Can anyone see anything in this pic?

the one thing that jumps out at me is no bend in the front leg... i was always taught when u release the ball the front knee should be bent to almost a 90 degree... but im not professional... im jsut chiming in

thats partially the reason probably why i have a weak follow thru then i assume

Not really...

A still is a moment in time. Post a clip, much more useful.

Clemens finishes with a stiff front leg. So do many others.

Regards,

Ed

I agree that a clip would be more helpful. But it looks to me like your stride is short, and because you use a stiff landing leg, it is causing you to fight to get your upper body out front and folding over your front leg. It's not that you're failing to follow through, it's that you're unable to follow through because you're fighting yourself. I would suspect that when you tire you go up and to the left side of the plate ... am I warm?

Chuck-

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..........Can anyone see anything in this pic?

Yeah, I see the ball just after release

Serious side now...everyone should know that a still photo is not sufficient to give any meaningful advice on. You're much better off posting video. There's no way of knowing if your stride is too short based on a stiff stride leg after release.

Here are a couple of 100mph guys with your mechanic.

The one thing I will tell you is to keep your shoulders straight. See how your body is leaning to the right. That causes your head to go off to the right, that slight head tilt will alter your pitch.

1. Your glove-side knee looks like it's locked, which could cause control problems. I don't think it has to be bent 90 degrees, but I think there should be some flexibility in your leg.

2. Your pitching arm side foot is still back by the rubber, which will limit how much your hips can rotate. Do you have problems with your velocity?

3. The toe of your glove-side foot looks like it's up which might suggest you landed too much on your heel (which could cause control problems).

ill try to get a video up but lately ive had problems with my velocity it has dropped a few mphs since ive arrived at college, ive worked with Tom House in the past so thats my basics of my mechanics where i get them from

(To the tune of lets go Mets)

We want video

we want video...

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ill try to get a video up but lately ive had problems with my velocity it has dropped a few mphs since ive arrived at college, ive worked with Tom House in the past so thats my basics of my mechanics where i get them from

I believe (and Tom House agrees in his new NPA book) that the primary source of a pitcher's velocity comes from the rotation of their hips, torso, and shoulders. The hips open which stretches the muscles of the torso which then powerfully pulls the shoulders around.

If you look at video clips of power pitchers, you will notice that at the moment their shoulders start to turn (and are still closed), their hips are very open. In many cases (e.g. Nolan Ryan) the hips rotate 75 or more degrees ahead of the shoulders.

By leaving your pitching arm side foot behind on the rubber, you will limit how much your hips will rotate and how powerfully they will pull your shoulders around.

I would suggest that you try working on keeping your shoulders closed as long as possible while your hips open up underneath them (what House calls late torso rotation). This will maximize how much you stretch the muscles of your torso.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about this at length.

I hate to be a pain but ...

how can anything be deduced about his mechanics from this photo? His motion is finished.

Ed

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how can anything be deduced about his mechanics from this photo? His motion is finished.

Yes, but you can compare his position at this moment with the position of others at the same point in time and look for the differences. Those differences include the locked glove-side knee and his pitching arm side toe back by the rubber.

It's all cause and effect. You can often identify the cause by looking at the effect.

I don't believe his motion is finished and the photo is revealing enough. It has been said that his knee is locked and I believe its too soon. His hips are not opened yet and his rear leg is lagging. He is standing up too tall as well and using mostly his arm. He will not have his strongest finish in this position.
PainGuy made some solid suggestions here. Get those hips more involved and that front knee bent and stay lower. Allow your body to move to the plate and your arm will follow. A stronger rotation may add some velocity to your FB as well. Good mechanical foundation has also been known to increase movement on some pitches. Good Luck.

No way... not that I disagree with any of what you said, I just can't agree on making any kind of observations from a still.

Let me ask you, what happens to all that energy from the hips - where does it go and how?

Ed

Not trying to be a pain, but tell me what this guy's doing wrong.

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I don't believe his motion is finished and the photo is revealing enough. It has been said that his knee is locked and I believe its too soon. His hips are not opened yet and his rear leg is lagging. He is standing up too tall as well and using mostly his arm. He will not have his strongest finish in this position.
PainGuy made some solid suggestions here. Get those hips more involved and that front knee bent and stay lower. Allow your body to move to the plate and your arm will follow. A stronger rotation may add some velocity to your FB as well. Good mechanical foundation has also been known to increase movement on some pitches. Good Luck.

He's already released the ball, so most of the excitement is over.

The fact that his hips are not yet fully open and his rear leg is lagging is a precisely the point and likely a big part of the problem (remember that he said he's having problems with velocity); that means he wasn't able to fully use his hips to generate power. That's why I would agree that he probably threw too much with his arm and too little with his body (which is counterintuitive).

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Let me ask you, what happens to all that energy from the hips - where does it go and how?

Most of it gets transmitted up to the shoulders through the rotation of the torso. However, since his hips aren't all the way open, they probably aren't generating all the power that they could (or should).

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Not trying to be a pain, but tell me what this guy's doing wrong.

Not much.

I think he's leaning a bit too far forward, but that isn't a huge deal.

Notice how his glove-side knee is bent. This may reduce the strain on his elbow and shoulder.

Also, notice how his foot is farther off the rubber (knee is closer to the ground than Chuck's). That means he was better able to get his hips into the throw.

I also like how he's pulling his glove into his glove-side pec (which is something that Chuck does well).

Do you realize that I can take a picture of a statue and throw a BB uniform on it and you would think that it used its hips??? There is no way to deduce this by the position of the foot relative to the rubber. A completely linear pitcher could have his foot in this same position.

This is a very interesting picture. It would be nice to see how he arrived at this position.Without getting too technical about this, there are a few basic things that need to be addressed and can be corrected with some work. First and foremost, he is completely off balance. Notice his complete upper torso is leaning and dipping down to the right. His right shoulder needs to be up and parallel with his right one. Second, if you'll notice his right foot is planted pretty well in line with his left foot. He is throwing across his body and not coming straight to the plate. My guess is that he is having arm problems, early fatigue, and most of all control problems. These young pitchers must be taught that every forward movement they make has got to be balanced and straight to the plate. Well, I've yaked enough. Thanks so much for the opportunity to participate and please take my remarks as only constructive.

Looks like Roy Oswalt to me. Not textbook mechanics, but who would mess with that success?

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First and foremost, he is completely off balance. Notice his complete upper torso is leaning and dipping down to the right.

I don't agree with this.

I think that this is a normal consequence of tilting his shoulders as he released the ball so as to raise the release point.

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Second, if you'll notice his right foot is planted pretty well in line with his left foot. He is throwing across his body and not coming straight to the plate.

You could be into something here. It does look like his stride was farily closed.

That will limit how much his hips can open and may cost him power. It could also cause arm problems if he tried to throw more with his arm to make up for how he is using his body inefficiently.

Mojo, not being arrogant or anything, but some can see certain things that others can't. In the last pic posted, the guys hips have rotated, I'm not saying perfectly, as it is a still. But, it can be said that he's rotated. His body is already throwing the ball and his arm is following. His back side will come along with the body instead of slowing it down.

Sorry, my bad... Question was can anyone see anything in this pic. I thought it was can anyone help me in determining where my mechanics have lead me to lower velocity.

Only way to settle this CHUCK is to post some video and see what we ALLcan see.

Great Idea Mojo. The vid clip will reveal the most.