Jackson Hinchliffe

University of Richmond RHP Jackson Hinchliffe joined us last summer in our Collegiate Summer Throwing Program. The 12-week program is 100% customized to the needs of the individual athlete, whether it be increasing velocity, improving command and control, improving pitch-arsenal, or simply getting better across the board. In Jackson’s case, he was looking to return to school healthy (forearm strain), improve his velocity and expand his arsenal. By the time of his departure, he had improved his velocity from 89 to 92 mph, with a much-improved pitch repertoire.

How did he do it?

RPP’s 3-month summer program isn’t a long period of time, therefore focusing on an athlete’s lowest hanging fruit is essential. All summer athletes begin the summer program with a comprehensive physical and mechanical evaluation:

1. Physical Assessment – Covers a number of important topics, including (a) mobility – lower and upper half, (b) strength – lower and upper half, (c) power – lower and upper half, (d) speed – 30 yard dash, (e) elasticity – lower and upper half, (f) decel metrics, (g) body fat % and lean muscle mass ratios and a (h) force-velocity evaluation profile.
2. Mechanical Assessment – Represents a complete analysis and reporting of the athlete’s delivery and broken down into three specific areas kinematically. These include (a) arm and shoulder, (b) trunk movement and (c) the lower half.
3. Pitch Arsenal – Represents a thorough analysis of the pitcher’s arsenal, pitch-movement profile for potential improvements in movement or an expansion of the overall repertoire.

By the time an athlete has completed our evaluation, we have an excellent idea of what his strengths are and which weaknesses we should pursue to optimize performance. There is NO better blueprint.

1. Physical Assessment

Body Composition

Below is a summary of Jackson’s height and weight in the beginning of the program.

- Height – 72”
- Weight – 176 lbs.
- Ratio – 2.44x (desired rage of 2.5 – 3.0)

Ideally, we want our athletes’ weight to be between 2.5-3.0x their height. After putting a strong emphasis on weight this summer, Jackson increased his from 176 lbs. to 191 lbs., improving his ratio to 2.65.

Upper and Lower Half Mobility

The movement screening portion of the assessment is essential in identifying mobility and / or stability issues that may hinder the athlete’s ability to get into optimal positions throughout the delivery. In most cases, the issues that are presented in this portion of the assessment will be visible when we are evaluating the athlete’s mechanics in the latter part of the assessment.

After completing Jackson’s table assessment, we concluded that he needed to work on his hip mobility, especially external rotation. Improving this will help Jackson get into better and deeper positions with his lower half on the mound. In terms of his upper half, Jackson presented with very low Shoulder IR as well as tight lats (shoulder flexion). The slight lack of ER was more than likely due to his tight lats mentioned above, as well as pec minor.

Upper and Lower Body Strength

After completion of the movement screen, we then moved on to our strength and power testing. Strength and power testing gives us more information about the type of athlete we are dealing with and higher gains in these two categories help create not only a higher velocity ceiling, but a overall more athletic body.

Jackson came in on the weaker side for his upper body strength composition. Being able to add some muscle mass by training in more of a hypertrophy and max strength phase for the summer in addition to adding weight through nutrition were some main goals of the offseason.

- Trap bar Deadlift – 396 lbs. (vs. optimal @2.25x B.W. 440 lbs.)
- Single Leg Squat – 87 lbs. (vs. optimal @0.55x B.W. 97 lbs.)
- Bench Press – 152 lbs. (vs. optimal @1.25x B.W. 190 lbs.)

Lower and Upper Half Power

Power is all about how quickly we can produce Force. In baseball, you need to be both strong and powerful. Power = Force X Velocity

With respect to power, the first test we complete is a Counter Movement Jump (CMJ). This jump is performed to test the athlete’s ability to utilize their Stretch Shortening Cycle and relates to the velocity portion of the power equation and ultimately gives us the athletes Force-Velocity profile.

The second test, Squat Jump, is performed to test the athlete’s ability to use muscular force and relates to the force side of the power equation and Force-Velocity Curve.

Jackson’s power testing showed that he also needs to become more explosive. As discussed before, he came in on the weaker side so we understood that an increase in strength would lead to an increase in power. This is due to Jackson being a velocity-driven athlete, in terms of the force-velocity curve.

Decel

This test looks at the ability of the athlete’s lead leg to hit the brakes immediately at foot plant and in turn transfer force back up the kinetic chain to use during the throw, or in the case of the test, how quickly they can land on one leg and turn that force the other way with a jump. Jump height and contact time give us what is known as a “Reactive Strength Index” (RSI).

Jackson performed very well on our Single Leg Drop Jump test, which we use to determine how well the athlete can produce force and transfer it up the chain during the throw. This is one of Jackson’s superpowers coming into the summer.

2. Pitching Mechanics

The pitching mechanics analysis involves analysis of dozens of possible disconnects in the delivery which are then summarized into a summary report. In Jackson’s case we also had the benefit of our in-house motion capture report. The following is a summary of the summary.

As pitching mechanics go, Jackson’s report was pretty clean. He already has very good pitching mechanics. There were six disconnects which we prioritized to address. Below is a summary and description of each:

- Glove-side Position / Timing – When the glove side turns overs early it makes it difficult to keep the front side closed longer and rotate the torso down into landing. Keeping the front side closed longer helps create thoracic extension which helps initiate torso rotation as well as the transfer of energy from the torso to the arm.
- Rotation Perpendicular to Spine – Max acceleration and efficient energy transfer happens on a vertical axis. Rotation should happen 90 degrees perpendicular to the spine. This also helps set up the arm slot. This would be a higher arm slot for more upright pitchers and a lower arm slot for flexion such as submarine guys.
- Trunk Rotation @ FP – Early trunk rotation compromises the SSC during recoil and puts the upper body in a more compromised position to accept ground reaction force and effectively block with the lead leg.
- Early Heel / Rotation – Based on each individual based off of hip mobility. Good ER (vertical shin) and Good IR (anti-verted) prevents linear momentum towards plate. Possible causes are ankle mobility, tight groin/adductors foot plant and velocity.
- Lead Leg Foot Position @ FP – By keeping the lead foot slightly closed (between 0-20 degrees) at foot plant allows the pitcher to create a more stable position to help decelerate the throw as well as a strong support to throw against. This in turn helps efficiently block and transfer force up the kinetic chain.
- Pelvic Tilt @ Max ER – Pelvic tilt at MER sets up the angle that the trunk/spine will eventually reach at release and can have a large effect on preventing cutting the ball as well as leverage on the ball which allows for higher spin rates.

Addressing mechanical disconnects is often addressed by work both in the weight room and specific drill sets we assign the athlete to be performed on a daily basis. The following were assigned:

- ½ Kneeling Throws – Used to help tap into rotation during delivery by eliminating the lower half from the throw and focus on hip-shoulder separation. Also working on keeping the front foot closed.

- Rocker Drill – Used to improve trunk stack and trunk rotation as well as rotation and tilt of the pelvis during the throw. Also working on hip-shoulder separation, glove-side timing, and front foot positioning.

- Step Back Drill – Used to maintain back heel connections and back leg tension. Helps influence staying connected with the ground longer, in turn producing more force to send up the chain during the throw.

- Rhythmic Breaks – Focuses on staying connected during the throw and the linear move. Helps drill the pattern of positions wanted to be achieved during the throw prior to making the throw. Improves glove-side position/timing, back heel connection, front foot position, and pelvic rotation.

3. Pitching Arsenal

Jackson showed up after his first year with an arsenal that included an elite 4SFB, an average CH, and a slow / loopy slider. We took this information and knowing that Jackson was slated to be a starter when he returned in the fall, working with our Trackman unit, we turned him in to a strong 5-pitch guy.

This included developing a Sinker to play off his High-Vert 4-seamer, improving his Changeup to kill more depth consistently, switching his slider grip to allow for him to throw it harder and sharper, and introducing a cutter to help bridge the gap between his Fastball and new Slider.

Best of luck to Jackson this spring, as he is currently with 10 IP and a 1.80 ERA.

Below is a summary of his movement plot for each pitch…

The Summer Throwing Program

The 12-week Summer Throwing Program is specifically designed for graduating seniors and college-level pitchers whose main priority is to improve their velocity and overall command. There is a great deal that goes into a improving your craft and it’s important that a comprehensive program incorporate all aspects of the process. The program can be performed:

- At RPP (in-house)
- 100% Remote
- Hybrid

The objectives of the summer throwing program are as follows:

- Increase velocity ceiling
- Improve overall command
- Improve pitch movement through pitch design work
- Build endurance and resilience in your arm
- Improve overall physicality and become more athletic

Article by Matt Hartshorn and Bahram Shirazi (RPP Baseball)