often times common themes begin to emerge. One such theme is the types of baseball pitching mechanics issues that we observe most often in pitchers. Well, here they are, along with some things we do (barring any glaring mobility issues observed in the assessment) from a corrective standpoint both in the tunnel and in the weight room to address them.
Continue reading “What are the Most Common Pitching Mechanics Issues?”
Today, we’re going to review some of the topics we look at during an assessment in regard to pitchers shoulder mobility as well the major players that can affect it. The four big guys are as follows:
Let’s review and discuss each and go over a handful of shoulder exercises that may be helpful for each segment.
Continue reading “How to Improve Pitchers Shoulder Mobility”
Pitching is a sequence of events that occur in a very short span. Breaking the movement down into its components can help isolate issues as the kinetic chain ultimately delivers the pitch at the point of release. An important topic that pitchers should be aware of is “Arm Action” or more notably a “Late Arm Action”, which can create many issues down the chain. So, let’s discuss it…
Continue reading “What is Late Arm Action? Why and How You Should Address it?”
Helping young pitchers develop into the best versions of themselves requires an understanding of their physiological development and capabilities at any given age. Asking a 13-year old pitcher to post-up may be a complete waste of time, if he doesn’t have enough lead leg strength to create a good block. With our more developed and older athletes, we may review as many as 50-60 potential disconnects. But when it comes to the younger guys, you have to be aware of what they may or may not be capable of performing. Consequently, we generally begin with a reduced set before expanding what we look for in their youth pitching mechanics. We have listed them here on a priority basis.
Continue reading “Helping Young Pitchers (ages 10-13) Develop into Elite Throwers”
Welcome back to the “How to” series on pitching, where we will be diving into various pitches and speak about different grips, cues, tips, movement profiles, and even a top MLB comparison for reference when looking at a given pitch. Next up, how to throw a 4-seam fastball.
Continue reading “How to Throw a 4-seam Fastball (Grips, Cues, Types, etc.)”
Use your legs. Use your lower half. Sounds great but, “what the heck does it mean”? Coaches often cue this as if it’s one single thing. In reality, a proper use of the lower half has 4 different but connected and sequential components. In Part 4 of this 4 part series on lower half pitching mechanics, we’ll take a closer look and break down what I refer to as the Block.
Continue reading “Lower Half Pitching Mechanics: Block — Simplified (Part 4 of 4)”
Welcome back to the “How to” series on pitching, where we will be diving into various pitches and speak about different grips, cues, tips, movement profiles, and even a top MLB comparison for reference when looking at a given pitch. Next up, how to throw a splitter.
Continue reading “How to Throw a Splitter (Grips, Cues, Types, etc.)”
Baseball pitches come in three basic categories: fastballs, breaking balls, and off-speed / changeups. Each category, and each pitch within the category, are generally identified by their type of grip, velocity and movement profile also known as “break”. Pitchers generally throw many different types of baseball pitches, in addition to a fastball. Although, there are a few pitchers in the MLB that throw just about every type of pitch, starters generally throw 4-5 different variations, and relievers and closers throw 1-3 different ones. The primary purpose for the variations in pitching is to throw a batter’s timing off and induce an out: as in a strike out, a ground out, or a flyout.
Now, let’s review each category and the various baseball pitches:
