“Contact me if you have trouble hitting your target!” – Coach Skip Fast.
The Kinetic Chain Principle:
- The kinetic chain emphasizes that movement is a sequence of interconnected actions from the ground to your throwing arm.
- Your result gives you a strong, consistent, and injury-resistant motion.
- If the lower body and core are unstable or flawed, the lower body isn’t involved, and the upper body and throwing action must compensate.
- Your compensation delivers a weak, inconsistent, and very injury-prone motion.
There’s a fundamental difference between an inefficient and an efficient pitching motion.
You have an inefficient motion!
The lower body becomes an obstruction when the kinetic chain falls apart.
The lower body isn’t effectively generating and transferring power from the ground up.
The arm and shoulder try to generate all the velocity.
The smaller arm and shoulder muscles are overloaded, increasing the risk of injury.
Without a stable and robust base, the timing and coordination of the upper body movements become erratic.
The largest and strongest muscles in the body (legs and core) are not contributing effectively.
The lack of a consistent and controlled motion makes it difficult to repeat the release point, leading to wild pitches.
Is there an emphasis on the lack of lower body involvement?
Inefficient motion is like trying to push a car uphill with just your arms. You’ll struggle, tire quickly, and won’t get very far.
You want an efficient motion!
The lower body involvement initiates and drives the throw.
The kinetic chain works in a coordinated sequence: the legs drive off the mound, creating upward and forward momentum, the core muscles stabilize and transfer energy from the lower to the upper body, and the larger muscles of the torso and shoulders initiate the arm action, followed by the smaller muscles of the arm and wrist.
Utilizing the larger muscle groups of the lower body generates significantly more force, resulting in a faster pitch.
A stable and well-coordinated motion allows for a more repeatable release point, leading to better accuracy and control.
The workload is distributed across the larger muscle groups, decreasing the stress on the arm and shoulder.
The coordinated movement creates a smooth and efficient delivery.
Efficient motion is like using the car’s engine (your lower body) to drive it forward. It’s powerful, sustainable, and effective.
