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Bighit15Bighit155,000+ posts
Bill Conlin: A pitching style that could prevent injuries
By Bill Conlin
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Sports Columnist

WHEN I'M King of the World . . .
More major league clubs will investigate "momentum pitching" as a viable alternative to

the arm-killing, paint-by-numbers, minimalist style that gradually took over

after the "no windup"

motion was adopted in the 1960s . . .

Briefly, former Red Sox journeyman Dick Mills has developed a delivery he claims increases

velocity while decreasing arm strain. If you watched Tim Lincecum matching up with Phils No. 1 Cole Hamels, you saw the momentum delivery in action. The Giants' vest-pocket

ace towers 5-11 and tips the scale at a robust 170. Take a look at Lincecum's delivery (videos available on MLB.com) and pay attention to four things: 1. His length of stride. 2. His three-quarter arm slot. 3. The low position of his hands as he begins a slow turn and the arm speed enhanced by the momentum generated by the long stride. 4. The high right leg whip on his follow-through. Doing these basic things, according to Mills, makes it possible for the arm to "just go along for the ride." The mule work is done from the waist down. Last night, the Phillies were scheduled to face Diamondbacks phenom Mac Scherzer, who used his version of the MD to retire all 13 hitters he faced in a dazzling, seven-strikeout mop-up debut against the Astros.

Mills spent years studying the deliveries of Hall of Fame pitchers dating to grainy film from the Deadball Era. He found that length of stride and acceleration through the delivery was a common denominator in what he calls the "Hall of Fame delivery." At the core of this lower-body-based technique is a length of stride Mills teaches at clinics for pitchers of all ages and experience levels that should be at least equal to a pitcher's height. It's not coincidence that the reed-thin Hamels achieves great results using a lefthanded version of the delivery Mills teaches. It appears most of the great ones figure out what works on their own. Dick's crusade is to reduce the number of pitchers whose arms are being put at risk by conventional but flawed dogma.
"Don't sweat the small stuff." "I am responsible for the effort -- not the outcome. "
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L laflippin100+ posts
Mills must've looked at different grainy footage than I did...

Walter Johnson--(1) reasonable stride, but not a "Lincecum stride". (2) sidearmer, not 3/4 ...follow-through is related to arm-slot, Johnson didn't have a high right leg whip.

Carl Hubbell--LHP but similar mechanics to Walter Johnson.

etc, etc.

Plus, if you want to talk about career longevity on top of mechanics, or as a function of mechanics...Lincecum's career so far doesn't provide any basis for that type of discussion.
Last edited by laflippin
L laflippin100+ posts
TPM,

As a pro pitcher himself your son hopefully enjoyed his workshop looking at the mechanics of a wide variety of other elite pitchers. I've never personally thrown a pitch in competition but my young pitcher/son and I have spent the past 5-6 years looking at many dozens of hours of pitching video from the past and present.

My gripe with Mills' stuff is the 'miraculous insight du jour' approach that he seems to employ in his business. For example, Tim Lincecum, as good a young pitcher as he is, is neither the single appropriate mechanical model for all pitchers, nor is he the only highly successful pitcher at his age. The measure of his longevity (long may he prosper!) is obviously completely unknown at this time...

In my opinion, House has carried out by far the most serious and creditable publicly available study over the years of important mechanical commonalities of great pitchers, and he and his collaborators have also provided clear evidence concerning the 'signature differences' between individuals.

That approach at least provides a realistic framework for training large numbers of diverse individuals (all of whom want to pitch) to whatever level their genetics and mental makeup may allow. Thus, House trains individual pitchers to optimize 'traditional mechanics' within the context of their own individual 'signature style'.

House's research, depth of knowledge, and approach to training pitchers have evolved over time (as opposed to 'jumped around') and he has diligently admitted and corrected past mistakes whenever necessary. These are the hallmarks of good coaching and they are the foundations of the Western scientific method as well.
RT Roger Tomas100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Bighit15:
Take a look at Lincecum's delivery (videos available on MLB.com) and pay attention to four things: 1. His length of stride. 2. His three-quarter arm slot. 3. The low position of his hands as he begins a slow turn and the arm speed enhanced by the momentum generated by the long stride. 4. The high right leg whip on his follow-through. Doing these basic things, according to Mills, makes it possible for the arm to "just go along for the ride."

The "high right leg whip on his follow-through" is not something you try to do. Rather, it is a result of things that happened prior in the delivery. And it has no bearing on much of anything as it comes after hip and shoulder rotation, trunk flexion, arm acceleration and ball release.
J jdfromfla100+ posts
quote:
the arm-killing, paint-by-numbers, minimalist style that gradually took over


This is propaganda, I'm thinkin Mills and Conlin met and had a beer. Not that Dick Mills doesn't make good points about training, useless drills etc. But as I have read and understand the TL phenom it is attributable to his dad and not Dick Mills. Momentum in a pitcher who's timing and body aren't correct for it are just another recipe for trouble. Maddux can't get away with throwing the ball like say a Joba or Beckett...cookie cutters are for cookies...
I'm not a NPA member as my friends Roger and La are, but what I respect about the Association is that they view pitchers as individuals and are all about educating as many as will listen about arm health and maintenance. They spend very little time worried about the guru's and have there focus correctly on assisting folks who aspire to the art of pitching to stay healthy.
Last edited by jdfromfla
D dm5910+ posts
Mills didn't claim any credit for Cole Hamels' delivery. I read the article as using Hamels as a comparison with Lincecum. It discussed Lincecum's delivery and not Hamels'. The point of the article was to discuss Mills' assertion that old style momentum generation is of value. He only uses various pitchers as examples of that, not as claims of his tutelage. He cites Koufax and Whitey Ford as examples of pitchers who utilize momentum in big ways but he doesn't claim that he has anything to do with them. Examples only. His "Momentum Pitching" method is just his particular way of maximizing the use of momentum. He sees it in various pitchers, like Whitey Ford or Lincecum, and is saying that he has a way to maximize it's use.
D dm5910+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by BOF:
He gets attention by attacking everyone else instead of highlighting what is positive in his approach.
Yeah, that's pretty annoying but he's not alone in that camp. Have you read any of *****'s stuff, or Mike Marshall's? Yeeesh!! That's one thing you just gotta respect about House. He doesn't stoop to that level.

quote:
Originally posted by Roger:
The "high right leg whip on his follow-through" is not something you try to do. Rather, it is a result of things that happened prior in the delivery.

Roger
I think Mills would agree with you on this. I've never seen him recommend this as a "cause" of anything. I think the writer of the article simply characterized it this way.

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