Throwing from your Knees

I have seen Ivan Rodriguez and Benito Santiago throw from their knees, and I'm sure there were others.

I would offer two thoughts- first, in order to throw from your knees, the pitch will have to be in a pretty tight area in order for you to make the throw. Anything high or far to either side that you really have to reach for are going to be tough to handle. This means that you'll still have to work on "standard" throwing mechanics to ensure that you're able to throw well on any pitch.

Second, I would make use of a stop watch or radar gun or some objective measure to be sure your pop times and velocity are actually better and don't just seem better. I don't really see a downside to throwing from your knees when possible (assuming solid pop times and accuracy), other than the practice required to now work on two throwing techniques.

My son used to throw from his knees, and did it well. He threw more than a few runners out without ever coming up. Almost 2 1/2 years ago, his UCL let go and he had to have Tommy John surgery. I've often wondered if throwing from his crouch contributed to the injury, as the throw down is almost all arm when you throw from the crouch. He also pitched a little, so there is no telling which contributed more, but I do remember his orthopaedic surgeon telling him "no more throwing from your knees after you heal."

I agree with '06. Might the release time be a bit quicker from the knees? Yeah. But it isn't worth it. A proper throw requires creating torque between the lower body an upper body, and using the delayed unwinding of that torque to create velocity.

Throwing from the knees significantly reduces the torque that can be created between hips and shoulders (since the hips can't turn) and therefore the throw relies almost exclusively on upper body )read: arm) muscles to create the velocity.

Risky, in my opinion. Learn the proper footwork and train your feet to be very fast. That will help in blocking and all sorts of other skills necessary to be a top level catcher.

Leave the throwing from the knees to Santiago. If his UCL blows, he's still set for life.

Hmmm, I never even thought about the risks of injury presented, and those are very good points. Also, along with not being able to use your entire body to accelerate the arm, you also won't be able to follow through and decelerate the arm properly. This would only present more potential arm problems.

Throwing to 2nd base is not something I would get into the habit of doing from the knees. The guys above have mentioned valid reasons for that.

That said, being able to throw down to second from your knees (once a week or less kind of occasion) is a good tool to keep in the arsenal. I had a strong enough arm in high school that I could do it some. I don't think there many times I was throwing down to second, but I can remember throwing guys out at first and third from the knees.

My suggestion is the only time you throw from your knees is a ball in the dirt or real close to it. Don't go to your knees specifically to throw the ball.

Guys,
Throwing from your knees has some value when picking at 1st on a ball down & in to a LHH or on a "delay pick" at 3b with a LHH up. The guys who throw to 2B off their knees often do so because they get surprised & fail to aticipate the steal & fail to get their momentum going. With that being said, it is a risk-reward issue. IMO when you throw from your knees, the arc of decelleration is severely dimished. When this happens the risk of injury greatly increases because this technique puts a lot more stress on your posterior decellerators & eventually the medial elbow.

JW

Jerry;
thank you for your great observations . Your comments are extremely valuable to the young player.

Please continue to provide the teaching from fantastic experiences in college and pro baseball.

Thank you for the memories.

Bob Williams
Area Code Baseball

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