Some video - feedback appreciated

Well it looks to me like you've got about as much out of that arm as it's going to bring..now adding in the lower half, adding some momentum and possibly extending the stride a bit...that could certainly drive up some mph.
You've made it to the point. Everything from now on should be measured and focused in your work. If you don't have a pitching coach, I'd suggest you find a good one. You can at your current speed make it on up into college ranks. To get yourself to beyond that your going to need to very carefully coordinate the whole taco...starting with assuring your grades are excellent and moving through, diet, conditioning, arm health maintenance (An everyday job at these and higher velocities), I like to see strength work in there as well as continuing competition (Do take your break, some recommend a month others at least 2 per yr, but competing on a summer team is important now).
You'll find as you develop more into a man that you'll gain some weight and strength, these will..or can, naturally add some mph too, if you realize it and work with it.
The reason I mentioned pitching coach was that unless you film yourself religiously, you'll be unable to see the little flaws over time that rob mph from delivery inefficiencies, a pitching coach can see and adjust those issues even as quick as during a lesson. Most of them can also gun you and track velo improvements.
You look like you can dominate some game action. Good luck with everything..have fun

Thanks for the response jd. I actually am training/doing conditioning right now; I don't have a pitching coach but my summer coach kind of acts as my pitching coach (he's a pitching coach when he's not coaching my team).

Mechanics-wise who's a good comparison for me to work off of?

First question: why are you making a video to show people when you are not in optimum condition/

Secondly: you do not look professional---shorts do not cut it--look like a player--wear a uniform

You should be more concerned with making your own mechanic as efficient as possible. Emulating someone else isn't the most pragmatic approach. Every single coach, that I've known, who I felt understood "how" to train a pitcher, took what was presented and built the most effective delivery based on how the students body delivered. Look, there are certain elements that are universal, proper posture, timing, sequencing, fundemental things like getting the hand behind the ball, flowing to the target..amongst others that don't quickly come to mind.
For you, right now, you should imo, be working to integrate the lower half of your body into a very nice delivery that manages ok without it. I say ok... mid-80's is qualified college gas particularly for a lefty, the problem that you will very rapidly find, is that your arm alone won't handle a college pitching load...don't doubt me..you've not even thought about how much an arm is used in college..you just absolutely have to get your entire body involved..just to have the ability to pitch through the season...not to mention hot-shots with mean metal bats that will flat mess you up if you aren't just flat good.
If this coach guy is worth a spit (Your coach, coach or whatever he is) he should be seeing you in person and getting some film, have you working on a good conditioning program and making sure you get good quality pens (Don't forget to eat right..ALL THE TIME!!). You should be focusing seriously..Grades are very important now and so is scoring qualifying scores on either the SAT or ACT...I wouldn't spend much of my time goofing off...work hard as much as you possibly can and the future will present as many options as you'd like.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
First question: why are you making a video to show people when you are not in optimum condition/

Secondly: you do not look professional---shorts do not cut it--look like a player--wear a uniform

1) I actually made the video to show a coach - not a college coach, just a pitching coach (not my summer coach) who I hope can help me out, and because I'm seeing him real soon I needed to make a video asap. I agree that it would have been better for me to make this video with proper rest, but sometimes things just don't work out that way.
2) If you must know, I thought wearing shorts would make it easier to evaluate the mechanics of my lower body.

quote:

Originally posted by jdfromfla:
You should be more concerned with making your own mechanic as efficient as possible. Emulating someone else isn't the most pragmatic approach. Every single coach, that I've known, who I felt understood "how" to train a pitcher, took what was presented and built the most effective delivery based on how the students body delivered. Look, there are certain elements that are universal, proper posture, timing, sequencing, fundemental things like getting the hand behind the ball, flowing to the target..amongst others that don't quickly come to mind.
For you, right now, you should imo, be working to integrate the lower half of your body into a very nice delivery that manages ok without it. I say ok... mid-80's is qualified college gas particularly for a lefty, the problem that you will very rapidly find, is that your arm alone won't handle a college pitching load...don't doubt me..you've not even thought about how much an arm is used in college..you just absolutely have to get your entire body involved..just to have the ability to pitch through the season...not to mention hot-shots with mean metal bats that will flat mess you up if you aren't just flat good.
If this coach guy is worth a spit (Your coach, coach or whatever he is) he should be seeing you in person and getting some film, have you working on a good conditioning program and making sure you get good quality pens (Don't forget to eat right..ALL THE TIME!!). You should be focusing seriously..Grades are very important now and so is scoring qualifying scores on either the SAT or ACT...I wouldn't spend much of my time goofing off...work hard as much as you possibly can and the future will present as many options as you'd like.

Thanks again for the tips...I've actually focused on a few of those things already (and by the way school's over now so I can't change my grades now but just to say it both my GPA and SAT scores are strong). Admittedly I could get better with my diet and condition a bit more often.

Of the things you said...proper posture, timing, sequencing, fundemental things like getting the hand behind the ball, flowing to the target, etc...Are there things there that I look like I need to work on specifically/things that I do well as it is? I know now that I've got to focus on the lower body.

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Posts: 67 | Location: NY | Registered: May 28, 2009 IP

Ignored post by monstor344 posted June 18, 2010 12:16 AM Show Post

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quote:

Of the things you said...proper posture, timing, sequencing, fundemental things like getting the hand behind the ball, flowing to the target, etc...Are there things there that I look like I need to work on specifically/things that I do well as it is? I know now that I've got to focus on the lower body.

Well you have to pay attention (I mentioned that you've gotten the most out of your delivery as can be from a purely "arm" stand-point)...you have to understand that mid-80's is about the very most you can acheive with just arm. This means that you are doing a bunch right.
Yes specifically, work on getting stronger in the core (You will and should imo do this until you stop pitching). Work on keeping a stable front side while developing more momentum out of your bottom half..this doesn't mean look up momentum pitching that Dick Mills advocates and copy..
(To give and example here is a video of my son prior to one of his college games..he had been very sick, still was..so he went through some drill work as he game prepped..some of it really focused on momentum building..anyway just observe how he gets the bottom half going..and how he practices bringing it together..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BtnHOkX1gk ).
I know schools over but it starts back in just 2 months and you should have it in mind to drive up your grades as high as possible. As to SAT/ACT..strong is ok but 1500 can get you qualified for the big boys (Grades/SAT wise Florida for example won't even talk unless you're over 1500 SAT and 3.5 or better)..if you are lower, retake and if you need it get a tudor..no kidding dude this is more important than just about anything for getting the doors opened...besides winning and having great success during that Sr. year.
Don't try to "do" too much..one thing at a time..you don't need to re-invent the wheel, just keep driving for more efficiency, this is why there isn't much more to it than my existing suggestions..at these speeds be careful, be measured, be conditioned.
Let us all know how things go and have fun, your Sr. year is a one time thing..experience it with happiness.

Update:

Seems like even just 4 months made a world of difference. First of all, thank you jdfromfla for bringing up the importance of momentum; I pretty much worked on it all summer and fall and it seems to have made a lot of difference. This summer instead of being 81-83 I worked in the 83-86 range, bumping 87; in the fall I have not been clocked but I can "feel" that I'm throwing even harder (I'll find out for sure my next bullpen, where I'll be able to get radar gun readings). I also committed to a D1 school, which is a really good feeling and I'm excited to keep working on improving myself.

In the meantime any feedback on my pitching mechanics would be greatly appreciated. Here are some updated clips from me pitching last week.

http://sharing.theflip.com/ses...8fa4c/video/25456001
http://sharing.theflip.com/ses...4aa3b/video/25455711
http://sharing.theflip.com/ses...b811d/video/25455891

(Can't upload onto Youtube right now for some reason...Sorry if this is inconvenient)

Maybe it's just me but I look like completely different pitchers in the old videos and these newer ones...

Nice, looks like you have some zoom going on there.
A couple of things...first..when doing stuff off of the mound, do it like you'd do it in the game (Unless you're doing drill work)..set up and act like you are pitching..it is useless to analyze the vids if you aren't presenting the way you do in games. For momentum generation you may want to mess a bit with loading a bit more...look up and watch a vid of Ted Lily to get where I'm coming from (I'm not suggesting you copy his mech just see what I'm talking about and see if it has possibilities for you)..to me I see some potential there for some body assistance and perhaps another mph or so.
Keep workin man..chase it!
Talk the folks into a tri-pod for Christmas it will help a ton on the vids.
And nice on the bulking up..you've been working and it shows
And my sincere congrats on your commitment to a school!!!

I was going to recommend a longer stride, but the newer videos look like you have fixed that. Looks good to me.

Very nice.

Pretty much agree with other posters concerning momentum, strength training, core stability, getting down the hill better(stride? more like core getting down the hill) diet, and even looking like a ball player.
You might check out some of Tom House's stuff(agree with him or not) at: http://www.nationalpitching.net/
Amoung the many things House talks about is where and how velocity is generated. 80% from upper body rotational velocity and 20% from lower body directional velocity(momentum to the plate). Taking into account all the mechanical apsects, and each particular part of them, and then also taking into account any physical aspects, ie: strength, flexibility, physical maturity, etc. you end up with a pretty good picture of velocity and what your upside might be.
My "two cents" worth. You do look more explosive in the latest videos. I think, however, it looks like you are still in a big hurry to get everything done and somewhat inconsistant as a result. Momentum does not need to be generated by being in a rush mode and getting more mechanically consistant will lead to more consistancy at the plate and possibly in the long run, even greater velocity. Best wishes to you.

Okay, so I said I would get radar gun readings for my next bullpen session, which happened to be today. I was 86-89 (87 was the most common number), though both my catcher and I agreed that I was throwing harder last bullpen session (the one with recent video clips); of course we don't have radar gun readings to confirm that speculation but we could both just sense that. Regardless, I have to say that I'm very happy with where I am right now and also am ready to keep making steps improving my strength and mechanics to throw even harder.