SWVAbaseball,quote:
“My coach tells me when im pitching that I tail off to the left too much when I finish.”
This means you are a centripetal mechanic righty?
quote:
“He says that I need try to finish like Greg Maddux”
While Maddux’s squared up position is good for defense it is not the best even for his great effort to recover from a quasi-traditional position. Remember he had very different mechanics than most traditional pitchers, he pronated most of his pitches and transitioned earlier making what he did to recover easier and he seldom pitched maximally, Ive seen him throw 94, I think when he got mad but cruised at 88? Some coaches do not realize that when you change a mechanic it has repercusions on the others.
This squared position leaves children vulnerable to direct frontal chest line drives that kill youth pitchers from time to time. Many of our little leagues have defribulators and offer breastplates for youth players because of this.
The best way to finish is with both feet on the ground and staying tall by driving your ball leg forwards low and then rotated 175 degree into the
“classic drop step position” giving you perfect lateral stability that all athletes attain for responder activities and some initiator ones. If you tuck your glove elbow back with your glove in front of your glove side peck you are then fully flexed ready to fully extend your elbow by contracting the fastest upper body muscle the triceps to protect your self on line drives at your head. You will be in position to field all bunts quickly because you are already in a dropstep drive position, you will be in superior 1st base side ground ball and cover direction, hard ground balls at your back between 3rd and you should be covered by your short stop or 3rd baseman. This will give you a compromise also that looks like an improvement to your coach!
quote:
“keeping my body straight when I finish”
Think of your position in relationship to the field as having a
“field driveline” that is a line on the ground running from second through the mound and finishing at home. Maddux finished perpendicular to this line chest facing home.
You should finish with your ball arm foot on the right side (ball side) of the field drive line forwards and your glove foot on the left (glove side) of the field driveline still back.
quote:
“When I try that though I usually throw way right and im not throwing as hard”
By changing your recovery you have affected your drive mechanics to more linear but you have kept your more rotational forearm flyout method.
You need to stay taller when you finish to attain your coach’s teach.
quote:
“I see alot pitchers tail off to the left in the Majors”
Do not look at other pitchers performing dangerous mechanics in all aspects and copy them.
quote:
“is that really a bad thing?”
Think about this? When the ball is struck 95 percent of all traditional pitchers are balancing on one leg with their backside leg recovery whipping around up in the air with their backs bent and glove slung around to the back. Not a very safe position to be in to react as a responder athlete now is it and also creating bad defensive positioning.
quote:
“Also I play for a pretty small school with not much funding when it comes baseball and really not that good of places to practice “
Be creative and do things your self, for your self and volunteer to improve the schools field with permission. Don’t follow! Lead.
quote:
“we don't have a radar gun so how can I know how hard I am throwing”
Nobody needs a radar gun to get batters out! You do not need to know how much velocity you produce if you throw maximally on all pitches, you can only throw as fast as you can at that time every time if it is maximal. Learn to pitch 4 types of pronated pitches, 2 that move towards the glove side of home plate and 2 that move to the ball side of home plate, then learn to sequence them for the 4 types of batters (glove and ball side pull batters and glove and ball side spray batters) to make your fastballs even look faster.
