Dominik85 posted:of course a lot of it is practice and feel for the ball. Good mechanics help but you can slowly guide the ball and still have command ( not recommended - you want to use a full strong motion and still locate).
i would guess stride direction, balance and control of the lead side and head can help, but I'm not sure.
i especially ask the experts like Kyle. I'm not talking pitchers that are totally off but good pitchers: have there been studies what mechanical trait do elite control pitchers have over pitchers with mediocre control? Can control be quantified mechanically?
and what can a hard throwing pitcher that already has ok mechanics but mediocre control do to improve control without losing power? Of course a lot of practice is an answer but there are pro pitchers that throw upper 90s but never get good control ( as a reliever they still can be useful if it is not too bad). I guess those pitchers have practiced a plot, why did their control not get better?
or is control beyond solid mechanics and training just talent?
First, I would define "control" as a pitcher's consistency with velocity and amount of break for whatever the pitcher's repertoire of pitches. You want a pitcher to be able to throw a particular pitch the way he intends to (e.g. a change up or slider that breaks a certain way consistently). "Command" on the other hand would be the pitcher's ability to put the pitch in the location intended (not necessarily a precise spot). A pitcher with command wanting to throw just off the black low and away does so with a relatively small margin of error; with next pitch where he wants it at another spot like middle in. If the pitcher can move his pitches around to the spots he wants with a high rate of consistency, then he has "command." Anyway, that's how I see these two terms and when they're being used by coaches, players and commentators, it seems to fit what I've described.
Good throwing mechanics helps a pitcher be consistent so that they can have that control and command of their pitches. So your guess is pretty right on, IMHO. Stride alignment, point of release, body position relative to legs at the point of release are some of the general mechanics when consistent (combined a pitcher's talent for body control along with good conditioning of the body) will produce control and command. And you just can't have command unless you have control too, but you can have a good amount of control (as I've defined it) and not have command.
Note too various pitchers have various arm slots. Good mechanics does not mean an arm slot that's in the same place. A side arm or submarine pitcher can have just as good mechanics as a pitcher with a 12 o'clock slot. But . . . a wrong arm slot for a particular pitcher could be bad mechanics for him causing lack of control and/or command. It's often very hard to figure that one out.