National Pitching Association: Stay Tall: A Mechanics Myth

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Stay Tall: A Mechanics Myth

This is an excerpt from the upcoming book Arm Action, Arm Path, and the Perfect Pitch: Building the Million Dollar Arm, by Tom House and Doug Thorburn

The conventional wisdom of stay tall and get on top is intended to help pitchers to generate downward plane, altering the trajectory of the ball to make life tougher on hitters. If this sounds familiar, then you've been paying good attention, because it's very similar to the logic behind Left-hander to the left side of the rubber, Right-hander to the right side. Coaches will often encourage anything that a pitcher can do to manipulate the incoming trajectory of the ball from the hitter's standpoint. Just as with Lefty to the left side, these strict rules can get in the way of what a pitcher does naturally, and potentially create more of an obstacle for the player than a benefit. Another thing these conventional ideas have in common is that they are flawed functionally as well as mechanically. The Lefty to the left side rule actually helps opposite-sided hitters and can produce over-rotation of the trunk, while the get on top rule doesn't help groundball rates as much as perceived, while costing the pitcher critical distance at release point.

There is one more thing these two conventions share, and that is a higher risk of injury for those pitchers that follow them. We'll dig into specifics in the Future section, but over-rotation is one big risk factor, while a late change of posture is another. Many of the pitchers that attempt to get on top of the ball will bring their throwing arm through as high of a slot as possible, sacrificing posture in the process. In essence, the pitcher has to move his head out of the way (by tilting the spine) in order to bring the arm through over the top. This is inefficient for biomechanics, and has an affect on the stress that is put on certain parts of the body.

Unfortunately, many coaches favor a high arm slot on a pitcher, due to the influence of downward plane. Young players have a particular problem with this, as a lack of functional strength and flexibility will result in inconsistent and often poor posture at release point. Pitchers will often struggle with balance and posture as they mature, regardless of instruction, and telling these players to get on top just compounds the risk on a developing arm. There are examples of pitchers in the Major Leagues with poor posture and a high release point, but the best players in the league are strong at maintaining balance and posture throughout the delivery. It is critical, from a coaching standpoint, to help the pitcher achieve ideal balance and posture through release point, and to let the arm slot happen more naturally.

FYI: There are only 2 pitchers in the Hall of Fame 6'5' or taller, Drysdale and Carlton. Obviously the baseball world is drafting taller pitchers but it's more about getting closer to home plate with real, perceived, and effective velocity and movement. Billy Wagner at 5'10' has a taller release point than Randy Johnson at 6'11'.

Stay tall isn't necessarily about height, it's about an upright head and spine as a pitcher's shoulders square up to the target. We call it 'Stack and Track' because the last 20% of a pitcher's real velocity comes from the low back/torso going from hyperextension into flexion just before the throwing forearm goes from external rotation into internal rotation and release of baseball. The longer a pitcher can stay upright the longer his total body tracks, the more efficiently his torso delivers his throwing arm and the closer his release point is to home plate and the better his perceived velocity.

A pitcher's body height at the start of his delivery is significantly less at release point, a function of 1) how far he strides, 2) how far he tracks into his front leg, and 3) how much his front knee flexes before it firms up sending energy up the kinetic chain and out into the ball. There is a paradox here because no matter how 'tall' a pitcher is in his set up, his posting knee will find whatever angle of flexion that optimizes the balance/posture, functional strength relationship into foot strike. So if 'stay tall' isn't the important issue, what is? Our research indicates it's release point, velocity/location, tunnel and spread. (Go to Tunnel vs. Spread pages) So to put a ribbon on this 'stay tall' discussion it isn't how tall, it's how far the stride, how upright the spine, how consistent the release point, how much the perceived and effective velocity differential is between last pitch, real velocity and location, and, this pitch, real velocity and location.

The NEW BOOK is here!

Arm Action, Arm Path, and The Perfect Pitch: Building the Million Dollar Arm has shipped! The book is available for purchase in the Books section of our store. This book will utilize learnings from research done with motion analysis. Through the use of the NPA Biomechanical Efficiency Model we will take on many of the myths about pitching mechanics and prove their validity using the science of motion analysis. Get your copy now!

Are these "truisms" fact or friction???

1. Get on top of the ball.
2. Pull your glove to your hip.
3. Left-hander left side of the rubber.

Foreward by World Series MVP, Cole Hamels!

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