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Updating the Windup vs. Stretch debate

There are a number of posts on the issue of pitching from the stretch vs the windup, but the last significant one I found was from 2014.  So I wanted to see if folks know of any new data or have a sense that the thinking on this subject has changed.  (My weak HSBaseball Web search skills are well documented.  So if there is a 2-day old thread on this topic, just let me know and I will go away...)

My son has pitched exclusively from the stretch since he started pitching at 9 years old. This is what I taught him (and what I taught all the little leaguers I coached, unless they had already learned another delivery), because it is (IMO) simple and easy to repeat, even when holding runners is not an issue. 

Son is now a 2020 HS student and occasionally a coach has tried to get him to work from a windup because coach believes this will improve his velo. This is not because of any flaw in son’s mechanics, but just because coach thinks a windup=faster pitches.  (Fortunately this is not an issue for son currently.)  Son has tried a windup for these coaches (with less-than-complete commitment), but never felt comfortable and never used it In games  

I know of two serious studies on this issue. One was biomechanical:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17986632

The other is statistical:  https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/...cher-fastball-speed/

I haven’t found any empirical evidence supporting the “windups are inherently faster” position. At most, some folks suggest that some pitchers are more comfortable with that delivery (and usually practice it more), and so are more effective throwing that way  

Is there any reason to introduce a completely new delivery for a successful 16 y.o. pitcher just because a coach thinks a windup improves velo?  Every P needs to learn a stretch at some point to hold runners, but is there any need to add a windup?  Do college coaches share the pro-windup bias, and does my son need to change his delivery for them?  The pro-windup camp seems to be mostly old school guys—the types who might well be head coaches...

Last edited by Chico Escuela
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