| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
| • |
June 01, 2008 |
| • |
June 15, 2008 |
| • |
June 22, 2008 |
| • |
June 29, 2008 |
| • |
July 06, 2008 |
| • |
July 13, 2008 |
| • |
July 20, 2008 |
| • |
August 03, 2008 |
| • |
August 10, 2008 |
| • |
August 17, 2008 |
| • |
August 24, 2008 |
| • |
August 31, 2008 |
| • |
September 07, 2008 |
| • |
September 14, 2008 |
| • |
September 21, 2008 |
| • |
September 28, 2008 |
| • |
October 05, 2008 |
| • |
October 12, 2008 |
| • |
October 19, 2008 |
| • |
October 26, 2008 |
| • |
November 02, 2008 |
| • |
November 09, 2008 |
| • |
November 16, 2008 |
| • |
November 30, 2008 |
| • |
December 07, 2008 |
| • |
December 21, 2008 |
| • |
December 28, 2008 |
| • |
February 15, 2009 |
| • |
February 22, 2009 |
| • |
April 12, 2009 |
| • |
April 19, 2009 |
| • |
April 26, 2009 |
| • |
May 03, 2009 |
| • |
May 10, 2009 |
| • |
May 17, 2009 |
| • |
May 24, 2009 |
| • |
May 31, 2009 |
| • |
June 07, 2009 |
| • |
June 14, 2009 |
| • |
June 21, 2009 |
| • |
July 05, 2009 |
| • |
July 12, 2009 |
| • |
July 19, 2009 |
| • |
August 02, 2009 |
| • |
August 30, 2009 |
| • |
September 06, 2009 |
| • |
September 20, 2009 |
| • |
October 04, 2009 |
| • |
October 11, 2009 |
| • |
October 18, 2009 |
| • |
November 08, 2009 |
| • |
November 15, 2009 |
| • |
November 22, 2009 |
| • |
November 29, 2009 |
| • |
December 27, 2009 |
| • |
January 03, 2010 |
| • |
January 10, 2010 |
| • |
January 17, 2010 |
| • |
January 24, 2010 |
| • |
January 31, 2010 |
| • |
March 14, 2010 |
| • |
March 21, 2010 |
| • |
March 28, 2010 |
| • |
April 04, 2010 |
| • |
April 18, 2010 |
| • |
April 25, 2010 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
Coordinated Pitching Forces
by Dave
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Recently, I sat listening to a pitching coach discuss the attribution of speed to various parts of the windmill motion including the wrist snap, arm circle, and leg movements. The idea was that if you can attribute a certain percentage to each piece of the pie, that would tell you what to work on. To me, this is an over-simplistic, yet overly-complicated approach. Let me explain why I think that.
This coach claimed that he could calculate an approximate range of percentages applicable to the majority of pitchers' speed. He threw out some numbers he believed to accurately depict accurate averages. Then he showed us how this could be verified by arbitrarily choosing a pitcher, having her perform each function, clocking her with a radar gun, and then calculating the percentages of the whole for each.
Let's say that a given pitcher throws 50 mph. She performs a wrist snap and hits about 32. Then she stands with her body trunk motionless while making a throw with a full arm circle and hits something like 47. This translates into 32 over 50 or 64% for the wrist snap; 47 over 50 or 94% less the wrist snap (64%) for 30% attribution to the the arm circle; and just 100% minus 94% for anything and everything else. My numbers are not precise but I think you get the idea.
There is little question to me that the wrist snap is absolutely critical to speed in pitching. Obviously, it is critical to movement pitches as well but we're focused exclusively on speed right now. The arm circle is also an aspect which is obviously really important. These elements plus several others must be perfected in order to succeed in pitching. We go to this particular coach for a number of reasons not the least of which is his ability to explain how to improve wrist snap and arm circle. His emphasis on these two elements is well placed and he's excellent at getting results with the girls. But part of his point in the above exercise is to validate his opinion that leg drive and other pieces of the puzzle are unimportant. I disagree with that opinion.
The trouble with looking at anything in a vacuum is nothing much in our world exists in a vacuum. Wrist snap is important but measuring it involves isolating the motion. This coach had the girls stand with ball in hand, and their arms next to their side. He then had them simply snap the ball to a partner without using their bodies or any other part of their arms. It doesn't take a genius to say that nobody actually pitches that way. It isn't difficult to picture the snap part of the motion and recognize that it takes place within the context of an arm moving very rapidly. In other words, it isn't merely a girl's ability to snap her wrist that generates 64% of her speed. Rather it is her ability to do so while her arm is moving very fast which generates speed.
Maybe it isn't clear to you what I mean. The only way I can explain this is to give you an example. Go get into into the car and drive at or just below the speed limit (I can't advocate even to tournament parents that they exceed the legal limits!) on a major highway. At some point, there will be no cars around you. Roll down the window and stick your arm straight out into the wind - be careful, I don't want any decapitations on my conscience! Now do some arm curls and wrist snaps. It isn't quite as easy as it is with no force against you, is it? The point is, the force of air working against your arm while driving 65 miles per hour is significant enough to require far greater force in order to accomplish an arm curl or wrist snap than would be needed if you were parked on the street. And when you perform an arm circle, that kind of force, though less, is what your wrist is up against. This observation doesn't diminish the importance of the wrist snap but it complicates the physics quite a bit.
Further to the point I'm trying to make, when you perform your arm circle, you are similarly up against forces created when your body moves forward after pushing off the plate. Again, this force is not quite as strong as it might be if you were say standing atop a vehicle moving 65 (something I absolutely do not suggest), but the primciple is the same. That is, a pitcher does not make any of the movements elemental to a windmill pitch in a vacuum. Rather, all of the movements create a coordinated whole which is essential to produce significant force upon the ball and propel it at high speeds. Isolation of pieces of the movement is fine, in and of itself, as are exercises performed to strengthen individual pieces. That analysis is just not enough to completely analyze what is necessary to produce a fast pitch. Performing exercises for pieces of the whole is not enough either. And ignoring pieces is not something I could ever advocate.
When a girl pitches, she first gets her body into position to explode forward. Different coaches approach this subject differently and I tend to be uninterested in it. The bottom line to me is a girl approaches this in the way that feels most natural to her and provides the most relaxed and comfortable circumstance. The goal is going to be to propel the ball rapidly and any movement that involves an initial balanced state followed by a beginning shift in forward momentum is OK with me. Some girls twist, some bring their hands over their heads, some do very little at all other than to begin leaning forwards. I don't have an opinion about what is "best."
Once the body begin forwards, basically the shoulder open to the corner of the infield - in righties towards third base, in lefties towards first. The arm then proceeds overhead in as straight a line as possible along the power line towards home. It swings forward as the shoulders, hips, etc. begin to "close the door." Then, finally, the arm is alongside the body as the wrist begins to snap.
All of the motion which brings the ball to the release point has some impact on the eventual speed after it is released. The wrist is undeniably important. So is the arm speed. But also important is your entire body's inertial force created when all of your weight is thrown forward at some relatively high speed. Likewise, the manner in which your body's inertial forward force is converted into speed at your finger tips, via blocking - the door swinging on its hinges, etc., are also all very important. It is the unified whole, working together not the individual elements operating separately which generates speed.
Just a word on blocking since I seem to have glossed over that. When your body jumps forward, it has a force in proportion to its weight and the speed it is moving. When your landing foot comes down, you, like a batter on the front foot, push against the forward force of your body. This force causes a small part of the force of your body to be stopped and the remainder to shift to the other side, causing an increase in forward speed of the other side of your body. If you land with your left foot while your entire body is moving at say 20 mph, the right side of your body continues forward at something more than 20 mph. This effect is what happens when say you and a friend run side by side with your arms around each other's waists and then the friend suddenly stops. You end up getting catapulted forwards and in front of your friend! Your friend creates a "blocking." You are like a door on its hinges.
In certain respects, my discussion above about performing arm curls or wrist snaps while driving in a car is completely erroneous because in a real sense, a wrist snap is decidedly easier, requires less force, when your arm is propelled forward as a result of the conversion of your body's intertial force through blocking. Similarly, the final piece of the arm circle is sped up as a result of this. The same thing is evident when observing overhand throwing, batting, or any other force application in which the body is propelled forward, one side blocks, and the other side swings on a hinge.
If this were not the case, there would be absolutely no purpose to an outfielder performing a crow hop before throwing home. If her wrist snap or arm movement were the only thing necessary to propel the ball, she shouldn't take any stepo at all since this wastes time! Yet, forward body momentum, blocking, and follow through are all necessary components of many movements within this sport.
As a further point ot this discussion, if you were able to examine the muscular makeup and motions of all best pitchers collectively for the purpose of determining which elements of pitching were most important, I believe what you would find is no absolute pattern beyond some simple likenesses. First of all, longer arms provide a benefit of producing a circle of bigger circumference which basically translates into more speed. Yet the world's fastest pitchers are not necessarilly its tallest ones. Japan's Ueno is arguably the fastest pitcher and she stands far below the stature of a Finch or Osterman.
What the group does share is a higher density of well-tuned fast twitch muscles. That is, what produces speed is not muscle per se but rather fast twitch muscle. The best pitchers are not muscle bound but their muscles contain a high proportion of developed fast-twitch fibers.
Further, many of the world's fastest pitchers do indeed have well developed leg muscles. They do use their legs to propel the ball. Their eight-foot strides show that. Not every pitcher strides that far but many of the top ones do. Monica Abbott frequently lands out at the circle. So does relatively dimunitive Ueno. All these pitchers explode off the rubber, block, and so forth. Legs are important!
The top pitchers' core (abdomen and related areas) muscles are also well trained. And most importantly, all of the muscle groups are trained to work together to create a highly coordinated whole. This is an important point. If you explode off the rubber, then in an uncoordinated manner use your powerful arm to propel the ball while having weak leg and core muscles, what you get, regardless of the speed of the pitch, is ... injuries!
I am a bit of a history and anthropology nerd when it comes to watching TV. I've seen the Discovery Channel shows about Neanderthal man several times. At this point I might be able to write the script from memory! One of the important findings regarding Neanderthal man was the high density of arm bone in the right arm. Scientists view this as indicative of Neaderthal getting loads of exercise with his right arm as a result of learning to use a thrusted spear to kill prey. His right arm was highly developed from use. Development of muscle causes density of bone to increase. So our possible ancestor's right arm bone grew to support muscles developed from hunting.
Softball pitchers might be expedcted to develop similarly large right arms as a result of pitching so much. One would expect a pitcher's pitching arm bicep and forearm muscles to bulge and the arm to grow much larger than the glove hand side. But that doesn't seem to happen in an obvious fashion. Perhaps their throwing arms are much stronger than the other side but it doesn't appear as a hulking, muscle popping appendage. Pitcher's legs do tend to be a bit thicker than others'. And their overall strength is probably somewhat greater. But more important than any particular muscle or group of muscle's strength is the coordination of explosion of all of them.
In conclusion, it is OK with me if you do things intended to improve one aspect of the pitching motion. But do this in moderation. Time spent strengthening the hand, wrist, arm, etc. is important. But you need to strengthen leg and core muscles too. And the most important thing is to make sure you spend a large percentage of your time getting the whole of your body to work together.Labels: pitching
 
|
|
|
