Increase velocity greatly, by improving these three mechanical components
For overhead throwing athletes this article might be one of the most important articles you will read. That sounds like a big claim but I am being dead serious. This article is going to explain the three most important components in a throwing motion for creating maximum velocity. If you are lacking one or two of these components you are easily probably missing out on at least an extra 3-10 mph. If you are missing all three components I guarantee you do not throw very hard. The three components are external rotation (lay back), hip to shoulder separation, and efficiency of the front leg.
The first component we will discuss is external rotation or also known as the lay back of the throwing arm. External rotation (pictured above) is when the throwing hand lays back behind the throwing elbow. Months ago I wrote an article that explains external rotation in detail. A pitchers arm will lay back much further than other throwers arms, but every throwing athlete should possess external rotation (lay back). Every throwing athlete that wants to gain velocity should film themselves with a slow motion camera to make sure that their arm is laying back. The more the throwing arm lies back the longer time the thrower has to apply force to the ball. External Rotation is like a catapult. The further that catapult lies back the farther and faster the object will get flung. The best way to improve external rotation is by long tossing. The famous Dr. Andrews and Dr. Fleisig of ASMI ran a study that showed that the shoulder externally rotates the most during long toss. So to improve lay back do some long tossing.
The next component is the efficiency of the front leg (pictured above). By front leg I mean the leg that you plant in to the ground after your stride. Your back leg is the leg you drive off with. As a thrower you want to make sure your front leg firms up after foot contact and doesn’t keep flexing forward. When you are not making a high effort throw your front leg will have more flexion (flexing) in it, then when you are making a max effort throw attempt. But, when you are making a high effort throw you do not want your front knee coming over top of your toes. You want your front knee to stay over top of your heel or go into extension. To assess this mechanical component you’ll need to use a slow motion camera, because the naked eye more than likely won’t be able to see it. If your front leg has too much flexion (flexing) in it, it could be due to a lack of strength to stop all the forward momentum and transfer it. One of the best strength exercises to help eliminate front knee flexion is a rear foot elevated Bulgarian split squat. Knee flexion could also be caused by bad muscle memory patterns. To fix those bad muscle memory patterns a great drill is what we at Throw University call the bucket drill. For more info on the bucket drill please e-mail us at throwuniversity@gmail.com
The next component to discuss is hip to shoulder separation. Hip to shoulder separation (pictured above) is when your shoulders come later than your hips. This creates torque during the throwing motion. Quarterbacks, infielders, outfielders, and catchers normally don’t have as much hip to shoulder separation as pitchers do, because of the shorter stride length. However it does help those throwers to increase their velocity when their shoulders come later than their hips. They don’t get as much separation as pitchers, but they still will tremendously benefit from improving it. However, for pitchers, it is very important to have a good amount of separation between the hips and shoulders. There isn’t one MLB pitcher that throws 95+ mph that doesn’t have any hip to shoulder separation. For drills to improve hip to shoulder separation you can check out our past blog post about hip to shoulder separation. As for pitchers, the one thing that can improve hip to separation is by having your belt buckle facing the catcher at foot plant while your front shoulder is still closed.
