How to know how fast you pitch

When a pitcher rushes his delivery, it means the body has moved forward towards the plate too early, causing the arm position to be too low at the time of stride foot contact with the ground and arm acceleration. What I have observed in most power pitchers is that the weight is held back over a firm posting leg until the lead leg starts downward. The lead foot comes downward a little more than shoulder width apart and side along the ground to the contact area.

The upper body and the head stays at the top center of the widening triangle of the body. The body has only drifted, or fallen forward. There is no major push or drive during this phase. Maximum external rotation MER describes the angle at which the forearm "lays back" during the pitching delivery. This is due to a rapid turn of the shoulders as the inertial mass of the baseball pushes the hand and forearm back.

Stressing flexibility, the further the throwing arm rotated back, the higher the velocity because of the increased stored energy think of a slingshot. The pitchers who throw the hardest have a maximum external rotation of degrees.

Sources: Werner ; Boddy Once the throwing arm is cocked , relaxed and ready, the arm must also have good elbow flexion. This elbow flexion means the ball is inside the elbow, which will allow the arm to move into MER faster because of the shorter arm path due to the increased elbow flexion. Sources: Werner ; Pourciau ; Kreber ; Ellis This is why it's so important for pitchers to be quick with all movements to the release of the baseball, using trunk rotation to build velocity. The speed and strength of a pitcher's torso is another key element in throwing velocity during the pitching delivery.

I believe it was Coach Bill Thurston from Amherst College back in the early 90's who was one of the first pitching instructors to emphasize that pitching velocity was the result of the rotational forces of the entire body working together as efficiently as possible by throwing with good mechanics.

He discovered that a pitcher's ultimate velocity was dependent on how quickly he can transfer energy from the lower half of the body legs into the rotational forces of the torso that bring the arm through to release the ball. In other words, how can a pitcher quickly get his belly button from facing sideways as he strides forward, to facing the hitter upon landing into ball release? In the September edition of Coaching Management magazine, former White Sox Strength and Conditioning Director Vern Gambetta, acknowledged that the torso plays a key role in getting the arm in the proper throwing position.

In addition to Gambetta, Arnel Aguinaldo, from Children's Hospital San Diego, conducted a study, which proposed that larger body segments create most of the velocity in throwing. Speed of the trunk is not the only aspect of torso that needs to be developed. Late trunk rotation is a movement that can help increase force applied to the ball along with keeping the arm healthy and safe. Rotating too early can produce added strain to the arm and shoulder.

Additionally, Stodden and colleagues studied the effects of the pelvis on velocity and concluded that with a higher pelvic velocity a pitcher could throw harder during his delivery. Sources: Werner ; Kreber ; Ellis Pitchers who throw the ball hardest have their front knee bent to 60 degrees or more at ball release. So their front knees went from 48 degrees bent at stride foot contact to 60 degrees or more at ball release.

Studies show that a pitcher's front leg absorbs twice their bodyweight on their front leg as they pitch. Those with the highest velocity had the best bracing up of their front leg. The study's results indicated that leg drive is a significant factor in pitcher's throwing velocity. They found that greater resultant ground reaction forces resulted in a greater wrist velocity at release. Thus, they established a link between leg drive the leg motions of the pitcher and arm velocity.

However, the forward motion in the delivery is not the only important action of the lower body. The lead leg that blocks forward movement is also an essential element in a pitcher's throwing velocity. This demonstrated that the ability for the subject to drive the body over a stabilized front leg was characteristic of the fast-throwing pitchers.

Elliott et al. What's more, in a study, Matsuo found that high velocity throwers were able to plant and extend the lead knee to provide stability to the pitching motion. In addition, the Lexington Clinic was provided an outline evaluating kinetic movements.

They included a. Source: Werner ; Kreber ; Ellis Increasing forward trunk tilt doesn't mean bend the back or follow through. In fact, at ball release the back is actually straight while the hips are bent. All the flexing that occurs happens at the hips, NOT the back; the back stays straight through ball release. The researchers felt that extending the front knee at ball release from 48 to 68 degrees helped increase the forward tilt of the upper body at ball release.

The kinetic chain from the back leg to the throwing hand in maximum external rotation will demonstrate a reverse "C" position. The latissimus dorsi, given its origin and insertion anatomic position and contraction through the lumbopelvic kinetic chain linkage, generates the greatest force during acceleration and positively increases ball velocity.

Source: Calabrese For a pitcher's stride striding toward home plate , aim for 90 percent of the pitcher's height, with a goal eventually of reaching percent of his height. Measuring from the front edge of the rubber to the toe of the stride foot, the length of the stride should be close to the pitcher's standing height. Aim for as long a stride as possible where the pitcher can still get his head and shoulders over the lead leg at the time of ball release.

As the pitcher's foot lands, look to see that he is on the ball of the stride foot, or flat footed. The toes should point slightly in a close position. If the pitcher lands hard on the heel, the foot will usually fly open which causes the hips and trunk to rotate open too soon.

It may also cause the pitcher to get onto a stiff front leg too early which causes recoil action, or puts him out of balance and alignment during the accretion phase—both of which negatively affects control and pitch velocity. Stride faults in direction and length can affect trunk rotation velocity and inclination and contribute to the throwing arm lagging behind the scapular plane and increase stress on the shoulder and elbow.

The late cocking and acceleration phases generate the highest segmental velocities and these phases are implicated in the majority of pitching injuries. The stride is initiated from the point of maximum lead knee height to the point of foot contact. Sources: Calabrese ; Kunz ; Toyoshima et al. That is all the time you have to react to the pitch.

This implies you have to put up the swing yours before the pitcher releases the ball and also alter after the ball has been thrown. The distance from the pitching rubber to home plate is frequently under the main league standard of sixty feet six inches in the youth leagues. For instance, in Little League, the distance is forty-six feet.

Consult the local league of yours for the appropriate distance in case you wish to compute fastball response time for just a player in these leagues. Training Area. You need to measure the distance in your training area from the pitcher to the catcher to get an accurate MPH reading of your throw. The average speed of good pitching of a typical high school fastball should be between mph. Is the radar gun the only equipment used to measure pitching speed?

Is there any other equipment that can measure the measuring pitching speed? Point the radar gun in the direction of the upcoming throw, leveled at shoulder height and parallel to the ground. Release the trigger once the pitch reaches the target. The readout on the screen displays the pitch speed in miles per hour. Verify that the pitcher is 43 feet away from the catcher, which is the standard distance from plate to home in softball.

Stand in a spot that is as close to the action as possible and has a good view of both pitcher and catcher. Press the timer button again to stop the clock as quickly as possible when you hear the ball hit the catcher's glove. Divide 43 by the ball's travel time to find the pitch speed in feet per second.