Lower half pitching mechanics

Keep your back heel on the ground as long as you can.

shhhh... don't tell anyone.

Your knee collapses when your weight goes to the ball of your foot. Often this can lead to a weight shift towards the pitching arm side. (towards third for a righty) If you will set up with the weight on your posting leg centered in your foot, or even slightly heelward, you will be able to drive in a straighter line to the plate. You should feel the drive come from inside the socket of your posting hip, not your posting knee. This will reduce your possible tendency to drift arm side. If your are trying to drive from your posting knee, you will bend to back knee so you can push with it. I don't think this works as well.

I can't really comment on your arm path without seeing any video. Your command will improve if your drive direction becomes straighter to the plate and you are better able to maintain your posture.

Good luck,

Ted

I actually have video of a recent flatground I threw, and the flaws I was talking about before are very obvious when you watch the video. When I throw, I feel almost as if my body just wont cooperate with my mind. And what I mean by that is my mind knows what my body should should be doing, however, my body seems to get lazy and wont cooperate and causes me to have poor mechanics. If anybody has any advice about what I can do get back on track, that would be very much appreciated. Thank You! http://www.hudl.com/technique/...w/BoXu7CQM?e=3013365 

First, I am impressed with setting up, recording and posting the video on your own for feedback.  Shows an investment to improve.  I am not an expert on analyzing mechanics so I will leave that alone.  I can attest to the benefits of investing in a solid strength training program that addresses whole body compound movements, lower body power lifts and core strengthening as a means to be healthy and also to improve throwing action.  Curious, how old are you and how long you have been pitching for?  

Is your body really being lazy, or is that part of your body not strong enough to do what you want it to do?  I know nothing about pitching, but it's a thought.

First of all you are left handed. Smart decision.

I like the arm action and I recommend you do not do anything to address it directly. It is good to very good as it is. It is long and loose. Keep it. Hand break timing is about right. I do not think you need to change it.  If on you next filming session, you can get the camera directly behind you, it would help to see your direction a little better. I would also like to see you work off the mound. I wouldn't make timing assessments based off of the flat ground. You may be a little late with your arm but I do not think that is the control issue, unless you are trying to mentally adjust it as you pitch. That will not work. Just let it happen.

Do you have arm pain? I mean ever. If so, where? That would change my outlook some.

On your wind up you take a step armside and (i think) continue a slight drift in that direction as you go to the plate. This has you throwing slightly around your body and makes the exact release point more critical.

Start in the stretch for now. Use a very slight inward flex on the posting leg during setup to bury your weight in the inside arch of your posting foot. On your lift, take your knee towards you nose or your left eye (just do it the same each time). Feel some coil or tension build inside the posting hip socket? As your knee is approaching the highest point feel the outer (back) of your posting hip drive your front hip towards the mitt. It doesn't need to be max effort just a firmly directed drive toward the plate. You don't bend your knee for this drive. It comes from the tension created in your hip from the lift. You might imagine you are pushing the rubber straight towards second from the inside of your posting leg. Have the side of your landing foot glide sideways to the mitt as as long as possible. It will turn to the mitt before you land. This should get you better directed. When you move to the windup seek to get the same feeling of slight coil inside the back hip. It doesn't have to be much. We are merely trying to set your direction straight to the mitt and not allow you to drift armside. I do not feel you collapse the posting knee more or earlier than many high level pitchers.

Have you had a growth spurt lately. It can take a while for your body and brain to sync up as you are growing. What year are you?

At the end of your video you look a little disgusted. You shouldn't. You have a pretty good base to build on and you will progress a lot faster if you will allow yourself to believe this is a problem you are going to solve and can keep the "I suck!" thoughts out of your head.

Good luck and stay strong,

Ted

Could he break his hands a little earlier?  Maybe a later break causes rushing, more/quicker collapse of the leg as he tries to get his body to catch up.  It's something that is easy to try.  That'll be $75.

(...as is sit on a bucket and spit into a cup...)

I am a 2016, and I have been pitching regularly since my freshman year.

Can you film some of you throwing from the mound with the camera more behind you some and from first base side some? Where is your velo?

Here's your back heel coming up way too soon.

And your upper body doesn't coil inward at all as you move out.  Your lower has some, but not much.

Sultan, are you sure this isn't a misprint? The problem here is that the heel has barely begun to lift. At foot strike, the back heel should not only be off the ground, but the back ankle should already have turned over:

I'll be honest with you. You need a complete overhaul. There are multiple problems with your mechanics that need to be changed. However, go step by step. First, fix your lower body problem. Look at the photos above that I posted of Lincecum. These are somewhat exaggerated examples of where your upper body (and arm) need to be at the moment your front foot strikes the ground. Your hips should be as open as possible. Your back leg action impedes your hips and, as a result, the hips and upper body come around as one unit giving you absolutely no lower body involvement - you're all arm. While I haven't used the velocity belt, everything I understand about it tells me that it could help you a lot with this problem. Fix the lower body before even thinking about you upper body mechanics.

I know I reccomend Drivelines stuff a lot to people, but I believe in it so I'll do it again. Walking windups have shown to improve lower body mechanics a lot for guys I know. You dont really need the plyocare balls, you can do it a few times every time you play catch with the real baseball.

Exactly. The heel has begun to lift, and the kid just dropped his back arm.  Lincecum and other pitchers are just a fraction away from foot strike, when their back heel comes up.

If you look at faster pitchers, their hips may not be open at all.  So, I don't think this is true.

I have mentioned to you before, i think, that the rear knee turnover is the key - not the hip(s).  It's the same story in hitting.

Yes. His arm is late. By this point he should be finished with external rotation and he's just beginning it. Maybe we're basically saying the same thing, but you're not going to find a clip of a high level pitcher whose heel is still touching the ground at footstrike.