Get your lower body truly involved
In a common but inefficient motion, the throwing arm fires the baseball without involving the lower body.
A strong back leg push is useless without a powerful hip rotation, and an explosive hip rotation is impossible without a solid foundation from the back leg. Because your lower body is uninvolved in your motion, you’re trying to generate all the power and command with your throwing arm, which puts immense stress on the arm.
The result is a significant increase in throwing arm injury, a loss of command, and a decrease in velocity.
Elite pitching is a precise sequence where the glove arm generates the power and the hips transfer that power up the kinetic chain.
The Glove Hand Creates Energy, and the Hips Deliver the power
While it may seem that the hips are the primary source of energy, they act as a powerful transfer point for the energy created by the lower body. The back leg is where the initial power is generated, and the hips then rotate to transfer that force up the kinetic chain.
Think of the transfer as a car engine. The engine (the glove hand) creates the power, but the transmission (the hips) is what takes that power and delivers it to the wheels (the throwing arm). Without the hips, the energy from the legs would be lost.
The Role of the Glove Hand
The glove hand is the true engine of the pitching delivery; its job is to generate the initial momentum and push the body down the mound.
- Initial Force: The pitching motion starts with a powerful glove-hand action that propels the pitcher forward.
- Ground Force: The back leg maintains a connection to the ground for as long as possible, allowing the pitcher to generate and transfer force efficiently without losing energy.
The Role of the Hips
The hips’ primary role is to rotate and release the stored energy from the lower body, and create the powerful “whip” of the body. A well-timed and explosive hip rotation is the key to unlocking maximum velocity and is often the main differentiator between pitchers with average and elite speeds.
- Hip-to-Shoulder Separation: As the pitcher strides forward, the hips begin to open toward the target while the level shoulders remain closed. This creates a powerful coil in the torso.
- Energy Transfer: The hips act as a rotational force multiplier by taking the linear energy generated by the glove hand, converting it into rotational energy, and transferring the energy up the torso to the throwing arm.
A completely New, sequential, organized approach
Your lower body gets truly involved.
This is an excellent breakdown of a sequential pitching motion that emphasizes using the lower body to generate power. It creates a logical, easy-to-follow flow from start to finish. Let’s look at why each of those three points is so crucial and how they work together.
1. The Foundation: A Correct Starting Position
The starting position isn’t just about standing on the mound; it’s about setting the stage for everything that follows. Centering your weight just in front of your back foot—often described as being “on the balls of your feet”—allows you to be athletic and explosive. It prevents you from “sitting back” and puts you in a position to push forward powerfully. Without this solid base, the rest of the motion will be off-balance and less efficient.
2. Front Leg Lift and Separation
This is where the magic of hip-shoulder separation begins. A good leg lift isn’t about how high you can get your knee; it’s about rhythm and timing. It allows the hips to start their rotation forward while the shoulders remain closed, facing the target. This separation creates a “rubber band” effect. As your hips open up, the stored energy is unleashed, propelling your arm through the zone. If you don’t create this separation, your body will throw as one unit, which puts all the pressure and workload on your throwing arm.
3. The Glove Arm Action
This is the key that brings everything together. The glove arm acts as a rudder and a stabilizing force. The action of “sweeping across the body to the front hip” does three vital things:
- It initiates rotation: Pulling the glove arm to the front hip helps to initiate the powerful hip rotation.
- It balances the motion: Pulling the glove arm keeps the upper body on the target, prevents your upper body from flying open too early, and puts your body in a stable, athletic position.
- It transfers energy: By bringing the glove hand in and to the front hip, you create a powerful “tucking” action that pulls the energy from your lower body through your core and into your throwing arm.
This entire sequence is about creating a kinetic chain—a seamless transfer of energy from one body part to the next. You start with a solid foundation, use the leg lift to create momentum and separation, and then use the glove arm to transfer all that power to the final, explosive delivery. By focusing on these three steps, you’ve created a truly organized and effective approach to pitching.
