Pitching Mechanics

By Robin Heilsikov, PTA, APP and Brandon Voth, DPT, OCS

Pitching mechanics have been widely studied in baseball to answer many different questions. Are there perfect mechanics? Should we all have the same mechanics? Can poor mechanics lead to injury?

If you watch Major League Baseball, you’ll see many different types of mechanics and that no two pitchers are the same. Although pitchers are all different, each of them still go through the same phases of pitching.

There are 6 phases of pitching

 

 

 

 

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Throwing_Biomechanics

-Wind up

-Stride (early cocking)

-Late cocking

-Acceleration

-Deceleration

-Follow-through

Each phase of pitching has an effect on the body in a different way. Injuries can occur at any point during the phases of pitching because, quite simply, throwing a baseball is bad for your arm. At ball release, the force created on your arm is equal to 1x your body weight. That’s a lot of force. The nice thing is that we have ways to help overcome some of that stress such as having good mobility and strength. One of the most important things to help reduce stress and risk for injury is to have good mechanics.

When we start looking into mechanics, one of the best tools we can use is feedback. Having a coach or knowledgeable parent around can be helpful to assist in perfecting changes. Another way to get feedback is through video analysis for visual feedback.

Below, we have decided to pick out a few key areas of the delivery where faulty mechanics can lead to increased injury risk, and we will go over some simple drills that you can do in order to fine-tune your mechanics. 

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRFDxVHu0b0&list=PLXxzA0BmF–NnMOKI9viF7qJH3VLi8Q5a&index=2″]

This area is always fun to cover for Physical Therapists. This is where sports performance meets rehab and injury prevention. We truly enjoy treating baseball players and keeping you on the field. Please consider reaching out to us with any questions you may have regarding injuries, pitching mechanics, or pitching performance. We offer free 15 minute screenings to help you figure out the next step in addressing a throwing injury or improving your mechanics.