Going to the plate at peak of lift?

It will vary a little depending on the pitchers style, but I teach my students to lead with thier hip (closed) as thier leg is coming down.

What is this coach trying to accomplish?

Balance point?.........

Lead hip first....an angle like this...

I agree 100% with deemax--the whole idea in the early stages of the pitching motion is for the pitcher to get his momentum going toward the target without interruption or change of direction. Among the best pitchers, and Sandy Koufax certainly qualifies, the front-side hip starts toward the plate simultaneously (or even slightly before) leg lift commences.

The converse of this advice, i.e., "stop at the top", seems to be used a lot in Japan (possibly to create timing problems for the hitter) but it is essentially a flawed approach in terms of the pitcher's ability to generate maximum forward momentum with good dynamic balance. In other words, if you "stop at the top" then you must re-start your forward momentum to the plate while balanced on one leg--that's probably not good for most pitchers.

The coach is trying to stop him from going side-to-side at delivery. He is more working on balance than anything else. He throws pretty hard and has good off-speed so he is working on a repeatable delivery.

We went to a camp once where the pitching coach had a lot of side angles of pitchers in MLB. Not one was "lift leg down" first. All were going to the plate at peak lift.

I just hope this "fixing" isn't something that has to get unfixed later.

Most all top pitchers are going forward at leg lift. Some faster than others and some look to lean back. However the pic of Kofax doesn't show that even he, with that "rock and fire style" is still moving forward. There is a fine line in this concept. A lot of it is just style unless the ball flight seems to be inconsistent or distorted. Many coaches will try to adjust without reason other than that's what they think things should be like. It's all about what makes the ball flight better, faster, more deceptive with better command and movement and feel.
www.fletchspen.net

baseballpapa,

Taking the advice of a good pitching coach I taught my kid how to keep his own arm-slot, which also happens to be pure side-arm, and we work on refining his pitching mechanics to completely accomodate that "fixed asset".

Not that some other well-meaning coaches haven't tried to change his arm-slot occasionally, but his pitching coach instilled enough confidence in him (and me) to politely ignore that particular advice.

As a thought-experiment, make a list of your favorite side-arm pitchers. Mine includes:

1. Pedro Martinez
2. Randy Johnson
3. Walter Johnson
4. Mike Meyers (2 slots, sidearm and submarmine)

Then stop to think that the coach who is trying to change your son's arm-slot would also want to change those guys. What a joke.

We work on balance & posture, maintenance ofdynamic balance into foot-strike, adjustments to the glove-side arm to balance out what his throwing arm does into foot-strike, and lots of conditioning to build core strength and build strength into the decelerator muscle groups.

baseballpapa,

I'm sorry! I completely misunderstood your post (above) and then responded to my own misunderstanding....doh!

Am I correct that something in your son's motion causes him to come off to the side of the driveline in his approach to release point?

jacetheace,

I respectfully disagree. IMO, the still of Koufax strongly suggests that his glove-side hip is moving forcefully to the plate. What's more, it looks like that part of his anatomy was headed toward home plate very early in the delivery.

The only assumption you have to make is that Koufax started his delivery from a balanced position with his head over center-of-gravity--if you make that very reasonable assumption then it is clear that his hip has gotten forward quickly, leaving his head and post leg in pretty much their original starting position.

That is very different from rocking backward from a balanced starting position (I'm not talking about a 'rocker step' in the wind-up here, but rocking backward into the leg lift, which is a problem).

Pitcher's who rock backward into their leg lift are creating momentum away from the plate--they eventually have to stop and reverse that momentum from an unstable, one-legged position. That is even more difficult than "stop at the top".

Not sure what "side to side" means. It sounds like the pitching coach is trying to get him to take a tall and fall approach. I'm not a big proponent of the approach but it has worked well for some.

Baseballpapa,

It is common, though outdated, for coaches to work on perceived balance issues by forcing balance and stability at the start of the delivery. Common tactics include reducing or eliminating a side or back rocker step, teaching "staying back" and getting to the balance point, etc. Unfortunately, these often backfire as moving slower to the plate is like riding a bicycle slower - it's harder (and it takes more strength) to maintain balance moving slower. Furthermore, it injects more time into the delivery - time for things to go bad.

If your son has too much sideways movement at release (e.g. falls off to the side), this is often a timing issue caused by some other mechanical flaw(s) earlier in the delivery. It could be a posture issue, a glove side issue, etc. Delaying the start forward is not the fix.

I teach my pitchers to get the front hip moving forward no later than the peak of the knee lift. Starting forward earlier and faster usually has a positive effect on timing. And that's really what we're after - proper timing of all the moving parts.

Timing the lower body with the upper body seems to be a really tough process and one that cannot be "cookie cutter."

I am not much of a "pitching guy" but I just don't see any pitchers at the top of lift not going to the plate in MLB baseball. Am I wrong?

Also, my son hit mid-90s on T.V. last year and regularly works high-80's to low-90's. I will be interested to see if this affects his velocity.

When I say he is side-to-side, it obviously isn't bad. He is right handed and finishes somewhat to the first base line. However, when you see Beckett looking like he flies at delivery you see a pitcher really over the front side with all momentum going to the plate. My son will have to work on getting over the front side better. I'm just not convinced the fix will affect that at all. Wish I could learn to post video. You guys could have fun with it.

I would say practicing a balance point to gain balance is bogus. I can stand on one leg all day but it won't help me gain balance one my LANDING leg will it? If my landing leg is weak, I might fly open and be falling to the side.

I have rarely seen a pitcher come to a balance point when they are pitching

Edit: Like what Roger Tomas said.

Interesting responses. Many may disagree with this but I have found and truly believe that balance is one of the most important aspects of a repeatable delivery. And I do not just mean balancing at the top of leg lift but dynamic balance where the body is balanced as it moves to the plate. Throughout the course of a game, a pitcher will tire and the entire body must be in sync to insure a fluid and consistent delivery. Often as a pitcher tires, they rush to the plate with the legs and body too soon and the arm does not get to the proper release point and the balls sails high. They may try to compensate by using the front side incorrectly and fly open creating arm drag. Whatever timing you use to go to the plate, you had better be able to do it the same time and time again for about 100 times per game. This means you must have excellent timing for the body and the arm. I watched a beautiful clip of Roger Clemens illustrate perfect balance until his leg is arriving at its pinnacle before he moved to the plate on Siggy's site. To me when you go to the plate is determined by what is the easiest to repeat over a complete game. For us that is when the leg reaches the top, for you it may be a different time. Just make sure you can do it over and over even when you are tired.

Coach,

Good post. Kids respond to different keys. I will be interested to see what this does to my kid. When he listened to the coach, he hit his spots in the pen. He then went into a simulated game and lost the timing from the pen and reverted to how he has been pitching. This is common with hitters as well as pitchers.

I like your concept of dynamic balance and couldn't agree more. It is control throughout the delivery with an ever increasing "buggy whip" at the end. It only makes sense that a hand is moving 90 mph if the pitch speed in 90 mph. Somewhere in the delivery things have to speed up. Like in other sports, a quick take-away doesn't lead necessarily to a quick follow-through.