How much does stride length effect pitch speed?

I'm not an authority, but I'll tell you what I think I've found out on this subject from my reading and talking to people who know more about it.

In general, increasing stride length can increase velocity if a) the increased stride occurs in the context of an efficient, repeatable delivery, and b) the player has the core and lower body strength to properly and powerfully finish the delivery with the longer stride.  

In other words, just hurtling one's self further down the hill won't increase velocity.  However, lengthening one's stride as a pitcher develops/maintains mechanical efficiency/consistency and develops the lower body can increase velocity.  Just telling someone to stride longer probably won't help much.  

That's what I think I've found out.  More informed input is welcome.

Get a radar gun and try different things.  If you stride longer, and you're faster, then keep doing it.

Its not his flexabilty, growth spurt or arm. Its his mechanics.  Long stride is not a cue, its the result of proper mechanics. Long stride without good mechanics can lead to decreased velo.

I agree mechanics are now messed and the coaches keep changing things looking for a solution. Since he could throw 80 mph as a 14 yo at 5" 7' and 150ish pounds without any arm issues whatsoever, his mechanics should have been pretty solid. He had a nice fluid motion.  Maybe I was focused on the wrong part of the equation.

Would it be fair to say increasing his flexibility would allow him to get back his old mechanics which would allow him to increase velocity?

Long strides are a "no teach", they happen by moving away from the rubber in a somewhat controlled but explosive manner, AFTER you have shifted your weight onto your posting leg.  You can't just tell a pitcher to stride longer....it does not work.  The tightness may come from him trying to stride longer by reaching with his strike foot...tough on the hamstrings.  Flexibility is an issue, but if you can't get out past 4' that tells me it's mechanics, and not flexibility.  The tightness is from him essentially trying to lengthen his stride by doing a sideways split, not from lower body drive taking him further down the mound.

Core strength is an issue if the longer stride can't be held into front foot strike without the lead leg drifting forward, or buckling sideways.

Just to clarify, his 4 ft stride is the best he can do without losing control due to the tightness of his hamstrings. Standing on one leg, he can't lift and keep the other leg straight for more than a foot off the ground before he has to bend the lifted leg. Trying longer strides is not possible unless he regains flexibility in the hamstrings.

Good stuff, this is a no teach mechanic (don't know a better way to put it).

Sounds like a balance issue, try some work on a balance beam as well as working towards a stronger core.

It seems to me the big news here is that your son has grown 8 inches (5-7 to 6-3) in a couple of years. That is pretty dang fast. My guess is that this fast growth has caused strength imbalances. He is also dealing with a pretty dissimilar body than what he had evolved with up to this point. I would find a sports therapist/trainer and work on hamstring lengthening and hip flexor mobility. You should also be able to develop his posterior chain some while you are at it. His stride will naturally lengthen some with this work. I would also try to find different sport activities to help him get acquainted with his body as much as possible.

Pitching is about developing a technique to transfer the energy developed in initial drive to the hand as efficiently as possible. He needs some time with his developing body to put a solid delivery together. Contriving a new motion to deal with deficiencies is a losing proposition in every aspect. Get him strong flexible and moving well and I bet you will see velocity jump as his maturation with bigger self takes place.

Best wishes for his success,

Ted

Throwing a baseball hard is certainly not DIRECTLY tied to stride length. Stride length is a RESULT of getting stronger, more flexible and good mechanics. My son was also a string bean in HS and also had a relatively short stride for his height. (6’4") One of my son’s pitching coaches wisely said “don’t worry about it, it will come as he develops physically” Which it has.

It has taken him years to develop the muscle mass to support him properly and he is a gym rat. Once your son gets through his season he will have to get in the gym and work hard on lower body strength as well as flexibility. This is not going to happen in one year it is a multiyear process of natural development as well as strength and conditioning training. Also not everyone has the same natural flexibility, some people are “tighter” than others; my son is one of those and it sounds like yours is too. Yoga and or Pilates will help him immensely in this area IMO.  

There is no magic bullet for velocity and it takes time and patience.

Good luck!

I don't want to act like an expert, i do know from my son and others that flexible matters...core strength and stretching have done wonders from my son. At 13 he was a thick, stiff, slightly overwieght above average player, he started working with a trainer on core and flexibility the summer of u13 or 2012. He is now a freshman / u15 - is strong as an ox, his flexibility has gone up dramatically and he is now well above average maybe even in the elite group of players.

He should try lunges as a stretching excercise and incorporate them into his daily workout. He should also show up at practice fully stretched out. Coaches shouldn't have to waste practice time waiting for players to fully warm up. 

If his arm/elbow is hurting, you may want to get an MRI.  Soreness, lack of increased velocity over a three year period, and waning durability are signs that he may have an injury. 

Personally, my stride is about 100% of my height (6'03). I, myself, am not the most flexible guy either. You want to eventually work toward striding your height. Stride length does help velocity only when it is done correctly with your mechanics. It just makes sense, the closer you can release the ball to home with your normal mechanics the quicker it will get to the plate. I highly recommend yoga/pilates along with hip mobility exercises. I believe the problem isn't as much flexibility as it is a lack of hip mobility. This mobility is key for the lead leg when striding out toward home. Comment your email at the bottom of my blog and I'll send you a list of the hip mobility exercises and instructions we do at our college. www.pitchingexplained.wordpress.com

When I coached in college we would do Karate workouts designed for baseball.  These workouts proved very valuable.  Increase flexibility, balance, core strength and mentality.  This helped pitchers lengthen their stride naturally.  Also, FWIW, luckily we did not have an arm injury in 7 years. We ran lots of sprints! Very little weight work with pitchers on upper body.

To me, the stride length needs to be natural.  There are Major league pitchers with various stride lengths. There were times we would have our pitchers that were having trouble keeping the ball down, shorten their stride to get a better release.

Good post Bryant, I feel you've hit the nail on the head here.  

I might add that every player is a little different and so because there are so many moving parts, it's important identify where the weakness may be.  Core strength and flexibility are very important attributes for throwing at high velocities.  If a pitcher doesn't have much of these two attributes, it's going to be tough to find the kind of velocity one might want.

And for the last AP question. . .  I will emphasizes, YES, there is a connection between stride length and velocity.  Just try throwing a ball with ZERO stride and see what kind of velocity results.   But the stride is only one element of several in the mechanics and an important one and how those elements go together are just different from one player to another.