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17 replies

The Belly Button in Pitching

P PGStaff10,000+ posts
I'm not anywhere near as intelligent or scientific as most people who make a living in pitching instruction. However, I have worked with several kids who ended up pitching in the big leagues.

Because of not being very smart, it made me instruct in "hick" mode. There are many who are much more knowledgable and I don't know if they would agree to what I say here.

We often talk about mechanics and arm action. We talk about the legs, the arm, the shoulders, the hips, the head, the stride, the landing, and everything else.

Just in my own personal experience I've had the most success (by far) using the "belly button" as the single most important key. (both for control and velocity improvement) While there are lots of important things involved in throwing a baseball IMO the two most important are natural ability and the "belly button".

Not trying to be an expert here... just saying I've had significant success getting kids to throw with their stomach being the main focus. Remember that the hips and stomach work together in many ways. The belly button is just an easy point of reference.

Good coaches will understand how this might work, without getting into details. And of course, I expect some debate. I don't do much instruction anymore, but if I did kids would hear "throw with your belly" a lot.
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P PGStaff10,000+ posts
Roger,

Are you calling me a “HICK”? Wait, forgot, I brought that up myself. Big Grin

Actually, I’ve had much more luck talking to pitchers using the words “Belly Button” rather than referring to “Center of Gravity”. You see most of the pitchers I’ve worked with haven’t been much smarter than me.

They understand “Belly Button” very clearly! They always seem to know exactly where it is. Then it makes it easy to tell them what to do with it.

Obviously, there’s more to pitching than just keeping track of and using your belly button. But it’s amazing how it can make many of the other things work properly.
C cap_nMember
PGStaff-

Obviously you've found a prompt that works.

I believe it’s much better to be informed about how to control the pelvis…your cue is belly button. I like “control the pelvis” because it gives a broader view of the zone that should be doing most of the work of controlling the whole body. If the goal is to control the pelvis, then the brain changes the extremities to support/achieve that goal. And I believe it has absolutely nothing to do with center of gravity, you simply shift your CG, and head location at solid foot plant is a checkpoint that may or may not be applicable to all throwers.

Good example would be yoga. Not knowing a thing about yoga other than watching and listening to yoga students/participants, yoga focus'on just how important the pelvic region is when it comes to strength, movement and how to control the body to move efficiently.

The cue to control the belly button/ pelvis/mid section, changes the focus to where all throwing activity revolves around. After all, the pelvic region is where all of the twisting, turning, tilting and bending originates.
C Coachric1,000+ posts
PG, thats great stuff. I heard it a while back and have used it since with my KISS theory.
It will however drive the Technowizards and Vocabularists (is that a word) crazy.
What me must all learn is that we are just trying to help young people get better and help them understand what they are learning, no matter how we Splain it.
T tsirhc10+ posts
Roger,
I noticed in one of your replies about using the "belly button" that Tom House uses the term and desires his student's head to be above or behind their belly button at foot plant. This would seem to indicate a degree of the "weight being back." It would seem difficult for the head to be behind the belly button at foot strike without keeping the weight back.
deucedocdeucedoc500+ posts
I use the belly button reference when the pitcher is at his balance point. Use it to help keep the pitcher aligned at this point. "Head over your belly button". If the pitchers head is behind the button at the knee lift, most likley the pitcher will be falling off the rubber to his glove side. If the guys or gals, nose is over the button at this point then chance of landing in a better fielding position is sure to occur. The most important thing to me is that it puts the pitcher in a much stronger core position. I have the guys at least try to take their drop back step smaller with the idea of head over button. Have found that this removes a lot of unneeded head and eye movement that isnt needed. KISS
PG, never tried throwing the button, but if you dont try it wont work and I am always looking for things that work.

Note to coaches,
as years move on and belly protrudes outward,make adjustments to teaching method, risk of somersault possible with this theory.
RT Roger Tomas100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by shermanreed:
Roger,
I noticed in one of your replies about using the "belly button" that Tom House uses the term and desires his student's head to be above or behind their belly button at foot plant. This would seem to indicate a degree of the "weight being back." It would seem difficult for the head to be behind the belly button at foot strike without keeping the weight back.

I don't recall the exact reply, but I can say that Tom House is all about getting the hips going and NOT staying back. These days he has more of an emphasis on timing than on just the mechanics. He claims that pitchers have too much time and that leads to problems (e.g. opening up too soon). By getting into foot strike quicker, a pitcher can avoid many of those problems. So, getting the hips going is crucial.

Now, on one hand, House defines "balance" as keeping the head and shoulders over the center of gravity and I believe I have heard him use "belly button" to refer to the center of gravity. On the other hand, he also says that you need to lead with the front hip (or even the back pocket depending on your knee lift). The head and shoulders need to stay behind the front hip into foot strike in order to maximize the energy transfer up the kinetic chain. A pitcher who gets his head and shoulders out front will waste energy and end up throwing with just his arm which puts more wear and tear on the arm.

So, does the head stay above the belly button or behind the front hip? I say that's not the important issue. The important issue is getting the hips going sooner and faster and leading with the hips - not with the head and shoulders.
Last edited by Roger Tomas
RT Roger Tomas100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by deucedoc:
I use the belly button reference when the pitcher is at his balance point. Use it to help keep the pitcher aligned at this point. "Head over your belly button". If the pitchers head is behind the button at the knee lift, most likley the pitcher will be falling off the rubber to his glove side.


When I hear "balance point" I think of a very upright position that a pitcher passes through - a position that the pitcher could possibly pause at and maintain. This is only possible when the pitcher "stays back" of "keeps his weight back".

If the pitcher truly gets his hips going sooner and faster, then there is no "staying back" and, thus, no balance point. And having the head be a little behind shouldn't cause any falling off because the increased momentum will help carry him forward on line with the target.

Two different philosophies.

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