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Question/Answer 2004 |
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 001. I went to Jim Stinson's website and saw your autograph was $250 dollars. I'm not trying to say your autograph isn't worth paying for, but I have yet to work so I do not have that kind of money. Is their a way I can get a autograph straight from you? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I understand that many Americans think that if everything in life were free, then they would have happier lives. Looters justify what they do when the lights go out in our large cities with self-pity, these stores cheat them or these companies can afford it. But, they are common thieves. I will not contribute to that attitude. Therefore, I give hand-ups, not hand-outs. I am giving away my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and my advice. Unless people work hard to earn something, it is not valuable to them. I have worked hard my whole life for everything that I have. I am very proud that I have never asked for a handout. I call it, the work ethic. After you spend your life earning an education and working hard for everything you earn, you will realize the significance of work ethic and, hopefully, the insignificance of autographs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 002. We are nearing closure on this phase of the pitching motion. First, high speed film is not required to see the backside or transitional activity because things are not going very fast. I do not challenge your research in that nobody really knows what the pitching arm does during forward acceleration and deceleration unless they see the high speed films that you have created. There is no contest here, there is no challenge about arm activities during forward acceleration from the ready position inward to the plate, nor the deceleration phase. Second, I had informed you about what the pitching forearm does at the end of transition as it approaches the ready position and as it readies to begin forward acceleration. AS the elbow starts forward, our hand positions match identically. The ball is now on top of the hand with the palm facing upward. During that first phase of acceleration, the forearm rotates as a function of pitch selection as follows: 1. Fastballs and changeups: the hand remains palm-up throughout the motion until after release at which time the forearm naturally pronates during deceleration. 2. Supination curve: as the hand approaches the ear during forward acceleration, the forearm has smoothly supinated 90 degrees with the palm facing the head and fingers pointing at the head. After releasing the ball with proper overspin, the forearm begins to naturally pronate as usual. 3. Screwball or Pronation Curve: as the hand approaches the ear during forward acceleration, the forearm begins to pronate to release and then continues to pronate during deceleration. I refuse to teach sliders and choose not to spend time on knuckle balls. My students are taught these basic pitches, the fastball, the change-up, and one or two curves. They are informed that when they get older and commit to pitching some minor alterations to the pitching motion need to be made, that other pitches and other grips will have to be worked on, and that much later on in their pitching careers they will want to work on a slider unless they happen to throw one more or less naturally. Certainly I would believe high speed film of my pitcher's arm paths during acceleration and deceleration. And regarding the angle of the elbow from the end of transition at ready to release, the following are approximations and what I believe that I "see" with my eyes and capture on video tape: 1. At ready: 135 degrees. 2. As it passes the ear: somewhere near 60-75 degrees, maybe even less. 3. As it approaches release: 180 degrees for FB, changes and pronation curves, near 60-75 degrees for supination curves. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree that thirty frames per second is sufficient for parents, pitchers and coaches to follow the path of the baseball during the transition phase. I recommend that parents, pitchers and coaches take digital videotape of baseball pitchers from thirty feet directly behind pitchers toward home plate with the camcorder about seven foot high. Then, I recommend that parents, pitchers and coaches show the video on a monitor with graph paper overlaying the performance. Then, I recommend that parents, pitchers and coaches advance the video one frame at a time and draw a circle around the baseball from the moment pitchers remove the baseball from their glove through release. Parents, pitchers and coaches should first study the transition phase. It starts when pitchers remove the baseball from the glove and ends the frame before pitchers first move the tip of their pitching elbow forward. If you do this, then you will see that how you teach your pitchers to move the baseball to the 'Ready' position does not move the baseball in straight lines. Then, when you freeze-frame on the 'Ready' position frame, then you will see that the first force that your pitchers apply to baseballs is not directly toward home plate. You will also see that they drop their pitching elbow under and drag their pitching forearm and baseball forward, rather than driving behind the baseball, reverse forearm bounce where pitching forearm and baseball move backward or pirouetted, the 'loop' behind their heads where they bent their pitching elbow, and much more. You said that the angle of the pitching elbow of your pitchers is 135 degree at the 'Ready' position. If this is true and you can easily find out with a digital camcorder set thirty feet to the pitching side of pitchers about four feet high centered three feet in front of the pitching rubber. If your pitchers have achieved this, I congratulate you and them. I have no doubt that the first force that your pitchers apply to the baseball is not directly toward home plate. If you have used my graph paper method of circling the baseball, you should be able to see that on videotape. You said that when the baseball passes their pitching ear, your pitchers achieve sixty to seventy-five degrees of separation between the longitudinal axis of their pitching upper arm and pitching forearm, maybe even less. Are you videotaping from the side? What do you mean when the baseball passes their pitching ear? It sounds to me that your pitchers have their pitching forearm tightly bent behind their head and you have merely stopped the video at some point in the pitching arm's full extension. Then, you said that as the baseball approaches release, your pitchers completely straighten and slam their olecranon process into their olecranon fossa at one hundred and eighty degrees for fastballs, changeups and pronation curves. What I call, pitching forearm flyout. Your pitchers start with bent pitching elbows and, as a result of centripetal force and extending their pitching elbow upward, rather than toward home plate, they flyout to one hundred and eighty degrees. This is what we are trying to prevent. Then, you said that, with your supination curves, your pitchers achieve sixty to seventy-five degrees of separation. Without high-speed film, we will never know. However, I doubt that the baseball comes closer than an arm's length of their pitching ear. I also doubt that they have any degrees of separation. If they achieved twenty degrees of separation, I would congratulate you and them. If they achieved sixty to seventy-five degrees, I would give you one thousand dollars for every one of your pitchers that did so. Also, please explain what you think is the difference between you pronation curve and your supination curve. I believe that it is impossible for pitchers to have any degrees of separation when they supinate their pitching forearm to throw curves or sliders. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 003. A while back, I emailed Bert Blyleven and asked him how he threw his curveball. He didn't give me any answers, except to say that he threw it like a four seam fastball. Is this possible? He had one of the best curveballs in the history of the game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four seam fastballs spin with the horizontal top seam rotating backward with a horizontal axis in what laymen call from twelve o'clock to six o'clock. Four seam curves spin with the horizontal top seam rotating forward with a horizontal axis in what laymen call from twelve o'clock to six o'clock. To the less discriminating eye, if both pitches leave the pitchers hand in a horizontal straight line toward home plate, they appear identical. However, as the seams collide with the air molecules on the bottom for the four seam fastball and on the top for the four seam curve, these pitches move exactly oppositely. The four seam fastball fights the downward force of gravity and does not move downward as fast as gravity would make it. The four seam curve adds to the downward force of gravity and moves downward faster than gravity would make it. I have some film of Mr. Blyleven throwing his curve and, although the frames per second are too slow to clearly show the moment of release, it does appear that he primarily released the baseball over top of his middle finger rather than with the side of the middle finger driving horizontally across the top of the baseball. As a result, my Maxline Pronation Curve has a higher spin velocity and my pitchers can achieve over-spin, which further moves the baseball toward the pitching arm side of home plate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 004. In your book, you do not talk about the change-up? Could you give me some information on the proper grip or grips and the release on the change-up? Also I’m teaching a 16 year old pitcher how to throw a curve ball. Can you talk to me about setting the forearm in the proper position to get the maximum pull down without to much stress on his arm? I have the grip and release, but could you get really specific on the arm angle and how to properly pull the ball down to create maximum top spin to cause the ball to rotate downward? Thanks for your time, and helping out the youth of today. Your book is awesome, although at times the book sometimes is a little over my head, I love the knowledge that I have attained. Believe it or not I have a master’s degree in exercise science. That was over twenty years ago, if you don’t speak the language you do forget the language. I love your technical information and would love to e-mail you with specific questions from time to time? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do teach changeups, but I prefer that they have a variety of spin axes and spin velocities. Changeups are pitches where, at release, the horizontal release velocity of the baseball is ten and twenty miles per hour slower than the horizontal velocity of the pitching arm. I call my changeups, Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Pronation Curve, Maxline Fastball Sinker and Torque Fastball Slider. I believe that these four pitches are far superior to the 'traditional' changeup, which is ten miles per hour slower that the pitching arm at release and does not make any definitive movement on its way to home plate. When they teach their curves, 'traditional' pitching coaches teach their pitchers to maximally pull their pitching arm down. As a result, they destroy pitching arms. I teach pitchers to drive behind the baseball in a straight line toward home plate and, to achieve the horizontal spin axis of the twelve to six curve, pronate their pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers horizontally through the top of the baseball. As a result, my pitchers achieve very high spin velocity Maxline Pronation Curves with no stress on the front of their pitching shoulder, inside of their pitching elbow or, on the posterior side, under the tip of the extended elbow. I look forward to all questions. They make my day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 005. I have read chapter 19. I understand the horseshoes on the baseball away or toward the glove side. What is the direction of the circle of force? Also what is the difference between Max line, and Max force when throwing the different pitches, two seem or four seam and other pitches? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because I basically edit my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book annually, I am always concerned about how what I wrote in my book compares with what I am presently teaching. My Question/Answer files always have my latest thoughts. Nevertheless, I think that I can handle these questions. I have the open end of the horseshoe of the baseball point toward the pitching arm side on my Maxline Fastball and Maxline True Screwball. I have the open end of the horseshoe of the baseball point toward the glove arm side on my Torque Fastball and Maxline Pronation Curve. For the two fastballs, I want horizontal spin axes, which means twelve to six, but I want pitchers to slightly turn the glove side forward with my Maxline Fastball and the pitching arm side forward with my Torque Fastball. As a result, the two short seams on the side of the baseball rotate in a small circle, which, when these seams collide with air molecules create horizontal forces that helps move these pitches laterally albeit in opposite directions away from those small circles of frictions. I named the pitches that move to the pitching arm side of home plate, MAXLINE, because, with my force application technique, pitchers can MAXimize the length of their driveLINE. I named the pitches that move to the glove side of home plate, TORQUE, because, with my force application technique, pitchers have to turn, TORQUE, the baseballs from straight forward to toward the glove side of home plate. I suppose I could have called them, TURN, but that does not seem sufficiently dramatic for headline writers. I do not know what you mean with, Max force. Except as it influences my Maxline Fastball Sinker and Torque Fastball Slider, I no longer teach two seam fastballs. My Maxline Fastball Sinker is a two seam Maxline Fastball where pitchers apply diagonal force to the glove side of the baseball at release such that it spirals with the large circle of friction on the top, front surface of the baseball. My Torque Fastball Sinker is a two seam Torque Fastball where pitchers apply diagonal force to the pitching arm side of the baseball at release such that it spirals with the large circle of friction on the top, front surface of the baseball. These pitches move downward and laterally in opposite directions. Until my pitchers master my four seam Maxline Fastball release and my four seam Torque Fastball release, I do not teach these pitches. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 006. You have previously received and responded to messages from my son's college coach. Attached is a brief summary of the what we have been through since July. At this point my son has not thrown since early October yet he continues to have pain in the elbow. That pain is along the ulnar groove on both sides of the elbow point. His current doctor says we have to be patient. But, I am not convinced we are on the right path. Originally, you thought the problem was an irritation of the ulnar fascia. If that is still your opinion, would it take this long for the pain to go away? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The MRI did not show any damage to his Ulnar Collateral Ligament. I still believe that he has fascial tears on the inside of his elbow. While these are painful, they are structurally insignificant. The drop-under start of the forward movement of the pitching elbow and the accompanying pitching forearm flyout unnecessarily stresses this area. Treatment starts with learning how to properly apply force to the baseball. Treatment continues with simulations of this new pitching motion with mild resistance and repetitions. Rest equals atrophy. Atrophy equals increasing problems. When the doctor said no throwing, but do a non-specific physical therapy program, he made a simple situation to correct into an impossible situation to correct. My 280-Day Adult Pitchers Interval-Training Program is the answer. If your son wants to have a pitching career, my recommendation is that he immediately comes to Zephyrhills, FL and start my program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 007. Love your first video and wondered if you had finished the revised (next) version? Would like to get the next copy. Also, I was running across some new info on a "Coaching Adult Pitchers" book that seems to be different than the one I downloaded "Coaching Pitchers". How can I receive (or download) a copy? I've been trying to decide implementation of at the High School where I coach. I handle Strength & Conditioning and Pitching. I have some questions. 1. Icing vs. Non-icing after Pitching? I hear too much controversy on the subject lately from the Big's to major college programs. 2. Lactic Acid and whether icing and running the day of or after pitching is necessary? 3. Your thoughts on conditioning the "Decelerator" muscles? 4. Jobe exercises? Tubing vs. pulleys vs. light (3-5lb) dumbbell? What's best for conditioning Rotator Cuff, etc? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I first put my materials on-line, I had a Coaching Adolescent Pitchers book and a Coaching Adult Pitchers book. After a year or so, I combined them into a Coaching Pitchers book. When I complete my next rewrite, after I finish my second Instructional Videotape, I will call my book, Coaching Baseball Pitchers. In any case, if you have found my material under the title of Coaching Adult Pitchers, I have to assume that the material is at least two rewrites old. What I presently have on-line is the latest, but it is about one year old and we do seem to learn something new that will help the teaching and learning process weekly. I promise that I am working every day as hard as I can to get my second Instructional Videotape done. It is a much bigger job than the first and I still have to coach twenty pitchers every day, answer emails every day, continue to remodel the apartments in which these twenty pitchers live and so on, and so on and so on. Even though we are still refining the process and we do not have the perfection that we are seeking, I also promise you that it will be worth the wait and greatly advance the science of baseball pitching. 1. When pitchers put their pitching arm in ice, the hyperemic reaction passively increases blood flow to the area. When pitchers throw twenty-four baseballs at a blood flow intensity, between fifty and seventy-five percent of maximum, the body dramatically redistributes blood flow to those specific muscles. I suppose that pitchers could chose one or the other or do both. I prefer the latter, but I also want to make certain that how they apply force does not unnecessarily stress the pitching arm. 2. When athletes perform at intensities greater than their anaerobic threshold, between fifty and seventy-five percent of maximum depending on the anaerobic fitness of each athlete for each motor skill, they can produce lactic acid as a result of the incomplete metabolism of their stored muscle glycogen. However, I question whether baseball pitching is an anaerobic activity. I agree that pitchers throw baseballs above seventy-five percent of their maximum intensity, but it does not last for more than two-tenths of a second per pitch. Then, they rest for about twenty times their work interval. If they do metabolize muscle glycogen for the resynthesis of adenosine-triphosphate, I believe that they do not overload the glycolytic system to the point that they produce lactic acid. Nevertheless, I jog every day and taking their pitching arm for a blood flow bucket of throws will insure that their slow-twitch oxidative muscle fibers metabolize any stray lactic acid molecules. 3. My wrist weight exercises train the muscles that decelerate the pitching arm. They are the true pliometric training that is specific to baseball pitching, not this silly bouncing up and down, catching medicine balls and so on that appears to be the latest rage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 008. What's your advice on the following? Take a 6'3 pitcher with good, hard-moving stuff, with solid mechanics, but has long arm path and not deceptive. Greg Maddox has great stuff and pin-point control, but I believe his ability to hide the ball, along with a short arm path, is maybe his best asset. Is there a solution to this problem? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I disagree that Mr. Maddox has 'solid mechanics.' I would say that he is smart enough not to push his bad mechanics. However, without high-speed film and our agreement on what we should base our assessment of 'solid mechanics,' I doubt that I can make you understand without educating you far more than I can do here. You will first have to read my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book. When you say that Mr. Maddox has great stuff, what you are really saying is that his fastball moves like a sinker, that is, toward the pitching arm side of home plate and downward and his change-up moves like a screwball, also toward the pitching arm side of home plate and downward. He has a so-so curve, but he knows that it is so-so, so he rarely uses it. This means that he dominates the pitching arm side of home plate with his fastball speed and his change-up speed, which is ten miles per hour slower. Glove side pull hitters cannot hit these pitches, therefore, Mr. Maddox gets them out easily. Pitching arm side spray hitters has difficulty with these pitches, therefore, unless he tries to backdoor the glove side of home plate with his fastball, Mr. Maddox usually does well with them. This leaves the glove side spray hitters and the pitching arm side pull hitters. Because he does not have a fastball that moves toward the glove side of home plate and/or a minus ten mile per hour pitch that also moves toward the glove side of home plate, he has difficulty with these batters. Further, Mr. Maddox does not have any minus twenty mile per hour pitches, such as my Maxline Pronation Curve and Maxline True Screwball with which he could throw when he has two strikes to close out at bats. What I am saying is; Mr. Maddox has limited pitch selection and decent command, but his greatest asset is that he knows how to sequence his pitches to minimize potential damage. I do not believe that any of this has to do with long or short arm paths, but I do like movement and I have nothing against control, but, with my concept of baseball pitching, I accept maximum intensity strikes over reduced intensity precise locations. The successful baseball pitchers of my future vision will throw two fastballs; one will move toward the pitching arm side of home plate, my Maxline Fastball, and the other will move toward the glove side of home plate, my Torque Fastball. They will also throw two minus ten miles per hour pitches; one will move toward the pitching arm side of home plate, my Maxline Fastball Sinker, and the other will move toward the glove side of home plate, my Torque Fastball Slider. Lastly, they will also throw two minus twenty miles per hour pitches; they will both move toward the pitching arm side of home plate, my Maxline True Screwball and my Maxline Pronation Curve. I understand that these pitchers will require much, much more top-quality coaching than they presently receive and they will need to train throughout the year without 'resting' their pitching arm. When eight baseball pitchers master these pitches with plus ninety miles per hour release velocity and the pitch sequence knowledge that I write about in Chapter Twenty-Eight of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, they will dominate college and major league baseball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 009. Some questions. 1. Why does throwing a ball with two seem ¾ arm angle move more than a 4 seem fastball at ¾ arm angle. 2. Please talk about the Magnus effect- the physics part of it. (In simple language as possible I’m coaching high school and younger athletes. 3. I have heard that a lot of power pitchers close their stance toward arm side. When they start their movement it is a jab step to the side. 4. I also heard they like to throw against their bodies a little. 5. They also seem to spin off a firm front side and swing the hip around quickly. How stiff do you want the front landing leg? I was always told, firm landing, but you still need separation from the rubber and allow the chest to get over the front knee, and the backside needs to get through. 6. If you follow the pitching bio-mechanics is the follow-through natural? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My answers. 1. There is no such thing as three-quarter pitching arm angle. It is anatomically IMPOSSIBLE for pitchers to raise their pitching upper arm above a line that is parallel with the line across the top of their shoulders. In addition, except for the loss of their extension range of motion as a result of slamming their olecranon process into its olecranon fossa, the longitudinal axes of the pitching upper arm and the pitching forearm of 'traditional' pitchers line up. Therefore, when 'traditional' pitchers throw what you called, with a three-quarter pitching arm angle, all they really are doing is leaning their shoulders forty-five degrees to their glove side. The reason why pitches move relates to what part of the baseball is colliding with the air molecules on their way to home plate. With perfectly horizontal backspin axes, the four and two-seam fastballs would move similarly, except with four seams colliding with the air molecules, the four-seam fastballs will not drop as fast as the two-seam fastballs. With forty-five degree horizontal backspin axes and the glove side of the baseballs turned forty-five degrees forward, the four-seam fastball would only have a small circle of friction on the glove side provided by the circularly spinning short seams and the two-seam fastball would have a much larger circle of friction on the glove side provided by the circularly spinning loop of seams that make up one-half of the figure eight stitching. Therefore, the two-seam fastball would move more dramatically. I explain this in Chapter Nineteen of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book. 2. With the third paragraph above, I explain the Magnus Effect. With the fourth paragraph above, I explain the Marshall Effect. Both explain what happens when the seams of baseballs collide with air molecules. I explain Bernoulli's fluid flow equation in Chapter Nineteen of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book. 3. 'Traditional' pitchers step across the line from their pitching foot toward home plate because they take the baseball so far laterally behind their body to their glove side that the first forward force that they apply to the baseball is primarily so lateral to their pitching arm side that the sideways momentum throws them to their pitching arm side. As a result, they have to unnecessarily stress their pitching arm to try to correct these inappropriate force and redirect the baseball back to their glove side to get somewhere near home plate. The 'traditional' pitching motion destroys the pitching arm. There is no part of that motion that any pitcher should emulate. 4. By against their body, if you mean that the 'traditional' pitching motion forces pitchers to stride so far forward that their glove foreleg stabs into the ground and stops any further forward movement of their center of mass, then I agree. This terrible, terrible pitching flaw greatly unnecessarily stresses the glove ankle, knee and hip. Ask Randy Johnson and Mark Mulder. 5. What you describe is precisely what no pitcher should ever do. Pitchers should uniformly move their center of mass straight forward from the 'Ready' position to the end of the deceleration phase. I recommend that pitchers delay lifting their glove foot off the ground until they start the baseball straight forward toward home plate from the 'Ready' position. Then, pitcher should only step as far forward as they can smoothly move their pitching leg ahead of their glove leg. 6. What people call, follow-through, is actually nothing more that the centripetal imperative of a curvilinear force application pathway. The end of their deceleration phase occurs when they extend their pitching arm as far forward toward home plate as they can. I recommend a rectilinear force application pathway. Therefore, when my pitchers extend their pitching arm straight toward home plate, they have completely decelerated their pitching arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 010. I know this is way off the subject, and I apologize in advance, but I am trying to get in touch with your ex-wife. I just read Home Games, and I would love to talk to her about it. I assume she is a lawyer in Minnesota and has changed her last name, but I could be completely wrong about all of that. I have tried plugging many different things in the search engine but come up with nothing. If you could give me an email address or even a name, I would really appreciate it. Her book really hit home with me, and I would love to let her know that. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I am in almost daily communication with our children, I have not seen or spoken with my ex-wife in over twenty years. Other than through our children, I have no idea how to contact her and I would never give that contact information to anybody. I do know that she is not a lawyer, that was a ruse to get more money. I doubt that you are interested, but what she wrote about herself in that book was less than half true and what she wrote about me was primarily paranoid fantasies. You should read the book in that context, i.e., as fiction. Basically, I think that the book portrays her as is a whiner who blamed everybody else for everything that she failed to earn for herself. I cannot see how any part of that book can 'hit home' with anyone, except to never be like her. In case you have not figured it out, but neither she or the former Mrs. Bouton wrote those letters when they say that they did, they made them up later. The entire book is a fraud. They duped you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 011. I was planning to come down at the end of next week to watch and learn. Do you have any objections to me video taping the workout? Don't worry, I plan on buying your new tape as soon as it comes out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whether they buy my second Instructional Videotape or not, everybody is welcome any time and everybody can videotape to their heart's delight. I look forward to seeing you again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 012. Are you paying attention to the Pete Rose situation? I would like to know what you think. You pitched to him, didn't you? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When every professional baseball player walks into any baseball clubhouse at every level of baseball, the first thing that they see is a sign that says if you bet on baseball, then baseball will ban you for life. Pete Rose did what Shoeless Joe Jackson never did, he admitted that he broke the rule. True, he lied for several years before he told the truth, but the truth is he broke the rule, he jeopardized the integrity of baseball. I believe that baseball should ban Pete Rose for life. With regard to whether the writers should vote on whether Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, did the writers get to vote on whether Shoeless Joe Jackson belonged? Nevertheless, I think that the writers should vote on whether Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. With regard to the type of major league baseball players belongs in the Hall of Fame, I believe that position players and pitchers should at least be the best player on their team unless the better players are already in. Hall of Famers should demonstrate abilities and accomplishments that very, very few colleagues also achieved. I want the best of the best of each era. I did pitch to Pete Rose. I faced Mr. Rose forty-three times. I walked him five times. I struck him out five times. He had nine singles, seven with nobody on base. He had one home run. He had three runs batted in. He batted .263. However, if how hitters did against me meant anything, several Hall of Famers from my era would not be in. More important to me is that Mr. Rose was never even close to being the best player on his team. Joe Morgan was better. Tony Perez was better. Johnny Bench was better. Ken Griffey, Sr. was better. Dan Dreissen was better. Dave Conception was better. George Foster was better. I even preferred to pitch to Mr. Rose rather than Cesar Geronimo. In other words, I believe that Mr. Rose got all those hits because pitchers preferred to give him pitches to hit rather than any other batter on his team. He did not have base speed, but he batted leadoff. Quality batters, especially those without speed, bat third or fourth. I also believe that, for writers to consider them for the Hall of Fame, pitchers should be the best pitcher on their team. If they did not pitch against the best pitcher of their opponent's team, then, I do not care how many wins they had, they do not belong. Number two starting pitchers or below do not belong in the Hall of Fame. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 013. I was planning to come down at the end of next week to watch and learn. Do you have any objections to me video taping the workout? Don't worry, I plan on buying your new tape as soon as it comes out. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whether they buy my second Instructional Videotape or not, everybody is welcome to visit my Pitcher Research/Training Center any time and everybody is welcome to videotape to their heart's delight. I look forward to seeing you again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 014. I purchased your pitching video late last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been involved in baseball as both a player and a coach. I have coached high school baseball for 23 years. I have purchased countless videos, books and other instructional aids on baseball hitting, pitching, etc. Your knowledge and expertise due to your background of the body and experience as a major league all-star, I think cannot be matched. I have a strong desire to learn more. I also have two sons ages 12 and 14 that I would like to be able to teach this to. Do you only give lessons in Florida or do you travel? We are located in the northern middle east. Are you ever in this area? Would you ever consider doing some teaching in this area? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I only train high school and junior college graduates for forty-weeks starting the fourth Saturday in August and high school juniors and seniors for eight-weeks starting the second Saturday in June. I do not travel. The best that I can offer is my second Instructional Videotape and my annual edit of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book. With but a couple of hours off to train the nineteen pitchers presently training with me, I am presently at my computer from 6:00AM through 10:30PM. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 015. Before getting to my question I once again feel compelled to express my sense of admiration for what you are doing. I have kept up to date with all of the questions and comments contained in your E-mail forum and continue to be amazed by the depth of your passion for and commitment to the science (not art) of pitching. In recent E-mails you have been challenged by a gentleman who I believe has taken groundless swipes at your intentions and integrity. I read your responses very carefully. YOU STICK TO THE FACTS AND SEEK TO FIND THE TRUTH, EVEN IF THAT MEANS ADMITTING THAT YOU ARE WRONG TO SOMEONE WHO HAS REDUCED HIS INQUIRY TO A PERSONAL LEVEL. It is partly because of that that I have great trust in what you are doing and saying. Now my question. My son is beginning his winter workouts with his HS team. I am very anxious about giving him an opportunity to see your concepts in action. I've conveyed as much as I could from my interpretation of your book, but you know what they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. I know that you are working very hard to get the new video going and understand that it may take some time to finally finish it. Does your older video provide the type of "visuals" I am looking for, specifically a comparative illustration of the traditional pitching method and your method. I've spoken to my son about your force application concepts. Will he be able to see them in action in the video? I guess the question is simple, should I purchase the old video or wait for the new one? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I put my first Instructional Videotape together as a result of readers threatening to storm my house in Zephyrhills, if I did not show them how to perform my training drills. I was not ready. My kids were not ready. Nevertheless, I put as much into the videotape as I could. While I have adjusted my drills somewhat, they remain sufficiently similar that someone can follow the first video and adjust to my second video when I have it ready. However, I did not discuss how my pitching motion differs from the 'traditional.' In my second video, I will carefully and thoroughly discuss and show how the 'traditional' pitching motion destroys pitching arm and how my pitching motion differs. This time, all my kids will show how to properly perform my drills. I will have high-speed film of the releases of all my pitches as well as my pitching motion and drills. This videotape is so large and complex that I have had to purchase a two hundred and fifty gigabyte hard drive in which to store my clips. Lastly, as I have told everybody else, if you do purchase my first video, I will take seventy-five percent off the price of my second. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 016. I am interested in purchasing your second video. Could you please give me the information necessary to obtain it? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will post when I have my second Instructional Videotape ready in my Instructional Videotape file on my web site. I prefer to not receive any payments prior to when I have the video ready to ship. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 017. I think I played against you. Were you at Bakersfield at all in 1962? I played for Fresno. Centerfield. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes. The entire year. Shortstop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 018. You commented: "I believe that Mr. Rose got all those hits because pitchers preferred to give him pitches to hit rather than any other batter on his team." Either I have misinterpreted your statement or you are implying pitchers have a limited supply of quality pitches to make to hitters through the lineup and they should distribute them only to the best hitters. If a relatively poor hitter is selective and the pitcher falls behind him in the count, I can see a pitcher targeting his pitches more toward the center of the plate, but that's not stated in your response and that's not necessarily Rose's tendency. If a pitcher throws the same quality pitches to the worst 4 hitters in the lineup as he throws to the best 5, wouldn't he throw less pitches and ultimately be more effective? Why would a pitcher give in to a hitter like Rose who wasn't particularly selective just because he wasn't, in your words, one of the best 5 hitters in the lineup? Your explanation doesn't make sense. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not recall commenting on whether Mr. Rose was more or less selective in his choice of pitches than any other batters to try to hit. While I will agree that it is easier to pitch to batters who voluntarily swing at pitches outside of the strike zone, I did not include Mr. Rose in that category. I also do not recall saying that pitchers have limited supply of high quality pitches. However, when pitchers try to increase the quality of their pitches, both with throwing their fastballs harder and moving their non-fastballs more dramatically, their strike to ball ratio decreases and pitchers do not want to walk singles hitters with no baserunning speed. But, the quality of the individual pitches does not fully answer the question. Which pitch that pitchers select to throw also defines high quality pitches. On first pitches, one ball no strikes counts, two ball no strikes counts, two ball one strike counts, three ball one strike counts and three balls two strike counts, batters prefer fastballs. Therefore, when pitchers throw something else, it is a higher quality pitch. Lastly, not all non-fastballs are of the same quality. For example, a slider is not the same quality as a curve and a sinker is not the same quality as a screwball. Also, when pitchers have concern that batters will hit home runs, they work harder to throw higher quality pitches. Usually, when pitchers have baserunners in scoring position or pitching to the top five hitters on a team, they throw their higher quality pitches. I will never believe that hiding in the shadow of the quality hitters and picking up the crumbs qualifies anybody for the Hall of Fame, even if they do it for a long time. I do not measure the number of the hits, I measure what kinds of hits they were, what time of the game they get them and whether pitchers prefer to pitch to that batter than the previous or next. I include number three starters who win three hundred games in this category. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 019. I have a young pitcher who has come to me with deltoid soreness in the belly of the medial muscle. All the tightness appears to be in the muscle and not towards the attachments. He has "traditional" mechanics and raises the ball to throwing position with the fingers on top. The tenderness goes away after warm-ups but is frustrating to him and a red flag to me. What would cause this soreness? How do we treat the current soreness? What force application changes need to occur? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When pitchers have discomfort in the belly of the middle deltoid muscle, it means that he needs to do my crow-step with shakedowns wrist weight exercise. He should start with ten pound wrist weights and do at least sixteen daily. His middle deltoid muscle is insufficiently fit to raise his pitching upper arm to shoulder height and keep it there. I share your concern that he keeps his fingers on top of the baseball during the Preparation/Transition Phase. This always causes a late forearm turnover and a reverse forearm bounce and does unnecessarily stress his middle deltoid. However, the front of the shoulder and inside of the elbow usually take the brunt of these flaws. With regard to what force application changes he needs to make, I would probably have to rewrite Chapter Thirty-Seven of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book here. For short-term help, get him a pair of ten pound wrist weights. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 020. I'm trying to picture how to correctly perform and explain the trigger from the set position. Do you take the ball out of the glove and then cross your wrists (how is this done to best hide your grip on the baseball from the batter? Pitching wrist over the top of the glove wrist?) and then begin to pendulum swing to start the transition phase? As the wrist, hand and forearm begin to supinate in the transition phase, you explain to shift your weight back to the pitching leg and then just prior to reaching driveline height you would then lift the glove foot off the ground. What position is the upper arm and forearm in when the glove foot should be lifted off the ground? Am I correct to say that it should be a couple inches away from laying your forearm on top of your upper arm at driveline height? When pitching in a game and using the maxline and torque drivelines to home plate, it seems as though the intelligent batters will figure out by where the pitcher stands on the rubber the location the pitcher is trying to pitch (inside or outside). Do you teach your advanced students methods to overcome this? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The key to the set position is rhythm. I teach my pitchers the proper rhythm with my wrist weight warm-up exercise, crow-step with shakedowns. With their feet angled at thirty degrees from the pitching rubber, they simultaneously and subtlely cross their wrists, pitching arm below, and slide their pitching foot forward a couple of inches. Then, when they start their pitching arm downward and backward parallel with their acromial line, which I now want at ten degrees forward of perpendicular to the driveline toward home plate, they simultaneously start their glove arm downward and forward and lock their pitching hip to prevent any reverse rotation. To get to the 'Ready' position, pitchers should pendulum swing, which means absolutely no horizontal component, their glove arm to shoulder height pointing toward home plate with their palm downward, their pitching arm to driveline height toward second base with their pitching forearm vertical and their palm forward and the toe of their glove foot still contacting the ground. Rather than stopping, I prefer to think of the 'Ready' position like smoothly turning the corner from moving backward and upward to driving behind the baseball straight forward. In this way, pitchers can start their forward drive with some positive velocity. After pitchers 'lock' their pitching arm and shoulder to their body, they start to powerfully 'step' forward off the pitching rubber with their pitching leg. Pitchers must not use their pitching elbow to 'drag' the pitching forearm and baseball forward. Instead, pitchers must 'lock' their pitching forearm and baseball with their pitching upper arm and carry it forward while they lean their shoulders to their glove side and flex their pitching elbow until, at release, the angle of their shoulders and the degrees of separation of their pitching forearm from their pitching upper arm is at least ninety degrees, which means that their pitching forearm is vertical. To understand what pitchers should do with their glove foot, I need to return to immediately after pitchers powerfully step forward off the pitching rubber with their pitching foot. At that moment, pitchers should still have the toe of their glove foot on the ground. While I do have my pitchers practice my 'no-stride transition' throwing drill and they throw very well, at this moment, I do want them to step straight forward to the glove side of the driveline for their pitching leg. I want pitchers to move their pitching knee inward toward their glove knee and forwardly rotate their body straight forward until the pitching forearm and baseball move beside their head. At this time, I want pitchers to initiate the 'power triad.' That is, I want them to powerfully pull their glove straight backward into their glove armpit, I want them to push with their glove foot straight backward toward second base and I want them to inwardly rotate their pitching shoulder, extend their pitching elbow and pronate their pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers straight toward home plate. In this way, pitchers will move their center of mass straight forward until the end of the deceleration phase of their pitching arm. Now, to answer your questions. The 'trigger' action starts the pitching motion. Let me copy the first paragraph. "The key to the set position is rhythm. With my wrist weight warm-up exercise, crow-step with shakedowns, I teach my pitchers the proper rhythm. To start, they simultaneously cross their wrists, pitching arm below, and slide their pitching foot forward a couple of inches." In games, umpires will not permit pitchers to slide their pitching foot forward. But, pitchers do not have to. They only need to 'feel' the rhythm. As long as they keep their pitching foot in contact with the pitching rubber, they can slightly lift the heel of their pitching foot with the crow-step rhythm. But, umpires will not object if they simultaneously lift their pitching hand and glove hand a few inches while they remove their pitching hand and baseball from the glove and slide them along their glove wrist. With the glove covering the baseball, they can start their double arm pendulum swing parallel with their acromial line. I do want pitchers to shift their body weight to their pitching foot during the double pendulum swing, but I do not want them to move their center of mass backwards. During the 'trigger' action, pitchers might appear to move upward and forward, but they should only slightly move their center of mass forward and, during the double pendulum swing, they should prevent their center of mass from moving backward. To prevent any last second reverse rotation, I want pitchers to keep their glove foot on the ground until they start to powerfully step straight forward off the pitching rubber. This is in keeping with the crow-step pitching rhythm that does not permit pitchers to start their body forward until their pitching arm is at driveline height. You are correct when you describe when pitchers should step straight forward with their glove foot as, 'a couple inches away from laying their pitching forearm on top of their pitching upper arm at driveline height.' We love to have batters think that we only throw Maxline Fastballs from the glove side of the pitching rubber and Torque Fastballs from the pitching arm side. While I have not recently reviewed my 1st, 2nd and 3rd At Bat Pitch Sequences for Youth and High School Pitchers in Chapter Twenty-Eight of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I do believe that I do have them throw what I call Maxline Torque Fastballs from the glove side of the pitching rubber and Torque Maxline Fastballs from the pitching arm side of the pitching rubber. With a little directional adjustment with the glove foot forward steps, pitchers can stand on the glove side of the pitching rubber and throw to the glove side of home plate and stand on the pitching arm side of the pitching rubber and throw to the pitching arm side of home plate. Besides, don't 'traditional' pitchers only stand on one side of the pitching rubber and throw their fastballs and non-fastballs. When my pitchers stand on the glove side of the pitching rubber, they can throw Maxline Fastballs, Maxline Fastball Sinkers, Maxline True Screwballs and Maxline Pronation Curves. I don't see where hitters are better off than against 'traditional' pitchers. I agree that when my pitchers stand on the pitching arm side of the pitching rubber, they only throw Torque Fastballs and Torque Fastball Sliders, but an occasional Torque Maxline Fastball from the pitching arm side might keep them from leaning over the plate too far. After my pitchers master the basic six pitches that I believe that all pitchers must have to meaningfully pitch competitively, I do have other suggestions of how they can combine the Torque force application technique with other spin axes beside Torque Fastball and Torque Fastball Slider. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 021. My 17 year old son pulled a hamstring during baseball conditioning. What advise can you offer for treating this? 3 years ago he pulled a muscle in his upper back and you suggested ice followed immediately by light swinging of the bat to get the blood flowing to the damaged area. Should he do any light running after icing the hamstring? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Athletes 'pull' their hamstrings because they have residual muscle tension in their antagonist muscles. Only muscles can 'pull' muscles. The layman term for the four muscles of the back of the upper leg is hamstrings. However, to understand why athletes tear this muscle tissue, we need to be more specific. Humans sit on their Ischial Tuberosity. The Semimembranosis, Semitendonosis and long head of the Biceps Femoris muscles attach to the Ischial Tuberosity of the hip. The Tibial portion of the Sciatic Nerve sends contraction and relaxation signals to these three muscles. The short head of the Biceps Femoris muscle arises from the posterior side of the bone of the upper leg, the Femor. The Peroneal portion of the Sciatic Nerve sends contraction and relaxation signal to this muscle. The antagonistic muscles of the hamstrings is the quadriceps. When the quadriceps contract, the hamstrings must relax. Any co-contraction of antagonist muscles during rapid bone movement unnecessarily stresses the muscles that should be relaxing. Sometimes, over-zealous coaches ask their eager athletes to move their bones at high rates of movement without insuring that the athletes have the muscle fitness to totally relax while the antagonist muscles contract or have perfected the motor unit contraction and relaxation sequence that includes the timely reciprocal inhibition signal arriving at the muscles that should totally relax. Unfortunately, for the short head of the Biceps Femoris muscle, this is a more complicated process. A different nerve signals the short head of the Biceps Femoris than signals the long head of the Biceps Femoris, Semimembranosis and Semitendonosis. As a result, the short head of the Biceps Femoris may not get it's relaxation signal before the quadriceps contract and the short head of the Biceps Femoris muscle tears. If this is what happened to your son, he should have a knot in the middle of the back of his upper leg. If he is extremely tight all the way up to his Ischial Tuberosity, it is a much more serious injury. He can recover from the short head tear in weeks, the other takes months. As soon as possible, he needs to return to whatever walking or jogging intensity he can tolerate without making the injury worse the next day. Ice, diathermy, ultra sound, deep muscle massage do little, but, if he cannot move at all, that is all that is available. He must increase blood flow to the injured tissue. The redistribution of blood due to the production of waste products from and replacement of nutrients to the injured muscle fibers is best. After the knot goes away, your son should do what the coach should have taught him how to do, that is, gently increase the intensity of the running movement over several days for only a few minutes per day. As the muscles become fit and he perfects the sequence of the motor unit contraction and relaxation signals, he can start my 'speed-ups.' With my 'speed-ups,' athletes jog easily for about twenty yards, then, gently increase the intensity for ten yards and gradually decrease the intensity back to jog. That represents one repetition. I recommend that athletes begin with ten repetitions of this forty yard drill with ten seconds of walking between. After the athletes gradually increase their intensity to maximum over several more days, they can start increasing by two repetitions every third day to a maximum of twenty repetitions. For uninjured athletes, this process takes three weeks of daily training. For injured athletes, it takes much longer. If his coach had received a proper Physiology of Exercise course, certainly mine, he would not have injured your son. In my seven years of college coaching, no position player has ever 'pulled' a hamstring or a quad. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 022. Thank you for your hospitality during our visit over the Christmas holidays. As always, we really enjoyed watching the work. I learn so much every time we are there. My oldest son really looked great. No other word for it. He probably does not realize how much progress he has made, especially in strength. My young, high school son finally got over the flu, and is back to his workouts with a vengeance. He usually throws three to five buckets per day, mixing up his pitches each day. The curve is still great, but we will have to find a fix for the friction burn on top of his ring finger. By the end of his work, the area is bleeding. He is going to try some of the skin glue type products over the coming weeks to find some help. After our visit, his screwball has improved 100%. In trying to get a better torque fastball rotation, I suggested he try throwing a slider with pronation, then back off on the severity of the angle of rotation. Well, that worked pretty good on getting the proper torque fastball rotation. Much more movement. But the funny thing is, he is throwing a hell of a slider. You might get mad about that, but it was not intentional. I think he just gets on top of a torque fastball, and man, you should see the break. I am afraid he is hooked on throwing it. Great control. Then, of course he got the idea to try the sinker while he was at it. Same story. Getting on top of a maxline fastball, and letting it roll off the side of his middle finger. Great sharp late break. If you say so, I will make sure he stops throwing the slider and sinker. Just say the word. Above all, he is having fun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had the same problem with my ring finger. I taped it every off-season training day with a one-inch high-quality flexible bandage that I bought in grosses. You are correct. I do not want your young, high school son practicing my Torque Fastball Slider. First, I worry that he will start dropping his pitching hand under the baseball and injure the inside of this pitching elbow. Second, while it might fool high school batters, it will not fool major league batters. And, it is valuable only in fastball counts. He needs to master the Torque Fastball. He needs to feel as though his pitching fingers are horizontal at release. Like you saw my pitchers practicing, to learn the proper Torque Fastball release, he should find a junior size football, put his index and middle finger on opposite sides of the point of the football, use my Torque Pickoff Pronation drill, point the football toward his target and extend his throwing elbow straight toward the glove side and pronate his throwing forearm such that the football rotates horizontally end over end to this glove side. Unless it interferes with practicing my Maxline True Screwball, I do not have any problem with him throwing my Maxline Fastball Sinker. At all levels, it is the best pitch in baseball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 023. I have a 19 year old son who will be pitching as a freshman at a university this spring. When he extends his pitching arm out in front of him palm facing up, he can not extend it to straight so that it is parallel to the floor. The pitching arm is about 15 degrees higher then his other arm. He has no pain, but has lost some velocity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Chapter Ten of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I discuss the causes of decreases in the flexion and extension ranges of motion of the pitching arm. These causes are insidious in that neither of these causes necessarily result in sufficient discomfort that pitchers complain. Nevertheless, they do permanently deform the pitching arm. For your son to not be able to straighten his pitching arm as far as he can straighten his glove arm indicates that he uses the 'traditional' pitching motion that fails to protect the olecranon fossa of the back of his upper arm bone, Humerus, from collisions with the olecranon process of the tip of one of his forearm bones, Ulna. The complete answer is to learn how to properly apply force with my 280-Day Adult Pitchers Interval-Training Program, wherein pitchers learn how to pronate the pitching forearm on all pitches. Forearm pronation protects the olecranon fossa from the olecranon process. Forearm pronation means that pitchers powerfully turn their pitching thumb to point downward immediately after release. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 024. I’m a Canadian writer on assignment for a monthly online publication that provides health and fitness content to universities, health clubs and medical centers. I’m currently writing a short piece about developing the deltoid muscles and would be delighted if you would agree to answer a few questions via email. If you’re amenable, please let me know and I’ll send questions with the hope that your schedule would permit you to respond fairly quickly, ideally within a few days. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I can agree to take the time to answer your questions, I will need to look at your questions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 025. Thank you for agreeing to consider the following questions: 1. Are the deltoids particularly responsive to exercise? Perhaps you could make a specific recommendation(s). Is it possible to over-develop the deltoids to adverse effect? 2. What is the benefit in terms of athletic performance? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The Deltoid muscles respond to APPROPRIATELY-APPLIED physical stress the same as every other muscle in the body. I train baseball pitchers. They need to abduct (raise) their pitching and glove upper arms (Humerus bones) to shoulder height. The middle Deltoid muscle does this. They need to inwardly rotate their pitching and glove upper arms, the anterior Deltoid does this. They need to outwardly rotate their pitching and glove upper arms, the posterior Deltoid does this. When athletes specifically train for their sport activities, they will achieve the proper fitness in the Deltoid muscles. Nevertheless, I cannot envision a situation where athletes could develop their Deltoid muscles to excess or that very highly developed Deltoid muscles would have any adverse effect for any reason. 2. I believe that, in my answer to your question one, I gave my answer to this question. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 026. After a recent pitching lesson, my 14 year old son experienced pain in his elbow for the first time. He normally ices after each lesson, however he did not after this one. It was still sore after a week, however the soreness had subsided a bit. We skipped his next lesson and took him to an orthopedic doctor. He x-rayed my son's elbow and found nothing wrong. However he did state that his growth plate had closed. The doctor did not act like this was uncommon nor did he seem concerned about it. He advised 3 Advil twice a day for 10 days with no pitching for a week. My son did throw a little that week, but no pitching. My son had his first pitching lesson since the soreness began, 4 days ago. He did ice after this lesson and took 3 Advil. The next morning his elbow was sore again. I called the doctor and he told me not to let him throw at all for two weeks and continue the Advil. In researching elbow pain in youth pitcher's on the Internet, I came upon your site and read about premature growth plate closure in young pitchers. My question to you is: Does premature growth plate closure affect their pitching in the future? Or does this pretty much guarantee he is "all washed up" at the tender age of 14? And would you recommend resting his arm for longer than 2 weeks? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Normally, the growth plate for the medial epicondyle closes in biologically-aged sixteen year olds. The number of months since someone was born represents chronological age. In Chapter Five of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I have a chart that I developed while completing my doctoral dissertation that shows that five percent of fourteen chronologically-aged young men are biologically sixteen years old. Your son could be in that five percent. However, baseball pitching can cause premature growth plate closure. The only way for you to know whether the growth plate of the medial epicondyle of his pitching arm prematurely closed because of baseball pitching is to compare it with the growth plate of the medial epicondyle of his glove arm. If the growth plate of the medial epicondyle of his glove arm is also closed, then baseball pitching did not accelerate it closure. While, when growth plates close, no further normal growth and development of that growth plate can occur, it only means that that aspect of the bone will never be the full adult size that genetics intended. It is still good bone. It will still respond to appropriately-applied training. All is not lost, he just has less with which to work. However, I am very concerned about the discomfort he is experiencing before, during and after someone teaches him how to apply force to his baseball pitches. I have no doubt that the coach is teaching him the 'traditional' pitching motion with too much reverse rotation, pitching elbow drop-under, pitching forearm flyout, pitching elbow pull across and downward and more, all of which unnecessarily stresses the inside of his pitching elbow and will eventually permanently destroy his pitching arm. While, in general, because inactivity means atrophy, I disagree with the doctor's advice to rest and medicate, with the coach teaching him harmful techniques, it might be better for him to stop. On the other hand, if he wants to learn how to pronate his pitching forearm correctly to achieve the proper spin axes for my Maxline Fastball, Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Pronation Curve and Torque Fastball, he could learn how to do my throwing drills. I am presently working on the second version of my Instructional Videotape and my Coaches' Eye Videotape. After I finish those, I will edit my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book to bring it up to date with what we are doing today. You can copy my present Coaching Baseball Pitchers book at my web site at www.drmikemarshall.com in the FREE BOOK!!! file. Lastly, no pitcher at any age should have to 'ice' his pitching arm after throwing and, certainly, no pitcher at any age should have to medicate for the pain that pitching caused him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 027. I would like a little more information, if you wouldn't mind. 1. Could you explain how and where our son could participate in your 280 day training program? I have read some of your material on the web and I think it is way over our son's head, mine, as well! I have a background in business, not physiology or kinesiology. 2. Our son has trained under a pitching coach who stressed mechanics over speed. Our son has never had an arm injury of any sort and has been diligent to ice after games and practices. In your opinion, however, he has most probably never been instructed to use the right position for his thumb upon release. Correct? Is there a way to have his mechanics evaluated by someone who looks at this problem from your perspective? Do you know anyone in our area? 3. What type of damage will our son sustain if he continues to pitch this season the way he has been trained? We have been referred to an orthopedist who specializes in sports related elbow injuries, but our son does not want to miss games or practices in order to come back from college and wants to wait until after the season. Should this condition be immediately addressed? Are there any exercises he can do in the interim to begin to correct this problem? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pitching Instruction icon on the home page of my web site at www.drmikemarshall.com explains the normal circumstances under which I train pitchers. However, because I recently expanded the housing I have available and I been working hard to get them to acceptable habitable condition, I am presently able to accept another pitching partner. To protect the extension range of motion for their pitching elbow, pitchers must learn how to pronate the releases of all pitches. I do not know of anybody in your area who could evaluate or teach your son how to pronate his releases. However, we welcome visitors at any time. While, without being partners, he cannot train at my Pitcher Research/Training Center, he can watch what my kids do and ask questions that I will answer. If your son continues to use the 'traditional' pitching motion and supinate his curve, slider and/or fastball releases, then he will continue to lose his pitching elbow extension range of motion. He also will never become the best pitcher that he can be. If he is serious about becoming the best pitcher he can be, then I recommend that he does not waste another semester of college eligibility and start my 280-Day Adult Pitchers Interval-Training Program either on his own or here in Zephyhills, FL. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 028. If we were to digitally record our son's pitching motion, would you review and provide us with your assessment and possibly a recommendation? I think it might also be helpful to better understand a little more background on our son. We live in a reasonably warm climate area and he has been pitching competitive baseball since he was eight year old, for six years. This generally means approximately seventy games per year: three-four practices per week, and four-five games per week over sixteen week seasons. We have been extremely careful, both us as parents and his coaches, to limit pitch counts to no more than eighty per game and generally two games per week. My son has always had very good command of the strike zone so his pitch count per game does not vary too much around the seventy average and is generally lower than his peers. About two years ago, at twelve years old, my son began receiving weekly private pitching lessons from an ex-professional baseball pitcher and one of his assistants, who is also a professional baseball pitcher. He is very well respected and if you would like his name I will provide upon request. During the regular season we stop the lessons, so he would start his weekly lessons in September and conclude twenty weeks later in February. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I only evaluate live performances of the pitchers with whom I am pitching partners in their attempt to become the best pitcher that they can be. If I were to agree to evaluate videotape performances, I would not have time for anything else. Therefore, I will not review videotape. I recommend that youth pitchers train for two months per year, wait until they are biologically thirteen years old to pitch competitively and pitch one inning per game twice a week. You can guess what I think about how much your son has pitched and what I think has happened to his pitching arm as a result. I am certain the his pitching coaches are teaching him the 'traditional' pitching motion with its numerous flaws that have destroyed pitching arms for over one hundred years. Their names are inter-changeable with thousands of others who do not know what they do not know. If he still has a pitching arm when he completes his sophomore year of high school, then to see whether he has anything on which to build a quality adult pitcher, I will accept him for my eight-week summer program for high school juniors and seniors. For more details, click on my Pitching Instruction file on the home page of my web site at www.drmikemarshall.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 029. Your thoughts on twelve year olds lifting weights, whether circuit or free weights. Or, do you just give them your Ball Drills and wrist weight program? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The growth plate of the medial epicondyle of the elbow joint closes when young men are sixteen biological years old. I would not put any stress on that and other growth plate with any kind of weight training, lifting or whatever until after those growth plates close. I have clearly stated that, until youth pitchers are sixteen biological years old, they should not do my wrist weight or iron ball throws. I want youth pitchers with open growth plates in their pitching elbow only to work with the normal weight of baseballs to master the skills for proper throwing my four basic pitches. I certainly would never recommend that a biological twelve-year-old young man regularly lifts anything more than the garbage bags that he has to put out for collection. The proximal end of the Humerus bone in the shoulder has two growth plates that remain open until young men are nineteen biological year olds. The distal end of the Radius and Ulna bones in the wrist also has two growth plates that remain open until young men are nineteen biological years old. Therefore, I recommend that young men between sixteen biological years old and nineteen biological years old keep the weight of my wrist weights at ten pounds and of my iron ball at six pounds. After nineteen biological years old, I have increased the weight of the wrist weights to forty pounds and the iron ball to fifteen pounds with great results. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 030. My son pitches and plays High School football. This football season he suffered a subluxation type injury to his shoulder. The doctor fitted him with a brace that attached to his upper arm to prevent his arm from going behind his acromial line. It worked like a charm and he played the remainder of the season with no problem. Would such a contraption work for a pitcher? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not a fan of anything that interferes with the free-flow of sport activities. Motor Skill Acquisitionists call them, facilitators. In this case, the brace limits the horizontal extension of the shoulder joint, that is, the backward movement of the abducted bone of the upper arm, the Humerus. I want pitchers to freely and easily pendulum swing their pitching arm parallel with their acromial line with absolutely no horizontal component such that it arrives at driveline height ready to smoothly turn the corner to drive behind the baseball in a straight line toward home plate. I think that a mirror teaches this much better than a brace. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 031. In December 2002, I had a partial dislocation of my right throwing shoulder and two months later, in February 2003, I suffer a full dislocation. Both occurred during high school basketball games. On February 20, 2003, I had mini open bankart repair surgery. My ligament was torn off the bone, there was no other damage. My doctor said it was a standard very straight forward surgery. One week after surgery my physical therapy began; twice a day for 9 months. By April 20, I was cleared to DH and run for my high school team, and, by May 20 I was cleared to begin throwing with my summer American Legion team. Initially, I was using passive stretching and then by September began active isolated stretching. Throwing rehab progressed much slower than I hoped, even though my doctor and PT warned me. The biggest problem was restoring full range of motion and external rotation. My PT and dad stretched me twice a day. I can say this was very painful at times. My doctor operates on professional athletics, he knew I was a baseball player and he continued to comfort me that my full external rotation would return. After months of rehab by November, 9 months after surgery, I was at 90% range of motion and my throwing velocity was starting to return (throwing at 72mph). At my December 30 doctor visit, I was at 98% external rotation (throwing at 76mph). My doctor said that continued throwing will allow me to get to 100%. Strength in my right shoulder was now greater than my left. This past weekend, I hit 78mpg and my shoulder feels great. I continue to throw every other day, stretch every day, lift weights three times a week, and exercise with bands three times a week. Over the years I've always been a hard thrower playing shortstop, catcher, pitcher and outfield. Prior to my injury, I was throwing at 84 mph, that was 1 ½ years ago when I was 16. Should I be doing anything else? Is my rehab normal? Looking at a slow motion of my throwing, my arm rotates to parallel to the ground. Is there any reason why my arm will not return or even be stronger than before my injury? What do you think about throwing with over and under weighed balls? Mentally persuading my body to throw hard was a big obstacle. I think I have worked through that. Is there anything you can suggest? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It sounds as though your rehabilitation has proceeded well. However, I believe that the stretching delayed your recovery rather than helped. I also disagree with trying to increase the shoulder joint rotation range of motion of your shoulder more than ninety degrees. Nevertheless, you are where you are. At this point, I would recommend my 120-Day High School Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. Position players simply drop my Maxline True Screwballs and Maxline Pronation Curves and double the number of my Maxline and Torque Fastballs. With this program, until you are biologically nineteen years old, you will use ten pound wrist weights and a six pound iron ball. These weights will stimulate the strengthening of the bones, ligaments and tendons of the throwing arm. They will also teach how to properly apply force. Over and under weighted baseballs do not stimulate strengthening of the bones, ligaments and tendons or teach how to properly apply force. My series of throwing drills teach how to properly use the throwing fingers, hand, wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, shoulder girdle and the body in that sequence. With my straight line drive technique, pitchers do not need more than ninety degrees of shoulder joint rotation range of motion. With my straight line drive technique, rather than drop their pitching elbow under at the start of their upper arm acceleration phase, pitchers drive over top. This removes unnecessary stress from the anterior shoulder. Right now, my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book is about a year behind what we are presently doing at my Pitcher Research/Training Center. After I finish with my second Instructional Videotape, I will start editing it. Nevertheless, it is a good place for you to start. It is free for you to copy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 032. You wrote: "I will never believe that hiding in the shadow of the quality hitters and picking up the crumbs qualifies anybody for the Hall of Fame, even if they do it for a long time. I do not measure the number of the hits, I measure what kinds of hits they were, what time of the game they get them and whether pitchers prefer to pitch to that batter than the previous or next." I'm no Pete Rose apologist, and this is not a pro or con Pete Rose argument, but you still have to explain to me how a hitter "hides in the shadows and picks up the crumbs". Every hitter earns what he gets in the batter's box; there are no handouts. The guy got on base 37.5% of the times he came to the plate, and as a leadoff hitter, isn't that his job? And ultimately, isn't it the pitchers job to keep all batter's, but especially leadoff batter's off base, regardless of whether they prefer to pitch to them or not? Especially a hitter of Rose's profile, limited power, limited speed. Why did so many pitcher's let him 'pick up crumbs' and get on base instead of throwing him "quality pitches" and keeping him from scoring one of the 2,165 runs he scored? Why not really go after a guy like that who is less likely to hurt you if you make a mistake? If a guy is really a number 8 hitter 'hiding in the shadows' in the leadoff spot, treat him like a number 8 hitter and go after him! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only batter that immediately comes to mind that did not 'pick up the crumbs' of the Hall of Fame hitter before him is Lou Gehrig. But then, didn't he hit the most grand slam home runs? I am sure that I mentioned in previous emails that pitchers pitch differently to higher quality hitters. Maybe, unless people dampened jockstraps on a major league mounds, they just cannot understand this. Of course, major league pitchers want to keep all batters off base. However, there is such a thing as game management. Pitchers would rather let Mr. Rose get a single than walk him. I cannot say the same thing for at least five other hitters on his team. I do not know whether a thirty-seven point five on-base percentage is in the top ten all time. But, when did Mr. Rose get on base? If he did it as a lead-off batter of an inning, then that counts more than two out, nobody on base bunt singles he tried to get off me. I will return to the only valid point in this discussion, Mr. Rose was nowhere near the best hitter on the Cincinnati Reds. Therefore, he does not belong with the best of the best in the entire history of professional baseball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 033. Thank you for your quick response. I’ve print off your information and will begin with the program. Have you every worked with a player with the same surgery as me? If so, have they come all the way back and how long does it take? I think I’m almost back and my shoulder feels great. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am presently working with several pitchers with much worse injuries and surgeries than you. They definitely come all the way back. To recover from their injuries takes the 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. To become the best pitcher that they can be takes a few years longer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 034. After ACL surgery, the doctor fully released my son to resume pitching. His rehab has gone well, he was released to throw off a mound about 3 months after surgery (but only in controlled situations, to a screen, not a batter). He and I have been running and doing standard leg exercises at the gym (machine squats, calf raises, ham string curls), and he has been throwing off the mound at our house. His doctor would not allow him to do the wrist weight, nor iron ball exercises until he was fully released. I wanted to ask you if you have any specific exercises that you would recommend, to strengthen for post ACL surgery. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not recall which knee he injured. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament prevents the Femur bone of the upper leg from sliding forward over the Tibia bone of the foreleg. This action would be problematic for the glove knee of pitchers who use the 'traditional' pitching motion. However, with my pitching motion, neither knee would receive enough stress to cause any problem. In the years since your son spent his short time here, we have considerably improved how we teach my pitching motion. He could easily complete my Pickoff Pronation and Wrong Foot Slingshot wrist weight and iron ball exercises. I would worry much more about throwing baseballs from the set position or wind-up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 035. It was his glove side knee that he injured. He began doing the wrist weight exercises yesterday, I am not familiar with the pickoff pronation, nor the pitching motion you recommend, so I will print your latest book, review both and if I have any questions (which I probably will), I will contact you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the 'traditional' pitching motion with the high glove leg lift and long stride, if Kevin throws from the set position or wind-up, he will put the glove knee under considerable stress. I prefer that he stay away from the set position and wind-up baseball throws. Unfortunately, I have not yet updated my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book with my Pickoff Pronation or Wrong Foot Slingshot throws. I am working on my second Instructional Videotape. After I finish it, I will start editing my book. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 036. Prior to two weeks ago my son has worked through the 8-11 yr. old programs by throwing to a net 15' or so away, but now with the 12 yr. old program I have moved the net outside to 25'-30' feet away. I'm very impressed with the screwball with the horizontal spin axis and the velocity and movement on his maxline fastball. However, he is having difficulty obtaining velocity on the pronated curve and his torque fastball does not move as much as his maxline fastball. Is this common with the four pitches? Is the lack of velocity on the pronated curve due to your fingers being on top of the baseball starting at driveline height vs. behind it like the fastballs? Do your students usually find early success with the screwball and maxline fastball? Anyway, I'm very excited with what he has accomplished so far and think that along with me he is now really sold on the new mechanics. It is truly amazing the apparent increased velocity he is achieving now vs. the traditional mechanics. It is obvious to me that your intent with what you are doing is not money driven and that's great. It would be nice if there was a way you can duplicate yourself in others across the globe and was wondering if you had thought of some sort of certification process that others could go through and be tested for completion. Obviously, the students that go through your 280 day training will be well qualified to explain and teach others, but how many fathers/coaches can spend 280 days away from their jobs? Do you have any thoughts of having some sort of system or certification process? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If I had finished my second Instructional Videotape and your son has completed my 60-day eight, nine, ten and eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training programs, then he should be proficient with my Pickoff Pronation throws, my Wrong Foot Slingshot throws, my No-Stride Swing-to-Ready throws and my No-Stride Transition throws. In any case, with my 60-day twelve year old baseball pitchers interval-training program, he is practicing my Set Position Transition throws. Now, the ugly head of lifting the glove foot off the ground enters the picture and pitchers want to reverse rotate. Now, rather than the pendulum swing not adding any backward horizontal force to the start of the drive toward home plate, it does. The least effected pitch is my Maxline True Screwball. The second least effected pitch is my Maxline Fastball. The second most effected pitch is my Maxline Pronation Curve. The most effected pitch is my Torque Fastball. To correct this problem, I recommend that return to my No-Stride Transition throws. Actually, he should for now and always also do my Pickoff Pronation throws and my Wrong Foot Slingshot throws. Recently, we have decided to also keep my No-Stride Swing-to-Ready throws until pitchers start practicing my Wind-Up throws. My No-Stride Transition throws keeps the glove foot on the ground throughout the throw. I want to make sure that pitchers do not add any reverse knee, hip or shoulder rotation to the end of the Transition Phase. Then, when pitchers start practicing my Set Position Transition throws, I get real grumpy about anything that moves the baseball to the glove side of the driveline. I define the driveline as a straight line through the back of the head toward the middle of home plate. I want pitchers to stand with the feet turned at thirty degrees from the pitching rubber and their acromial line at ten degrees. I want the glove and pitching arms pendulum swings to be vertical and parallel with the acromial line. At the end of the pendulum swing, I want pitchers to roll their pitching shoulder and pitching forearm to ten degrees inside of vertical such that, from the rear view the baseball is directly behind the head in line with home plate. This is my 'Ready' position from which the pitching elbow starts forward. With my Set Position Transition throws, I do not want pitchers to lift their glove foot off the ground until they start to forwardly rotate their hips and step forward off the pitching rubber with their pitching foot. This helps to stop reverse rotation and enables my pitchers to apply the first forward force to the baseball in a straight line toward home plate. The critical moment in driving behind the baseball versus dragging the baseball forward, which leads to forearm flyout is how pitchers move forward from my 'Ready' position. If, when the pitching elbow starts forward, the pitching forearm downward and starts to follow the pitching elbow, then pitchers have what I call, 'pitching elbow drop-under.' This is the most egregious pitching flaw in the 'traditional' pitching motion and is our greatest challenge to correct. I recommend that, from my 'Ready' position, pitchers drive overtop of the pitching elbow straight toward home plate. At my 'Ready' position, the pitching forearm is ten degrees inside of vertical from the rear view and vertical from the side view. With my Wrong Foot Slingshot throws, pitchers learn how to have their pitching forearm horizontal with their shoulders at least forty-five degrees to their glove side. Therefore, from 'Ready,' I want pitchers to move to my 'Slingshot' position. This requires that they move their pitching forearm from ten degrees inside of vertical to ninety degrees inside of vertical. But, pitchers must not permit the pitching elbow to lead the pitching forearm forward. They must drive over their pitching elbow with their pitching forearm. With their pitching arm held solidly in this position, pitchers must 'carry' their pitching shoulder, pitching upper arm and pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers forward until they have forwardly rotated their pitching hip to point toward home plate. Then, they powerfully horizontally inwardly rotate their pitching upper arm, extend their pitching elbow and pronate their pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers for the type of pitch that they wish to throw as they backwardly drive off their glove foot straight toward home plate. I call this pitching arm action, 'pronation snap.' Your son does not have higher velocity with his curve because he does not 'carry' the baseball sufficiently forward before he starts his pronation snap. He does not get movement with his Torque Fastball because he has 'pitching elbow drop-under.' Pitchers must have sufficient pitching forearm degrees of separation from their pitching upper arm that those degrees of separation added to the degrees of shoulder lean to their glove side totals ninety degrees. If they add up to less than ninety degrees, they their pitching forearm is that many degrees outside of vertical and they cannot get horizontal spin axes on my four basic pitches. In my second Instructional Videotape, I am working hard to lay all of this out for Dads everywhere. I agree that some of my 280-Day students might make good instructors. However, every year thus far, we have developed better drills with which to teach the skills. They would have to come back for a refresher course each year. Now, if I only had the money to set up Dr. Mike Marshall Baseball Pitching Training Centers across the country. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 037. I went to a baseball clinic yesterday and a major league pitching coach gave a fancy presentation with video from the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), Dr. Andrews' group. This pitching coach made the statement that most pitching injuries occur in the deceleration phase of pitching. Later, in private, I asked him on what did he base this. He said that he really wasn't sure, but that is what Dr. Andrews told him. There's nothing like making a statement to 1,000 coaches who will then pass this on to about 20,000 players. Certainly their concept of deceleration differs from yours and I'm cringing at the wrong information that will be passed on. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1986 or 1987, when I was still head baseball coach at Saint Leo College, Dr. Andrews asked me to speak at a United States Olympic Committee Symposium in Phoenix, AZ. He asked to explain the Deceleration Phase of the baseball pitching motion. He also had someone else speak to the same topic. The other presenter said that to decelerate the pitching arm, which he estimated weighed between fifteen and twenty pounds as I recall, to a stop required several hundred pounds of force. I cannot recall the details. If what he said were true, baseball pitchers would be ripping the muscles that decelerate the pitching arms on a daily basis. But, I do not see that happening. The deceleration phase of the pitching motion ends when the pitching arm moves as far toward home plate as the length of the pitching arm permits. Since the length of the pitching arm remains the same whether pitchers use the 'traditional' or my pitching motion, the distance over which that pitchers have to safely stop it's forward movement is the same. Baseball pitchers have to decelerate their Scapula, Humerus, Radius, Ulna, eight Carpal, five Metacarpal and fourteen Phalange bones. The Rhomboid Major, Rhomboid Minor, Levator Scapula and Trapezius muscles decelerate the Scapula bone from moving laterally around the side of the rib cage. On occasion, during the early phases of my 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program, a few pitchers will mention some discomfort in their Rhomboids. But, with continued training at a reduced intensity and it goes away in a few days. The Inferior Angle attachment of the Latissimus Dorsi muscle decelerates the Scapula bone from moving upwardly over the shoulder. Again, a few pitchers will mention some discomfort at the lower tip of their Scapula bone, which also goes away after a few days of reduced intensity and my admonition that they should forwardly rotate their shoulders through release rather than bend over forward. The Teres Minor, Teres Major and Latissimus Dorsi attachment to the Humerus bone decelerate the Humerus bone, the bone of the upper arm, from moving toward home plate. In the 'Traditional' pitching motion, pitchers have extreme forearm flyout, such that their pitching arm completely straightens and horizontally circles outward from their pitching arm side at degrees that are nearly horizontal up to, depending on the amount of lean to their glove side, twenty degrees outside of vertical. In all cases, because of the horizontal component, their pitching arms continue around the front of their bodies to their glove side. Therefore, pitchers can put considerable unnecessary stress on these muscles. At the more nearly horizontal degrees, the tiny Teres Minor muscle lines up as the deceleration muscles and cannot withstand the stress. In my pitching motion, I recommend that pitchers use a straight line driveline with a vertical forearm that they achieve with a combination of degrees of separation of the pitching forearm from the pitching upper arm and a lean to the glove side that totals ninety degrees. That is, the greater the degrees of separation, the lesser the lean to the glove side. In any case, like the baseball, I want pitchers to move their pitching arm to move absolutely straight toward home plate from 'Ready,' the position immediately before the pitching elbow starts moving forward, to the end of the deceleration phase, the position where the tip of the pitching fingers reach as far forward as the length of their pitching arm permits. During the deceleration phase, I want pitchers to continue to move their center of mass forward and to continue to forwardly rotate their shoulders until their acromial line points at home plate. These actions increase the distance over which pitchers have to decelerate their pitching arms and place the task of deceleration to the large and powerful Teres Major and Latissimus Dorsi muscles. The Brachialis, Biceps Brachii, Pronator Teres, Flexor Carpi Radialis, Palmaris Longis, Flexor Carpi Ulnaris, a portion of the Flexor Digitorum Superficialis, Brachioradialis and Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus and Brevis are the primary muscles that decelerate the Radius and Ulna bones and eight Carpal bones. During my intense training program, my pitchers do report discomfort in most of these muscles. But, it is a natural part of heavy training and goes away without reducing the training intensity. If injuries occur to any deceleration muscle that requires surgery of ends pitching careers, I am not aware of it. However, since no pitcher I have ever trained has ever had a pitching injury that required surgery or ended his pitching career, I am not aware of allot of pitching injuries. I will have to leave that discussion to the team doctors for colleges and professional teams. The typical injuries that require surgical intervention are when the Ulnar Collateral Ligament ruptures, the Olecranon Process continually slams into the Olecranon Fossa, the humeral attachment of the Subscapularis muscle and/or the humeral attachment of the Supraspinatus muscle pulls loose. These injuries occur during the acceleration phase of the 'traditional' pitching motion. 1. The Ulnar Collateral Ligament ruptures due to the pitching elbow drop-under and pitching forearm flyout of the 'traditional' pitching motion. 2. The Olecranon Process slams into the Olecranon Fossa because 'traditional' pitchers generate excessive centripetal force. 3. The humeral attachment of the Subscapular pulls loose because 'traditional' pitchers take their pitching elbow behind their acromial line and reverse rotate their shoulders until their pitching elbow points toward the opposite side mid-infielder, such that when they drag their pitching forearm back to their pitching arm side and then toward home plate, the unnecessary stress tears its attachment. 4. The humeral attachment of the Supraspinatus muscle pulls loose because 'traditional' pitchers outwardly rotate their Humerus bone ninety degrees to horizontal and, during the acceleration phase, inwardly rotate their Humerus bone two hundred and seventy degrees. As a result, the attachment of the Supraspinatus muscle moves from the back of the shoulder to past the front of the shoulder and farther. This excessive range of inward rotation tears its attachment. In my pitching motion, pitchers outwardly rotate the humeral attachment of the Supraspinatus muscle only forty-five degrees from which they inwardly rotate it only ninety degrees. If researchers wrongly believe that all thirty-one of these bones are moving at one hundred and thirty-two feet per second, ninety miles per hour, when they start to decelerate them to a stop in about two one-thousandths of a second, then we have a problem. It cannot be done. At that Olympic Committee Symposium, I presented high-speed film that showed that the Scapula bone stopped while the Humerus bone was still moving forward and that the Humerus bone stopped while the Ulna and Radius bones were still moving forward. This means that pitchers only had to safely stop the Ulna and Radius bones, the Carpals and Metacarpal and Phalanges bones and I am not convinced that the Ulna and Radius bones are not almost stopped before pitchers release their pitches. This would mean that pitchers only to decelerate their wrist, hand and fingers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 038. Being that he asked you to speak, has Dr. Andrews ever spoken to you about your views on deceleration? If not why wouldn't he at least want to analyze your views? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Andrews attended my presentation, but we did not speak privately. You would have to ask him why he has not analyzed my research,or you can email Glenn Flesig, the Director of ASMI, at glennf@asmi.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 039. Thanks for all your help and responding to my questions about a recent deltoid situation in the belly of the medial deltoid muscle. He has been doing the shakedown wrist exercises with 10 pounds. He now reports that as the hand passes the ear from external rotation to internal rotation he feels sharpness in the rear deltoid up more towards the shoulder. It still does not appear to be in the attachment. All this seems to happen more in warm-up throwing. When he goes to the mound the discomfort subsides. Watching the young pitcher throw, you would not know he is experiencing any difficulties. He is becoming very concerned and I am at a loss as to how to help. It seems to be a good sign the sharp pain subsides when he goes to the mound. I know nothing heals itself without blood and oxygen and continued exercise. Spring training starts soon and we are both somewhat anxious. We appreciate your thoughts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discomfort in the back of the shoulder tells me that, when he pitches, he pulls his pitching arm across the front of his body. Without personally examining him and watching him throw, I cannot know if the tissue that is unable to tolerate the stress that he is applying is the Teres Minor, which is up under the posterior deltoid in the back of the armpit, the posterior gleno-humeral ligament, the Teres Major or Latissimus Dorsi. Nevertheless, he has to stop the pitching forearm flyout that results in his pitching arm moving across the front of his body. He does this with powerful pitching forearm pronations through release. I allow at least three weeks for a physiological response to daily training to occur. I do not know for how long he has been doing my Crow-step with Shakedowns wrist weight exercise, but he needs to continue and he needs to do my other wrist weight exercises. He has to learn how to 'fight the flyout.' The beauty of the human body is that, with appropriately designed and administered training programs, it will physiologically respond and withstand greater stresses. However, it has its own timetable. It does not care about college baseball game schedules. It does not care how fast someone else wants it to respond. I recommend that pitchers start training for the next season within a couple weeks of the last season. Your boy is paying the price of the 'traditional' pitching motion and not appropriately training through last summer and fall. For every day that pitchers take off, it takes one and one-half days to get back to where they were before they took that day off. Rest means atrophy, not increased strength. I train several professional baseball pitchers. They start with me two weeks after their season. Precisely what we do depends on what we did the previous off-season, but seventy-two days before spring training starts, they go into my in-season maintenance level training. Then, thirty-six days before their spring training starts, they begin their pitch sequencing training for the first three at bats against the four types of hitters. When spring training starts, I and they know that they are physically fit to pitch a season, I and they know what game they have and how to get the most out of it and I and they know that, during the first bullpen of spring training, they will throw very well and without any discomfort. The NCAA mandated three weeks before the first game is way, way too late to start getting a pitching arm ready for the season. This is the main reason why I have no interest in NCAA baseball. By mandating that baseball coaches cannot work with their pitchers during the summer, when their training is critical, and only eight weeks during the fall does not permit baseball coaches to properly prepare their pitchers for the season. Rather than try to rush his rehabilitation and possibly seriously damage his pitching arm, he may want to red-shirt this season and get started on properly training his pitching arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 040. Thought I'd give you a report from the 'field,' so to speak. Your work is having an impact throughout the baseball world, but 'competition' is slowing down its implementation. The guys who are stealing your stuff are making 2 major changes to their teachings on mechanics; 1. keeping the throwing arm parallel or slightly in front of their acromial line and 2. at hand break, keep weight over posting leg until the throwing arm is up in back. These changes seem to address the major 'sins' of the traditional throwing motion. My son's coaches are also trying to implement these changes. I know this is not enough, BUT it is a positive impact. These kids ARE going to compete soon and coaches know they can't implement wholesale changes in their pitchers mechanics. I guess this is why MLB has no use for you, even though they KNOW you are RIGHT. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isolated as I am in beautiful, but tiny Zephyrhills, FL, I greatly appreciate reports from the field. It is fabulous that they realized the damage they can do to the front of the shoulder if their pitchers take their pitching upper arm behind their acromial line. It is also fabulous that they are incorporating the 'crow-step' pitching rhythm that enables the pitching arm to reach driveline height before they start the body forward. You are correct, these are two very important changes to the 'traditional' pitching motion.' However, I worry about 'supinating' their releases damaging their pitching elbow. I guess I have to teach them how to teach their kids how to 'pronate' their releases. I will spend a great deal of time on that in my second Instructional Videotape. I also worry about pitching forearm flyout as a result of pitchers reverse rotating their pitching arm to point at the opposite mid-infielder. Lastly, in my second Instructional Videotape, I will introduce and explain the worse pitching flaw of them all, 'pitching elbow drop-under.' This flaw occurs immediately after the 'Ready' position and causes pitching forearm flyout even in my pitchers who do not reverse rotate their pitching arm laterally behind their body. Rather than drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching elbow immediately after the 'Ready' position, even my pitchers drop their pitching elbow under and drag their pitching forearm and the baseball forward. This causes even my pitchers to extend their pitching elbow upward rather than forward and creates the centripetal force that my guys have to fight. Even though my guys achieve up to forty degrees of separation between the longitudinal axes of their pitching upper arms and pitching forearms, which prevents injury, they lose release velocity, release consistency and pitch quality. You have an excellent point about why major league baseball has not embraced my pitching motion. It requires that pitchers train for two hundred and eighty days after they sign and throughout their off-seasons. That means that the teams would have to pay their coaches and pitchers throughout the year. I have longed believed that, until the bottom line cost of injuries to pitchers exceeded the cost of properly training them, major league baseball teams would do nothing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 041. I would like to know the impact of humidity from a pitching stand point. In Florida during July and August, the ball doesn't seem to travel much (FSL). Even worst during day game (GCL). It's hot, humid. High temperature has a low molecule air density which means that the ball should carry more. So why's that? Also throwing against the wind is it good for breaking pitches since there's more drag? Finally, you played in Major League stadiums. Those circular one have some moment of the day, shaded area. I know the impact of the Sun on OF and INF, but what about playing in shaded area for the hitter and pitcher stand point? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cold air has more air molecules per cubic foot than hot air. More air molecules cause greater drag. I suppose that when it rains, the water could influence how far baseball travels, but I don't what effect water vapor has. The faster air molecules are traveling toward the seams of baseballs, the greater the force of their collisions. Therefore, pitching into a stiff wind helped my non-fastballs and hurt my fastballs. I always liked standing in the Sun and pitching into shade. With the variety of movements that I used, I think it made it more difficult for batters to see the spin axes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 042. A friend of mine is a scout for a major league team. He has been working with my 11 year old pitchers on my travel baseball team. We been having discussions on whether using weighted balls then lighter balls or using lighter balls (increasing arm speed) than heavier balls would increase arm speed? I believe overload training works but to increase arm speed I'm not sure. I would appreciate your input on increasing arm speed and how to increase it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overload training works equally well with all muscles anywhere in the body. However, biological eleven year old males not only have wide open growth plates that respond negatively to stress, they do not even have the ossification center for their olecranon process and lateral epicondyle. Under no circumstances would I train with weights of any kind. I would spend my time on skill development, that is, the brain's computer program for telling the pitching arm and body what to do to properly throw all baseball pitches. I have no doubt that this gentleman is well-meaning, but I also have no doubt that he teaches the 'traditional' pitching motion with excessive reverse shoulder and pitching arm rotation followed by pitching elbow drop-under, which leads to pitching forearm flyout with forearm supination through release. This terrible pitching motion will destroy your son's pitching arm sufficiently without adding weighted baseballs to exacerbate the situation. And, even with mature adult bones in the pitching arm and my pitching motion, which removes all unnecessary stress, I would not use those weighted balls. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 043. My son just turned 4 and is quite an athlete. He has been riding a two wheel bike since he was 3.5 years old. If I had listened to him, he would have been riding a couple of months earlier. He has great balance. He roller blades too, plays soccer (a coach saw him playing and wanted him to participate even though he was a year younger than the minimum age). Obviously, he did not get his athletic genes from me (my wife was a high school track star). What should I be doing from an early childhood development standpoint other than making sure that he is having fun and doing all those things that kids do. I know that I sound like a proud papa, but is what he does typical of his age? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At young ages, the difficulty that children have is with balance activities. This is because, at birth, the length of their arms barely can reach around their head, which means that, proportionately, their head accounts for forty percent of their height. When babies become adults, their head accounts for ten percent of their height. Therefore, from birth to adult, the percent of total height for which our head accounts decreases. With the adolescent growth spurt in the long bones of the lower limb, this percent drops dramatically. As a result, young children need to develop body control skills. Tumbling teaches body control. Martial arts teach body control. Gymnastics teach body control. Dance teaches body control, yes, even ballet and tap dancing. Certainly, bicycle riding teaches body control. I recommend that you expose him to as many different type of body control activities as you can find. However, I do not want children or adolescents to practice any motor skill for more than two months per year until their growth plates completely mature. Children also need to master skills that involve their upper limbs. Typing, playing the piano, drawing, writing, shooting marbles, horseshoes, throwing bean bags and so on. You have a fertile mind, think of more. Expose him to everything. However, when the activity physically stresses growth plate, such as baseball pitching, baseball hitting, football throwing, long jumping, running, golfing and so on, please follow my no more than two months per year admonition. All parents should be proud and they should talk with and treat their children with the same respect as they should each other. And, they should always ask, what did you do today, and listen carefully and ask questions like, what did you think about that and permit them to believe that they are making their own decisions. What he is doing is typical for him. Whether it is faster or slower than others his age does not matter. With enough help and commitment, everybody can reach their potentials. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 044. I am a senior in high school and play center field for my softball team. My elbows hyperextend naturally, (it's genetic), and I've been experiencing pain in my elbow joint since I picked softball back up during the summer of my sophomore year. I played last season in almost constant pain, and made every excuse I could to avoid throwing the ball during practice. The pain completely surrounds my elbow joint and I would experience a sharp pain across and just above the joint. I was diagnosed with bicep tendonitis in December and was given an elbow brace to use. I went to physical therapy where, among other things, was given ultrasound and an into two to three times a week. I've recently began practicing and have noticed almost no change in my elbow. Even with the brace, which is designed to prevent me from hyperextending, I am experiencing pain to almost the same degree. Last Sunday, after only fifteen minutes of throwing for short distances, I had to quit because the pain was too intense. I've had X-rays and there is nothing wrong with my growth plates. The cause for the continuing pain has not been found, and even my doctor seems to be at a loss. I was wondering if you could provide any insight to my problem, or recommend anyone in the mid-northern states who might provide any new ideas. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The fact that you can extend your elbow joints such that your forearms create an anterior surface angle greater than one hundred and eighty degrees has absolutely nothing to do with your discomfort. The pain that you experience results from the olecranon process of your throwing arm colliding with its olecranon fossa when you throw. I am sure that you can find an anatomy book in the school library or ask a science teacher. The way to stop doing this is to powerfully pronate your throwing forearm through release. This means that you have to turn your throwing thumb downward throughout the throwing motion. Also, rather than dropping your pitching elbow under and dragging your pitching forearm forward, you have to learn how to drive your throwing elbow over your pitching elbow. You need to start with my Pickoff Pronation drill for my four-seam Maxline Fastball, which isolates the throwing arm. After you perfect the grip, throwing forearm release action and spin axis, you need to start my Wrong Foot Slingshot drill. Then, my No-Stride Swing-to-Ready drill, my No-Stride Transition drill and Crow-Step Set Position Transition drill. At present, I am working on my second Instructional Videotape, which will show these drills, but, after I finish, I will start editing my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and try to explain how you should do these drills, which you can read and copy for free. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 045. Just following up. As it turns out, contrary to what I told you, even though the MRI did not show it, my son did have a tear in the Ulnar Collateral Ligament and underwent tommy john surgery last Friday. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry to hear about the tear in the Ulnar Collateral Ligament. I wonder why we pay so much for MRIs when we cannot rely on the readings. Without evidence of an injury other than your son's complaints of pain, why did they do surgery? I hope that this resolves the injury phase of your son's problem. However, his pitching motion did injure his UCL. To avoid future problems, he needs to correct his pitching motion, greatly strengthen his bones, ligaments and tendons and learn how to throw the variety pitchers required for success. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 046. I coach baseball at a junior college. I have followed your materials for the past two years. I just got an email from Paul Reddick that wanted me to buy all the materials that he used to use. I sent him this response. Because of your affiliation with Tom House, your material is worthless and you are trying to steal money from the public and I would never recommend you to anyone. If you really want to eliminate arm injuries and contribute positively, you should listen to Dr. Mike Marshall and do things right. This was his response to me. "I no longer have a relationship with Tom House. Mike Marshall is a friend, in fact, I am helping Marshall get his book published." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Reddick has telephoned me. He arranged for Mr. House and he to come to my Pitcher Research/Training Center, but they did to not show up. He has talked with Dr. Jim Peterson of Coaches Choice about publishing my book. I have allot of work to do before I am ready to offer my materials for publication. Actually, I prefer to give the book away, but I cannot reach the wide-spread audience that publishers can. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 047. Do you have any advice for breaking in a new baseball glove? Did you use any type of substance to break your gloves in? As a former shortstop, did you have any system for fielding groundballs at shortstop? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1961, my first season of playing professional shortstop in Dothan, AL, the roving infielder instructor, Sibby Sisti, told me to use glove oil to keep my glove from stiffening and cracking. Later, as a major league pitcher, we used shaving gel. With a new glove, we would put a baseball in the 'pocket,' that is the hollow between the thumb and index finger, fold the thumb side of the glove around the baseball over the little finger side and either tape it or put the large rubber bands around it. I saw some infielders put their new folded gloves into water with dishwashing liquid overnight. Like every sport skill, before athletes attempt to perform the skill in competitive circumstances, they need to break the skill down to its essential elements and build from the simplest upward. To teach my college infielders, I would put them on their knees with knee pads about fifteen feet from a wall and throw the rubber batting cage balls at the wall from behind them. This taught them how to rotate their body to their forehand and backhand sides and raise their glove from the ground upward. The next step is to do the same with them standing. And so on. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 048. Your reply sparked a few more questions in my mind, if I may. Are you near completion on the new video? Is the elbow drop fault basically the same 'old' elbow drop that has troubled pitchers for eons? The popular circle change appears to be actually be screwball would you agree or are their small differences that I can't detect? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This project grows and grows. We have had some recent insights that we wish to share. They require that I schedule several additional videotapings and, at least, one more high-speed filming. Please trust that I am working from 5:30AM until 10:30PM with breaks only for answering emails, jogging, coaching the twenty kids presently on site and family duties. I am very excited about what I am doing and I greatly appreciate your patience. While pitchers have also been doing this pitching elbow drop-under for eons, it is not the widely-recognized pitching elbow drop-under to which you refer. That pitching elbow drop-under is actually pitching forearm supination, where, during the pitching forearm flyout stage of the 'traditional' pitching motion, pitchers supinate their pitching forearm. As a result of pitchers turning their thumb to point backward, the pitching elbow drops under the pitching forearm. The pitching elbow drop-under to which I refer describes the first forward movement that pitchers make immediately after their 'Ready' position. It is the worst 'flaw.' Even with my pitching motion, where I teach pitchers to drive overtop of their pitching elbow in a straight line slightly above and very near the pitching ear, I see pitching elbow drop-under. Even though we fight the pitching forearm flyout with pronation, we need to eliminate pitching elbow drop-under. The circle change is closer to my Maxline Fastball True Sinker. My Maxline True Screwball is a much more dynamic pitch with a horizontal spin axis. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 049. I'm a board member with our local Babe Ruth Baseball Organization. Our league has doubled in size in the last 2 years, expanding from 300 players to almost 700. We don't have enough baseball fields to even practice on and games are becoming more difficult each year to schedule. Our league is currently in the beginning phases of a major campaign to raise 2-3 million dollars to build a baseball complex that our youth could enjoy for years to come. We have been fortunate enough to have the Outback Steakhouse sponsor us with luncheon fundraiser that we can schedule during March or April of this year. We plan to sell tickets for $10.00 each and we plan to sell around 300 tickets for the event, maybe more. We are seeking a key note speaker that can help us out. We can't afford to pay the thousands of dollars that many famous baseball players ask for to speak. I'm sure you are a very busy man and are asked for help all the time. We could afford to fly you here and put you up in a nice hotel. The luncheon would last from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. We have the flexibility to schedule this event around your schedule if you are willing to help. I won't waste anymore of your time, but if you can find it in your heart to help us, please send me a email reply or feel free to call me. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have and more importantly, supply you with the necessary references to ensure you that this is a reliable request. In this day and age, a person can never be to careful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wow, seven hundred players playing Babe Ruth baseball in one town. Isn't Babe Ruth baseball for thirteen years old boys and older? Fifteen players on a team means almost fifty teams. At least three pitchers per team means one hundred and fifty pitchers. I recommend that thirteen through fifteen biological year old male baseball pitchers train for only sixty days per year. I recommend that biological thirteen year old pitchers pitch only one inning per game no more than twice a week. How do you determine their biological age? I know that you do not want to destroy their pitching arms with too much stress before the growth plates in their pitching arms mature. With regard to your kind invitation, I coach twenty pitchers every day, I am putting my second Instructional Videotape together, I have five apartments to renovate, I have to re-edit my free Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I have emails to answer every day, I hate flying and I am too old to travel without severe physiological distress. However, after you have read how I believe we should teach the skills and strategies of baseball to youth baseball players, I wonder if you want me to speak. If you do, I have an assistant coach who is ready, willing and able to explain how I believe youth pitchers should learn the skills of baseball pitching. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 050. My injury: I saw a doctor three days ago regarding the amount of pain in the front part of my shoulder, towards the top, that results from throwing. I was told I had strength and flexibility problems with my internal rotators and most likely just had tendonitis. The doctor also mentioned a possibly torn labrum. Questions: I am somewhat familiar with reverse forearm bounce, and was wondering if this could possibly be to blame? If so, what drills can be done to help correct this? The discomfort in my shoulder is most noticeable during the transition phase of my mechanics. Is there an ideal height for the upper arm and forearm during the transition? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You say that you experience discomfort in the top, front part of your pitching shoulder during the transition phase. Is your pendulum swing parallel to your acromial line? If the direction of your pendulum swing crosses your acromial line, then the problem could be the humeral attachment of the Subscapularis muscle. The Subscapularis muscle inwardly rotates the head of the humerus bone. Tearing the labrum usually involves a critical event. Since you did not mention a particular pitch during a high-intensity moment of competition, I doubt that this is your problem. In any case, I would first train you and see how you respond. The top, front of your shoulder can also mean several other problems. If you have reverse forearm bounce as a result of dropping your pitching elbow under your pitching forearm as you start driving toward home plate from the 'Ready' position, then you can also unnecessarily stress your Subscapularis attachment. However, I suspect that the first force that you apply to the baseball from your 'Ready' position is not directly toward home plate. All you need to determine this is a digital camcorder set up in line with and thirty feet behind the pitching rubber and with home plate, preferably six feet high. When you view this videotape, watch each frame for how the baseball moves. I even use graph paper taped to the screen to make a frame-by-frame sketch of the baseball's pathway. Pay close attention to where your pitching forearm is the frame before you start your pitching elbow forward and where the baseball goes from there. If the baseball does not go straight toward home plate or if your pitching elbow leads the pitching forearm forward, then you have found your problem. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 051. In you 13-15 yr training program file you have the following paragraph: "I do not want biological thirteen through fifteen year old pitchers to train for pitching for more than two months per year. I want them to pitch one inning per game twice a week against opposing teams. I want biological thirteen through fifteen year old pitchers to learn how to use the wind-up position to throw my six basic pitches: Maxline Fastball, Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Pronation Curve and Torque Fastball." You say you have 6 basic pitches but only name 4 of them. Do you actually have 4 basic pitches or did you leave two out? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whoops. For non-adult pitchers, that is those less than nineteen biological years old, I recommend only four of my six basic pitches. I should have said four, not six. The other two basic pitches for adults are my Maxline Fastball Sinker and Torque Fastball Slider. My bad. If you check my recommended pitch sequences for youth and high school baseball pitchers, I only include the four that I mentioned above. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 052. I am interested in your treatment of the topic of the "stretch-shorten cycle" in muscle contractions. In your 2003 Q&A, you discuss this topic in response to question 005. Question 005 concludes with the question, "[W]here in the pitching motion should you take advantage on the stretch-shortening cycle or should you at all?" This is asked in connection with the topic of eccentric muscle contraction, to which you replied as follows: "Muscles apply force only when they decrease their length. When muscles stay at the same contracted length or they increase their length, they can only resist force. Therefore, there is no such thing as an eccentric muscle contraction. "Sarcomeres either contract or they don't. When one sarcomere in the sarcomere chain that makes up myofibrils contracts, that myofibril either applies or resists force at that length. When more sarcomeres in the sarcomere chain contract, that myofibril either applies or resists force at that different length. Whether the contraction is concentric or eccentric has nothing to do with sarcomere activity, it has to do with how the contracting sarcomeres influence the movements of the bones to which they attach. Therefore, I propose different nomenclature." Then you go on to define your different nomenclature of mioanglos joint action, isoanglos joint action, and plioanglos joint action which I won't reproduce here. My interest is in your analysis of the stretch-shorten cycle, but I'll start with eccentric muscle contractions since that seems central to your take on the stretch-shorten cycle. For reference I am using Neuromechanics of Human Movement, 3rd Edition, 2002, by Roger M. Enoka, Ph.D, published by Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. All page references below refer to this source. Definition: Eccentric contraction - A muscle contraction in which the load torque is greater than the muscle torque and as a consequence the active muscle is lengthened.(p. 466) So as you say, the muscle is resisting force, but in this case the load torque exceeds the muscle torque and, though contracting, the muscle is lengthening. That is the angle between the bones it attaches to is increasing in the case of a flexor muscle, and the angle between the bones the muscle attaches to is decreasing in the case of an extensor. Using your nomenclature, this eccentric muscle contraction occurs in a plioanglos joint action (increasing distance or angle) if the muscle is a flexor, and in a mioanglos joint action (decreasing distance or angle) if the muscle is an extensor. I think I've converted this to your nomenclature correctly. You say that muscles only apply force when they shorten their length, and that they can only resist force when they stay the same length or lengthen. Can you explain the difference between "resist force" and "apply force"? I may be wrong, but it seems like to "resist force" a muscle contracts, which is what is described in eccentric contraction. The muscle torque simply is insufficient to overcome the load torque causing the muscle-tendon unit to lengthen. Now on to my main topic, the stretch-shorten cycle. First I'll define the term, then offer a brief summary of it from Enoka, and finally ask my questions. Definition: Stretch-shorten cycle - A muscle activation scheme in which an activated muscle first lengthens before it shortens.(p. 480) I have come across this term quite frequently in biomechanics, so I did a literature search to see how often it comes up in published papers. I found 100 papers doing a search using the term "stretch-shortening cycle" and 21 using the term "stretch-shorten cycle." I searched the Entrez-PubMed database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Here is the URL for one of the searches: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=PubMed There are probably other places to search that would show other references, but that was a start. I didn't go read all the papers. Instead I turned to Enoka for a discussion of the topic. The stretch-shorten cycle is addressed in its own section on pages 273-276. A couple of dozen studies of the phenomenon are cited and numerous examples of the cycle in everyday life are presented. Enoka writes "The advantage of the stretch-shorten cycle is that a muscle can perform more positive work if it is actively stretched before being allowed to shorten (Cavagna & Citterio, 1974; Fenn, 1924). The result is that a greater quantity of work can be done during the shortening contraction than if the muscle simply performed a shortening contraction by itself."(p. 273) Enoka concludes the section on the stretch-shorten cycle with this paragraph: "There appear to be two reasons for the common occurrence of the stretch-shorten cycle in most movements. First, it can enhance the positive work done by muscle during the shortening contraction. Second, it can lower the metabolic cost of performing a prescribed amount of positive work." p. 276) It seems to me like the stretch-shortening cycle is something that pitchers and athletes should and do take advantage of for the reasons given. Do you disagree with my conclusion? Do you agree that the stretch-shorten cycle has the benefits described by Enoka? Do you have evidence that the use of this stretch-shorten cycle causes specific injuries? Can you direct me to published studies or to textbooks that contain references that support your conclusions? I respect your work, both as a coach and as a professor. I thank you for your time and for your web site. I have found you and your site to be very helpful in my own efforts to learn these topics. Since I am just a coach and not a biomechanist, I will pass your answers on to a friend who has a Ph.D. in biomechanics to help me evaluate what you tell me in your response in case I have trouble understanding what you write. I may also ask Professor Enoka to comment on your response, as he has been helpful to me in the past. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What fun. Thank you for taking the time to understand my position on how muscles apply force. The first thing that I want to do is to define what we are talking about. First, some people believe that they can 'stretch' muscles to make them longer and increase the range of motion about specific joints. To this, I say, without tearing tissue, never. The only way that athletes increase the range of motion about specific joints is to learn how to resist the stress with fewer sarcomeres contracting. Second, my fellow kinesiologists say that muscles contract concentrically, eccentrically and isometrically. To this, I say, nonsense. Sarcomeres apply force only when they contract. The apparent difference in how athletes use their contracting muscles relates to the relative positions of the bones to which muscles attach. If the bones move closer together, they call it, a concentric muscle action. I call it, a mioanglos joint action. If the bones move farther apart, they call it, an eccentric muscle action. I call it, a plioanglos joint action. If the bones remain in the same position, they call it, an isometric muscle action. I call it, an isoanglos joint action. Third, some have used the fact that muscle and tendon have the ability to withstand sudden stress to train athletes with what they call, plyometrics. In the mistaken belief that they will increase the ability of the three muscles with the common tendon attachment, the Achilles Tendon, to apply force, they tell athletes to jump down from increasingly higher heights. Like the ballet dancer in 'The Company,' or numerous football quarterbacks, like Dan Marino and baseball pitchers and like Tommy John, the repetitive sudden stress of bouncing tendons eventually causes them to snap. To this, I say, they are irresponsible and the athletes should hold them legally liable in Courts. Plioanglos joint action in the Deceleration Phase differs from the Preparation Phase of sport activities. During the Deceleration Phase, to safely slow down and stop the activity, the deceleration muscles resist the force that the acceleration muscles generated during the Acceleration Phase. During the Preparation Phase, or, as I prefer to call it, the Transition Phase, the deceleration muscles move the acceleration muscles to the 'Ready' position where the acceleration muscles are at the appropriate length from which to powerfully contract for a Mioanglos joint action. Sarcomeres connected end to end make up the length of myofibrils. Hundreds of myofibrils make up a muscle fiber. Sarcomeres change the length of muscle fibers. When no sarcomeres shorten, then the muscle fiber is at its greatest length. When one hundred percent of the sarcomeres contract, then the muscle fiber is at its shortest length. Different percentages of sarcomeres contracting explains the different lengths of muscle fibers. I use the term, sarcomeres and contractile units interchangeably. Therefore, you can substitute whichever you prefer. In Baseball Pitching, the Preparation Phase occurs when pitchers take the baseball out of the glove and move it to the 'Ready' position, which is the instant immediately before they start the baseball on its journey to home plate. At the 'Ready' position, the acceleration muscles are passively at their longest length or, in the terminology of Professor Enoka, the stretch aspect of the stretch-shorten cycle. I am not a fan of the stretch terminology. I believe that layman attach the wrong interpretation to the word, 'stretch,' in this connotation. Muscles do not stretch. When the chain of sarcomeres, or contractile units, have no tension, they achieve their greatest length. If athletes forcibly attempt to lengthen muscle fibers in this state, they will tear tissue, either connective or contractile. During the Acceleration Phase, to generate their maximum force, these passive, lengthened muscle fibers at the 'Ready' position spring powerfully into action. With regard to the pitching arm only, I recommend that pitchers 'carry' their pitching arm forward isoanglosly until they forwardly rotate their hips to perpendicular to the driveline and their shoulders to forty-five degrees ahead of perpendicular. At this body position, I recommend that pitchers powerfully mioanglosly extend the pitching elbow and pronate the pitching forearm through release. Immediately after release of the baseball, pitchers have to take all tension out of the acceleration muscles and ignite the deceleration muscles. The plioanglos joint action of the deceleration muscles slows and safely stops the pitching arm. During the deceleration phase, these muscle fibers resist the force that the acceleration muscles generated. They do this by activating fewer and fewer sarcomeres in the sarcomere chain of myofibrils. The number of muscles fibers that are operating determine the amount of force that muscle fibers are resisting, not the percentage of sarcomeres that are contracting at any moment. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 053. I was wondering if you could identify some of the physiological characteristics that make for high velocity pitching. If two pitchers of approximately the same height and weight apply force identically why might one throw harder than the other (joint flexibility, muscle makeup, length of limbs....)? Some pitchers are clearly genetically predisposed to throw hard. What specific characteristics do such pitchers display? At what biological age range would you say a pitcher is capable of throwing his hardest? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Physiologically, we are not all created equal. Height, weight, joint flexibility, length of limbs are like counting the number of cars that go over the bridge to determine how much water went under the bridge, that is, there is no causal relationship. However, you did include muscle make-up. That can mean anything. Did you mean how big muscles are? If so, no. Did you mean how long muscles are? If so, no. If you mean percent of fast-twitch muscle fibers, then you might be on to something. We could biopsy the primary pitching muscle, Pronator Teres, and use gel electrophoresis to identify its specific type of myosin isoform. The myosin isoform in fast-twitch muscles fibers promotes a rapid breakdown of Adenosine-Tri-Phosphate (ATP), which provides fast energy for high-speed muscle contraction. Let me know how that goes. In the meantime, I train pitchers without fast-twitch muscle fibers and watch them achieve higher release velocities as well. If they are properly trained, I believe that the biological age at which pitchers should throw with their highest release velocity is between twenty-five and forty biological years old. Unfortunately, with the 'traditional' pitching motion steadily destroying pitching arms, by the time they get to twenty-five, they are already on the downward spiral. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 054. Thank you for the very thorough response. I now think I understand your position on this much better. For my own sake, I'll try to restate your position very briefly. Since muscles do not stretch, you are not comfortable with the term "stretch" in "stretch-shorten cycle." However, you do describe in detail how muscle tissue at its greatest length can contract with maximum force. The danger in taking advantage of this muscle contractile length/force relationship is that an athlete cannot know at what length the muscle and/or connective tissue will tear. Therefore, efforts to maximize the length of the muscle to take advantage of the "stretch-shorten cycle" can cause injury in competitive athletes. I hope that's your position, because that makes sense to me. As an aside, I now think I understand why some people say that plyometrics can be a dangerous training method. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It is not that I am uncomfortable with researchers using the word, stretch, muscle fibers do not stretch. Even rubber bands snap when they receive too much stress. They are finite length tissue. Repeated pulling on them do not make them better able to withstand future stresses. With any definition of stretch, it is the wrong word with which to describe what happens. When scientists describe a physiological event, they have to be very careful with their nomenclature. The only way that muscle fibers achieve their greatest length without injury is for every sarcomere (contractile unit) to not have any actin protein filaments sliding over any myosin protein filaments. The perfect length of muscle fibers for powerful contractions would appear to be from their maximal resting length. However, when we factor in the inertia of the pitching arm moving backward and, possibly, laterally, we might better protect the muscle with some percentage of sarcomere contraction. Also, if backward inertia does pull on the pitching acceleration muscles to the extent that the actin protein filaments move slightly away from their myosin cross-bridges, that could delay contraction. I know for sure that I do not want someone pulling, pushing or in any other way applying force to muscle fibers in the name of 'stretching.' I also do not want athletes themselves bouncing or in any other way applying force to muscle fibers in the name of 'stretching.' The recent bastardization of the word, plio, into plyometrics, and training athletes with jumping up and down or catching medicine balls and the like is even more hazardous to muscle fibers. My wrist weight exercises plioanglosly safely and appropriately train pitching muscles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 055. I have a particular situation with a player that I want your opinion on. He is 16 yrs old and plays RF and Pitcher. Very strong arm and has been clocked at 89mph. He has been Pitching sporadically due to arm pain (inside elbow area). Never complains of pain when playing Outfield. He has no pain when normal throwing, warming up, etc, but once on the mound he starts to feel pain mainly on the inner side of the elbow (possibly the "ulnar collateral ligament"). Within a few pitches he starts to feel pain in this area, between the inner and middle epicondyle areas (not the lateral epicondyle area). Do you think it could be Medial epicondylitis? He has had an MRI of the area and been told that he is fine. I was going to be video taping the Pitchers this week and thought that maybe I could send you a copy of this Pitcher and possibly his MRI exam to get your recommendation on what may be causing the pain and remedy. I'm not sure if this is something you have time for and if there would be a fee for this? I've spoken to the pitcher's parents about your program and they wanted me to see if it was even possible for them to bring their Son over to you for an evaluation, or do you recommend other action be taken? I mainly wanted you to see the pitching motion and the stress on the elbow that I think is due to a timing issue in his mechanics. I will be evaluating the pitcher further today at practice, as I haven't seen him since yesterday. He went home after throwing a bullpen (~60 pitches) and complained of pain in the elbow last night to his Dad, which called me today and asked that possibly contact you for advice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When he throws from the outfield, during normal throwing, warming-up and so on, does he lift his glove leg like you have him do when he pitches off the pitching rubber? If he does, then I will have to see him. If, instead, he uses the crow-hop throwing rhythm of non-position players, then that is the problem. You are teaching him the 'traditional' balance position pitching rhythm that has destroyed pitching arms for over one hundred years. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Stop it and teach him my pitching motion. I do not have time to review videotapes. Sorry. His parents might consider my eight-week summer program for high school juniors and seniors. It costs allot less than doctors and MRIs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 056. Instead of talking about just the muscle fibers, what if we expand this to include the tendons, too. On page 275 Enoka writes, "[S]ome energy can be added to the muscle by the stretch of the connective tissues, especially the tendon, that can be used during the performance of the positive work." Is it possible that the muscle fibers achieve a certain length and contractile strength and that the contractile force of the muscle-tendon combination is enhanced by the elastic energy stored in the tendon? I realize that for the reasons you give trying to do this in a pitching (or other athletic) motion could lead to injury, but I'm trying to understand the concept as best I can so I can explain it and answer questions about it as they arise from my athletes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No, not without serious potential injury. I would like to know the research or hypothesis on which he bases this statement. For him to say that connective tissues stretch is like saying the wires that secure telephone poles stretch. I know that wire industry researchers determine at what stress wires rupture, but I have not heard of human subjects volunteering to have exercise physiologists stress their tendons and ligaments to determine at what stress they rupture. Like I assume that he had to do with his doctoral dissertation, I challenge him to defend this recommendation for training athletes with evidence that it is not irresponsibly dangerous. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 057. Here are Enoka's references. I've only included the titles for the studies that used humans. 01. Biewener, A.A. (1991) American Zoologist, 38, 703-717. (not sure the animal used) 02. Fellows, S.J., & Rack, P.M.H. (1987) "Changes in the length of the human biceps brachii muscle during elbow movements," Journal of Physiology, 383, 405-412. 03. Griffiths, R.I. (1991) Journal of Physiology, 436, 219-136. (studied cats) 04. Ito, M., Kawakami, Y., Ichinose, Y., Fukashiro, S., & Fukunaga, T. (1998), "Nonisometric behavior of fascicles during isometric contractions of a human muscle." Journal of Applied Physiology, 85, 1230-1235. 05. Roberts, T.J., Marsh, R.L., Weyand, P.G., & Taylor, C.R. (1997) Science, 275, 1113-1115. (studied turkeys) Here is a specific passage from Enoka describing tendon lengthening: "When the medial gastrocnemius muscle of a cat is electrically stimulated to produce an isometric contraction, muscle fibers can shorten up to 28% of their resting length [he then references a graph from Griffiths (1991)]. For this to happen, the tendon must lengthen by an equivalent amount so that whole-muscle length remains constant (i.e., isometric). This tendon compliance (mm/N), which is the inverse of stiffness, is most evident in muscles with long tendons. Not only does this effect occur during electrical stimulation of muscle, it also occurs during voluntary movements such as walking."(p. 275) Enoka then goes on to reference another graph from Griffiths (1991) showing whole-muscle length (mm), muscle fiber length (mm), and EMG (mV) for a cat step cycle plotted over time(s). He uses the term whole-muscle length to include the tendon and the muscle. Enoka also includes references showing that some movements are influenced by the elastic energy mechanism. Those studies are by Komi & Gollhofer, 1997, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 13, 451-460; Reich, lindstedt, LaSayo, & Pierotti, 2000, American Journal of Physiology, 278, R1661-R1666; Zatsiorsky, 1997, Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 13, 479-483. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As I read through the list of these references, I am carried back to my university days when everybody was designing research studies, rushing through them and publishing. They all had the publish or perish mentality. My own department ran wires to the leg muscles of rats and ran them on treadmills. When I asked why, they looked at me like I was crazy. It is thirty years later and I still ask why. Nothing that they did meant anything to the real world. What purpose does studying, "Changes in the length of the human biceps brachii muscle during elbow movements" serve? The olecranon process contacting the olecranon fossa limits the elbow extension range of motion. The coronoid process contacting the coronoid fossa limits the elbow flexion range of motion. The Triceps Brachii muscle straightens the arm. The Biceps Brachii and Brachialis muscles bend the arm. Did they take the Biceps Brachii muscle out of some human and study it like they did some poor cat in a following discussion? How did the people who wrote, "Nonisometric behavior of fascicles during isometric contractions of a human muscle," conduct this study? Again, did they take a muscle out of some human volunteer experimentation? How did they study fasciculi? In order to write, "When the medial gastrocnemius muscle of a cat is electrically stimulated to produce an isometric contraction, muscle fibers can shorten up to 28% of their resting length," I know that they 'sacrificed' some poor cat. They took the medial gastrocnemius muscle out of a cat, tied it securely on both ends and electrically stimulated it. They found that the muscle fiber portion of the muscle shortened up to twenty-eight percent of its total length. Then, from this information, Professor Enoka concluded that, "For this to happen, the tendon must lengthen by an equivalent amount so that whole-muscle length remains constant." At first glance, this speculation appears interesting. But, what does it mean for the real world? Does it mean that, like cats, the tendon of human gastrocnemius can stretch twenty-eight percent percent without rupturing? Let's see, the best of humans can jump straight upward about one-half of their standing height, but cats can jump straight upward about six times their standing height. Does that mean that the gastrocnemius tendon of cats has twelve times the tensile strength of humans? Does that mean that the gastrocnemius tendon of humans has one-twelfth the tensile strength? I think that it means that this laboratory egghead recommended to don't-know-enough-to-know-better athletic trainers to start bouncing muscle and tendons with 'Plyometrics.' The resulting tendon snaps can be traced back to them. Perhaps we all should go watch 'Ol Sparky' at work here in Florida, where they electrocute humans. We could tie down their lower legs and study how much the human medial gastrocnemius muscles shorten when they electrically stimulate them. Remember when Dan Marino and dozens of others popped the tendon of their Gastrocnemius muscle, the 'Achilles Tendon'? Did it stretch twenty-eight percent? Remember with Tommy John and thousands of others popped their Ulnar Collateral Ligament? Did it stretch twenty-eight percent? In the real world outside of staged experiments, muscles and tendons do not voluntarity stretch without the potential of serious injury. We should not try to make tendons stretch. With my email answers, I am talking with laypeople in the real world. With researchers in the laboratory world, we talk differently, but then, with the exception of human anatomist, Jeffrey Dalmer, to determine at what stress their tendons will pop, we know not to take muscles out of athletes. This was fun, thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 058. It sounds like you're not too impressed with the research cited. I'm in no position to decide that one, of course. The good thing about published research is that other scientists can look at the methods and decide for themselves if the research was good or bad, attempt to independently reproduce the results and so forth. As you've pointed out, anecdotes and opinions really don't advance our understanding and are not scientifically useful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It has nothing to do with whether this research impresses me. If, to keep their jobs, professors publish these simplistic articles, this type of research is fine, and some of it may even eventually prove helpful. For those of us training athletes, this research has no meaningful purpose. Therefore, I read it, I think that it is interesting and I get back to the real world. As you noted in an earlier email, the misuse of pliometrics causes injuries. I do not believe in telling athletes to apply greater stress than muscles can withstand in the hope that the tendons will stretch and rebound to provide greater force. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 059. Thank you once again for your gracious hospitality on my recent visit to your training center. As always, I learned much. Having seen the outline for your upcoming video, I am very anxious for you to complete it. You have a great bunch of young students and I wish you and them all the best. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We do love to have visitors. As a result of your inquiry about pitching elbow drop-under out of the 'Ready' position, I have changed my Instructional Videotape dialogue to say, pitching forearm drop-under. It is actually part of 'reverse pitching forearm bounce' without pitchers having to turn their pitching palm from facing second base to facing home plate. I continue to feverously work on my second video. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 060. How many of your students have gone on to play professional baseball? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What percent of high school pitchers without college scholarship offers or junior college pitchers unable to make their teams do you think should get an opportunity to pitch professionally? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 061. For a number of reasons, I know you know what you are doing. I have a 19 year old son that wants to play professional baseball as a pitcher. He earned a scholarship to a junior college out of high school. I don't know if going to this junior college is the best path for him after playing fall baseball the last month. I would like to meet with you for determining the best path for my son. If he needs to take a year off and go through your programs we can do that. If you tell me he doesn't have the mechanics, mental make-up or physical attributes to consider a career in baseball we are better off knowing now. Your input in this situation would be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Without regard for any circumstance, before they attend college, I recommend that all high school pitchers find out what they need to do to become the best pitcher that they can be and become that pitcher. Then, rather than learning how to throw the pitches that they need, they can use the college experience to learn how to get batters out. This is precisely what I guarantee to teach all pitchers that train every day with me for two hundred and eighty days. I wish I were smart enough to watch pitchers throw and know whether they will develop into quality college and/or professional pitchers. I am not. However, from the pitchers I have trained, I would say that they need to be able to throw at least eighty-five miles per hour when they come to me to get to ninety miles per hour necessary for professional baseball. However, several eighty mile per hour pitchers have become quality college pitchers and, thereafter, a couple have further developed into professional pitchers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 062. If the players mentioned have the ability and desire and can demonstrate both my answer would be 100%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Do you really believe that high school pitchers that do not receive any college scholarship offers and junior college pitchers that cannot pitch for their junior college team have the ability to pitch professionally? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 063. Perhaps I should rephrase my original question. What percentage of your students do you consider to have achieved success in baseball after completing your program? For the record, I have a number of D-1 scholarship offers, however, based on what I have seen of college ball so far, I do not think the coaches are really concerned with my personal development. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, I understand what it is that you want to know. I promise all pitchers that I will show them what they have to do to become the best pitcher that they can be. We become partners in that quest. I work as hard as I can to give them the understanding of what skills they have to have, how to learn those skills and show them the work ethic that they have to have. I never pre-select my pitchers. I have had many who exceeded my expectations. That means that I have had some who did not. Nevertheless, I consider every one a success. I do not know what is in the hearts and minds of the young men who come to train with me. A couple of them told me that they did not love it enough to put in the work. A couple of them told me that they decided that they would not be good enough even with all the work to justify the time and effort. One missed his girlfriend too much to stay. One, even after all my explanations and showing him on high-speed film, believed that he knew more that I about how he should apply force. He should be on the road to great success, but he sits at home with his pitching arm injury. These examples are few. The vast majority work hard, learn the skills and become the best pitchers that they can be. Whatever the case, I believe that everybody learned what they needed both about how to become the best pitcher he could be or who he is and what they want in life that they all could continue with or without baseball pitching without regrets. Of those who threw eight-five miles per hour or above when they arrived, every one has had an opportunity to pitch professionally. Some continued to work, others did not. If you can throw eighty-five miles per hour or above and master my six basic skills, you will have your opportunity to pitch professinally. I will guide you through every step on the way and, to help you stay, after you get there. I am not convinced that college coaches do not care about helping their pitchers. I believe that they have tried and learned that they do not know how. Therefore, they quit trying and just recruit as many as they can and hope that some get through the season before they injure their pitching arms. No pitcher that I have trained has ever or will ever injure their pitching arm and, if they master my skills, they will have the game with which to succeed at their highest level, which relates to their genetic heritage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 064. How would you recommend hitting your pronation curve ball? My thought is that since we know that the ball is dropping faster than it normally would due to the forward spin axis of the ball, we would try to swing at the bottom half of the ball or slightly below it. Does that make any sense? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To successfully hit any pitch, hitters have to correctly predict where and when baseballs will pass through the hitting zone and then, they have to perfectly time and locate their bat to intercept the baseball. To prevent this from happening, I teach my pitchers to throw six different pitches with six different movements at three different speeds. When my pitchers can throw my pitches for strikes two out of three times with proper sequences for all four types of hitters, they humiliate hitters. If pitchers master only one fastball force application, one breaking ball force application and one change-up force application, then they still do not have enough to get all types of batters out. Why teach a pitching concept that, even after pitchers master it, they still cannot get everybody out? Even though it is harder to teach and takes longer to learn, I prefer to teach them a game that, if they master it, then they will dominate. The only way that hitters will ever hit my properly thrown Maxline Pronation Curve is if they have seen it many times and correctly anticipate it. If my pitchers follow my pitch sequences, then, unless they play the same team many times in a short time period, they will not see hit it enough to know how it moves and will not correctly anticipate it. They should have a less than one in six chance of correctly guessing when it is coming. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 065. I am the father of a soon to be 10 year old son who loves baseball. He desperately wants to pitch this season. He pitched one inning last year and was hooked. So during the winter, I tried to research all that I could on pitching instruction. I was ignorant last Fall. I checked with Dick Mills, SETPRO, and Dr. John Bagonzi among others. But, after visiting your website and reading your forums, I will not let my son pitch until he is 13. What's three years? I would like him to use the drills that you have outlined in your book, but that is where the problem lies. I have read nearly all of the 2003 forum questions and answers, and all of the 2004 Q&A. I have read your book. Yet, I still can't quite figure out exactly what your pitching motion looks like. I have tried to mimic it myself to no avail. After reading many of the forums, I see that you have re-analyzed your theories on some of the training in the first video. That is why I hold off on purchasing the first video, and anxiously await the second video. In the meantime, is there anywhere on the web that you are aware of that has a video clip of your pitching motion? I have searched, and found nothing. Perhaps one of your students is computer literate enough to provide a webpage link to a clip. Also, I may be headed to the Tampa area over Easter break. Will you still be training your students the week after Easter? You are there between 9:00 and 11:00, correct? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will do everything I can do to help you and your son. The answer to your desire to teach him how to pitch is in my second Instructional Videotape. I will show every throwing drill for every age. I want to put out the best video that I can with as much information as I can. This project is already three times bigger than my first and that one took me over three hundred hours to put together and that does not count the time to take the clips that I need to have. When finished, this video will put all controversy to rest. Sorry Tom, Dick and Harry, you will have to stop stealing money for the garbage that you teach. I appreciate your patience. With regard to videotape on my web site, I am one guy in Zephyrhills, FL. I am spending my retirement to give readers my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book for free and give free advice. I do not have the money to rent an one hundred gig web site the I would need to have video available. However, my video guy is working on a way for me to host my own web site. He says that, while it is more expensive, I might be able to do that. Who knows, maybe by this time next year, I can put my video on my web site for free too. The only times that I may not be training pitchers at my Pitcher Research/Training Center is between the fourth Saturday in May and the second Saturday in June and between the second and fourth Saturdays in August. While I might be on-site during those days, my lady and I just might take a week off and leave town. In any case, we will train on Easter and we do train between 9:00 and 11:00AM every other day of the year. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 066. As a huge fan of baseball and of your accomplishments I thought I would ask you about Hub Kittle. I read he just passed away, at the age of 86, and I was wondering if you knew him and his theories of pitching? I ask because I never knew he pitched a perfect inning in AAA in 1980 at age 63. That's pretty impressive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In 1970, I played for Hub in Oklahoma City for a couple of months. He was a honorable man. I know that he would frequently throw batting practice. I do not know of his theories. I think that he just said throw allot. Since I always did my wrist weights, iron ball and baseball drills every day, we got along fine. Thanks for bringing up some fond memories. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 067. I've been engaged in an online forum with a couple of former professional pitchers who are now minor league pitching coaches (at least that's what they claim). Below is one of their comments on the traditional balance position. Here is what I asked them to discuss: 1. When the pitcher breaks his hands and begins to stride, his center of mass and pitching arm are moving in opposite directions, the arm is moving down, back and up while the rest of the body is moving forward. This leads to an extremely inefficient application of force and creates a looping and bouncing action in the arm that leads to injury. Here's the reply I got: There is no phenomenom with a pitcher striding out and keeping his weight back. Its a function not a phenomenom. Perhaps easier to think in these terms. If a car is driving down the road pulling another car with a rope or chain does the car being pulled pass the car that is pulling it? No, because both vehicles are moving in the same direction at the same speed one is just in front of the other. Of course it is possible to move forward and keep the center of mass where it should be. The car analogy is not why its just an analogy to create a picture of reference. That's exactly why pitching is dynamic in regards to balance. As far as the throwing arm going the opposite direction that has nothing to do with the lower body, other than the motion of the throwing arm going back perhaps making it a little easier to keep the weight back, but that's just a thought and nothing more. In fact, even that's nullified to a certain extent due to the lead arm action. Whatever is gained by the throwing arm going back is really lost because the lead arm is going out in front. This is done to create symmetry between the 2 arms. Okay so now you see how it is possible to be moving out to landing and still keep the center of mass where it should be. The car pulling the other car is a great analogy because it will only pull smoothly if the chain is kept taunt between the 2 if not it becomes jerky and loses its taunt connection. This could easily be compared to the kinetic chain that pitching evolves around. As a pitcher is striding out he is staying connected, but also creating separation [the chain between the 2 cars] from the lower and upper body. The separation is what makes it possible to create over/torque/explosion upon the rotational forces into foot plant. Now take this to the mound as in moving out but doing so in a downhill manner [mound]. The key is to be moving out to landing but not letting any slack be created in the chain that's pulling the car. In this case its the lower body being the car that is pulling the one behind it, the upper body. The chain must be kept taunt and must not let any slack creep in. Because, then, instead of following or pulled by the lead car the rear car is chasing it. That's where some people may make a case for rushing. While another person may think in terms of speeding up the lead car so the chain stays taunt. Whose answer is right and who's is wrong? Impossible to say because in both cases the problem could be corrected. Just 2 different avenues to create the same end result. The speed analogy of the cars boils down to "tempo" of the pitcher. Now we have the 2 cars upper/lower separated by the taunt chain. Huh oh! were going down the slope [mound] suddenly we see we are going to crash into a wall [akin to the stride leg planting] and bracing up, creating the wall. As the lead car [lower] hits that wall in order to not be crushed by the rear car [upper] it needs to catapult/sling the rear car [upper] over the wall. The slinging or catapulting is best done in the same manner that a whip cracks. The more speed [tempo] at which the lead car [lower] can attain [within reasonable parameters] the more force he will have to sling/sling the rear car [upper] over that wall. I hope this helps!! --------------------------------------------------- Dr. Marshall, it didn't help at all! It just solidified my belief in what you say about pitching coach wannabes!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wow, the earth-is-flat thinkers must be proud. Except for being glad that I have spell-checker that automatically corrected at least a dozen not even close words, I don't know what you want me to do with this. I disagree with absolutely everything that he says. The body pulling the pitching arm forward destroys the front of the shoulder. That snapping sound that you hear when his pitchers crash the first car into the wall are the Gleno-Humeral ligaments and the anterior shoulder capsule. The pitching arm slinging forward destroys the pitching elbow. Again, that snapping sound that you hear are Ulnar Collateral Ligaments. It is clear that the pitching coach wannabe has absolutely no understanding of kinetics. He certainly does not understand how to convert Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion to three laws of force application. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 068. Last fall my 17 yr old son (not a pitcher) was experiencing a significant amount of pain in his elbow when throwing. We purchased your video and he began throwing with his forearm inside vertical and taking it straight to the target. Within a couple of weeks he was able to throw without any pain. He has thrown 2-3 time per week at maximum intensity for the past 3 months without ANY pain. He is only throwing approx 20 throws at a high intensity each time. Last night when throwing he started having pain while warming up. This seems odd. It's hard for me to tell if he's getting careless with his mechanics. I always remind him prior to throwing to concentrate on his form. Someone suggested to me today that he use the "towel drill" (going thru the throwing motion using a towel) to strengthen his arm on days he does not go to the cages. They also suggested that he use this drill prior to throwing a baseball. I can understand that this drill could help reinforce good mechanics if he is doing it correctly. Does this make any sense to you? The weather here does not allow us to throw everyday. We drive about 45 minutes each time to the indoor facility. I know the important thing is for him to concentrate on the mechanics he learned from your video. Any other suggestions? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whatever the activity, athletes experience discomfort only when they place more stress on muscles, tendons, ligaments and so on than they can withstand. In all likelihood, inappropriate force application caused the problem. However, he could also not be fit for the intensity that he is able to now use. I am not sure that I understand what you mean when you say, "He has thrown 2-3 time per week at maximum intensity for the past 3 months without ANY pain." Does he only train two to three times per week? If so, then fitness might be the problem. To be able to throw at maximum intensity, my program requires daily training. When athletes take a day off, they have to train for two and one-half days to get back to their fitness level before the day that they take off. To maintain a level of fitness does not require much intensity or many repetitions, but it does require daily training. At seventeen biological years old, your son should have already completed my 120-Day High School Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. That would have increased his fitness level and taught the force application techniques appropriate for his biological age, such that now all he has to do is maintain it. In your subject heading, you wrote elbow pain. I will assume that you mean the inside of the elbow. That means that your son is taking the baseball laterally behind his body from where his throwing forearm is bouncing downward as he pulls it forward with his pitching elbow. As a result, the centripetal force slings his pitching forearm laterally outward, which places considerable unnecessary stress on the inside of his pitching elbow. He has to make sure to take his pitching arm toward second base, such that he never goes laterally beyond his driveline toward home plate. Then, from his 'Ready' position, he must drive his pitching forearm horizontally over top of his pitching arm straight toward home plate. If he does this and achieve some degrees of separation between his pitching upper arm and his pitching forearm, then he can lean the to his glove side the degrees that he needs to get his pitching forearm vertical at release. This eliminates the unnecessary stress on the inside of his pitching elbow. The towel drill is mechanically wrong, does not properly apply the regulated stress for a physiological adjustment and gets the towel dirty. Your son should use the towel to dry off after he showers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 069. I've enjoyed reading up on baseball pitching on your website and your ideas on the subject. I am writing an article for the university student newspaper on UCL tears in baseball pitchers. I am going to discuss the rehab for such injuries, the problem of the injuries at the college level, and how they can be prevented. If you could answer the following questions for the article it would be a major help. If a normal person, say, Joe writer, or Joe factory worker, were to suffer a UCL tear, how would it affect their daily lives? Would they even suffer such an injury, or, is it exclusive to pitching in that pitching forces the arm goes through such stress? What does the injury do to the pitcher, pain, loss of velocity and control, or all of them? Does the high success rate mean that it's just merely a setback nowadays instead of a major arm reconstruction? Do you think that is wrong? With the vast numbers of pitchers having the surgery, does it speak to there being some flaw with the system of pitching as it is today? Does the college system predispose pitchers to these injuries? Does anything? Are they generally overuse injuries? What can college coaches do to prevent these injuries? Are pitch counts the answer? More long tossing? Can they even be prevented? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Ulnar Collateral Ligament connects the medial surface of the Ulna bone of the little finger side of the forearm with the medial epicondyle of the Humerus bone of the upper arm. To apply greater stress on it than it can withstand, people have to uniquely position the forearm, such that they apply a sudden, powerfully backward force to the medial aspect of the forearm at the same time that that the muscles of the forearm are trying to apply a powerful forward force. In other words, it just about only occurs when baseball pitchers use the 'traditional' pitching motion and, most commonly, when they try to throw supination curves. The UCL acts like a guy wire that holds an electric pole upright. When it ruptures, the inside of the elbow opens wide. Even though the Radial Collateral Ligament remains intact, for medial elbow movements similar to arm-wrestling, another possible cause of UCL ruptures, the arm is useless. The UCL replacement surgery is a simple, but very effective surgery. Surgeons drill holes in the medial epicondyle of the Humerus bone and the medial aspect of the Ulna bone and thread a tendon from the Palmaris Longus muscle or elsewhere when patients do not have a Palmaris Longus muscle through these holes, tie the ends together and wait for the bone to close the holes around the new UCL. While this is a great surgery, I would not call it a mere setback and I think it is great. However, what the surgeons and physical therapy personnel have failed to understand is that the 'traditional' pitching motion caused the injury. To successfully return to competition, they need to not only return the bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles to competitive strength, they also have to retrain how these pitchers apply force to their pitches. Otherwise, they will again rupture their UCL or related tissues. The 'traditional' pitching motion has destroyed pitching arms for over one hundred years. With the emphasis today on velocity rather than movement, the percentage of pitchers suffering this injury appears to be increasing. In addition to professional pitchers at all levels, twelve year olds, high school kids and college kids are all too regularly popping their UCLs. The fault lies with the reverse rotation of the pitching arm to point to the opposite mid-infielder, which causes pitchers to have to drop their pitching forearm downward while they pull their pitching forearm forward with the pitching elbow. The reverse pitching forearm bounce is the unique, sudden, powerful backward force on the inside of the elbow while pitchers are trying to apply a powerful forward force that overwhelms the UCL and ruptures it. This action even breaks the Humerus bone of adult professional baseball pitchers. UCL ruptures relate totally to inappropriate force application. It has nothing to do with overuse. Pitch counts do not protect UCLs. Long tossing does not protect UCLs. Rest only causes atrophy and results in more injuries, not less. The only way to protect pitchers from UCL ruptures, Olecranon Fossa damage, Coronoid Process enlargement, Shoulder Gleno-Humeral ruptures, Subscapular humeral attachment ruptures, Teres Minor tears and more is to discard the 'traditional' pitching motion. Instead, the first forward force that pitchers apply to their pitches must be toward home plate, not back to their pitching arm side, pitchers must extend their force application farther forward and not stop their center of mass from moving straight toward home plate until they have safely decelerated their pitching arm and with their glove arm, pitching leg and glove leg and pitchers must apply greater straight line force toward second base. To learn how to meet these criteria, please read my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, which is free for all to read and copy on my web site at www.drmikemarshall.com or purchase my Instructional Videotape. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 070. I am the Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach at an university. After discussing bio-mechanics with our Baseball Coach, he suggested that I write you. I am very interested in the science of motor learning and bio-mechanics (especially as it applies to volleyball). Though my educational background was in the social sciences, over the past several years I have become increasingly more interested in the movement of the human body. I am especially interested in the application of bio-mechanics and motor learning as it applies to the training of my athletes. I have been guided along this path by a Professor of Motor Learning and Head Coach of their men's varsity volleyball team with two NCAA National Championships. He alsoserved as the USA Men's National Volleyball Team Head Coach and Technical Advisor for the past six Olympic games with two gold medals. He is currently assisting the new Head Coach as the U.S. men prepare for Athens in 2004. I came to know this gentleman after attending one of his coaching clinics several years ago. He believes in teaching the game of volleyball based on the principles of motor learning and proper/efficient movement patterns (bio-mechanics). He argues in his coaching clinics that there are proper methods/mechanics for playing the game and teaching the game. To put it simply, there are proper ways to play and improper ways to play. As you may imagine with so many different coaches out there and everyone claiming to be an expert, much of what he (and others) teaches comes under considerable debate. However he is the only coach with whom I have spoken that derives his methodology and techniques he teaches, through the use of scientific research. During our many discussions, he and I have explored several issues involved with the teaching the sport. One of the bigger debates in coaching is whole method teaching vs. part. As a teacher of motor learning he is a major proponent of the whole method. Ironically the USA Women's Team Head Coach utilizes several part method drills to teach the women's team their skills. If you were to go to the USA National Training Center you would be amazed at the contrast in practice techniques being applied. He believes the application of bio-mechanics and motor learning is essential, especially in skills such as setting, passing serving and hitting. Would you have any research and/or evidence that would support the premise that are certain bio-mechanics (movement patterns) that must be applied if we are to efficiently and most effectively play volleyball (and/or other sports). Could some of the research that you have conducted on baseball players be applied to volleyball? I obviously have several questions I would like to ask you. As a coach, I am always seeking the best ways to train my players. Based on what our baseball coach said about you and some of the research you have conducted, you are an outstanding person to ask. I believe that my friend would also be very interested in what you have to say. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Chapter Thirty-Four: Motor Development, Learning and Skill Acquisition of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I discuss the circumstances under which coaches should teach motor skills as a whole versus by the critical elements. Because baseball pitching is a complex, total body involvement, ballistic activity, I teach it by its critical elements. I start with the proper use of only the pitching arm. After pitchers master those critical elements, I add body movement that extends the length of the driveline in gradations. After pitchers master those critical elements, I teach the whole. However, rather than assume that those before me have correctly defined any aspect of the pitching motion, I take high-speed film and apply my conversion of Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion into three laws of force application for baseball pitching. Hopefully, unlike my experience, after your high-speed film analyses, you find that those before you have correctly defined the critical elements of the various volleyball skills. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 071. I am a college baseball coach. Paul Reddick recently sent me a letter trying to sell me a bunch of stuff that he wants to get rid of. I wrote him the following response. You still don't get it. This same information has been taught for a long time by Dr. Mike Marshall. When I approached Jill and Mr. Wolforth at the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association in Waco a week after the ABCA clinic in San Antonio, she explained that they were the only people in the country with these ideas. After explaining to her that they are more than 30 years late with regards to her previous statement and that these velocity increases have been proven with Dr. Mike's program for nearly as many years, I observed Mr. Wolforth slowly ease out of sight behind a curtain. It seems as if more and more people are making money by stealing Dr. Mike's material and calling it their own. That's OK though, the more Dr. Mike's stuff gets out, the better the pitching world will be. Keep up the good work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If all pitching coach wannabes want to put their names on my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and Instructional Videotape, I promise not to sue. We sure as hell better not put our egos ahead of continuing to destroy pitching arms. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 072. Saw your web materials, impressive. I want to talk about coaching 15/16-year old kids, and what it would take to get you to a northern state for the kind of baseball clinic kids here have NEVER had. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You have no way of getting me to travel anywhere. But, I have an assistant coach whom I have trained to give one-day pitching clinics. For the one-day pitching clinic, we charge five hundred dollars plus expenses. We have a few weekends available, but weekdays are wide open. At sixteen biological years old, we teach how to use ten pound wrist weights and six pound iron balls. I also have an eight-week summer program for high school juniors and seniors. You can find details about the summer program by clicking on my Pitching Instruction icon on my home page. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 073. I took your advice today and used graph paper to trace elements of my son's pitching delivery. Here's what I did: 1. I used video I had taken in the summer with my new digital video camera. The shots were taken from a side view approximately 25 feet from my son. The camera was held approximately 5.5 feet from the ground. He’s 6’2. He pitched from flat ground in my back yard. 2. I taped graph paper to my television set and used two sets of pens, 1 blue and one red, to trace out his movements. The blue pen was used to mark the path of the ball while the red pen was used to mark the path of his belly button. B1-Bx was used for the ball markings and M1-Mx was used to mark the path of his center of mass. 3. He employed the traditional pitching motion. Here's what the tracings revealed: a. His belly button disappeared from the camera in the early frames because he dramatically reverse rotated his body. b. His arm spent most of the delivery time behind his body with the ball pointing downward. c. His center of mass moved dramatically forward and dramatically downward as his arm was still stationed down behind his body. d. When his center of mass stopped moving forward (and down) his arm had just begun to move up and backward to driveline. e. When he did raise the ball his arm was in a posting position (elbow and upper arm at 90 degree angle). f. From that posting position he brought the ball closer to his head. g. In the next frame his forearm is violently snapped back. h. In the next frame his upper arm and forearm finally accelerate forward. When you look at the path of the ball the inefficiencies are obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense, it moved down, disappeared back behind the body, up, back, down and towards the head, back again, then towards home plate. I am waiting for your instructional tape to arrive in the mail. After I receive it I will work with my son on your method, video him again and chart his movements as noted above. I will then compare the two charts. Now a couple of questions: 1. Aside from the fact that his mechanics are totally out of kilter what can you tell, if anything, from what I've described above? 2. In charting movements as I've done, what is the pathway I would expect to see the ball take from a pitcher applying force in the most efficient way (ball down back and up during transition then 1 straight line from driveline towards home plate?). 3. Should the center of mass and the forward movement of the ball from the driveline be totally synchronized and uniformed (e.g. mass does not move forward till ball moves forward, mass stops when ball is released)? 4. Should the center of mass remain level throughout the delivery? In the trace that I made his center of mass moved forward and down in an almost perfectly straight line. I felt like I was back in college studying the slopes of demand and supply curves! He had to be about 5’5 when the ball was released! We completed this little project together. I told him the bad news was that his mechanics were highly inefficient and unhealthy. I told him the good news was that he has dramatic room for improvement. During last summer he was clocked at 80 MPH. He was 16 at the time. Is there any way of estimating, in order of magnitude, the amount of velocity he might gain with proper application of force? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congratulations, you are leaving the world of the-earth-is-flat thinkers. You collected scientific data, crude scientific data, but clearly, irrefutable, replicable scientific data. When his 'belly button disappeared from the camera because he dramatically reverse rotated his body,' you learned that he reverse rotates too far and points his pitching upper arm at the opposite mid-infielder. When 'his arm spent most of the delivery time behind his body with the ball pointing downward,' you learned that he has late pitching forearm turnover caused by not supinating his pitching arm during the transition phase. When 'his center of mass moved dramatically forward and dramatically downward as his arm was still stationed down behind his body,' you learned that he did not get his pitching arm to driveline height before he started his body forward. When 'his center of mass stopped moving forward (and down) his arm had just begun to move up and backward to driveline,' you learned that his stride was too far for him to move his pitching leg ahead of his glove foot. When you saw his pitching elbow and upper arm at ninety degrees, you learned that he generated backward horizontal centripetal force. When 'he brought the ball closer to his head,' you learned that, when he starts his pitching elbow forward, he would create a 'loop' behind his head on its way to extreme pitching forearm flyout. When 'his forearm is violently snapped back,' you learned the result of that backward horizontal centripetal force, you learned that he drags his pitching forearm forward with his pitching elbow and you saw the cause of Ulnar Collateral Ligament ruptures. I would like you to collect some more. This time get behind your son. Set the camera level thirty feet behind at a few inches higher than your son's height (You want to be at his driveline height). With this view, you should see the entire flight of the baseball to its target. With your thirty frames per second digital camera, I want you to trace only the baseball and put a dot on his pitching elbow and draw a line between each baseball and its dot. If you film from behind, you would be able to freeze frame with his pitching arm close to release. If you had placed a known measure, such as a yard stick or the twenty-four inch width of the pitching rubber in the frame, then you could show him how much horizontal movement he has from 'Ready,' the frame before the pitching elbow starts forward, to release. Since the first force that pitchers apply to the baseball from 'Ready' should be toward home plate, you will see what causes his lack of release consistency, decreases his release velocity and jeopardizes his pitching arm. From behind, you should see whether the baseball moves straight back toward second base and straight forward toward home plate. Any deviation indicates a force application flaw that he needs to correct. Until pitchers properly move the baseball from their glove to driveline height, the body and its center of mass should remain still. Once pitchers place the baseball on the driveline in the proper 'Ready' position, they should drive behind the baseball straight toward home plate. To accomplish this, pitchers should quickly move their pitching knee straight forward and forwardly rotate their shoulder. They should continually move their center of mass straight forward until their pitching foot lands ahead of their glove foot on the straight line toward home plate. Because the pitching mound has an one inch per foot slope for six feet, the center of mass moves straight forward with a one inch per foot downward angle for six feet. The fact that your six foot two inch son released his pitch as though he were five feet five inches tall shows that he did not stand tall and rotate. Instead, he bent forward at his waist, which not only lowered his release height, but also shortened the length of his driveline. Except that I do this at five hundred frames per second, welcome to my world. When you start getting out compasses and straight edges, you become a researcher. More importantly, you are teaching your son how to better perform this skill. There may well be some way of predicting how much pitchers gain in release velocity with my pitching motion and interval-training program. However, I have not had a sufficient sample size or collected the requisite data to do so. Besides, I cannot do the training or learning, the pitchers have to do that and they vary greatly in desire and ability to learn. Nevertheless, they all improve. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 074. This is the response that Paul Reddick sent me to the email I sent him about stealing your stuff. "I don't think you understand me. I am not trying to go against Marshall. I like Mike and if Mike asked me I would help him sell his video. Like I said, I am trying to get Marshall's book published. Even Mike will say that his teaching has evolved over the years. In 5 years Marshall could be teaching something different. Ron Wolforth is a friend and a good guy. I liked his program so I shared it. I got nothing from it." ---------------------------------------------------------- "In five years, Marshall could be teaching something different." You may change what drills you use, but you have never changed anything about how you want pitchers to apply force. Some friend he is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Can't everybody just get along? We have to put egos aside and figure out how to stop destroying pitching arms. I felt that I had completely defined my reasons and research for my pitching motion before I When I read that articles that Tom House, Dick Mills and Paul Nyman wrote for Collegiate Baseball News last summer. To confirm and/or advance my knowledge, I wanted to read what they knew about baseball pitching. When I learned that they had absolutely no scientific basis for anything that they said, I was very disappointed. I was also angry that they were charging ridiculous amounts for worthless, dangerous advice. I wrote my reviews in a state of disappointed anger. If I offended anybody with the frankness of my reviews of their articles, I apologize. I was hoping to read informative, helpful articles. I would love to read scientific, irrefutably-collected data. Whether at ASMI in Birmingham, AL or in San Diego, CA, I would applaud the researchers. If I had their financial support and research assistants, I would churn out quantifiable, replicable research reports at a maddening pace. We do not need earth-is-flat opinions. We need research. We need symposiums. We need cooperation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 075. I have written you previously to inquire about my shoulder pain and its relation to forearm bounce (thank you for your response). You had suggested I watch my video tape with graph paper taped to the screen to watch for misdirected force on the ball. I have done this and you were correct, my first movement from the "ready" position is not towards home plate. My glove side arm and shoulder open up and my arm appears to drag and never get to an optimal release position "out front." Are there any drills I could do to try to correct this mechanical flaw? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In Chapter Thirty-Seven: Dr. Mike Marshall's Throwing Drills for His Interval-Training Programs, I discuss the throwing drills that correct all mechanical flaws. Unfortunately, that chapter is about two years old and I have developed even more effective drills with which to teach my pitching motion. I will include all of them in my second Instructional Videotape and, when I find time, I will rewrite my entire Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and put it online for you to read and copy for free. I congratulate you on your first scientific step into understanding baseball pitching. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 076. I am interested in your summer program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The earlier interested persons reserve their space for my eight-week summer program for high school juniors and seniors, the lower the cost. The cost of fifty-six days of coaching, housing, equipment to take home and electric is one thousand three hundred and twenty-one dollars ($1,321.00). If you send in your deposit and notarized partnership agreement by March 01st, you save two hundred and twenty-one dollars ($221.00). I appreciate your interest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 077. I have a close friend that has been playing softball since she was very young. She is quite an athlete and has earned a scholarship to pitch in college. As with most young ladies in a small school environment she pitched nearly every game and sometimes both games of a double header. She began experiencing pain and a knot about the size of a golf ball between the bump of the shoulder blade and the spine. It seems it is down deep in the Trapezius muscle. She went to a doctor who explained it as "Myrolfinger Pain Syndrome". I'm probably not spelling it correctly and I'm not to sure of what his real diagnosis was. She can throw for a while but when she quits and then tries to throw again she has a difficult time even raising her arm. What would you think it may be? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rather than the Trapezius muscles, I would suspect the Rhomboid muscles. I would have her lie face down on a very high bench, such that, even when she reached down as far as she could, she could not touch the ten pound wrist weights on both of her arms could to the floor. Then, as relaxed she could do it for five minutes, I would have her swing both arms forward and as far upward as possible followed by downward and as far backward as possible. She should supinate her forearms on the way forward and upward and pronate on the way downward and backward. Until her body physiologically responds to this training program, icing and deep muscle massage might give her some temporary relief. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 078. I have been coaching baseball for many years at the 14 and under ages. With the Lords blessing it has been a wonderful ride many winning seasons. Now I have the opportunity to coach high school baseball in the private school system. I have never thought pitching and still do not, just some basic movements fastball and change up only no breaking stuff. I read your free book along with many others. My thoughts on pitching are with arm movement down past the pivot leg and back. Most books and coaches are teaching straight back and up. Can you help me I want to have a solid program to help these young men later in life. But my main concern at this level is to train properly and keep these young men free form injury. Have three players that will play at higher levels than high school with the proper teaching and instruction. I am scared. This is a new and tough position I am in. But, I would rather do it my way than have these young men hurt. In 23 years of 14 and under I have never had a player injured because of bad instruction and do not want to start now. Pitching is such a larger part of the game at this level. Can you help me? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am not sure what you mean with 'arm movement down past the pivot leg and back.' I suspect that what you call the 'pivot leg' is the glove leg. If true, then you might be saying that you want your pitchers to bend forward at their waist and pull their pitching arm downward and backward. I recommend that, rather than bending at their waist, pitchers stand tall and rotate. I recommend that, rather than pulling their pitching arm downward, pitchers drive the baseball in straight lines toward home plate. This requires that pitchers also drive their pitching arms in straight lines toward home plate. I am surprised that, with the bend forward at the waist and pull their pitching arm downward, no pitchers suffered front of the shoulder discomfort. I wrote my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and created my Instructional Videotape to help every baseball pitching coach, be they the father of the young men or coaches, how to properly teach the pitching skills and train the pitching arm. I hope to have my second Instructional Videotape completed in the next month or two, after which, I will start on my rewrite of my book. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 079. My family will be on a holiday in your area in March. My 14 year old son loves to play baseball, mostly 3rd base and pitcher. He plays at the top level in our city and played in the national championship last year. He has never had arm problems and we would like to continue to avoid them. My son also wants to continue to improve as a pitcher. We are only in your area for a few days and we have other activities planned, like going to see a spring training game. I was wondering if you thought that you could do him some good through one or two lessons? If so, what would you charge for a lesson? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In my eight-week summer program, I teach school juniors and seniors. In my forty-week program, I teach high school graduates and college freshmen and sophomores. I do not teach short-term lessons. However, you and he are welcome to visit and watch my pitchers train. We train every day from 9:00 to 11:00AM. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 080. I did as you suggested and utilized video from directly behind my son. I actually had taped from that angle during the taping session I had with him this summer so I was able to use tape from that session for your suggested exercise. As you suggested, for each stop frame I placed a dot at the location of his elbow and the ball then drew a line between the two dots. There were a total of 23 stop frames from his initial removal of the ball from his glove to his release of the ball. I also drew a vertical line (using a red marker) to identify the initial vertical axis of his body as he stood in the balance position. This made it easy for me and my son to see all of the wasted action and movement occurring behind his body. For me, plotting and trying to understand the path his elbow and the ball took from behind was more complex than the side view tracing I did yesterday where I was looking at the relationship between the path of the ball and his center of mass. However, if I understand the final series of lines I'm looking at, they reveal subtleties that I had not imagined. I am a novice here, so please excuse me if my descriptions are less than vivid. Let me try to summarize what I saw before giving you some of the details. If I were to draw a line connecting all of the ball dots, an almost perfect circle (dots in clockwise sequence) would be formed from the removal of the ball from his glove to 12:00 o'clock (2 to 12 O’clock moving clockwise). Most of what was happening was happening behind his body. The space between the lines remains constant for a series of points but then changes, either getting closer to one another or increasing in distance from one to another (irregular rates of acceleration? I assume the frame rates are constant). Once the ball moves beyond 12:00 it's movements become erratic. From the removal of the ball from is glove, his elbow initially moves down in a small arc then up as he brings the ball behind the body. Once it gets behind the body it appears to move slightly up and down (bounce?). The ball remains outside of the elbow for the entire path of the ball until the last several frames where the ball is brought inside the elbow then dramatically outside the elbow just prior to release (flyout?). It appears that things occur in series so that's how I present it below. Stop Points 1-3: BALL starts at upper chest area. Ball moves in straight line downward and is now located at mid-chest level. ELBOW moves down and slightly behind body. Ball is just short of 2 o’clock at point 3. Stop Points 3-8: Distance between line 3 and 4 is greater than the distance between each of first 3 lines (sudden acceleration?). This gap between lines remains constant between lines 4-8. Between line 3 and 4 the elbow also makes a significant horizontal move behind the body. From points 4-8 the ball moves downward in an arc and ends at 6:00 o'clock. The elbow has moved slightly upward and slightly back. The elbow now is directly above the ball. The ball is at mid thigh level. Stop points 8-9: The elbow moves very slightly up and laterally. The ball moves to 7:00 o'clock. Looks like ball has accelerated because gap between lines has increased. Stop Points 9-10: The elbow makes a significant horizontal move and the ball moves from 7 to 8 O'clock. Stop Points 10-12: Distance between lines decreases (arm slows down?). At point 12, ball is at exactly 9 O'clock. The elbow has moved slightly down and laterally from P10 to P11 then moves slightly upward from P11 to P12. Points are "bouncing". Stop Points 12-17: Ball moves uniformly from 9 O'clock to 12 O'clock. Elbow has changed direction and is now moving horizontally back toward front of the body. At P17 the elbow is directly under the ball (Posting position?) Stop Points 17-18: (things start getting interesting) The elbow makes dramatic horizontal movement towards front side of body. The ball moves slightly upward, but very little laterally. The ball is between 12 and 1 O’clock. For the first time the elbow is outside the ball. Stop Points 18-19: The elbow continues to accelerate laterally while the ball moves only to 1 O'clock. The elbow is now further outside of the ball. Stop Points 19-20: Again the elbow continues to accelerate laterally while the ball moves only just beyond 1 O'clock. The line for point 20 is sloped negatively at about 60 degrees. Stop Points 20-21: Ball makes significant movement down and laterally midway between 2 and 3 o'clock. Elbow continues to move laterally and now, slightly upward. Stop Points 21-22: Interesting thing occurs. Elbow stops moving laterally. Ball is now directly above elbow. The line for point 22 is much shorter than all others. I assume this is because the elbow has been accelerated ahead of the forearm. Stop Points 22-23: More interesting stuff. The elbow moves up slightly and the forearm and ball suddenly moves up and laterally away from the body. The ball is now outside the forearm, positive slope of about 45 degrees for line 23. Ball is released from this point. I hope my explanation was not to confusing and made enough sense to give you a flavor for what is going on with my son’s delivery. This exercise was absolutely great! Like I said, I’ m about as far from being a scientist as one could be, but the inefficiencies occurring here are even obvious to me. Thanks for putting up with my clumsy presentation. I did my best. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To be perfect, during the transition phase, the baseball should move downward and backward toward second base. The first baseball circle on your graph should be waist high when you son took the baseball out of his glove. The second baseball should be directly below the first baseball. The third baseball should be directly below the second baseball. And so on, until the baseball reaches its lowest point in its vertical pendulum swing. Then, the baseball circles should start upward directly over top of the downward baseball circles until the vertical pendulum swing of the pitching arm reaches shoulder height. At this point, the baseball circles should gradually move toward your son's head to the driveline, which is slightly above and very close to his pitching side ear. From this ready position, your son should drive the baseball in a straight line toward home plate. That means, if perfect, you will draw each circle on top of the proceeding circle through release and on toward home plate until gravity and/or the spin velocity starts pushing the baseball downward. All deviations from this perfect graph indicate flaws that your son has to eliminate. The 2:00 o'clock to 12:00 o'clock circle that you describe from the rear view tells you that your son takes the baseball laterally behind his body. If you had a known measure in your frame, you could calculate the magnitude of a couple of important flaws. To determine how much negative reverse rotation your son makes, you could measure the distance between 3:00 o'clock and 9:00 o'clock. To determine how much horizontal centripetal force that your son generates, you could measure the distance between 9:00 o'clock and his release point. The result might surprise you. Between your twelfth and seventeen stop points, you write that the baseball moves uniformly from 9:00 o'clock to 12:00 o'clock. In other words, your son's pitching forearm is vertical. You also say that your son has changed directions with his pitching elbow, such that it is now moving horizontally toward the front of the body. The frame of videotape immediately before your son started moving his pitching elbow back to the pitching arm side of his body is the 'Ready' position. This is not the posting position, whatever that is, this is the position of the pitching forearm when pitchers start accelerating the baseball toward home plate. Pitchers should not have any position where the pitching arm stops. Rather, the pitching arm should smoothly flow into the acceleration phase. That your son's pitching arm stops shows that he generated horizontal backward force that he has to decelerate to a stop before he can apply force toward home plate. That is like starting a one hundred yard dash by running two steps in the opposite direction. Not a good idea. I do not know whether when you say that the baseball is at 12:00 o'clock, that means that the line that you would draw a line between the baseball and the tip of the elbow, the pitching forearm is vertical or that means that relative to some imagined center of a circle, the baseball is at twelve o'clock. In any case, this movement is a continuation of the horizontal backward force that your son generated with his improper transition. It is very important for you to label the relative positions of the tip of his pitching elbow and the baseball. What he does next determines how soon he will injury his pitching elbow. If his pitching elbow moves back to the pitching arm side of his body, then the amount that the baseball moves dramatically downward while it follows his pitching elbow to the pitching arm side of his body indicates pitching forearm drop under that leads to pitching forearm flyout. From your description, your son moved the baseball downward, from at least vertical and maybe more, sixty degrees downward. This indicates that, with this reverse pitching forearm bounce, he considerably unnecessarily stresses the inside of his pitching elbow. From your beginning discussion of the baseball movement, even though you did not tell me, I assumed that your son is a right-handed pitcher. Now, during the acceleration phase, you say that, while your son continued to move his pitching elbow laterally and slightly upward between your twentieth and twenty-first stop points, he moved the baseball downward and laterally between two and three o'clock. Two o'clock is higher than three o'clock. Therefore, while your son moved the pitching elbow laterally and upward, that means that he moved the baseball farther downward. That means that he dropped his pitching forearm below horizontal. If I have interpreted your words correctly, he not only severely drops his pitching forearm under his pitching elbow at the start of the acceleration phase, but he continues to drop it under through much of the start of the acceleration phase. This is about as far as a pitcher can get from driving the pitching forearm over the pitching upper arm that I recommend and indicates severe pitching forearm flyout. Unless he corrects this, when he starts to develop man strength and tries to throw as hard as he can, he will injure his pitching arm. You describe the relative positions of the pitching forearm and baseball at release as a positive slope of forty-five degrees. Since pitchers need their pitching forearms vertical at release, I would call this, a negative slope of forty-five degrees. Even though you did not tell me the relative positions of the pitching upper arm and the pitching forearm, I will assume that they are in as straight a line that the pitching arm extension range of motion permits. Therefore, your son has maximum pitching forearm flyout with zero degrees of separation. To achieve forty-five degrees, your son leaned the line across the top of his shoulders to forty-five degrees. This means that rather than use his Triceps Brachia muscle to extend the pitching arm toward home plate, he had to use his Brachial is and Biceps Brachia muscles to try to stop his Olecranon Process from slamming into his Olecranon Fossa. To sum up, this is the 'traditional' pitching motion and it will not only eventually destroy your son's pitching arm, but he will never achieve his maximum release velocity, release consistency or throw a quality horizontal spin axis curve. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 081. I'm a high school student in a warm state, who used to pitch, but currently I play golf. While discussing the golf swing with my pro we noticed that people use their wrists and elbows too much as they come into the golf swing. These actions are unnecessary because as the body moves downward the body will rotate the arms in the correct position. This comes to my pitching question. I don't think you need to use any rotation at the elbow because your body should rotate the arm for you. Place your pitching arm at a position parallel to the ground, palm facing up, and pointed to second base; when your leading foot has hit the ground. When you rotate your body through the pitch, your arm should come across your body in an arc, without any stress on the elbow, finishing with your arm at the opposite hip. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Humerus bone of the upper arm and the Ulna bone of the forearm make up the elbow joint. The elbow joint does not rotate, it only flexes and extends. The Ulna bone and the Radius bone make up the forearm. The Radius bone rotates toward and away from the Ulna bone. Therefore, the forearm only pronates and supinates. Pitchers should apply force to their pitches in a straight line. When pitchers apply force in an arc, at every point tangent to that arc, the baseball wants to fly off in a straight line. Therefore, pitchers waste force continually returning the baseball to the curved pathway. What you describe is why baseball pitchers injure their pitching arms. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 082. My son made the 7th grade baseball team. Their first game is tomorrow. At the first practice, my son pitched. When he threw your screwball, the coach told him that he had the best changeup. I was not there, but my son said it was breaking sharply. He has not thrown a pitch since July. The point of all of this is that as my son threw pitches, the coach told him he needed to turn his foot to be parallel to the pitching rubber. My son politely told him: “Coach, I’m learning how to pitch a different way and my dad does not want me to turn my foot that way.” The coach told him “No problem” and meant it. Now, the coach is a redshirt freshman on the local college baseball team, so he’s a young guy. But I was very happy, and quite surprised, that he allowed my son to ignore his advice. I told my son that he obviously told the coach in a polite way and I also told him that he will have coaches in the future who will not be as understanding. I have to ask about the status of the video. Remember doc, it will NEVER be perfect. Your loyal followers want excellent and instructive and we have no doubt that is what we will get. We don’t expect perfect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am so happy for your son. I remember the thrill of throwing pitches that moved dramatically. I will save my opinion of competitive baseball in the seventh grade for another reader, but I think you know what I will say. To reinforce your son's comment about not turning his pitching foot to parallel with the pitching rubber, I finally decided to make a complete break from the 'traditional' pitching motion. It finally dawned on me that I was trying to equivocate. For years, I have known that when pitchers place their pitching foot parallel with the pitching rubber, they cannot prevent their pitching arm from going laterally behind their body, they cannot powerfully step straight forward off the pitching rubber and they cannot move their center of mass straight forward throughout their pitching motion. As a result, I now teach my Wind-Up Set Position. With my Wind-Up Set Position, pitchers stand with both feet pointing straight toward home plate. Then, whether they pitch from the wind-up or from their set position, they raise and cross their wrists and double pendulum swing both arms to their proper start position before their lift their glove foot off the ground. When they are pointing their shoulder high glove arm straight at home plate and their pitching arm is on the driveline in its proper 'Ready' position, pitchers step straight forward with their glove foot and, when it lands where it should, pitchers drive their pitching forearm over their pitching upper arm straight toward home plate. What this essentially does is remove a major problem of the 'traditional' pitching motion. Now, the first force that pitchers apply to the baseball from 'Ready' is straight toward home plate. When we include my moving the pitching leg ahead of the glove foot, my degrees of separation and my powerful pitching forearm releases, we will eliminate pitching arm injures, maximize release velocity, maximize release consistency and master the pitches required to succeed at the highest levels. With, at this moment, over four hundred and seventy clips in this videotape versus one hundred and twenty for my first videotape, this is a much larger project. After I get all the clips I need, I still have to lay them into the timeline, edit them, put graphics where they need to be and whatever effects are appropriate. This video will not be perfect, but it will be as perfect as I can do it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 083. My son is a left-handed high school senior pitcher. He trained with you last summer. He is throwing high quality fastballs and curves and, to a lesser quality, a screwball. He made the baseball team this year. However, during the last practice, when my son was pitching with a baserunner on first, the coach said that he balked whenever he crossed his wrists. Is that true? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Absolutely not. The coach saw something that he had never seen before and instinctively thought that it was a balk. What is saw was that your son did not lift his glove foot off the ground before he started to throw. Pitchers do not have to lift their glove foot first or simultaneously. With the 'traditional' pickoff motion to first base, left-handed pitchers stand on one leg, separate their glove hand from their glove and then, they rotate their hips and shoulders toward first base and throw. Clearly, they separated or crossed their wrists before they stepped toward first base. The rule book says that pitchers must step toward first base, it does not say when or even with which foot. It also says that, unless pitchers step backwardly off the pitching rubber, when they step toward first base, unlike second and third base, they must throw to first base. Your son is well within the rules. Looking different is an insufficient reason to call a balk. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 084. Do you have a time frame for that new video release, would it be a wise choice for me to just buy the original and start with that? The reason I ask is because the season is almost upon us, and I have only one more year of eligibility. The information you have provided has shown me a world of improvement; therefore, I would like to begin learning your drills immediately in an attempt to discover the limits of my ability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please excuse me, but I do not remember whether you are still in high school or are in college. Nevertheless, I give essentially the same advice. I always recommend to young men, who are serious about baseball pitching, to become the best pitcher that they can be before they attend college or before their last two seasons in college. Therefore, you should take a year off and do just that. In general, my first Instructional Videotape shows what we do. My second Instructional Videotape goes in much greater detail with much better examples. If you buy my first, I will sell you my second at seventy-five percent off. You will be out an additional twenty-five dollars, but you will somewhat know what I recommend. I am working as hard as I can, but with everything that I do, including answering emails, I cannot work on it for more than twelve hours per day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 085. I was reading Parade magazine last week (2/8/04) and the resident exercise columnist, a doctor, was saying that people should lift weights one day and take the next day off, etc. His logic was that when you lift weights you tear muscles and the off days gives them a chance to repair themselves and get stronger. Not to pick on Parade because as I have often heard this logic. I believe that you teach the use of weights every day in a manner specific to the body movement you are trying to perfect. Is there any tearing of muscles involved when your players lift wrist weights or throw iron balls even if it is microscopic. Is the man from Parade wrong that lifting weights causes muscles to tear and I assume he means tear in a good way as the muscles get stronger with a day of rest? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If, when people train against resistance, be they weights or whatever, they tear muscle and/or connective tissue, then they need to immediately stop that training program. However, to make a general statement that 'when you lift weights you tear muscle' does not tell me much. Is this ballistic power lifting? Is this anaerobic lifting? Are they lifting the teapot or five hundred pounds? There are nearly infinite numbers of training programs with varying resistances, repetitions and frequencies, most do more harm than good. In my 120-Day High School and 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Programs, my pitchers do not tear muscles. Therefore, they do not require time for their muscles to heal from injury. Rest means atrophy. One day of rest requires one and one-half days of training to return to the fitness level on the day that athletes do not train. Everybody needs to train every day for whatever it is that the want to be able to do every day for the rest of their lives. For example, because I want to be able to jog two miles every day for the rest of my life, I jog two miles every day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 086. I read a biography on you from the Web that lists your academic history and saw that you wrote a paper in 1976 called "How Tension Control Relates to Athletics." Such research and writing must have taken months or years, so forgive such a blithe request as asking you to summarize some of that work. It's a fascinating subject. Perhaps you could share a couple of paragraphs about the finger and wrist tension in pitching, and maybe a thought or two about grip pressure in batting? Or whatever topic you choose that might shed some light on this work you did. Also, I would like to say that I have been working on your throwing motion for almost a year, with the benefit of the first videotape and your free online book. I am an over-40 position player, and while I am not perfect, I have graphed my ball route and it's a lot straighter than before and the elbow and shoulder feel good for the first time in years. Older position players listen up: this can keep you in the line up! Frankly, it's not that hard. I say that not to detract from the task faced by your pitchers, but to illustrate that, as you have stated, position players are accustomed to getting the ball to driveline before the body moves forward, and that they have a much larger target area than pitchers do. As a position player, if you can rotate your torso and drive the pitching hand inside the target line and pronate, you can become reasonably proficient at this with only a few months of work. Sadly, most of us don't even consider adopting your motion until our arms have been severely damaged. Thankfully, rest and then the use of the Marshall Motion can put all but the most destroyed throwing arm back on the field. Thanks for your enormous contributions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I know that I have a copy of that article around here somewhere. If you send me you name and address, I will send you a copy. I call the concept, differential tension control, where athletes differentiate between the tension necessary for an activity and those that are not. Then, they learn how to eliminate those that are not, which frees those that are necessary to function without interference. For example, while the novices with the contorted faces and laborious movements appear to fight themselves with every step, the great sprinters appear relaxed and run effortlessly. With regard to how much force pitchers should apply with their fingers and wrists: Pitchers are only as good as the strength and skill of the tip of the middle finger of the pitching hand. Strength to maximally transfer the force of their pitching arm to the baseball for horizontal and/or spin velocity and skill to impart the precisely perfect spin axis for each type of pitch, such that the move maximally on their way toward home plate. I guess that means that pitchers should grip the baseball tightly and rip every release. The same goes for batters. I appreciate your unsolicited testimonial. You said it far better and with more feeling than I could ever do. Unfortunately, no matter how often I say that all I want to do is eliminate pitching arm injuries and give away as much as I can and still live, readers think that I am like all the others and just want their money. I and they thank you. Besides, you did not cost as much as Fred McGriff charges. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 087. I am writing you in reply to a letter written to you by a friend of mine. I am the area scouting supervisor for a major league team. I am working with his son. I think you misunderstood the question my friend asked you about lighter ball-heavy ball training. I by no means intended to use this on 11-12 year olds. The subject came up and I basically gave him my opinion on the matter and he was looking to you for further input. That being said I was rather offended by your comments on myself being well meaning, but basically stating that I had no idea what I was talking about. I know you have more experience and a greater knowledge of the physiological aspects of pitching, but I too have dedicated a great deal of time on the mechanics, mental approach and physical conditioning needed perform at the optimum level. I played in college. I played 4 years of professional baseball. I coached at the High School level, the College level and at the professional level. I have also been in scouting for ten years now. In my years of baseball, one thing I have always done is listen to coaches and players on their philosophies and approaches to both performing on the mound and teaching that guy to perform on the mound. I do not teach your so called "traditional" pitching motion nor do I teach anyone in particulars throwing motion. I teach kids my beliefs developed from listening to hundreds upon hundreds of opinions mixed in with what I learned as a pitcher and what worked for myself and others. I do not believe in "cloning" pitchers. Each kid is a separate entity to me and is taught accordingly. I guess the bottom line or the purpose of this letter is to inform you that not everyone out there teaches stuff one way. To tell you the truth I was very offended by your comments in your letter implying that I did not know what the hell I was doing. I take pride in what I do and work hard at it, and when I feel someone does not respect what I do it really bothers me. That being said, somewhere down the line maybe we will cross paths in this game and I can take some knowledge from you also. I respect your opinion but not when it comes at the expense of someone you have never met or understand how they go about their business. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I appreciate that you took the time to send me this email. That already puts you a cut above others in your profession. I am on your side. I am here to help you. I welcome your visit. I welcome debate. That being said, when those in positions of authority do not know that they do not know, they cause the most harm. You have allot of power and influence, now add knowledge. Every human movement has a biomechanical and anatomical perfect way to perform. For example, bend your knees when you pick up a heavy box. Baseball pitching also has a perfect way of applying force. You do not learn how to teach this perfect pitching motion with an opinion poll. It is not a matter of cloning, it is a matter of the proper way to apply force. As I said before, I believe that you mean well, but you do not have any idea what you are talking about. If you are truly serious about learning, read my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and watch my Instructional Videotape. I hope to have my second video ready shortly. By the way, I have a right-handed pitcher, who can throw my Maxline Fastball, Maxline Fastball Sinker, Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Pronation Curve, Torque Fastball and Torque Fastball Slider for strikes with both fastballs above ninety miles per hour. With him on your team, you can learn how pitchers should nearly perfectly apply force to their pitches, but also help a young man achieve his dream. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 088. Is this a sign of more elbow problems to come? I notice that when pitchers have Tommy John surgery they also have bone spurs removed at the time of their surgery. I noticed that Santana suffered elbow soreness in 2002 and then had the chips removed at the end of 2003. Is Mr. Santana a good option for my fantasy baseball draft? Or is Mr. Santana at serious risk for Tommy John surgery? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I know nothing about fantasy baseball or its draft. I hope that it has nothing to do with money. I want nothing to do with anything that anybody could call gambling. You see, even as a sixty-one year old former major league baseball player, I will not violate that prohibition against gambling on baseball. 'Traditional' baseball pitchers rupture their Ulnar Collateral Ligament because they place more stress on the inside of their pitching elbow than the UCL could withstand. They get bone chips in their pitching elbow because they bang the radial head of their Radius bone against the capitular end of their Humerus bone. The baseball pitching action common to both types of injuries is that these pitchers 'supinate' their pitching forearm. Therefore, unless pitchers learn to 'pronate' the releases of all pitches, they could move from the lesser severe bone chips to Ulnar Collateral Ligament rupture. It is all part and parcel of the 'traditional' pitching motion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 089. Although I am sure you truly know what you are doing I still have trouble with your attitude towards how I or others teach and coach. You mentioned a young man and he sounds interesting. I would like to know where he is from so either I or another scout from our organization can see him. That being said, I have helped countless kids improve to the point where they are pitching at the college level and a couple of these young men will undoubtedly have a chance to pitch at the pro level. I feel I must be doing something right. If I can find the time I will try to pick up your book and video. In the meantime it would be helpful if you could mention a couple of names from the big league pitchers who throw with your motion and maybe I can compare this with what and how I teach. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I mean absolutely no disrespect. I welcome discussions. I invite everybody, including all other pitching coach wannabes, to visit my Pitcher Research/Training Center in Zephyrhills, FL. I wish everybody every success. I am doing everything that I can do to help everybody to understand the baseball pitching motion. We are on the same side. Nevertheless, anybody who teaches any aspect of the 'traditional' pitching motion destroys pitching arms. On the other hand, I know how to eliminate all pitching arm injuries. No pitcher I trained has ever had or ever will have a pitching arm injury and all pitchers I train can achieve their maximum genetic release velocity, highest pitch quality and release consistency. This deeply committed, hard-working young man trains with me daily here in beautiful Zephyrhills, FL between 10:00 and 11:00AM. He is from the Houston area and I believe that he is visiting his parents this weekend. My Coaching Baseball Pitchers book is free at my web site at www.drmikemarshall.com. My first videotape is two years old, but I am presently upgrading it and hope to complete it soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 090. So my take on your e-mail is that unless Santana changes his release or "mechanics", he will be at a greater risk for Tommy John surgery. Interesting, let me ask you one more question, In your time in the majors was it common for pitchers to have bone chips removed from their elbow and not have TJ surgery or was it more common for pitchers to have the bone chips removed and not have TJ surgery? Also do you think Santana will require Tommy John surgery in the near future? I know you don't have a crystal ball, but I do value your opinion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anybody who uses the 'traditional' pitching motion is always at risk for pitching arm injuries. Since, other than twelve degrees loss of my pitching elbow extension range of motion and twelve degrees loss of my pitching elbow flexion range of motion, I never had any pitching arm injury, I do not have much information. I was present and friends of Tommy John before, during and after he ruptured his Ulnar Collateral Ligament, but the people with the answers you seek are the team doctors. However, I do not know if they get together and keep records. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 091. I will be in Florida the first two weeks of March. I will do what I can to get to your facility. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to bouncing things off you in the future. By the way, I am confrontational by nature and love to debate people on certain topics. I am by no means vicious in my approach but I really do enjoy a good argument. I hope I didn't come across that way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zephyrhills is twenty miles North on Highway 301 off the I-4 interstate east of Tampa. We would love to have you here and I will enjoy discussing baseball pitching. I had to defend my doctoral dissertation against the aggressive questioning of five professors that I selected to be on my doctoral committee. At times, it was hard to believe that they were my mentors and friends, but, as they said at the end, they taught me to organize my thoughts for answers and never be afraid to say, I don't know. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 092. A few days ago, I wrote you about some elbow pain my son (17 yr old) was experiencing when throwing. You mentioned something about taking the ball back toward second base during the motion. When playing catch with him, I can see him bring the ball back behind him toward where a second baseman would be positioned. Is this a problem? Should I be able to see the ball when he takes it back if I am in line with him? Could this be part of his problem? We have purchased you video and we are trying to get it right. His arm is much better now, but he still has minor pain on some of his throws. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As I recall, you said that your son has pain in his pitching elbow. I assume that you mean the inside of his pitching elbow. The major source of unnecessary stress on the inside of the pitching elbow occurs when pitchers pull their pitching forearm forward with their pitching elbow, such that the pitching forearm moves backward and downward. Pitchers should drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm. However, when pitchers point their pitching arm at the opposite mid-infielder, because they have to return their pitching arm to the pitching arm side of their body, they cannot immediately drive their pitching forearm over their pitching upper arm. Sir Isaac Newton's first law, the law of inertia, tells us that pitchers must apply force in a straight line toward home plate. Because your son takes his pitching arm so far beyond second base, he is generating the force that is injuring him. With my new uni-motion, Wind-Up Set Position, I take 'traditional' pitchers, tell them to stand in the 'traditional' set position, make them my 'crow-step' pitching rhythm, where they keep their glove foot on the ground while they pendulum swing their pitching arm up to driveline height, then when they stop their pitching arm, I tell them to step and throw the baseball precisely opposite of where their pitching elbow points. After a couple of throws, I rotate their body toward their glove side on the pitching rubber, such that precisely opposite is toward home plate. In this way, they get to reverse rotate like always, but, instead of the first force that they apply to the baseball injuring them, it throws the baseball toward home plate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 093. My son pitched 2 innings and struck out three. He had a nice screwball and a little more pop on his fastball than he did a year ago. We literally have not yet started practicing pitching. He was pleased with himself as he should have been even though his team lost. Parents are the ruination of youth sports. I got a series of emails today discussing the miserable performance of the team and how we had to do something about it. These are 7th graders. One plan is for 5 hours of practice Saturday. When I voiced concern about the lunacy of such a plan (although I chose my words more carefully than, say, YOU would have) I was the lone voice of dissent. We have had unyielding rain and cold for the last month. The team was chosen about two weeks ago. They had not practiced because of weather. Yet there were parents who wanted to see them in mid-season form. Incredible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ February baseball for seventh graders. I can see nothing of value in any of this. Isn't it basketball season where you live? Like I said before, I will discuss my views on competitive school baseball for seventh graders in another email. While I am glad that your son had fun, I see two innings in February. Does that mean that he will not pitch after sixty days? I am nowhere near ready to send you my report on your son's biological age and so on, but, like I expected when I saw him in person, he is a biological twelve year old thirteen year old. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 094. The coach of the team is a young man from the local college baseball team who is sitting out the year recovering from shoulder surgery. I met him the other day and he seems very level headed. He is the guy who allowed my son to pitch without turning his foot and he used him the other day. This young man told the parents that he had four tests this week. Many parents were upset that he would not be able to practice the kids because of the requirements of his academic schedule. I suggested in an email that he was sending a very good message to the kids by putting his studies ahead of baseball. That, too, was not a popular position. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a good story. Thank you. What caused his need for shoulder surgery? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 095. You are now teaching guys to stand with both heels on the front of the rubber with the toes of both feet pointing straight at home? The arms pendulum swing, but the feet do not move? Is this the position from which they pitch or from which they do drills? When does the glove shoulder then point toward home plate, when the glove arm is raised? This is awkward because I've done it otherwise for 35 years, but I can see that with a little repetition, this is so very simple. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My pitchers pitch competitively with my Wind-Up Set Position. I want pitchers to pendulum swing their glove arm toward home plate and their pitching arm toward second base. I tell them to keep their glove foot on the ground until their pitching arm in at my 'Ready' position. Because I have little rotational flexibility, to swing my pitching arm toward second base, I have to lift the heel of my glove foot off the ground and drop my glove knee somewhat inward. However, pitchers vary. Therefore, I tell my pitchers to see how much they need to reverse rotate their hips to align their acromial line with home plate and second base. When they know that, they know where to 'lock' their hips to keep their pitching arm from going beyond second base. My Wind-Up Set Position is very simple, yet very powerful. And, it puts the old slide-step technique to shame for quickness to home plate. At a recent tryout, one of my pitchers was using it and, after several very powerful pitches, the camp supervisor asked him to throw some pitches from the set position. He answered that he just did. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 096. My son plays shortstop, so he will need to break old habits. When he takes the ball from his glove, he will need to pendulum his throwing arm instead of taking it around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Usually, because they use the crow-hop throwing rhythm, position players do not have the same throwing forearm flyout problems that pitchers have. But, you are correct, he has to learn to pendulum swing his throwing arm directly opposite of his target without any backward horizontal centripetal force. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 097. Does that mean that you have looked at the X-rays? If so, did you see anything that troubled you? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes, I have examined all X-rays sent to me. I just have not had time to respond. The fact that he is biologically twelve years old and continues to pitch competitively for more than two months per year troubles me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 098. I am currently training for the upcoming baseball season. I am playing for a local league. I am training with the wrist weights and iron balls. But my question is I want to lift weights for general fitness. What exercises do you recommend I do without interfering or creating a hindrance to throwing a baseball. I read you do not endorse squatting and you prefer the closed grip for bench presses. Can I work on my shoulders? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ During competition, other than to maintain their pitching fitness, I do not recommend that pitchers do any other type of weight training. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 099. A couple of my guys are complaining of discomfort in the inside of the elbow when doing wrist weight maxline fastball pickoff position slingshot throws. This discomfort does not carry over to playing catch or throwing the baseball hard. I'm wondering if bad technique is the reason, what should I be focusing on? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The key is always whether the first force that they apply to the wrist weights, iron balls and/or baseballs is straight toward home plate. The only way that they can stress the inside of their pitching elbow is to pull their pitching forearm and the wrist weight, iron ball and/or baseball outward. They have to learn to drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100. I know that. You couldn't possibly make that any more clear than you have. My question is, however, whether you saw anything on his X-rays that troubled you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The difficulty in answering your question is that X-rays do not show the future. At present, he has enlarged the cortex of his pitching Humerus, but not much and greater stress on his pitching arm would typically show this. How much is too much? At present, the growth plates for his medial epicondyles and head of his radius bones appear comparable for both arms. At present, the ossification center for his olecranon processes are of comparable sizes. He does not show the ossification center for his lateral epicondyles. That is why he is biologically twelve years old. To show what I mean about predicting future problems, I have another thirteen year old boy. Because the ossification center of his lateral epicondyle has appeared and shows and open growth plate, his glove arm shows that he is biologically thirteen years old. However, because the growth plate for his lateral epicondyle in his pitching arm has already closed, his pitching elbow is biologically fourteen years old. With only X-rays of his pitching arm, doctors would say that he looks fine. This finding plus the dramatically larger cortex of his pitching Humerus, I would say that this young man has pitched way too much and, as a result, he has interfered with the normal growth and development of the bones in his pitching arm. Just because the X-rays do not show breaks or avulsions or youngsters do not complain of pain does not mean that baseball pitching is not inappropriately altering the bones of their pitching arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 101. I have been concerned that my 14 year-old son has received inconsistent pitching instruction over the years. Now that I read your information, I am sure of it. Last fall my son began experiencing upper arm pain in the area where the deltoid muscle inserts. He was examined by a "Sports Medicine" doctor. His determination was that my son's rapid growth (6 inches in 18 months) did not allow his muscles/tendons to "keep up with the bone growth". His diagnosis was deltoid tendonitis, but stated that his X-ray showed some growth plate widening. He felt that several months of no pitching would resolve the situation. Now that my son is training again, he continues to have pain when he throws hard. Does this original diagnosis seem feasible? Is growth plate widening an alarming finding requiring further investigation? How does one go about finding an expert in diagnosising problems with pitcher's arms? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I assume that when you say 'where the deltoid muscle inserts,' you mean the distal attachment on the lateral surface one-third down from its proximal end. The growth plate for the Humeral head is not that far down. But then, you only said that the doctor said the 'his X-ray showed some growth plate widening.' You did not define which growth plate. Also, unless he compared it with his glove shoulder or a very recent X-ray of the same shoulder, I don't know how he could state that it had widened. That he grew six inches taller in eighteen months does not mean that his Humerus bone grew six inches. Nevertheless, doesn't it boggle the mind to think about bones getting longer and the muscles have to get longer as well. Still I would be far more concerned for the Triceps Brachii, Coracobrachialis and Biceps Brachii muscles, than for the Deltoid. With regard to the discomfort that your son is experiencing, I have greater concern for the attachment of the Subscapularis muscle to the lesser tuberosity of the head of the Humerus bone. With reverse pitching forearm bounce, the pull of the Subscapularis muscle could transfer stress to the lateral aspect of the growth plate of the head of the Humerus. Like Osgood Schlatter's disease for the growth plate on the front of the Tibial bone of the lower leg, the cure for all growth plate discomfort is to remove the stress and permit normal growth and development to resolve the problem. Also, with its excessive outward and inward shoulder joint rotation, the 'traditional' pitching motion unnecessarily stresses the head of the Humerus. In the meantime, with my 60-day eight year old pitchers interval-training program, your son could start learning the proper pitching arm action without unnecessarily stressing his pitching shoulder. I know of no doctor who understands the pitching motion well enough to diagnose what caused the discomfort that pitchers experience. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 102. I was interested in your deceleration drills that you use. I have been reviewing your book online and probably have overlooked where you talk about these exercises. Are there any specific exercises that you use to work the pronator teres muscle? I do appreciate your work and willingness to share your information so openly. I pitched in the Cardinals organization and have served as pitching coach on a professional level. I currently am the pitching coach for the local Community College. I also own a baseball academy. Your work is definitely a big influence in my learning and teaching. I am looking forward to your new video. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My wrist weight exercises are my deceleration drills. I use three warm-up exercises for my wrist weight exercises; Pronated Swings, Double Arm Leverage Throws and Crow-Step with Shakedowns. While I am not read Chapter Thirty-Seven of my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I am sure that I discussed my wrist weight warm-up exercises. I am not sure what pitch specific exercises I recommended two years ago, but I will name the ones that I will write in this chapter after I complete my second Instructional Videotape. 01. Maxline and Torque Pickoff Pronation Throws. 02. Maxline and Torque Pickoff Slingshot Throws. 03. Maxline and Torque Pickoff Slingshot with Step Throws. 04. Wrong Foot Slingshot Throws. 05. Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Throws. 06. Wrong Foot Transition Throws. 07. No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Throws. 08. No-Stride Transition Throws. 09. Wind-Up Set Position Swing-to-Ready Throws. 10. Wind-Up Set Position Transition Throws. Every exercise and throwing drill I have strengthens the Pronator Teres muscle. I am ready to help you in any way possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 103. High school baseball practices begin the first of March. The season starts the first of April and last until June. Summer ball lastsuntil the end of July. I'm planning ahead, but I was wondering what your opinion was about training in the off season for a non-pitcher. Should he be able to run sprints, throw, take groundballs, and hit every day, or would he be overtraining? I know that you teach that pitchers can throw everyday (if mechanically sound) without hurting their arms. Does this apply to all of the areas of training that I mentioned above. How do you establish what volume of training should be followed? My son is willing to work as hard as necessary, but I don't want the effort to be counter productive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Until the growth plates in the pitching or throwing elbow completely mature (at sixteen biological years old), I recommend that youth baseball players do not train to pitch and/or throw for more than two months per year. Between biological sixteen years old and nineteen years old when the growth plates in the proximal end of the Humerus bone and in the distal end of the Radius and Ulna bones completely mature, I recommend that high school baseball players do not train to pitch and/or throw for more than six months per year. After nineteen biological years old, I recommend that adult baseball players train to pitch and/or throw twelve months per year. I do not know your son's biological age. To recommend how much training he can do without jeopardizing his growth plates, I need that information. Nevertheless, I recommend that parents and youngsters use these skeletal growth and development years to learn a broad base of not only sport skills, but also of lifetime activity skills. Skill development for no more than two months for six different sports and lifetime activities are far less likely to interfere with the normal growth and development pattern and enrich their lives now and forever. Imagine the fun of sharing all these activities with your son. Time's awasting. At eighteen years old, he can use my one hundred and twenty days high school baseball players interval-training program with my ten pound wrist weights and six pound iron ball to train his throwing arm. I would also have no problem with him simultaneously training his legs for base running, his hands for fielding and his body for baseball hitting. After he graduates high school, he can start on his two hundred and eighty day interval-training programs. I have only written a two hundred and eighty day interval-training program for pitchers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 104. To clarify, the pain is sharp, only occurs when he throws hard, and can be pinpointed on the arm at the distal end of the deltoid muscle. He does not have any shoulder or elbow pain. The growth plate he was referring to is at the proximal end of the humerus. He did not compare it to the other arm. I am most concerned that pitching is damaging his growth plate. He plays baseball at a very high level and the coaches expect pitcher's to pitch 3-4 innings per game, 2 days per week. In fact, the league allows pitcher's to throw 8 innings per week. Now that I have read your information, I have a new perspective on things. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You wrote that your son is fourteen years old. I would need to know his biological age. At fourteen chronological years old, thirty six point three percent of young men are also fourteen biological years old, but twenty-two point nine percent are thirteen and six point five percent are twelve biological years old and twenty-eight point six percent are fifteen and five percent are sixteen biological years old. Only if your son was part of the five percent of fourteen year olds who are biologically sixteen years old would I approve of the amount of pitching he is doing. I do not approve of school competitive baseball for eighth graders. Until youngsters are sixteen years old, they jeopardize their normal skeletal growth and development patterns throughout their body. Even at sixteen chronological years old, approximately one-third are fifteen biological years old or younger and the same are biologically seventeen years old and older. Tenth grade competitive sports make sense. Until the tenth grade, physical educators/coaches should teach youngsters a broad base of sport and lifetime activity skills with appropriately adjusted intramural game rules to protect the delayed maturers and to force the accelerated maturers to master skills and strategy. I recommend that you limit your son's participation and start him on the skills in my 60-Day Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. After he masters these skills, he can move on to my 60-Day Nine Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program and so on until he masters my entire pitching motion. By then, he should be sixteen biological years old and ready for my 120-Day High School Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 105. I am a senior at a major university up north and I am headed to grad school in the fall for Sports Management. I want to get into scouting and player development and I obsessed with new baseball knowledge. As a hobby, I have begun to collect articles and such on pitching because more than any position on the diamond, I am fascinated by it. I have begun skimming your book over the internet and am very intrigued by what you present. I was wondering if you had any bound copies of the book for purchase in lieu of my trying to save it all and print it at a copy shop. I would be happy to put a check in the mail ASAP if you have any bound copies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have my Coaching Baseball Pitchers on my web site for all to read, make a copy or whatever for free. If I had it published, I could not edit it every year and give away my adjustments for free. The only drawback is pictures. My answer is to make an Instructional Videotape that shows what I say in my book. I am in the process of completing my second Instructional Videotape. Unfortunately, because they cost so much to make, I have to charge. Under the present circumstances, I doubt that I will be publishing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 106. I pitch at a university. I got reconstructive elbow surgery and also had the ulnar nerve moved (Tommy John surgery). The surgery was done Jan 23rd 2004, exactly one month ago. At this point I am just about finished working on my ROM, I am working on being able to lock out my elbow. Coach informed me about your accelerated rehab program using wrist weights, weighted balls, etc. A former pitcher from here did parts of your rehab program after he had shoulder surgery, and he returned to pitched way ahead of his rehab schedule given to him by his professional team. I would like to do the same and get back to pitching ASAP. It would be greatly appreciated if you could give me some of your advise as to how I should go about rehabbing my arm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When the doctor clears you to return to training, you should come to Zephyrhills, FL and, rather than wait until my next forty-week group starts in August, I will start you immediately. I will need your address and telephone number to send you my materials and to talk with you personally. If the professional pitcher would spend his off-seasons training with me, then he would get ahead farther and faster. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 107. The past two days I was throwing and after my workouts I had muscle tension in my tricep and a little in my bicep. Do you have any idea why I might have muscle tension there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With the 'traditional' pitching motion, pitchers never had any discomfort in their Triceps Brachii muscle, the muscle the extends the elbow joint. This was because with the extreme pitching forearm flyout, they had to use the muscles that flexed the elbow joint, the Brachialis and Biceps Brachii muscles to prevent their Olecranon Process from slamming into its Fossa. As a result, I have received many complaints of discomfort in their Brachialis muscle and its attachment to the Coronoid Process of the Ulna bone, but nothing with the Triceps Brachii muscle. With my pitching motion, in pitchers whom I have trained in the last year, I am getting regular complaints of discomfort in the Triceps Brachii muscle as well. I believe that my pitchers are actually using their Triceps Brachii muscle to extend their pitching elbow. This means that my pitchers are finally applying force to their pitches with their Triceps Brachii muscle. However, the muscle that extends the elbow and the muscles that flex the elbow are antagonistic muscles. This means that for the muscle that extends the elbow, the Triceps Brachii, to work maximally, the muscles that flex the elbow, the Brachialis and Biceps Brachii, must completely relax, that is, have no active or residual muscle tension. In the early motor learning programming of their computer program for this activity, the relaxation signal to the antagonist muscle's motor units might be a little slow, such that they get a co-contraction, where antagonist muscles contract at the same time. Not only does this not permit a smooth movement, but it unnecessarily stresses both muscles. With continued motor skill practice, I expect that pitchers will fix this glitch. Additionally, due to our heavy training, pitchers develop residual muscle tension. Researches call this, 'muscle tone,' where, when touched, muscles feel firm. When touched, 'fit muscles' feel flaccid. When my pitchers maximally contract their pitching muscles, if their antagonist muscles have this residual muscle tension, those muscles essentially respond as though co-contracting, although not due to a programming glitch. With continued training, their residual muscle tension muscles become fit, which eliminates this problem. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 108. Again, I am so grateful for your advice. I am trying to sort all of this out and am a little confused by something that you said in your e-mail. You said that "I would be far more concerned for the Triceps Brachii, Coracobrachialis and Biceps Brachii muscles, than for the Deltoid." What would you be concerned about with those muscles? Are they not keeping up with his growth or that they are being injured somehow from pitching? I am also confused because he did not throw at all for 3 months yet the first time he threw a ball from right field to home and the first time he pitched several weeks ago, he experienced pain again. Wouldn't almost any soft tissue injury have healed in 3 months time? I am searching and asking around in order to find someone who can properly evaluate his pain, but no luck yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On its proximal end, the Deltoid muscle attaches to the Scapula and Clavicle bones of the shoulder girdle and, on its distal end, the Deltoid muscle attaches to the Humerus bone on its lateral surface about one-third down from its proximal end. While the distal end of the Humerus bone continues to lengthen for several years after the proximal end stops lengthening, the Coracobrachialis, Triceps Brachii and Biceps Brachii muscles also start on the Scapula bone and attach one-half way down the Humerus bone and to the Ulna and Radius bones of the forearm, respectively. As a result, they would feel the effect of the Humerus bone lengthening much more than the Deltoid muscle. With regard to your question of why, after three months of rest, would he experience discomfort throwing. Rest does not strengthen muscle tissue. Rest atrophies muscle tissue. Atrophy means that muscle tissue gets weaker and more susceptible to injury, not less. If, in addition to rest, you add that he did not change how he applies force, then you have the perfect recipe for injury. He still throws wrong and his muscles are less, not more, fit. He needs to change how he applies force and he needs to undergo a properly applied interval-training program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 109. I am 45 years old and play in the MSBL over 40 league. I can still run good for my age. However, I get sesmoiditis (spelling?) on Sundays when I play. This is a severe pain in the ball of my right foot. It seems to be worse when I wear metal cleats. When I get home I stretch and take Naproxen (over the counter). Do you have any suggestions such as shoes to wear, stretching, etc.? I went to a podiatrist years ago, and he said I could have the sesmoid bones removed, but that it wasn't necessary. I do wear orthotics and a spenco pad. Also, I am on the local Little League Board where I live, and also coach one of the 7 and 8 year old teams. I went to the Little league clinic last December. I learned quite a bit since the instructors did a tremendous job. They also feel the way you do about not having 7 and 8 year olds pitching. However, they believe that mechanics can still be taught in every practice. Therefore, I went back to my board and tried to do away with 7 and 8 year olds pitching. We reached a compromise and in the second half of the season will only allow 2 innings of kids pitching with coaches pitching the rest of the game. Nonetheless, I was not, and still am not very popular for this. My son will be 8 in April and is dying to pitch. Do you really think it is that bad for an 8 year old to pitch one inning per week? He'd be throwing 4 seam fastballs and basically be playing catch. I am trying to teach him to come over the top with the ball. I'm still trying this myself. I look forward to your reply. I enjoy your web site tremendously, and have even set it up on a link for my teams web site, and passed it on to others. I have been meaning to come out for a visit since I live nearby. However, the next month or so I like to attend spring training. I will make it out soon though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The patella (knee cap) is a sesamoid bone. Sesamoid bones lie in tendons and give their muscles a little more leverage when they contract. The thumb and great toe also have sesamoid bones. You do not want to have your sesamoid bones removed. They are not your problem. Your problem is fitness. While you did not specifically describe where you feel discomfort in your feet, if it is not on the under-surface of your arch or heel, then the problem lies with inflamed hyaline cartilage. The bones of the foot are held together with numerous ligaments between them. When we only occasionally use our feet in strenuous ways, these bones rub together and inflame the hyaline cartilage that surrounds these bones. The answer lies in quality shoes that cushion the impact with the ground and securely hold the bones of the foot and a daily training program during which you gradually add stress in the same manner that you do when you compete. This daily program does not have to last long, but. over weeks, it does have to increase to competitive intensity and it does have to be every day. I strongly believe and advise that parents do not permit their youth pitchers to pitch competitively until they are biologically thirteen years old. This means that the ossification centers for their Olecranon Process and Lateral Epicondyle have arrived. At thirteen biological years, I recommend one inning per game twice a week until they are biologically sixteen years old. This means that the growth plates in their pitching elbow have completely matured. If parents do otherwise, they will alter the normal growth and development of the bones in the pitching arm. As a result, when it counts, the young men will not have the full growth and development of their pitching arm that they should have. I also recommend that youngster throw or pitch baseball for no more than two months per year. I want the parents of every youth baseball player to take responsibility for the health of their son or daughter's throwing arm. Do not leave this decision to those who do not understand skeletal growth and development. You can use my methods to teach your eight year old son how to throw my Maxline Fastball, Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Pronation Curve and Torque Fastball. Please follow my instructions. Do not teach my Nine, Ten or Eleven Year Old Programs to eight year olds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 110. Do you think that strength training enhances an athletes potential to throw harder, run faster, and hit farther? All of the training gurus seem to suggest that you must lift weights to become an elite athlete. I seen some old footage of George Foster hitting a homerun into the upper deck at Riverfront stadium. He seemed really skinny compared to today's players. He didn't look like someone that did allot of lifting, but he hit the ball as far as any of the players in the current era. Does lifting enhance sports performance in any way? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The two most important principles of exercise physiology are the Overload Principle and the Specificity of Training Principle. The Overload Principle means that exercise physiologists design training programs that gradually and judiciously increase the amount of stress, such that the effected tissue can respond without injury. The Specificity of Training Principle means that exercise physiologists design training programs to specifically enhance the desired fitness. If athletes want to throw harder, then they need a training program that trains the tissues to apply greater stress in the precise force application method that the throwing, running and batting motions require. This means that bench pressing has nothing to do with throwing baseballs, running faster or swing bats faster. Non-specific training programs do nothing to enhance sport activities. In the final analysis, if baseball players want to throw baseballs harder, run faster and hit baseball farther, then they have to throw baseballs harder, run faster and hit baseballs farther. That is specificity of training. With my baseball pitchers interval-training program, I teach the proper way to apply force and strengthen the bones, ligaments and tendons to withstand greater force without injury. As a result, when my pitchers throw harder, they not only do not injure themselves, they increase their release velocity. George Foster can thank his parents for outstanding genetics and himself for the thousands of times that he swung the baseball bat with a good force application method. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 111. If someone is training in a program that is designed correctly, how long does it take them to reach their power/speed potential? Is there a point when you would no longer make power/speed progress? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When Exercise Physiologists determine the maximum amount of resistance (weight) that athletes can move through specific ranges of motion, they measure strength. When Exercise Physiologists determine the amount of time that athletes require to move that maximum amount of resistance (weight) through those specific ranges of motion, they measure power. With regard to how long athletes require to reach their power potential for specific ranges of motion, such as baseball pitching, that depends on numerous factors. 01. At what percent of maximum did they start? 02. How quickly can they master the proper force application technique? 03. Are they properly motivated, that is, not to low and not too high? In general, the body will physiologically adjust to a properly applied stress in approximately twenty-one days. With my adult pitchers interval-training program, I take them from ten pound wrist weights and six pound iron balls to twenty-five pound wrist weight and twelve pound iron balls in two hundred and six consecutive days. Thereafter, during their off-seasons, they should continue to complete additional one hundred and forty-six day interval-training programs. I have yet to have a pitcher train in this manner that I believe has come close to the point where he no longer improved his release velocity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 112. Last year my wife visited a friend to have x-rays taken of both arms of my son and sent them to you within a week of his birthday. She sent the only copies to you without realizing she should have had a copy developed for ourselves. Since that time I was hoping your second video would be completed so I could drive to your facility to pick it up and at the same time ask you if you could take the time to review my sons x-rays with me. However, I continue to read your Q&A's to stay up to date with any new drills you discuss or ways of doing things better etc. and it seems as though the video will not be ready for sale in the next couple of months. In the meantime, a day does not pass without my wife asking me if I had heard anything back from you concerning the x-rays. Even though I'm the head of my household, my wife is the NECK and she's wearing me out! If you could find a few extra minutes to review his x-rays it would greatly be appreciated but if you can't I surely understand how pressed for time you are and I'll continue to explain that to my wife. Do you know where I can purchase a good set of ear plugs? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am sorry that I have had the time to answer those parents concerned enough to take X-rays of their son's elbows and send them to me. I was hoping that the fact that since they took them, they looked at them and, at least, recognized that their son's have open growth plates. Unfortunately, in your case, you do not have those X-rays to examine. I have glanced at all X-rays sent to me. I wanted to wait until I have time to thoroughly examine them and give complete answers. However, as another reader already bullied me into giving him a short answer, I will do the same for you. Your thirteen years old son has a biologically thirteen years old non-pitching arm, but a fourteen biologically fourteen year old pitching. The considerable difference in the size of the cortex of his Humerus bone shows that he has pitched allot. As a result, he prematurely closed the growth plate of his Lateral Epicondyle. I would expect the same for all other growth plates the remain open. If he continues to pitch at the same rate, I would expect the rate of premature closure to accelerate. I continue to work from 5:30AM, when I start with answering emails, to 10:30PM, when I finish working on my second Instructional Videotape. As always, I am learning allot and I am doing my best to organize the information to help parents, pitchers and coaches to teach and train to become the best uninjured high school junior pitcher that they can be. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 113. It's been almost 15 years since I went to the Podiatrist. He explained to me that the three little bones the size of peas in the ball of my right foot get inflammed. When I was 19 years old I tore ligaments in my right ankle. After playing baseball on Sunday I can twist my foot around and crack my ankle. I also get shin splints. This is all only in my right leg. I do work out a little during the week. Mostly just long walks, and stationary bicycle since I'm too tired from work. Also, some stretching. Also, on a side note you don't seem to like Pete Rose. I don't like him that much either, but you have to admit with 4,000 plus hits cheap or not, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please go to a library and check out Grant's Atlas of Anatomy. Look in the section for the bones of the foot. Let me know whether you find 'three little bones the size of peas in the ball of the foot.' The 'ball' of your foot is where the five Metatarsals meet the five Proximal Phalanges. The 'arch' of your foot is where the first, second and third Cuneiform and Cuboid bones meet the five Metatarsals. Posterior to those joints, the Navicular meets the three Cuneiforms and the Calcaneum meets the Cuboid. The Talus sits on top of the Calcaneum and anteriorly meets the Navicular. No mention of three little bones anywhere. Maybe Podiatrists have kept these bones a secret from Anatomists. You can do daily without discomfort what you do daily without discomfort. Long walks and stationary bike rides will not get or keep you fit for playing baseball on Sundays. The popping or cracking of your ankle indicates swollen hyaline cartilage that results from insufficient training. Amazing that you still have not properly rehabilitated from an injury when you were nineteen years old. Rest does not cure, it weakens. I have no personal animosity toward Mr. Rose, he just never was anywhere near the best hitter on any team on which he played. I do not care how long players play. I only care whether they are the best of the best. In my opinion, as one who dampened a jock on a major league pitching mound and pitched to him forty-three times, he was not and he was not even close. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 114. I don't understand this part of your book:>br> "I teach my pitchers to drive their pitching forearm from my 'Ready' position straight forward to the end of the deceleration phase with their pitching forearm horizontal. This means that I teach my pitchers to lay their pitching forearm against their pitching upper arm. As a result, my pitchers can powerfully extend their pitching elbow." I do understand this part that the forearm is 45 degrees towards 2nd base in the ready position which is the starting point for accelerating the arm forward: "I want my pitchers to move the baseball straight forward from my 'Ready' position. Therefore, to prevent 'reverse forearm bounce,' I recommend that, pitchers have their vertical pitching forearm forty-five degrees toward second base." My question is how do you drive your pitching arm forward from the ready position with forearm 45 degrees towards 2nd base and then have your pitching forearm horizontal laying against the pitching upper arm during acceleration? Is that movement of the pitching forearm the same movement as forearm bounce? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A 'reverse pitching forearm bounce' occurs when pitchers have their pitching forearm vertical and pull their pitching forearm forward with their pitching upper arm, such that the forward horizontal force of the from pitching upper arm causes the pitching forearm to move downward. With my pitching motion, from my 'Ready' position, pitchers drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm. Therefore, while the pitching forearm does move from vertical to horizontal, it does so with force from the pitching forearm. Over the last couple of months, we have explored this critical moment in great depths with high-speed film. I believe that pitchers can eliminate the centripetal force that slings their pitching forearm laterally outward. I believe that it is a learned skill. However, all pitchers I have trained came to me with years of the 'traditional' pitching motion, where the pitching upper arm pulls the pitching forearm forward from their 'Ready' position. While my guys 'fight the flyout,' it is always after they start with pitching upper arm pull. Just last week, I high-speed filmed one of my guys doing my pitching motion with fifteen pound wrist weights. I believe that, because he has mastered my pitching motion with wrist weights, he could drive his pitching forearm over the top of his pitching upper arm with no centripetal force. However, if he did start his pitching forearm forward from 'Ready' with pitching upper arm pull, the extra inertia at maximum intensity could sling his pitching forearm laterally outward even worse than a five and one-quarter ounce baseball does. Even though he took the wrist weights slightly beyond the driveline, he corrected with slightly too much lean to his glove side and drove his wrist weight straight toward home plate from 'Ready' through 'Release.' To me, this proved that pitchers can do this. At this moment, all pitchers training with me are working hard to do just that. As they get closer and closer, they increase their release consistency and their release velocity. It is a very exciting time. What we are trying to achieve is straight-line force application toward home plate. I propose that the driveline that we want to follow is close to and slightly above the pitching ear. Therefore, at my 'Ready' position, which is the instant immediately before pitchers apply their first force toward home plate, I want the pitching hand on the driveline. When pitchers apply their first force toward home plate with their pitching hand beyond the drive, they cannot drive straight toward home plate. When pitchers apply their first force toward home plate with their pitching hand short of the driveline, they cannot drive straight toward. Therefore, to have the first force that they apply to the baseball actually be straight toward home plate, they have to be on the driveline. If you have read my recent questions and answers, you would know that I have changed my description of my 'Ready' position. I now say that I want pitchers to have their pitching forearm vertical as seen from the side view and inside of vertical as seen from the front or rear views. I am still analyzing how much inside of vertical pitcher should have their pitching forearm. The pitchers with the best release consistency will teach me. At this point, I am trying to make sure that they learn how to properly time their arrival at the 'Ready' position with their body action. I want their pitching forearm to have positive velocity when it arrives at 'Ready.' At this time, my educated guess would be at about twenty degrees from which it moves toward horizontal through 'Slingshot' and is at horizontal at 'Leverage.' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 115. You have in your Book: "I teach my pitchers to forwardly rotate their pitching elbow from pointing at second base to pointing at home plate. As a result, my pitchers apply forward force for one hundred and eighty degrees. Therefore, to apply forward force for one hundred and eighty degrees, I recommend that pitchers forwardly rotate their pitching elbow from second base to home plate." Then your Questions/Answers 2004 #92: "As I recall, you said that your son has pain in his pitching elbow. I assume that you mean the inside of his pitching elbow. The major source of unnecessary stress on the inside of the pitching elbow occurs when pitchers pull their pitching forearm forward with their pitching elbow, such that the pitching forearm moves backward and downward. Pitchers should drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm. However, when pitchers point their pitching arm at the opposite mid-infielder, because they have to return their pitching arm to the pitching arm side of their body, they cannot immediately drive their pitching forearm over their pitching upper arm." You speak about the stress caused by pulling the forearm forward with the elbow. Then as describe in your book, when a pitcher forwardly rotates his elbow from pointing at 2nd base to point at home plate does that not create the same stress? The question then is the difference, then the fact that in your book you want the acromial line also to rotate to home plate with the elbow thus reducing the stress on the elbow? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The difference between the 'traditional' pitching motion where pitchers use their pitching upper arm to pull their pitching forearm forward and my pitching motion where my pitchers drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm is that, with my pitching motion, my pitchers do not generate any horizontal centripetal force and the 'traditional' pitching motion does. The acromial line refers to the movement of the shoulders. It is possible to forwardly rotate the shoulders and still straight-line drive the baseball toward home plate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 116. I have two questions regarding pronation. Conventional coaching has taught me to try to keep my fingers behind the ball as long as possible to get more/better backspin. Also, I have been taught over the years the "towel drill." I have learned from the information you have provided that these notions of throwing are not correct while attempting to maximize ball release and minimize stress. What semantics do you use to teach your pitchers in order to get them to pronate properly? While pronating my forearm, should my thumb continue extending out away from my body towards home plate? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forearm pronation occurs when the Radius bone on the thumb side of the forearm rotates toward the Ulna bone on the little finger side of the forearm. Therefore, to pronate the release of all pitches, pitchers powerfully rotate the thumb side of their forearm toward the little finger side of their forearm. In layman's terms, pitchers must turn their thumbs to point toward the ground and beyond throughout their releases. Since the 'towel drill' requires that you bend forward at your waist, I strongly recommend that you stop. You must learn how to stand tall and rotate and move your pitching leg ahead of your glove foot. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 117. Thank you for the invaluable information that you have on your web site and the thoughtful responses to the questions that are posed to you. Years ago I heard you speak and was impressed by the passion and clarity of your presentation. I am a high school baseball coach. My brother who is my assistant will be in your area the week of March 2. Would it be OK for him to come to your training facility to observe your pitchers training? Do you sell your wrist weights or could you recommend a way to purchase some? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We welcome every opportunity to show off to visitors. Until the fourth Saturday in May, we train from 9:00 to 11:00AM every day. I need to make a file for my web site for where I get my equipment. But, here goes again. 01. To purchase the Long Strap RS Series therapeutic ten and five pound weights with which we make our wrist weights, readers need to telephone (800)252-6040 for the name of the distributor near you. 02. To purchase the six pound iron ball that we use for our middle fingertip spins and base level of iron ball throws, readers need to telephone (800)521-2832. 03. To purchase the eight, ten and twelve pound lead balls that we use for our advanced levels of iron ball throws, readers need to telephone me at (888)658-8850. I special order them just for me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 118. Thanks so much for taking the time to review the x-rays. I truly was hoping for better news though and feel like I robbed him of growing into the best pitcher he could be. I allowed him to pitch prior to him turning thirteen and I wish I had discovered you and your material long before he was twelve. Since that time he has learned the eight through eleven year old programs throwing into a net fifteen feet away in the garage and is now working on the twelve year old program outside. I truly respect your opinion and would like to know if he was your kid in my situation would you allow him to pitch one inning a game twice a week or would you have him discontinue pitching until he is sixteen. I understand the damage is done with the premature closure of the growth plate to the lateral epicondyle but as you mentioned, the others that are still open may prematurely close as well. He has done so well working through the programs but he would understand if I told him not to pitch anymore. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ He is biologically thirteen years old. That means that I would permit him to throw with the set and wind-ups positions for two months per year. During that time, I would let him pitch one inning per game twice a week for two months. He could continue practice my pickoff and wrong foot releases. During the adolescent years, all that is important is skill development. He needs to develop a wide variety of sport and lifetime activity skills. When the growth plate in his pitching elbow mature, we can revisit getting him stronger. When the growth plates in his pitching shoulder mature, we can get him as strong as he can be. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 119. My understanding now is that instead of the traditional pitching motion of horizontally pulling the upper arm around at such a force that causes the forearm to get left behind thus forearm bounce, verses your motion that is drive your forearm up over the top of your pitching upper arm. I interrupt that as saying drive your forearm in a straight line towards your target in a straight up over upper arm circular type motion. Forearm driving up over the upper line gives you some circular motion. Then going back to our previous topic of laying the forearm back onto the upper arm. I still have trouble thinking about that description. It still seems to me that laying the forearm back so far as to rest against the upper arm as the arm is driven forward up over the top of the upper arm would still put stress on the elbow. Laying that forearm back against the upper arm is allot of bending back of the forearm for the elbow to have to go thru as the arm is driving forcible towards home plate. Am I missing some important facts here or do I just don't understand your motion properly? One last thought is that, yes too me, it does seem that allot of stress is on the bending back of the forearm thus stressing the elbow but maybe with me not understanding the way the arm works that this stress may not be a big issue due to the new angles created by your pitching motion verses the "traditional" pitching motion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When I tell my pitchers to drive their pitching forearm over top of their pitching upper arm, I want them to drive their pitching hand straight toward home plate. I do not want them to drive the pitching hand upward, outward, inward or downward. I want them to drive it in straight toward home plate. When pitchers pull their pitching forearm forward with their pitching upper arm, the horizontal centripetal force slings their pitching forearm outwardly. This pitching forearm flyout unnecessarily stresses the inside of the pitching elbow with their pitching arm in a weak leverage position. When pitchers drive their pitching forearm over their pitching upper arm, they necessarily stress the inside of their pitching elbow with their pitching arm in a powerful leverage position. With my pitching motion, pitchers minimize the outward rotation and inward rotation range of motion of the shoulder joint. Where the 'traditional' pitching motion requires the outward to inward rotation range of motion of the shoulder joint to approach two hundred and seventy degrees, my pitching motion requires one hundred and eighty degrees. As a result, we greatly reduce the stress on the rotator cuff muscles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 120. Little by little I am figuring some things out. I have been reading your chapter 37 off and on for 2 years trying to figure it all out and compare it to traditional pitching motion. Going back to your book: "I teach my pitchers to drive their pitching forearm from my 'Ready' position straight forward to the end of the deceleration phase with their pitching forearm horizontal. This means that I teach my pitchers to lay their pitching forearm against their pitching upper arm. As a result, my pitchers can powerfully extend their pitching elbow." In my previous emails I have mentioned that I have had trouble understanding how the pitching forearm is laid against their pitching upper arm. To get the forearm to lay back against the upper arm is the forearm moving backwards and down. Also does the forearm get laid against upper arm before forward motion from the ready position occurs. Another point is that if the forearm is laid against the upper arm before forward motion which you would be in the ready position or a little after, then the ball in your hand would be positioned somewhat behind your head as the forearm/elbow bent is resting on the upper arm. Is this why your new ready position is at 90 deg from the side and slightly inside looking from the front or the back? This new position makes it easier to lay the forearm against the upper arm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When I say, 'pitchers lay their pitching forearm on their pitching upper arm,' I am saying that they do not flex their pitching elbow, they permit gravity and their straight driveline to move their pitching forearm straight forward. Try this. Lean your shoulders forty-five degrees to your glove side and point your pitching arm straight upward. Now, relax your Triceps Brachii muscle and permit your pitching forearm to fall down, such that your pitching hand touches your pitching shoulder. Wala, you have laid your pitching forearm on your pitching upper arm. This is the mid-way position between my 'Ready' position and the end of the deceleration phase. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 121. I have a few questions for you. For the 40 week program, what are the options for sending in the $600 deposit? Because I want to do it soon, could you e-mail me back so I can get this all done? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I advise you to get your materials in soon. We have many more interested pitchers and the earlier I receive your deposit and agreement, the more discount your get. To reward partners when they send in their deposits early, I will reduce the coaching and equipment fee that is payable on arrival as follows: 1. If I receive the deposit before March 01, 2004, I will give partners one hundred and fifty dollars ($150.00) off my coaching and equipment fee. 2. If I receive the deposit before June 01, 2004, I will give partners one hundred dollars ($100.00) off my coaching fee. 3. If I receive the deposit before August 01, 2004, I will give partners fifty dollars ($50.00) off my coaching fee. To reward partners when they also pay in full for the housing and electric on arival, instead of the full three thousand eighty dollars ($3,080.00), I will charge two thousand eight hundred dollars ($2,800.00). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 122. My son is enrolled in the 280 day program and will start this August and complete the program in May 2005, after which he has the option of completing his final year of American Legion eligibility playing from June through August back here. What are the chances of a college finding him and wanting him to play ball for them while he's in training with you (of course assuming he's good enough)? I'm not particularly concerned whether its division 1, 2 or 3. Should he be applying to colleges while he's training or would you suggest he focus on training and apply to 4 yr colleges after he completes his legion ball, which would start his freshman year in August 2006 (he will be 20 yrs old then)? Are there college coaches recruiting some of your pitchers while they are training? I'm just trying to outline a rough timeline here. I realize its somewhat of a personal decision on how best to approach this, but any suggestions you could provide would be welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After your son completes my 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program, he will understand what he needs to do to become the best pitcher he can be. At this time, neither I nor he or anybody else knows how good he can be. However, when he finishes my program, he and I will know. And, he and I will know how much more work he has to do to meaningfully compete. At that time, we will be in a much better position to decide what he needs to do next. Typically, to learn with which pitches he feels comfortable in tight competitive situations, I do recommend that pitchers pitch in summer leagues, such as with an American Legion team. We do have several junior college teams in our area and they all hold open tryouts every May. If only for the experience, I recommend that my pitchers go to these tryouts. As a result of these tryouts, some have attended these schools. While I do invite coaches from these schools to visit and some do, the best way for pitchers to show what they have is with individual or open tryouts at each school. Of course, college coaches are aware of the American Legion program and, with notification, they do scout those games. But, first things first, let's help your son learn how to become the best pitcher that he can be. I do not know of any shortcuts. It takes properly-guided hard physical and mental work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 123. What are you thoughts on a player getting prolotherapy while they are still learning your force application techniques? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have no idea what prolotherapy is and please don't ask me to waste my time and energy learning another scam that uninformed, greedy physical therapists have conjured up. I am confident that if athletes have enough money and time to waste, then they will gladly take both. I prefer properly-guided hard physical and mental training. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 124. I've got a player that contacted me from an academy in Florida. He said it was the Mike Marshall academy. Is there such a thing and do you have a web site? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My web site is at www.drmikemarshall.com. I offer my pitching coach services to high school juniors and seniors for eight summer weeks and to high school and junior college graduates for forty fall, winter and spring weeks. To learn more details, please click on Pitching Instruction on my home page and, for my free Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, please click on FREE BOOK!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 125. My son is a Freshman in HS. What resources of yours should I buy, at a minimum? Do you insist a pitcher bring the ball back with the palm facing the ground, or do you believe, as some pitching coaches do, that it doesn't matter how you bring the ball back, so long as it gets in the up and ready position? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If youngsters are six years old in the first grade, then, in the ninth grade, they are fourteen years old. If your son is also fourteen biological years old, then the growth plates for his Olecranon Process, Medial Epicondyle and Radial Head remain open and growing. Therefore, at this time, he needs to start learning my interval-training programs. These are free on my web site. Please click the Training Programs icon on the home page of my web site. He should start with my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. After he masters these drills, then he can move on to my Nine Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. And so on, until he becomes sixteen biological years old. When he becomes fifteen biological years old, the growth plate for his Olecranon Process matures. When he becomes sixteen biological years old, the growth plates for his Medial Epicondyle and Radial Head will mature. Then, he can start my 120-Day High School Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. At that time, he will need two ten pound wrist weights, cloth duct tape, a six pound iron ball and two dozen baseballs. In an answer to an earlier email, I provide the telephone numbers for from where I purchase this equipment. Further, the growth plates in his Humeral Head and distal Radius and Ulna bones will remain open and growing until he is biologically nineteen years old. Therefore, until your son is nineteen biological years old, he should not start my 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program, where he will also need two more ten pound wrist weights, two five pound wrist weights, more cloth duct tape, an eight pound iron ball, a ten pound iron ball, a twelve pound iron ball and two more dozen baseballs. I also provide those telephone numbers in that earlier email. You might also want to build him a Pitcher's Training Center of his own. In that case, you will need to build him an iron ball rebound wall, a pitcher's mound and a net into which he can throw his baseballs. In Chapter Thirty-Five, I provide some instructions of how I built these facilities for my Baseball Pitcher's Research/Training Center. My Coaching Baseball Pitchers book is free on my web site. However, I have to warn you that I last edited my book almost two years ago. While the majority of the book will remain essentially the same, I continue to adjust the drills with which I teach pitchers. The basic principles, such as straight-line force application, maximum driveline length and greater straight-line opposite force remains the same, but better drills produce better and earlier results. Therefore, I will adjust, though not dramatically, how we perform my adjusted drills in Chapter Thirty-Seven; Dr. Mike Marshall's Throwing Drills for His Interval-Training Programs. Lastly, also almost two years ago, I completed my first Instructional Videotape. Even though I did not have the best subjects to demonstrate what I wanted pitchers to do and I was new to the filmmaking process, that videotape does show parents, pitchers and coaches how to properly apply force to their pitches. If you want to get started immediately, you could purchase that videotape and, when I complete my second Instructional Videotape, I will give you seventy-five percent off. At this moment, I have three videotapes fully detailed, scripted and digitized into the computer. The first videotape is my upgrade of my first videotape. The second videotape shows the flaws in the 'traditional' pitching motion and the solutions in my pitching motion. The third videotape teaches parents, pitchers and coaches how to get the Coach's Eye, that is, how to recognize even the smallest flaw and how to correct it. Each videotape should be an hour long and I will finish them in this order and make them available as I finish them. Now, I have to move the almost five hundred clips onto the timeline in their proper order, edit each clip, add graphics to most clips, add script audio to each clip without script audio and double-check that I have all the clips that I need. For example, for my baseball section alone, I have twelve different force application drills for six pitches for front and rear views, which is twelve times six times two or one hundred and forty-four clips that clearly demonstrate the skill in the proper order with separate graphics and script. Together, we will help your son become the best injury-free pitcher that he can be. P.S. One of the many, many things that you and he will learn is that pitchers must never have their pitching palm facing downward and it makes a great deal of different where pitchers have their palm facing when it reaches driveline height. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 126. You wrote: The towel drill is mechanically wrong, does not properly apply the regulated stress for a physiological adjustment and gets the towel dirty. Your son should use the towel to dry off after he showers. I have to tell you that your very (maybe very very) dry sense of humor makes reading your Q&A’s quite enjoyable. Another thing, in your question #47 you referred to Sibby Sisti: long ago (in the late 50’s or very early 60’s) my parents bowled in a league with him in Buffalo NY. So I got to meet him and spend some social time with him when I was very young (8-12 years old). What a fun guy I remember him as, right down to the perpetual cigar in his mouth. Thanks for bringing him up. On to business, my son and I have been watching your video and unfortunately the weather hasn’t been conducive to putting your principles into action. Do you have any thoughts on what he can do inside? Also in regards to a general question about fast twitch muscle fibers, what would you recommend he do to develop them? In this case I am not talking about pitching muscles but more in the overall quickness mode. He is also a basketball player and wants to develop his overall quickness there. I have recommend jumping rope and just doing a lot of footwork exercises to maximize his ability. Since all I am doing is recommending things I have been told and really have very limited knowledge, I prefer to turn to an expert. Others have recommended plyometric exercises. He has NOT tried that because of your thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The very first pitching skills that youth pitchers have to learn are how to properly release my Maxline True Screwball, Maxline Fastball, Maxline Pronation Curve and Torque Fastball. But, they can learn how to use their pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers with objects other than baseballs. They can use tennis balls and bounce them off concrete basement walls. They can use those sponge balls and play catch. I recommend that youth pitchers use my Pickoff Pronation, Slingshot and Slingshot with Step throwing drills. Although researchers claim to have evidence to the contrary, I believe that genetics determines the percentage of the, at least, three different types of muscle fibers that we have. I do not believe that different types of training programs can change muscle fibers into different types. At this point in the research into types of muscle fibers, I believe that we have three. Slow-twitch oxidative muscle fibers have myoglobin and mitochondria, which metabolize muscle glycogen and triglycerides to resynthesize adenosine-tri-phosphate that attach to the twenty percent fewer myosin cross-bridges for muscle contraction. These fibers are the workhorse fibers that churn on second after second, hour after hour, day after day, month after month, years after years. They make up our heart muscle. They need oxygen, but keep on ticking. Fast-twitch glycolytic muscles fibers do not have myoglobin or mitochondria and do not need oxygen. They metabolize muscle glycogen far less efficiently and, as a result, build up lactic acid, which increasingly interferes with the contractile process until athletes have to stop. The high lactic acid levels no only stop muscle contraction, but also demands that the body stop everything else to force slow-twitch oxidative muscle fibers to immediately metabolize the lactic acid. These muscle fibers create that huge oxygen debt that leads to the hands-on-your knees heavy breathing. Fast-twitch phosphagenic muscle fibers jump into action in moments of great stress. Grandma lifts the car off of grandson after the jack fails. The incredible Hulk appears. We do not train these muscle fibers. They just are. They also do not have myoglobin or mitochondria. They do not metabolize any food substance. They resynthesize adenosine-tri-phosphate by way of a coupled biochemical reaction between phospho-creatine and adenosine-tri-phosphate. All this means is forget about fast-twitch training and plyometrics. Once again the creative physical therapist group have conned the public for their financial gain. Athletes need only to learn the proper way to apply force for their specific skills and, after they master these skills and properly trained for the proper fitness, gradually increase their intensity to their maximum levels. Wala, fast-twitch training and plioanglos joint action. Jumping rope and allot of footwork drills make athletes very good at jumping rope and those footwork drills. I am not saying not to do them, but do not expect them to do anything other than what they do. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 127. Do you think the pitching forearm should be against the pitching upper arm as soon as the ball reaches driveline, or does the contact happen after rotation begins? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I tell my pitchers to 'lay' their pitching forearm on their pitching upper arm. When I say, 'lay,' I am telling them not to actively 'flex' their pitching elbow. Instead, I want them to not 'extend' the pitching elbow, such that if they do not use their pitching upper arm to pull their pitching forearm forward, which leads to centripetal force slinging their pitching forearm outward, then, with pitching upper arm inward rotation and pitching forearm pronation, they can drive their pitching hand straight toward home plate. I do not want pitchers to 'extend' their pitching elbow until they can do so straight toward home plate. I have said that the 'driveline' to home plate that the pitching hand and baseball should follow is slightly above and very close to the pitching ear. Depending on the degrees of separation of the pitching forearm from the pitching upper arm, it might be slightly above the pitching ear, but through the back of the head. This means that, to get their pitching forearm vertical at release, pitchers with less degrees of separation who have to lean their shoulders more toward their glove side might actually have to start from 'Ready' straight toward the back of their head. At 'Ready,' I want pitchers to have their shoulders level. Pitchers do not lean their shoulders to their glove side until they approach 'Release.' This means that pitcher move their pitching hand and baseball from 'Ready' through 'Slingshot' straight at the back of their head. But, from 'Slingshot' to 'Leverage,' they lean their head out of the way. In the pitching motion, the place where the rubber meets the road is the difference between theory and reality. At this time, I only have high-speed film of my assistant coach throwing fifteen pound wrist weights as I theorize I want pitchers to apply force. At this time, all high-speed film of pitchers throwing baseballs show centripetal force forcing their pitching forearm outward with varying degrees of separation up to forty degrees. In every case, my pitchers continue to take their pitching hand and baseball beyond their driveline, such that when they try to return, they have already applied some sideways force that takes their pitching hand and baseball past their driveline due to the centripetal force that they generated. Pitchers apply the force that destroys their pitching arms. I believe that it is a case of old habits die hard. I believe that if parents and coaches teach youth pitchers how to properly complete my 'transition' phase with my crow-step pitching rhythm and double arm pendulum swing where pitchers take their vertical, from the front view, pitching arm parallel with their acromial line that they reverse rotate to ten degrees short of second base, then pitchers can move their pitching forearm to twenty degrees inside of vertical from the front view and vertical from the side view, which is my 'Ready' position. In that twenty degrees of inward movement of their pitching hand and baseball, pitchers should move to their driveline, not short of and not beyond. Since twenty degrees inside of vertical from the front view is above the pitchers' head, and because the driveline passes slightly above their pitching ear, this means that I want the driveline angled slightly downward toward the top of the strike zone, which is about four feet high. Therefore, when six foot tall pitchers with their pitching forearm above their shoulder height release their pitches, they should drive the baseball slightly downward. From 'Ready,' I want pitchers to supinate their pitching forearm, such that when they start their pitching upper arm forward, they 'load' the slingshot while they powerfully inwardly rotate their pitching upper arm and pronate their pitching forearm. When pitchers apply their first force straight toward home plate from 'Ready,' I believe that they will achieve more than sixty degrees of separation, which will not only greatly increase their release consistency at higher pitching arm velocities, but they will also lengthen their drivelines and achieve greater release velocities without unnecessarily stressing their pitching arms. In any case, the pitching forearm never, never contacts the pitching upper arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 128. I think you are much too modest about the benefit of your first Instructional Videotape. I sense that many of your readers are conflicted about getting the first tape since you have another, better, one on the way. Because I consider myself an average reader of your web site, I know how difficult it is to picture your pitching motion. With baseball starting in the south and west and just around the corner in the north, I would strongly encourage your readers to purchase your first video ASAP because pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Since those that purchase your first video tape get your next video for 75% off, it is more than worth the investment. Your readers should be warned, however, that ignorance is bliss and knowledge can be painful. I am sufficiently alarmed from what I am learning that I am not allowing my son (13) to pitch this year period. This is not a popular decision with the wife or son. You said in one of your replies to a question about an unknowing coach something to the effect that the coach (boss) may be wrong but he is still the coach (boss). I agree. I don't think there are going to be many coaches out there that are going to allow one pitcher to pitch one way and only for one inning while the rest of the team pitches in the traditional manner. Hopefully, I am wrong. And just so I don't come across as holier than thou, I am letting my son play on a team who's season goes for 4 months. Another point for your readers. I believe rental car companies do not have drop-off charges if you rent a car in Orlando and drop it off in Tampa. Also, it is not much more expensive (and may be less expensive) to fly into Orlando and fly out of Tampa. The reason I mention this is that your readers who go to Disney World may want to tie in a visit to your facility. It is pretty much on the way from Orlando to Tampa. I highly recommend a visit to your facility. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will print your unsolicited comments as stated. While I am happy that you are trying to protect your son against too much stress on his pitching arm, I trust that you are teaching him my pitching skills. If so, he is at the age where he should be doing my wind-up set position throws. He should not do these for more than two months. And, unless he does not play in the field, he is throwing and, even though it is not as much at pitching, it does stress the throwing arm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 129. Just wanted to drop a line concerning my son’s first game pitching. He pitched a complete (7 inning) game, shut out striking out 10 and allowing just 4 hits. He got into minimal trouble in the fifth inning on a couple of errors, but was able to get out of it by striking out the last two hitters. There were only two hits out of the infield of which one probably could have been caught and the other being a bloop single; the other hits were infield hits with the infield playing back. He’s pretty excited and it just added to the confidence he has in his pitching. The coach has been very good in that he told him he would not attempt to change anything he was doing. Of course it helped that the coach caught my son during the first week of practice and once he saw the curve it didn’t take much for him to recognize that most high school kids won’t see a curve like that. He had had a scrimmage earlier in the week and pitched to 7 hitters striking out 6 of them. The coach on the opposing team commented that that was the “wickedest” curve he had ever seen. It’s interesting to hear the people in the stands comment on the delivery. They really don’t understand “stand tall and rotate” so when they see a follow thru that isn’t all stretched out and squat they don’t know what to think. I just told them to look at the score. The coach is also calling the pitches and I’m not to sure he understands pitching sequences. He hasn’t yet allowed my son to throw a screwball in a game situation but it doesn’t break as dramatically as the curve does and he isn’t as accurate with it as he is with the curve. It’s more like a change up that sinks without the movement toward the pitching arm side of home plate. His fastballs have a lot more velocity, but the movement is not as dramatic as he’d like so he has more work to do on applying the proper spin axis. It seems never ending, but the results so far have been far beyond my son’s expectation and his control is extremely good. One of the problems my son was having in the game he pitched was with his windup. He has, with his glove foot, begun the wind up by taking a small step to the back of the rubber and then moving to the ready position before stepping forward with the glove foot to proceed with the pitch. This particular field had a significant drop off the back of the rubber which was hard for him to manage so he basically threw the whole game from the stretch. I’m interested in the Wind-up set position you’ve begun discussing. Am I getting it correct in that you keep both feet on the rubber and double pendulum swing both arms to the ready position, step toward home with the glove foot, and follow thru with the motion? All the motion is toward home plate? If that’s correct I’ll work with my son this week and see if he can get comfortable enough to use it this week in the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It sounds as though your son has implemented what we covered last summer. Eventually, he will need to bring whatever type of screwball he has. But, the coach only cares about winning, not developing pitchers. You can find my high school pitch sequences in Chapter Twenty-Eight on my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book. You are correct that I have refined how I want pitchers to pitch from the wind-up and set positions and they are the same. I do call it, my wind-up set position. It does not include a step back, but is very powerful. Unfortunately, your son is in-season. Therefore, he should not change anything. When he is in off-season, then he can change what he needs to change and work on improving his force application techniques. When he is biologically nineteen years old, then he can work on getting as strong as he can become. While learning to execute the pitching skills that I believe will make pitchers the best that they can be does take allot of work and years to perfect, it is not never-ending. The fact that he is having such success with the very little he has learned and perfected, should wet his appetite for the rest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 130. My son is 14 years old. He will be 15 in June. We have been taking pitching lessons from a "traditional" pitching coach for four years. He has worked hard, has been very disciplined, and has enjoyed good success. I have been reading your material for two years and have purchased your video. After careful study and consideration I have come to the conclusion that if we continue with our present course my son will eventually injure his arm. Almost every older accomplished pitcher we meet in the baseball circles seems to have had arm surgery. I do not want that for my son. The decision to change approaches is not an easy decision for us because of the success he has had with the traditional method. However, I am convinced it is a siren's song. We just returned today from an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. They took x-rays of both arms as you have suggested. His medial epicondyle growth plates look identical and there does not seem to have been any premature closure of the growth plates, which was good news. The doctor says that his growth plates in the elbow look to be essentially done. That being the case, how should we proceed? Should we start with your 8 year old training program for thirty days and follow it with the 9 year old program for thirty days? Should he do any of the strength training that is contained in the high school training program? (wrist weight drills etc.) The 8 and 9 year old program do not present the entire pitching motion. That being the case, what would you recommend concerning my son pitching this summer? He obviously has a lot of the traditional habits that will have to be replaced with new habits. My feeling is that it would be better if he just played a position and we could do your drills without the distraction of having to pitch in a game. If he pitches in a game he will no doubt fall back to his old habits. We would be in a kind of limbo between your approach and the one he has worked at for four years. We anticipate some frustrating times ahead learning a new way. Based on your experience, what kinds of things can we expect in making the transition to your approach? Such as: Will he lose velocity at first? Will working on this new approach cause him some temporary throwing accuracy problems when playing another position? Typically, how long is it before pitchers feel comfortable enough with the new force application technique to pitch in a competitive situation? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If the first forward force that pitchers apply to the baseball is not directly toward home plate, then they are supplying the force that will destroy their pitching arm. They will lose pitching elbow extension range of motion. They will lose pitching elbow flexion range of motion. They will unnecessarily stress, microscopically tear and lengthen their Ulnar Collateral Ligament and Gleno-Humeral Ligaments. And, all this will happen without much discomfort. I congratulate you for recognizing the danger and beginning corrective measures. Your son is fourteen chronological years old, soon to be fifteen and all the growth plates in his glove and pitching elbows have closed? That means that he is a biological sixteen year old competing against the biological fourteen year olds. He is an accelerated maturer. When he was chronologically twelve years old, he was probably part of the eight point three percent of biological fourteen year olds who succeeded without working hard. I applaud his and your desire to focus on skill development. For my eight-week summer program, I accept high school juniors and seniors. However, I should actually say that I accept high school pitchers with mature growth plates in their glove and pitching elbows. With a copy of the X-rays and a note from your family doctor that states that these growth plates have matured, I will include him with this summer's group. If you prefer not to do that, you are correct that he should start my one hundred and twenty-day high school baseball pitchers interval-training program. However, I would have to re-write it to include the four pitching skill learning stages of my new eight, nine, ten and eleven year old interval-training programs. You are also correct that youngsters cannot play competitively, pitching or otherwise, and learn new skills. Your son would have to take this season off and only work on learning his new pitching skills. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 131. First of all, thank you for your work and willingness to share your knowledge and wisdom. I realize you are a busy man who takes time to enjoy discussing theories and research, but my request is of a different nature. I need some fathering advice from you. My oldest son (8) is passionate about any sport involving a ball or throwing. He is now old enough to want to play catch with a baseball or football or just throw rocks at trees, seemingly all the time. Having grown up with the 50's and 60's "throw-a-lot" philosophy, I have encouraged this. I just recently read your book (thank goodness) and I don't want my own ignorance to compromise his physical development or jeopardize his arm health. Do you have any suggestions about how to maintain the limits necessary in order to prevent over/improper use injuries to his throwing arm while still nurturing a love for playing the game and an appreciation for the time we spend together throwing a ball or playing a pick-up game? While I have so far protected my son from the peewee baseball and football recruiters, if he had his way we would be in the front yard throwing from sunrise to sunset just because it's our favorite thing to do. If this type of question is not up your alley, I understand, but I respect your thoughts just as I respected your pitching career, and I would be grateful to hear what you think. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will bet that he would be just as enthusiastic punting a football to you, kicking a soccer ball to you, swinging a golf club at a whiffle golf ball and hitting it to you, shooting a basketball with you, fishing with you and so on. Did you notice the common denominator? I recommend that you expose him and yourself to every kind of shared physical and mental activity you can find for the next ten years. Take allot of videotape. I wish I have more with my three kidos. Of course, at eight years old, this coming June and July, you and he can complete my sixty-day eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. What fun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 132. How do you recommend that coaches handle pitchers (and parents) that want to pitch the traditional way? I say this as one who, before I met you, would have laughed at a parent who told his son to turn his pitching arm foot perpendicular to the pitching rubber. If we chastise coaches for not letting our son's pitch our way, is it fair that we would make pitchers pitch our way? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Before my pitchers throw one pitch against a batter in a competitive situation, they should take whatever time they need to perfect my pitching motion and my pitches. If they do not, then they will not only not be as successful as they should be and, hence, open to criticism from coaches who do not know that they do not know, but they will also greatly lengthen the time that they will need to perfect my pitching motion and my pitches. Just like parents who think that they can stretch the two months of pitching will pay a price, pitchers who compete before they perfect their game also pay a price. This is why I want eight, nine, ten and eleven year olds to perfect what I teach before, at thirteen years old, they pitch a competitive inning. This is why I want to train pitchers for an affiliated team. In both cases, the pitchers should perfect my motion and my pitches, respectively, before they pitch competitively. When I watch my pitchers pitch competitively before they are the best pitcher they can be, I cringe. That is another reason why I stopped seeking college coaching jobs. While I fought hard to permit them to try to pitch my pitch sequences, I hated putting pitchers into games when I knew that they had not perfected their game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 133. I am trying to understand all of the information that you present in your pitching instruction for the different ages. Some of is difficult for my feeble mind to comprehend. If it works out for your tape, and it would not surprise me if you are already doing it, but I would recommend having a short demonstration and lecture for each of the exercises that you recommend for each age group. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With already over six hundred video clips, I will definitely do the best that I can to clearly and thoroughly explain and demonstrate every drill that I recommend. I will tell and show parents, pitchers and coaches precisely what they need to do from the first day through the end of my two hundred and eighty day adult baseball pitchers interval-training program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 134. I was a baseball pitcher up until my 2nd year of college, when my arm gave out on me. I was what they called a junk ball pitcher. My concern now is that my son who is 11 is pitching and been doing so since he was 8. How old should a kid be to start throwing a curve ball. I said when he started shaving he would then be old enough. But now days that has changed and I don't want to hold him back from progressing like the rest of the kids. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With the 'traditional' pitching motion, he will never be old enough to start throwing their curve. However, with my pitching motion and drills, he can start learning how to properly use his pitching arm to throw my Maxline Pronation Curve at eight years old. Because your son is eleven years old, he can start to learn the skills in my eight year old program. Then, when he masters them, he can start to learn the skills in my nine year old program. Then, when he masters them, he can start to learn the skills in my ten year old program. Then, when he masters them, he can start to learn the skills in my eleven year old program. To accelerate the process, he can shorten their length to thirty days. However, before he moves up, he should master the skills. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 135. My son is definitely excited about his pitching and is motivated to improve and refine what he has learned. I guess "never ending" was incorrect but possibly a "mountain of incorrect motor skills and teaching" to overcome is more accurate. None the less the proof is in what we have seen and are experiencing with what you've taught thus far. With my son being a teenager it is sometimes difficult for him to comprehend the necessity of daily workouts vs. atrophy of not doing it for "one day". The experience he had observing your pitchers work ethic has paid great dividends. My son has already begun working on the Wind-Up Set Position and is far more comfortable with it than his previous wind-up. He worked all fall and winter off the mound at our home with running shoes and since the season began he has had particular problems with cleats around the mound. This seems more natural for him and interestingly seems to give more power to his pitches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ah, to be young and think that you are going to live forever. If he takes a day off, it will not matter. At sixty-one, I want every one of those days back. I have far more work to do than I have days left in which to do them. It is funny how I do not regret any of the days I worked hard or the hard work, I only regret the days I did not. My wind-up set position is a very easy, apparently almost reflexively natural way to pitch. If your son has seamlessly changed his motion, then he should go with it. It removes allot of unnecessary movement that interferes with the smooth flow of the pitching motion. It is the removal of those 'insignificant' minor flaws, such as stepping back, raising both arms over the head, turning the pitching foot, lifting the glove foot before the pitching arm to driveline height and so on, that increases release consistency and velocity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 136. I came across this on the web and remembered you talking about prolotherapy in your answer/question segment of your website. http://www.sportsprolo.com/sports%20prolotherapy%20newsletter%20pitching%20injuries.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Okay, you made me take time to read about prolotherapy. It is as I expected, another scam to steal your money. Take a shot, get better. You don't have to do any work, just take a shot. Irritate a ligament, a meniscus or whatever and, like sand in an oyster makes a pearl, the body will make a new whatever. What part of this sounds right? There was a guy, Gedney, I think, in the 1970's who did what he called, 'schlorotherapy,' (sp) that promised the same results. While I am glad that he found the pioneering work that Dr. Joel Adams did on youth pitching injuries, that does not give his methods credibility. I know that no independent research institute has collected scientific evidence that this works. His 'cures' are psychosomatic. A few years ago, 'healers' from the pacific islands removed tumors with their bare hands and people believed them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 137. I appreciate your suggestions. It's going to take some work, though. For some kids, throwing things just seems to be a natural part of being a boy! Although my son has not pitched in a game (his age group last year used machine-pitch), if his X-rays would be of use to you for the Research Study I would be glad to have them taken and sent to you when he turns nine next month. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It will take some effort, not work. You will never regret the effort you take to share these hours with your son. I would very much appreciate receiving X-rays of your son's elbows from nine years old to sixteen years old or whenever the growth plates in his elbows mature. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 138. What are you thoughts on the alleged steroid use in MLB. You have stated that weight lifting will not enhance athletic performance. People seem to think that it is unfair for players to use them because they can lift weights more frequently and makes them bigger and stronger than the players that are clean. Do you think that using steroids is an advantage? Why are players hitting 70+ homeruns per season? Are they really that much better than my heroes from the past? I know that steroid use is illegal and unsafe, but I am just trying to understand all of this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anabolic steroids have legitimate medical uses, but, without a doctor's authorization and administration, athletes should take this drug in any form. I stand by my earlier recommendation that, like betting on their sport, the use of steroids should ban players for life and their name and statistics should be expunged from the records. Weight lifting specifically enhances only however athletes lift the weights. When athletes lift weights in a manner specific to a sport activity, like my wrist weight and iron ball drills, they enhance their athletic performance. This drug helps the involved tissue to physiologically respond to the stress. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 139. Is this picture of Greg Maddox showing how you are describing the following: "Pitchers can move their pitching forearm to twenty degrees inside of vertical from the front view and vertical from the side view, which is my 'Ready' position." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The body works as a unit. Pitchers cannot have the proper position for their pitching arm and already have started their body forward. Therefore, when pitchers use the 'balance position' pitching rhythm, they start their body forward before their pitching arm reaches driveline height. So, without opening your attachment, I know that Mr. Maddox does not use my 'Ready' position. Without opening your attachment, I also know that he pulls his pitching forearm forward with his pitching upper arm. Without opening your attachment, I also know that he has 'pitching forearm flyout.' And so on. I do not open any attachments. My email is already under daily assault from W32Dumaru and company and Avenue A. I have had to spend considerable time and money just trying to keep my Questions/Answers file going. Sorry. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 140. My son is 17 years old. He is not a pitcher, but wants to improve his velocity and continue to improve his mechanics (we purchased your video). When training to throw fastballs only, how many wrist weight throws, iron ball throws and baseball throws should he attempt each day? Where can the iron balls be purchased? What type of stimulus would you recommend for bat speed and running speed that would provide similar results to the wrist weights and iron balls that you use for throwing? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At seventeen years old, I would guess that he is biologically at least sixteen years old and not nineteen years old. Therefore, he should do my 120-Day High School Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. For the total of wrist weight, iron ball and baseball throws, position players should add the number of non-fastball throws to the number of fastball throws. I added a new file to my home page, Equipment Vendors, that tell readers how to get the equipment that I use with my pitchers. I do have a program that trains hitters with the same principles that I use to train pitchers. However, I do not have a Hitter Research/Training Center with which to test the ideas before I make my recommendations. Therefore, even when I have time to put that program together, I could not do so without being like the pitching coach wannabe frauds who have stolen millions of dollars and injured thousands of pitchers with their unsubstantiated garbage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 141. With regards to your hitting program. Could you share some of the basic points? I don't expect a detailed program. I would just like to know the theory so that I can help my son to be a better hitter. You wouldn't be like the frauds, because you're not charging me and you telling me up front that you have not had the opportunity to test your program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I do love the offense side of baseball. I played four full years of professional shortstop. My first high-speed film was of batting. I have taken considerable high-speed film of batting since. In the same way that I have developed my baseball pitching protocol, I would love to develop a complete protocol for baseball batters. I have head-coached seven college baseball teams during which I tested my baseball batting methodologies. My hitters had considerable success. For example, one .308 hitter the year before my program, hit .484 with my program and made the first team All-American team. I have many other similar examples, including many other .400 hitters. Therefore, my point is not that I have not tested my program, it is that, I last coached hitting in 1994, I do not have anybody to show what we do, I do not have clinical knowledge of how hitters respond to my drills. Nevertheless, after I complete my second Instructional Videotape, edit my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, answer the parents who sent my X-rays of the sons, finish remodeling the apartments I bought to house the twenty high school juniors and senior who want to work with me for eight weeks this summer and the twenty high school and junior college graduates who want to work with me for forty weeks this fall, winter and spring and the rehabilitating amateur and professional pitchers who need my help, I will get to work on an Instructional Videotape for hitters. In the meantime, batter should apply force to the center of mass of their baseball bat in a straight line from 'Ready' through the end of their deceleration phase, they should extend their straight driveline as far forward and possible and they should apply greater force toward the backstop. And, oh yes, the Physics concept of force coupling is very important. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 143. Have you seen this article in the February 20 issue of Collegiate Baseball News that a Mr. Charlie Greene wrote? "One of the most thought provoking articles I've ever read in Collegiate Baseball comes from the September 5, 2003 edition and pertains to Mike Marshall's criticism of some of the most highly respected pitching coaches in the profession. His 100 percent disagreement with those experts got me thinking about how he could come to this conclusion. After thoroughly reading this article, I further tapped into his referred website and read numerous chapters from his book, some of them two or three times. It reminded me of a presentation at the 1980 ABCA convention in New Orleans when Phil Swimley, University of California-Davis, revealed to those attending the clinics taht the forearm pronates after the release of ALL pitches. That revelation changed my whole approach to teaching pitchers. While I found Mike Marshall's article and book extremely difficult to understand at first glance, upon persistent re-reading and relating it to present day accepted methods, I've come to conclude that Mike Marshall's findings merit further consideration and study. His professional analysis of such a skill as pitching a baseball is the most thorough I've observed in a career long search for what are the absolutes of pitching mechanics. In our never-ending seearch for the ideal, safe mechanics, we could all make a giant leap. I would further suggest that Mike Marshall be encouraged to make a presentation to the ABCA clinics and further clarify his findings. Some questions that I'd like to see explored: What is meant by forearm flyout? How does the arm swing after breaking the hands? How do pitchers apply force to second base? Why does he recommend that pitchers supinate on the backswing? What is the "crow-step" method? Exactly, what is the "driveline?" Baseball has long been considered a game of opinions. Mike Marshall has created an opportunity for all of us to separate fact from opinion." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for taking the time to send me this article. I do not know Mr. Greene personally, but I understand that he coached baseball at Miami-Dade South Junior Colleage and, as he says, has a life-long interest in teaching baseball pitching. I invite him and everybody else to visit my Pitcher Research/Training Center. After my 1967 season with the Detroit Tigers, I convinced the Agriculture Engineering Department at Michigan State University to let me use their four hundred frames per second claw-action high-speed camera to film my pitching motion. I used some of those clips in my first Instructional Videotape. Among the numerous previously unforeseen findings, I learned that the powerful action of the Pronator Teres muscle across the inside of the pitching elbow caused the pitching forearm to pronate immediately after I released all pitches. I wonder on what research Mr. Swimley based his finding that pitchers pronate their pitching forearm after they release all pitches? In 1967, I reported this finding to my Physical Education Department. It was from this presentation that the Department decided to purchase the five hundred frames per second high-speed camera with which I took my three dimentional film. In 1971, I presented that film and my findings, including the importance of pitching forearm pronation to the College of Education. During the 1970's, I also presented these findings to numerous other organizations, including the American Medical Association, the Arizona Sports Medicine Assocation, the Minnesota Sports Medicine Association and, in 1975, the California Sports Medicine Association. I wonder whether Mr. Swimley attended? I am glad that he reported it and helped save pitching arms, but we all should cite our references. I am ready, willing, able and anxious to speak to the ABCA. Many have contacted them on my behalf that they should have me speak. Unfortunately, I have not yet heard from them. I have had some state coaches associations contact me. To date, I have declined. First, I hate to travel. Second, I want to have materials that show what I am talking about. When I ever finish this second Instructional Videotape and edit my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book, I will have the materials I need. Now, if they could just hold their conventions in Tampa, FL. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 143. I am putting together a series of debates between all of the pitching gurus. These debates will take place over the phone and will be recorded. I have invited Tom House, Dick Mills, and Paul Nyman to participate. I think it is important that you are a part of this. There will be financial compensation. We can work out those details if you accept. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let me see. You are trying to get all qualified persons together to help resolve the epidemic of baseball pitching injuries and you want me to participate? Where is Glenn Feisig? Where is Dr. Andrews? Where is Dr. Jobe? Where are the professional and college baseball team doctors and, I am sure, many, many others with the knowledge base required to study this problem? Nevertheless, I applaud and encourage your effort. I will participate in whatever way that I can. I do not need any money. I think that the list of questions that Coach Charlie Greene asked in the February 20, 2004 issue of Collegiate Baseball News is a good place to start. In fairness to all, I recommend that all parties receive a general list of questions after which they get to provide other questions that all have to answer. I think that I will start with, "With regard to baseball pitching, please explain how you account for Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of force and would you please list the thirty-six primary pitching muscle and describe how they contribute to the baseball motion?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 144. I need clarification of how the pitcher is considered to be in a set position to avoid a balk call. Secondly, do you have any insight on the linear vs. rotational hitting concepts from a scientific standpoint? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the two years since I completed my first Instructional Videotape, I have adjusted my set position to resemble my wind-up position. Therefore, I want pitchers to use the same pitching motion for each. With or without base runners, they should come set with their hands waist high in the middle of their body. I recommend that pitchers stand with their feet parallel with the driveline to home plate and their hips and shoulders perpendicular to the driveline to home plate. To trigger their pitching motion, I recommend that pitchers cross their wrists with their pitching hand below their glove hand as they swing both arms slightly upward from where they will pendulum swing both arms downward and away from their body. I recommend that pitchers simultaneously pendulum swing their glove arm downward and forward up to shoulder height to point at the glove-side batter and their pitching arm downward and backward up to driveline height short of second base and gently inwardly roll their pitching forearm to inside of vertical. At this time, I recommend that pitchers step straight forward with their glove foot, then with their pitching foot, pull their glove forearm straight backward, forwardly rotate their pitching leg ahead of their glove foot and, when their 'locked' pitching arm moves in front of their head, they powerfully extend their pitching elbow and pronate their pitching forearm while they powerfully drive forward off their glove foot. Baseball batters should drive the center of mass of the baseball bat straight toward the on-rushing baseball. To get the center of mass of the baseball bat in line with the on-rushing baseball, pitcher should forwardly rotate their hips and shoulders to perpendicular to the driveline to the baseball. To apply straight-line force to the center of mass of the baseball bat, batters should extend their rear elbow and pronate their rear forearm straight to the baseball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 145. Thank you for accepting the debate offer. I thought about the doctors and the pro coaches, many refused my offer. Dick Mills also refused. Paul Nyman accepted and I am waiting to hear form Tom House. I am also putting out an offer to Bill Thurston. I think the doctors would be too technical for the average coach. Who else do you think would be good? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I prefer to lift the average coach than lower the discussion. Also, we need a way to quantify the size of the pitching arm injuries problem in high school, college and professional baseball. I would like college and professional team doctors to talk about the injuries that they encounter. I would also like biomechanists, exercise physiologists and motor skill acquisitionists. It is my understanding that ASMI high-speed films pitchers. I would like someone to represent them. Nevertheless, whatever the forum, I will gladly participate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 146. I applaud your efforts to bring science and academic rigor to the practice of pitching a baseball. You have challenged years of existing practice and stimulated new ideas and thinking. It's about time. I am an ex-college pitcher, 44 years old, currently pitching in a fairly competitive men's league in my area. My glory days are long gone, but I still love the excitement of stepping on the rubber and playing the game. I throw with the traditional method, with all its flaws, and have experienced about every throwing injury imaginable. If I am going to continue to play, I'm convinced, I have to make a major change in my mechanics. What type of training program would you recommend in my situation that would allow me to learn the new mechanics and add functional strength to do so effectively? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You need to start with the skills that I teach first, my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program, master them and move to the next level of skills and so on. I am working as hard as I can on my second Instructional Videotape, it will precisely describe and demonstrate every skill that you will need to master. You should also do my one hundred and twenty day high school baseball pitchers interval-training program with ten pound wrist weights and six pound iron ball. I pitched competitively until I was fifty-six years old. I understand. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 147. So, your pitchers use the same "Wind Up" whether runners are on base or not? According to one of the more recent emails, the hands never go above the head? I described the motion as I understood it to my son and was amazed at how quickly he picked it up and how powerfully and accurately he threw using this no wind-up wind-up. It would be great to see it on video. What's the ETA? I don't mean to "bully" you, I just want to know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I theorized my wind-up set position motion a couple of years ago. The coward that I am kept me from testing it until I understood how to teach pitchers to stop pulling the pitching forearm forward with their pitching upper arm. That my pitchers mastered it so easily and threw so much more powerfully also amazed me. I recently sent five pitchers to an open professional team tryout. I was pleased to hear that none altered my throwing motion. I was disappointed to hear that, although they all threw hard with great curves, one team evaluator walked to the three mounds where three of my guys were pitching and asked them with whom are they training and when they answered, Mike Marshall, he turned and walked away without comment. Until one team tires of destroying pitching arms and ask me to train their pitchers, I will have to rely on the biological thirteen year old pitchers to show that it does not matter what their pitching motion looks like, it only matters that they throw high quality pitches as hard as they can without injury. I also want to know when I am going to finish this monster. All I can give is 5:30AM to 10:30PM seven days a week for week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week after week and so on. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 148. Your health is good, isn't it? For the sake of your target audience, dads with young sons, I hope you complete the project before rigor mortis sets in. Did I read correctly that you are going to break the project into three videos? That is probably a good idea and could help limit your focus. We are eager to view it and eager to help if we can in any way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Me, too. I also recognize the signs of exhaustion. But, I jog daily and eat right. It is just that this project is in my mind all the time, even when trying to sleep. Still, I get four and one-half to six hours each night and nap when I cannot keep my eyes open or think clearly. I will make it, my doctoral dissertation was much harder and I did not have a word processor. I want to get every bit of information that I have about pitching out. At present, with over seven hundred video clips, I have over four hours. I know that editing will reduce the size, but I did not exceed what I need by more than a few seconds each clip. I have organized the material into six section. The first is Introduction and X-rays. The second is the Baseball Interval-Training Program. The third is the Wrist Weight and Iron Ball Interval-Training Programs. These three make up the second Instructional Videotape. The fourth is Flaws and Solutions, where I discuss the twenty-four most egregious flaws of the 'traditional' pitching motion and how I propose that we solve them. The fifth is Coaches Eye, where I use video clips followed my high-speed film that shows what my pitchers did from leverage through the end of their deceleration. And, the sixth is Before and After, where I show how my kids threw when they arrived and how they throw after my training. If I have time at the end of my second Instructional Videotape, I will include this section with it. If not, I will put it wherever I have time. My video guy says that he can put one uncompressed hour of video on one computer disk. Because readers can stop-action computer disks more easily than videotapes, we want to provide that option. Therefore, my task is to edit each to one hour. My present thought is to complete sections one, two and three and see where I am. If I have room, I will complete section six and include it. If not, I will offer it. Then, I will attack my Flaws and Solutions section. If I have room, I will complete and include section six. If not, I will offer it. Then, I will attack my Coaches Eye section and, if I have not already used section six, hopefully, I will have room to include it. If not, I will wait until my present forty-week group finishes and include their high-speed film and finishing videotape and expand my Before and After tape into a fourth video. As always, I will discount every videotape after my Instructional Videotape as low as possible, probably seventy-five percent discount, which includes production costs, shipping materials, a handling charge and the shipping. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 149. My son's HS coach has the team doing push-ups before and during practice. My son comes home and says his arms are sore from the push-ups, and that it affects his throwing. Isn't this a bad practice? Wouldn't it be better to do push-ups at the end of practice? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Push-ups help athletes to do push-ups. They do not help them pitch. They do not help them bat. They do not help them do anything but push-ups. Nevertheless, he is the coach and, unless athletes are much, much better than the other athletes and the coach feels that he has to win or lose his job, he decides who plays. I do not know of a good time for baseball players to do push-ups. But, your son might ask if he can do the push-ups after he throws and see how he reacts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 150. How ya doin Doc? I have heard a lot about you. Unfortunately, you have lost all credibility with what brainwashing I have heard about from your followers. You have ruined the minds of several players with high potential. I like to see those whopping stats of yours, but I just can't figure out what those supposed "records" even mean. By the way, did you even use your quirky methods when you played? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thank you for taking the time to email me. If you could be specific as to what you mean by 'brainwashing,' then I would be happy to explain. You could also be forthcoming with regard to the names of my 'followers' and the 'minds of several players with high potential.' Also, to what do you refer when you say 'whopping stats of yours'? If you mean, most appearances 106 games, it means that I pitched in 106 games in one season. If you mean, most innings by a relief pitcher, 208 innings, it means that I pitched 208 seventy, eighth, ninth and later innings in one season. If you mean, 13 consecutive games, it means that I pitched in 13 consecutive major league games. If you mean, 84 games finished, it means that I was the last pitcher from my team to pitch in 84 games. These statistics show that I was always ready to pitch the toughest innings of major league games and my manager thought that I was the best pitcher that he had to pitch these innings. I used many of the same concepts that I teach today. However, my biggest regret is that I did not understand how much more I could have done and, as a result, I was far less successful than I could have been. It is my joy to help young men become more than I was. If you care to be specific by what you mean by 'quirky methods,' I would be glad to explain. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 151. My 17 yr old son (non pitcher) is experiencing elbow pain (inner elbow when arm is pronated) again. He played in a fall league this past fall and the pain was severe. We purchased your video and he began learning to throw using the mechanics that you teach. This winter he was able to throw into a tarp in our garage at maximum intensity without any pain. We thought we had eliminated the problem. Now that high school baseball has started, the pain is back (not as severe as last fall). He says that he is concentrating on using the proper mechanics. I purchased a 6lb ball for him to throw. He can throw this ball without any pain at all. When he throws a baseball at practice the pain returns. This is really getting frustrating. I feel like we have tried everything. Do you have any suggestions? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Athletes unnecessarily stress the inside of their elbow when they take their throwing arm beyond the driveline that is straight toward their target such that the first force that they apply is not straight toward home plate. He needs to know precisely what he is doing. You should take videotape from thirty feet directly behind him and look at it frame by frame. Also, once athletes have strained the inside of their throwing elbow, they have to train with proper force application until the strained area physiologically responds and the discomfort goes away. Rest does remove the problem, it will return when athletes return to the same intensity. He may also only have normal training discomfort and need to train through it at reduced intensities. Until he has completed my 120-day high school baseball pitchers interval-training program, which includes ten pound wrist weights, he has not tried everything. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 152. What is a good time for you next week to talk on the phone with Paul Nyman and myself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I return home from working with my pitchers at about 11:30AM. I usually have a few minutes before I get on my computer to work on my second Instructional Videotape. My best days next week are Tuesday, March 23rd, Wednesday, March 24th and Friday, March 26th. A few minutes after I answered your last email, Glenn Flesig emailed me on another matter. I mentioned what you are trying to do and said that he should participate. He answered in the affirmative. Have you talked with him? You can email him at glennf@asmi.org, fax him at (205)918-0800 or telephone him at (205)918-2139. I have talked with Paul and read his stuff. I know that Paul does not know. Did Tom House, Dick Mills and Bill Thurston chicken out? What about House's biomechanist in San Diego? I read some of his ideas in Tom's Collegiate Baseball News article last summer. I would love to hear him explain his criteria for the 'perfect' pitching motion. Where are the questions? Do we not get to prepare? Do we not get to submit questions for everybody to answer? Besides the ones that I have already submitted, I have a rather substantial list of questions that I want everybody to answer. To list a few: What causes pitchers to rupture the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of their pitching arm and how can we prevent it? What causes pitchers to lose their pitching elbow extension range of motion and how can we prevent it? What causes pitchers to injure the front of their pitching shoulder and how can we prevent it? What causes pitchers to lose their pitching elbow flexion range of motion and how can we prevent it? What causes youth pitchers to enlarge the Radial Head of their pitching forearm and how can we prevent it? What causes pitchers to injure the back of their pitching shoulder and how can we prevent it? If we cannot answer these questions, then what are we doing? Unless you want me to conduct a soliloquy, we remain a long way from a meaningful discussion and I have other work to do. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 153. I play in an amateur adult league and am interested in following your training program. As I understand it, you want adults to complete the youth training programs before starting the 280-day program, with the understanding that the 60-day youth programs can be shortened to 30 days and the 120-day high school program to 60 days with no breaks between program segments. What is your advice concerning active competition in weekly league play during the resulting 8 month training period? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I designed my interval-training programs as though someone starts at eight years old and continues through my adult two hundred and eighty day program. When someone starts after they are eight years old, they have to adjust accordingly. When adults start my program, they still do only my two hundred and eighty day program. However, for the first sixty days, they do the skills in my eight year old program. For the next forty-eight days, they do the skills in my nine year old program. For the next forty-eight days, they do the skills in my ten year old program. For the next forty-eight days, they do the skills in my eleven year old program. For the next thirty-six day, they learn my Maxline Fastball Sinker and Torque Fastball Slider. Lastly, for the final thirty-six days, they practice my adult pitcher pitch sequences against the four types of hitters. While pitchers are intensely stressing their pitching muscles and trying to learn new skills, they should never pitch competitively. As I do the math, at thirty days per month, two hundred and eighty days is over nine months. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 154. I will contact Glen. Paul Nyman is in. Tom House and Dick Mills declined. I want to have a conference call to discuss the details you mentioned. I think it would be best if we also lay some ground rules. I will talk with Paul and Glen and confirm one of those dates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just let me know when. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 155. I'm doing a paper on how the muscles, joints, and bones work together. can u help me to find some1 or u that can send me this information on that? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I would probably start with an Anatomy book. When I was in high school, I found one in the library. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 156. I am asking this question for our head baseball coach. One of our pitchers has soreness in his arm. The pain is where the tricep tendon goes into the elbow. He would like to know "What pitching flaw could cause this pain." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Without personally examining this young man, I cannot be positive, but, in all likelihood, the discomfort emanates from his olecranon fossa. This means that he is pulling his pitching forearm forward with his pitching upper arm and supinating his releases with no degrees of separation, such that he has extreme pitching forearm flyout that slams his olecranon process into his olecranon fossa. Yesterday, one of my kids showed me a magazine that had side-by-side photographs of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood with their pitching arms frozen an instant before they released their pitches. Both showed that they pull their pitching forearms forward with their pitching upper arm. Both showed zero degrees of separation between the longitudinal axes of their pitching forearm from their pitching upper arm. Both showed that they supinate the release of their pitches. Both showed that they do not use the Triceps Brachii muscle to extend their pitching elbow. Without the genetic superiority of these pitchers, your pitcher is doing the same thing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 157. I have played professional baseball for 10 years and last year I experienced my first significant injury. I partially tore my ulnar collateral ligament and was told by several doctors that a rehab program would take care of the problem. After a 4 week rehab program I started a throwing program and after 4 weeks threw in the game with no ill effects. The season ended and I again did some physical therapy on the elbow and shoulder to ensure that it would be strong for spring training this year. So far this spring my elbow has felt good, although the muscles and tendons around the ligament and in my flexor mass get extremely sore on me. The soreness has increased significantly since I have started throwing in games and stretching out my pitch counts in spring training. I was wondering if you thought this was normal for someone who went through non-operative treatment on a ucl partial tear. There are a number of resources on the internet and books about surgical treatment and the rehab but I haven't found any on non-operative and don't know if what I am feeling would be normal, due to the muscles and tendons taking over for the weakened ligament? I would appreciate your input since you have a valuable pitching and bio-mechanical background. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You did not answer the critical question. Are you still using the pitching motion with which you injured your pitching arm? If you are, you will do it again. No amount of 'physical therapy' will so strengthen the bones, ligaments and tendons to withstand the stress of the 'traditional' pitching motion. I put semi-quotation marks around 'physical therapy' because I seriously doubt that they properly stressed your pitching arm specific to the baseball pitching motion to do you much good. To maximize the appropriate stress of baseball pitching and minimize the unnecessary stress of baseball pitching, I teach pitchers how to drive the baseball straight toward home plate from the first moment that they apply forward force to the pitches over as great a distance as possible with the most opposite force they can generate. To train pitching arms to safely decelerated their pitching arms from maximum intensity throwing of my Maxline Fastball, Maxline Screwball, Maxline Curve and Torque Fastball, I strap ten, fifteen, twenty and, then, twenty-five pounds of wrist weights to the glove and pitching wrist. To train pitching arms to powerfully accelerate their pitching arms to greater intensity throwing of my Maxline Fastball, Maxline Screwball, Maxline Curve and Torque Fastball, my pitchers throw six, eight, ten and, then, twelve pound iron balls. That is a PHYSICAL THERAPY program for baseball pitchers. In addition, my pitchers learn the broad variety of pitches that they need to successfully pitch to all types of hitters. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 158. I am a huge fan of yours. In the past I have read numerous stories in regard to your career. Although I was not fortunate to see you play in person, I have seen a lot of highlight clips. My question to you is this, I have read that as a player you did not sign very many autographs, for either your fans or your teammates. I was curious to know why this is/was? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have answered this question several times in my Question/Answer files. I understand that you are busy and want me to take my time to answer it again so that you do not have to read through all of my files, but. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 159. I was hoping that you might clarify my understanding of your set and windup motions. You have adjusted your set up and windup positions to be one and the same. "Pitchers stand with their feet parallel with the driveline to home plate and their hips and shoulders perpendicular to the driveline to home plate. To trigger their pitching motion, pitchers cross their wrists with their pitching hand below their glove hand as they swing both arms slightly upward from where they will pendulum swing both arms downward and away from their body. They simultaneously pendulum swings their glove arm downward and forward up to shoulder height to point at the glove-side batter and their pitching arm downward and backward up to driveline height short of second base and gently inwardly roll their pitching forearm to inside of vertical." Does that mean that at this stage of the motion, your upper body (shoulders) would be twisted while your lower body (hips) remain perpendicular to the driveline to home plate? Therefore your acromial line is not in a direct line home plate to second base, but at a slight angle (for a right hand pitcher the acromial line would point from short stop side of 2nd base to a left-handed batter standing in the batting box). Am I interpreting this correctly? With this set position how do you keep a runner honest at second base? Do you have to rely on signals from your catcher? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With both feet pointing to home plate side-by-side shoulder width apart, when pitchers pendulum swing their pitching arm ten degrees short of second base, they do have to reverse rotate their acromial line accordingly. I still want the pendulum swing to be parallel with the acromial line and never cross it on the backward swing. Depending on the torso range of motion, I tell my kids to 'lock and load' their pitching hip, which means that they keep their pitching foot pointing toward home plate or even toward the glove side hitter. I want the pitching arm to go to, but not beyond their driveline. I tell my kids to keep their glove foot on the ground until their pitching arm reaches driveline height. This enables them to drive behind the baseball, move their pitching hip ahead of their glove hip and release their pitches as far forward as they can. With this wind-up set position, pitchers have four alternatives for pickoffs to second base. 1. With the appropriate footwork, they can rotate to their glove side one hundred and eighty degrees and throw or not throw. 2. With the appropriate footwork, they can rotate to their pitching side one hundred and eighty degrees and throw or not throw. 3. They can lift their glove leg to the balance position, rotate to their pitching side one hundred and eighty degrees and throw or not throw. 4. They can lift their glove leg to the balance position, rotate to their glove side one hundred and eighty degrees and throw or not throw. As I recall the 'traditional' pitching motion, right-handed pitchers have their backs to base runners on first base and left-handed pitchers have their backs to base runners on third base and both manage to see them without the help of catchers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160. Once again, thank you for your gracious hospitality last week when I visited your facility. I learned much. I am very impressed with your new wind up set position. I would think it will really help a pitcher's consistency to pitch every pitch from the same starting position. One thing that you pointed out to me that I would reiterate is that the glove foot steps straight off the mound. It does not step toward the pitching foot drive line. That sounds simple but even your well trained pitchers were having problems with the straight forward step. I wish your students every success as they finish up their 280 days. They deserve it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your are correct Sir. I tell them every day to move their center of mass straight forward. Unfortunately, they are so used to the 'traditional' pitching motion with the closed stride that they forget. Fortunately, after a few wide throws to their pitching arm side, they start to realize that they are moving their center of mass to their pitching arm side. I do have a 'drop-stride' drill that helps them. I tell them to step forty-five degrees to their glove side and drive their center of mass straight toward home plate. This shortens their driveline, but it keeps their body moving straight forward and helps them to move their pitching hip ahead of their glove foot. Until pitchers eliminate such flaws, I would not call them, well-trained, they are still learning. We all deserve what we work hard to earn. After two hundred and eighty days, they have greatly strengthened their pitching bones, ligaments and tendons and they know what they have to do to become the best pitcher that they can be. However, they will need several more years of hard, focused work to become that pitcher. The beauty is, they can see what they can be and what they have to do to be that pitcher. That is the promise that I always keep. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 161. Can you please describe the Pickoff Pronation and Wrong Foot Slingshot throws? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While I reserve the right to make last-second edits, here is the present status of my 2004 Baseball Pitching Instructional Videotape section in which I explain my baseball throwing drills. Feel free to comment on what I can do to make this section better. 2004 IV Baseball Training Programs: (SceneB01): Me standing at my picnic table. When youngsters are eight years old, I recommend that parents and/or coaches take sixty summer days to teach their youth pitchers how to grip and release my four basic pitches. *********************************************************************************** (SceneB02): Me standing at my picnic table. To grip my Maxline True Screwball, pitchers direct the horseshoe toward home plate. They run their middle finger along the glove side seam of a loop. With the tip against the center stripe, they strongly press the side of their middle finger against the seam. With their index and ring fingers, they ‘lock’ the baseball firmly in their hand. They place their thumb below their index finger and strongly push against their ring finger. With smaller hands, youngsters should place their thumb next to their index finger. For my Maxline True Screwball release action, pitchers turn the thumb side of their wrist forward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical. They drive the index finger side of their middle finger through the seam of the baseball while they powerfully pronate their release. My Maxline True Screwball spins forwards. The top seam collides with the on-rushing air molecules to create greater force above the baseball. As a result, the baseball moves dramatically downward. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- bbrvwusptmsc: JS bbfvwusptmsc: JS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTMSc: JS (Capital letters indicate high-speed film) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB03): Me standing at my picnic table. To grip my Maxline Fastball, pitchers direct the horseshoe toward the pitching arm-side of home plate. They place their middle finger along the center stripe and ‘hook’ the seam with their fingertip. They rest the baseball on their ring finger platform and use their thumb to push against their middle finger. For my Maxline Fastball release, pitchers turn the anterior surface of their wrist slightly outward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical with their fingers vertical. They powerfully pronate through release. My Maxline Fastball spins backwards with a slight tilt to the pitching arm-side. The small circle of friction on the glove-side moves the baseball to the pitching arm-side of home plate. The bottom seam collides with the on-rushing air molecules to create greater force below the baseball. As a result, the baseball resists the down force of gravity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- bbrvwusptmf: JKW bbfvwusptmf: JKW ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTMF: JKW ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB04}: Me standing at my picnic table. To grip my Maxline Pronation Curve, pitchers direct the horseshoe toward the glove side of home plate. They run their middle finger along the pitching arm side of a loop and strongly press against the seam. They spread their ring finger platform and tuck their thumb under the baseball. With smaller hands, youngsters should place their thumb next to their index finger. To release my Maxline Pronation Curve, pitchers turn the little finger side of their wrist forward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical. They drive their middle finger through the seam. They powerfully pronate their forearm and ulnar flex their wrist. My Maxline Pronation Curve spins forwards. The top seam collides with the on-rushing air molecules to create greater force above the baseball. As a result, the baseball moves dramatically downward. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- bbrvwusptmc: JSB bbfvwusptmc: JSB ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTMC: JSB ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB05): Me standing at my picnic table. To grip my Torque Fastball, pitchers direct the horseshoe to the glove side of home plate. They place their index and middle finger on either side of the center stripe and ‘hook’ the seam with their fingertips. They rest the baseball on their ring finger platform and use their thumb to push the baseball tightly against their index and middle fingers. For my Torque Fastball release, pitchers turn the anterior surface of their wrist slightly inward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical with their fingers horizontal. They powerfully pronate through release. My Torque Fastball spins backwards with a slight tilt to the glove-side. The small circle of friction on the pitching arm-side moves the baseball to the glove side of home plate. The bottom seam collides with the on-rushing air molecules to create greater force below the baseball. As a result, the baseball resists the down force of gravity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- bbrvwuspttf: JSp bbfvwuspttf: JS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTTF: JS *********************************************************************************** (B01): Maxline Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the first twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. (SceneB06): Me demonstrating my Maxline Pickoff body action with my Pronation arm action. Because I used this body action to pick base runners off second base, I call it, my ‘Maxline Pickoff’ position. For my Pronation arm action, pitchers start with their pitching hand beside their pitching ear from where they extend their pitching elbow and pronate their pitching forearm horizontally straight forward. To help pitchers to recognize the spin axes of their pitches, I use appropriately-sized footballs. To throw my Maxline Screwball, pitchers place the football between their index and middle fingers. The football horizontally rotates to the pitching arm-side of home plate. Youngsters should use the same release when they throw baseballs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Screwball: (fbpprvmscdm) Football Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Screwball: (fbppfvmsczs) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Screwball: (bbpprvmscdm) Baseball Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Screwball: (bbppfvmscab) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB07): Me demonstrating my Pickoff Pronation Maxline Fastball with a football. For my Maxline Fastball, pitchers place the tip of their middle finger on the tip of the football. The football vertically rotates to the pitching arm-side of home plate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Fastball: (fbpprvmfrf) Football Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Fastball: (fbppfvmfdm) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Fastball: (need) Baseball Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Fastball: (bbppfvjl) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (B02): Torque Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the first twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. (SceneB08): Me demonstrating my Pickoff Pronation Maxline Curve with a football. For my Maxline Pronation Curve, pitchers place one tip of the football between their middle and ring fingers. The football rotates horizontally to the pitching arm side of home plate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Curve: (fbppmcjk) Football Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Curve: (fbfvppmcjk) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Curve: (bbpprvmcrf) Baseball Front View Pickoff Pronation Maxline Curve: (bbfvppmcnn) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB09): Me demonstrating my Torque Pickoff body action and Pronation Torque Fastball arm action with a football. Because I used this body action to pick base runners off third base, I call it, my ‘Torque Pickoff’ position. For my Torque Fastball, pitchers place their index and middle fingers on both sides of the tip of the football. The football rotates horizontally to the glove side of home plate. Youngsters should use the same release when they throw baseballs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Pronation Torque Fastball: (fbpprvtfdm) Football Front View Pickoff Pronation Torque Fastball: (fbppfvtfdg) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Pronation Torque Fastball: (bbpprvtfbp) Baseball Front View Pickoff Pronation Torque Fastball: (bbppfvtfrf) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (B03): Maxline Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the second twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. (SceneB10): Me demonstrating my Slingshot throwing drill. For my Slingshot pitching arm action, pitchers start in Pronation. To load the slingshot, pitchers maximally outward rotate their pitching upper arm and forearm. They pull their glove forearm backward, forwardly rotate their shoulders, inwardly rotate their pitching upper arm, extend their elbow and pronate their forearm. Maxline Day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (fbrvpsmscdg)(need) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (fbfvpsmscme) Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbrvpsmfdg) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbfvpsmfzs)(need) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (bbrvpsmsc??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (bbfvpsmsc??) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbrvpsmf??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbfvpsmf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B04): Torque Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the second twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. Torque Day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Curve: (fbrvpsmc??) (need) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Curve: (fbfvpsmc??) (need) Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbrvpstfbp) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbfvpstfjl) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Curve: (bbrvpsmc??) (need) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot Maxline Curve: (bbfvpsmc??) (need) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbrvpstf??) (need) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbfvpstf??) (need) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB11): Me demonstrating my Slingshot with a Step throwing drill. For my Slingshot with a Step pitching arm action, pitchers start in Slingshot. They step forward with their pitching foot, pull their glove forearm backward, forwardly rotate their shoulders, inwardly rotate their pitching upper arm, extend their pitching elbow and pronate their pitching forearm, wrist, hand and fingers straight toward home plate. (B05): Maxline Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the third twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. Maxline Day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Screwball: (fbrvpssmsc??) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Screwball: (fbfvpssmsc??) Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Fastball: (fbrvpssmf??) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Fastball: (fbfvpssmf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Screwball: (bbrvpssmsc??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Screwball: (bbfvpssmsc??) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Fastball: (bbrvpssmf??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Fastball: (bbfvpssmf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B06): Torque Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Eight Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the third twenty days of my eight year old baseball pitchers interval-training program and beginners of all ages. Torque Day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Curve: (fbrvpssmcbp) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Curve: (fbfvpssmc??) Football Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Torque Fastball: (fbrvpsstf??) Football Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Torque Fastball: (fbfvpsstf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Curve: (bbrvpssmc??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Maxline Curve: (bbfvpssmc??) Baseball Rear View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Torque Fastball: bbrvpsstf??) Baseball Front View Pickoff Slingshot with Step Torque Fastball: (bbfvpsstf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB12): Me demonstrating my Football Wrong Foot body action and my Slingshot pitching arm action. With their glove foot forward and both feet pointing toward home plate, pitchers step straight toward home plate with their pitching foot, wait for their pitching foot to contact the ground and use my Slingshot pitching arm action to drive through release. (B07): Maxline Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Nine-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. When youngsters are nine years old, I recommend that parents and/or coaches take two summer months and, use my Wrong Foot body position with which to do their pitching arm throws. This is my Maxline workout for the first twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (fbrvwfsmscab) Football Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (fbfvwfsmscbp) Football Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbrvwfsmfck) Football Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbfvwfsmfbp) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvwfsmfbp) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (bbfvwfsmfme) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwfsmfck) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwfsmfck) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B08): Torque Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Nine Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the first twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (fbrvwfsmcme) Football Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (fbfvwfsmcdm) Football Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbrvwfstfdm) Football Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbfvwfstfrf) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbwfsrvmcab) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbwfsfvmcdm) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbwfsrvtfjl) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbwfsfvtfck) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB13): Me demonstrating my Swing-to-Ready Pitching Arm Action. To introduce my crow-step pitching rhythm and my double-arm pendulum swings, I designed my Swing-to-Ready pitching arm action. Pitchers simultaneously slide their pitching foot slightly forward while they cross their pitching wrist under their glove wrist and swing both arms. Next, pitchers double arm pendulum swing their glove arm to shoulder height straight at home plate and their pitching arm to my ‘Ready’ position. Pitchers briefly hold their ‘Ready’ position. While they step straight toward home plate with their pitching foot, they roll their pitching forearm to horizontal and, after their pitching foot contacts the ground, they powerfully extend their elbow and pronate their forearm through release. (B09): Maxline Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Nine-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the second twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvwfsmfrf) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline True Screwball: (bbfvwfsmfrf) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwfsrmfme) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwfsrmfme) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B10): Torque Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Nine Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the second twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline Pronation Curve: (need) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Maxline Pronation Curve: (need) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (need) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (bbfvwfsrtfrf) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB14): Me demonstrating my Transition Pitching Arm Action. With my Transition pitching arm action, pitchers do my Swing-to-Ready, but they do not stop their pitching arm. (B11): Maxline Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Nine-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the third twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvwftmf??) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvwftmf??) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwftmf??) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwftmf??) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B12): Torque Workout for the Third Days of my Nine Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the third twenty days of my nine year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbrvwftmc??) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Transition Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbrvwftmc??) Baseball Rear View Wrong Foot Transition Torque Fastball: (bbrvwfttf??) Baseball Front View Wrong Foot Transition Torque Fastball: (bbfvwfttfme) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB15): Me demonstrating my No-Stride body action. To properly move their pitching leg straight toward home plate ahead of their glove foot, I designed my No-Stride body action. Pitchers keep their glove foot fixed on the ground while they powerfully drive their pitching foot off the pitching rubber. (B13): Maxline Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. When youngsters are ten years old, I recommend that parents and/or coaches take two summer months and use my No-Stride Drills to teach how to move their pitching leg ahead of their glove foot. This is my Maxline workout for the first twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (fbrvnssmscdm) Football Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (fbfvnssmscdg) Football Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbrvnssmfab) Football Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbfvnssmf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvnssmsc??) Baseball Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline True Screwball: (bbfvnssmsc??) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbrvnssmf??) Baseball Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbfvnssmf??) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B14): Torque Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the first twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (fbrvnssmcrf) Football Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (fbfvnssmc??) Football Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Torque Fastball: (need) Football Front View No-Stride Slingshot Torque Fastball: (need) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbrvnssmc??) Baseball Front View No-Stride Slingshot Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbfvnssmc??) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Slingshot Torque Fastball: (need) Baseball Front View No-Stride Slingshot Torque Fastball: (need) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (B15): Maxline Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the second twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline WorkoutMbr< -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvnssrmscdg) BB Front View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline True Screwball: (bbfvnssrmscdm) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbrvnssrmfjl) Baseball Front View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbfvnssrmfab) (B16): Torque Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the second twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbrvnssmcbp) Baseball Front View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbfvnssmcrf) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (bbnssrrvtfdr) Baseball Front View No-Stride Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (bbnssrfvtfbp) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************************** (B17): Maxline Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the third twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Transition Maxline True Screwball: (bbrvnstmscme) Baseball Front View No-Stride Transition Maxline True Screwball: (bbfvnstmscbp) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbrvnstmfdm) Baseball Front View No-Stride Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbfvnstmfrf) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B18): Torque Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Ten-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the third twenty days of my ten year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View No-Stride Transition Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbrvnssmcdg) Baseball Front View No-Stride Transition Maxline Pronation Curve: (bbfvnssmcdg) Baseball Rear View No-Stride Transition Torque Fastball: (bbnstrvtfab) Baseball Front View No-Stride Transition Torque Fastball: (bbnstfvtfdr) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************************** (SceneB16): Me demonstrating my Wind-Up Set Position body action With my ‘wind-up set position’ body action, pitchers use the same pitching motion with or without base runners. They stand with the feet pointing toward home plate. They comfortably step straight forward with their glove foot and powerfully move their pitching leg straight toward home plate. (B19): Maxline Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. When youngsters are eleven biological years old, I recommend that parents and/or coaches take two summer months and, use my Wind-Up Set Position Drill. This is my Maxline workout for the first twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Rear View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (fbrvwuspsmscjl) Football Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (fbfvwuspsmscmm) Football Rear View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbrvwuspsmfmm) Football Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (fbfvwuspsmfjk) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (bbrvwuspsmsczs) Baseball Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Screwball: (bbfvwuspsmscck) Baseball Rear View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwuspsmfjs) Baseball Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwuspsmfjk) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B20): Torque Workout for the First Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the first twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Football Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Curve: (fbrvwuspsmczs) Football Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Curve: (fbfvwuspsmcck) Football Rear View WUSP Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbrvwuspstfmm) Football Front View WUSP Slingshot Torque Fastball: (fbfvwuspstfab) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Curve: (bbrvwuspsmcjk) Baseball Front View WUSP Slingshot Maxline Curve: (bbfvwuspsmcck) Baseball Rear View WUSP Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbrvwuspstfjk) Baseball Front View WUSP Slingshot Torque Fastball: (bbfvwuspstfjs) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (B21): Maxline Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the second twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Screwball: (bbrvwuspsrmscjk) Baseball Front View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Screwball: (bbfvwuspsrmsczs) Baseball Rear View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwuspsrmfzs) Baseball Front View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwuspsrmfjl) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B22): Torque Workout for the Second Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the second twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Front View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Curve: (bbrvwuspsrmcjs) Baseball Front View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Maxline Curve: (bbfvwuspsrmczs) Baseball Rear View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (bbrvwuspsrtfjs) Baseball Front View WUSP Swing-to-Ready Torque Fastball: (bbfvwuspsrtfjk) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (B23): Maxline Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Maxline workout for the third twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Maxline Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View WUSP Transition Maxline Screwball: (bbrvwusptmscdt) Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Screwball: (bbfvwusptmscdt) Baseball Rear View WUSP Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbrvwusptmfjk) Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Fastball: (bbfvwusptmfjk) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (B24): Torque Workout for the Third Twenty Days of my Eleven-Year-Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. This is my Torque workout for the third twenty days of my eleven year old baseball pitchers interval-training program. Torque Workout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Curve: (bbrvwusptmccb) Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Curve: (bbfvwusptmcjk) Baseball Rear View WUSP Transitions Torque Fastball: (bbrvwuspttfzs) Baseball Front View WUSP Transitions Torque Fastball: (bbfvwuspttfzs) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *********************************************************************************** (SceneB17): Nineteen Year Old Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program graphic. At nineteen biological years old, pitchers are physiologically ready to maximally strengthen the bones, ligaments and tendons of their pitching arm with my 280-Day Adult Baseball Pitchers Interval-Training Program. After they complete my wrist weight and iron ball training cycles, I introduce my Maxline Fastball Sinker and Torque Fastball Slider. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (SceneB18): Me standing with the Marshall Effect schematic. To grip my Maxline Fastball Sinker, pitchers direct the horseshoe toward home plate with the circle of friction on the glove-side. They place their middle finger along the center stripe and ‘hook’ the seam with their fingertip. They rest the baseball on their ring finger platform and use their thumb to push against their middle finger. With their glove hand, they turn the baseball to the pitching arm side forty-five degrees. For my Maxline Fastball release, pitchers turn the anterior surface of their wrist slightly outward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical with their fingers vertical. They powerfully pronate through release. My Maxline Fastball Sinker spirals to their glove side. The large circle-of-friction on the top, forward surface of the baseball collides with the on-rushing air molecules. As a result, the baseball dives downward to the pitching arm-side. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Fastball Sinker: (bbrvpssmfsijs) Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Maxline Fastball Sinker: (bbfvpssmfsijs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTMFSi: JS ******************************************************************************** (SceneB19): Me standing with the Marshall Effect schematic. To grip my Torque Fastball Slider, pitchers direct the horseshoe toward home plate with the circle of friction on the pitching side. They place their index and middle fingers on either side of the center stripe and ‘hook’ the seam with their fingertips. They rest the baseball on their ring finger platform and use their thumb to push against their index and middle fingers. With their glove hand, they turn the baseball to the glove side forty-five degrees. For my Torque Fastball Slider release, pitchers turn the anterior surface of their wrist slightly inward. They keep their pitching forearm inside of vertical with their fingers horizontal. They powerfully pronate through release. My Torque Fastball Slider spirals toward home plate. The large circle-of-friction on the forward surface of the baseball collides with the on-rushing air molecules. As a result, the baseball dives downward to the glove-side of home plate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baseball Rear View WUSP Transition Torque Fastball Slider: (bbrvpsstfsljjst) Baseball Front View WUSP Transition Torque Fastball Slider: (bbfvpsstfsljst) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBFVWUSPTTF: JSb ******************************************************************************** (B25): Pickoff Throws to First Base graphic With my Wind-Up Set Position, to pick base runners off first base, right-handed pitchers have five choices: 01. They can pivot on their pitching foot and, with their glove foot, step toward first and throw. 02. Like a second baseman making a double play, they can step forward off the pitching rubber with their pitching foot and, with their glove foot, step straight toward first base and throw. 03. Like a second baseman making a double play, they can step backward off the pitching rubber with their pitching foot and, with their glove foot, step straight toward first base and throw or not throw. 04. They can use my Wrong Foot body action and, with their pitching foot, step straight toward first base and throw. 05. They can use my No-Stride body action and drive off their pitching foot straight toward first base and throw. (B26): Pickoff Throws to Second Base graphic With my Wind-Up Set Position, to pick base runners off second base, right-handed pitchers have two choices: 01. They can pivot on their pitching foot to their glove side and, with their glove foot, step straight toward second base and throw or not throw. 02. They can pivot on their glove foot to their pitching arm side and, with their pitching foot, step straight toward second base and throw or not throw. (B27): Pickoff Throws to Third Base graphic With my Wind-Up Set Position, to pick base runners off third base, right-handed pitchers have two choices: 01. They can pivot on their pitching foot to their pitching arm side and, with their glove foot, step straight toward third base and throw or not throw. 02. They can pivot on their glove foot to their pitching arm side and, with their pitching foot, step straight toward third base and throw or not throw. Rather than repeat these pickoff moves for left-handed pitchers, I recommend that parents, coaches and pitchers look into a mirror and again watch these right-handed pitchers pickoff moves. ******************************************************************************** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 162. My son is now a senior in high school. He trained with you last summer. He had his first game today, he started. He threw 121 pitches, 57 strikes and 64 balls. He threw 69 Maxline Fastball, 39 for strikes. He threw 2 Torque Fastballs, one for a strike. He threw 33 curves, 9 for strikes. He threw 15 sinkers, 7 for strikes. He did not throw any screwballs. Here is his line score: 5IP, 0ER, 4R, 0H, 9BB, 1HBP, 11Ks and 1SB. Although it was a no-hitter, and they won, he is not happy with the result. Just too much adrenaline, new mechanics, no control, etc. It was the 3rd inning before he threw a curve for a strike. He was never able to get in a groove and go through any proper sequences, because he was almost always behind the hitters. Essentially, he was throwing the Maxline FB by the hitters. Funny that, because there was no intensity. At least not anything like he has been throwing in practice. To start the game, the first guy got on by an error. Then he walked the next two on ten pitches. Confidence shot. After that, it looked as if he was aiming every pitch, but they were still much faster than last year, and the other team could not catch up to them. Only four balls were put in play. Only one ball left the infield and it was caught. There were several mechanics problems, but I think it starts with the following: I had noticed a while back, and got on to him about a big flaw. He has been stepping to the throwing arm side of the batters box. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. Well, today he started doing that very early, like the first pitch, got a hole dug, and then continued to step in that hole. Finally, I got him to move more toward the middle of the rubber so he could throw some strikes. But the damage was done. Because of the closed step, he was not getting his hip around, was flying out, and finishing down, or across his body slightly. He could have made a "what not to do" video. I think the only thing that saved him was pronation and the other good mechanics you taught him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You are right. That was a horrible performance. All his old bad habits reared their ugly heads. He still mistakenly believes that he can get 'extra' from reverse rotating farther. I have no doubts that, as viewed from home plate, he was taking his pitching hand more than a foot beyond second base. To get his pitching hip ahead of his glove foot, he has to step 'straight' forward. It also sounds as though he is still 'grabbing' with his pitching forearm, especially with his curves. Rather than put an obstacle in line with where he steps, I prefer to tell him to try to step forward at a forty-five degrees angle to his glove side and drive his pitching hip straight toward home plate. As always, he has to delay the forward movement of his body until he gets his pitching arm to my 'Ready' position. With allot of work, maybe next time he can stop his opponents from getting any hits and scoring earned runs. Even though he threw only twenty-seven percent curve strikes and forty-seven percent sinker strikes, they made his maxline fastball better. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 163. You wrote: "He still mistakenly believes that he can get 'extra' from reverse rotating farther. I have no doubts that, as viewed from home plate, he was taking his pitching hand more than a foot beyond second base." He did not appear to be that bad concerning reverse rotation. Actually, his entire delivery looked strange. He was fairly calm while bringing the ball up, and did not seem to go behind his head. Though I was watching from the side, so I cannot say for sure. But then, the step just went awry toward the throwing arm side batters box. He looked about like a fashion model looks walking down a runway. You know how they walk, straight forward, but crossing their steps? He would get all the way around on a pitch, but not until the pitch was already delivered. "As always, he has to delay the forward movement of his body until he gets his pitching arm to my 'Ready' position." At some point in the game, I told him to imagine the crow hop. This seemed to help him get his arm up before starting forward. "With allot of work, maybe next time he can stop his opponents from getting any hits and scoring earned runs." Well, they scored no earned runs, and got no hits this time. But the ten free passes were terrible. The four unearned runs came on wild pitches and passed balls. With limited practice time, this was the first time the catcher had seen Sam with the new mechanics. The catcher did an OK job, but he had a tough time. "Even though he threw only twenty-seven percent curve strikes and forty-seven percent sinker strikes, they made his maxline fastball better." Yes, that was the case. The coach was getting on to him about throwing strikes of course. Since the Maxline was so effective, he almost had no chance to throw anything else. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am pleased to read that Sam is not taking his pitching hand laterally behind his head. However, it sounds as though he was not getting his pitching hand to driveline height before he started his body forward and, then, he did not take his body straight forward. Your suggestion to focus on the 'crow-step' pitching rhythm was excellent. I still think that the idea of a 'drop-stride' to get him to move his pitching leg straight forward ahead of his glove foot will help. We have a new saying, 'Pitchers are only as good as their ability to pitch with their pitching hip.' This means that pitchers cannot 'finish' their pitches such that they are driving the baseball straight toward home plate when they leave their pitching hip behind their body. Coaches at all levels hate walks. They will even say stupid things like, 'make them hit it.' The truth is that all this does is prevent pitchers from developing. That is why I would like to never have pitchers pitch in games until they master all pitches. I agree that walks are boring, except to the pitchers and those rooting for them to master the pitches. Nevertheless, I would much rather have batters walk ninety feet twice an inning with no hits than sprint to second from home and to home from first base. The key to long-term success is never giving up extra base hits and much fewer than one single base hit per inning. I applaud your son when he threw tough pitches with base runners on third base. This means that he has the courage to challenge himself and, as a result, he will become the best pitcher that he can be. That was only his first game. When I coached college baseball, I watched and permitted many pitchers face the challenge of throwing pitches that they did not know where they were going. I watched them walk many batters. They were not ready, but we had games scheduled. I watched one young man go 0-10 and average over one walk per inning. But, I never took away his courage. Everybody questioned why I let his pitch. Now, he throws my pitches better than anybody I have coached. He made it all the way to the major leagues. If his coach or anybody else does not take his courage away, then he will continue to improve. While most people do not like wild pitches that permit base runners on third base to score, I see them as courageous. However, when pitchers cannot throw their pitches so that catchers can catch them, they need more practice without games. The fact that your son did not try to throw all pitches means that he has allot of work to do. This should be his wake-up call for starting to work harder. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 164. It will take some time for me to comb through it. Give me a few days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No hurry. I have an out-of-town trip scheduled for this weekend. I thought that I would be long finished with this project. In any case, I will return Monday afternoon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 165. The following is an excerpt from USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee's Position Statement on Youth Baseball Injuries. I know what you think about this, but I thought I'd pass this along anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The most common question asked to sports medicine professionals by parents of youth baseball players is: "How many pitches should I allow my child to throw?" Recommendation: Based upon its expertise and review of existing studies, the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee makes the following recommendations for minimizing a pitcher's risk of future serious arm injury and maximizing his chance of success. "Coaches and parents should listen and react appropriately to a youth pitcher when he/she complains about arm pain. A pitcher who complains or shows signs of arm pain during a game should be removed immediately from pitching. Parents should seek medical attention if pain is not relieved within four days or if the pain recurs immediately the next time the player pitches. League officials should inform parents about this consideration. Pitch counts should be monitored and regulated in youth baseball. Recommended limits for youth pitchers are as follows: 1. 9-10 year old pitchers: 50 pitches per game, 75 pitches per week, 1000 pitches per season, 2000 pitches per year, 2. 11-12 year old pitchers: 75 pitches per game, 100 pitches per week, 1000 pitches per season, 3000 pitches per year and 3. 13-14 year old pitchers: 75 pitches per game, 125 pitches per week, 1000 pitches per season, 3000 pitches per year. Pitch count limits pertain to pitches thrown in games only. These limits do not include throws from other positions, instructional pitching during practice sessions, and throwing drills, which are important for the development of technique and strength. Backyard pitching practice after a pitched game is strongly discouraged. Pitchers should not throw breaking pitches (curveballs, sliders, etc.) in competition until their bones have matured (indicated by puberty) - typically about 13 years of age. In order to succeed, a youth pitcher should focus on good mechanics, a fast fastball, a good change-up, and good control. Pitchers should develop proper mechanics as early as possible and include more year-round physical conditioning as their body develops. A Pitcher should be prohibited from returning to the mound in a game once he/she has been removed as the pitcher. Baseball players - especially pitchers - are discouraged from participating in showcases due to the risk of injury. The importance of "showcases" should be de-emphasized, and at the least, pitchers should be permitted time to appropriately prepare. Baseball pitchers are discouraged from pitching for more than one team in a given season. Baseball pitchers should compete in baseball no more than nine months in any given year, as periodization is needed to give the pitcher's body time to rest and recover. For at least three months a year, a baseball pitcher should not play any baseball, participate in throwing drills, or participate in other stressful overhead activities (javelin throwing, football quarterback, softball, competitive swimming, etc.)." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now we determine what is the correct medical advice by opinion poll? Sounds allot easier than research. Be glad that they are not opining on the cure for HIV? They have absolutely no scientific basis anything that they recommend. Did they take groups of nine and ten year olds and have them throw more than fifty pitches per game, seventy-five pitches per week, one thousand pitches per season and two thousand pitches per year? The following quote proves that they have no idea. "Pitchers should not throw breaking pitches (curveballs, sliders, etc.) in competition until their bones have matured (indicated by puberty) - typically about 13 years of age." Have they never seen an X-ray of a biological thirteen year old pitching arm? I understand that before I showed elbow X-rays of biological ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen year olds, nobody had ever seen the growth and development progression. However, numerous growth and development research reports have stated when the ossification centers in the pitching arm appear and mature. How do these people get on the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee? What is the USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee? Who gave them the authority to advise anybody? I do not have time to answer these questions. I hope that somebody out there goes after these people. Go ahead and use my name. They already refuse to let me play in their reindeer games. By the way, you have been reading that someone wanted to get the 'pitching experts together for a debate.' You knew that that would never happen, didn't you? The editor of Collegiate Baseball News tried the get the American Baseball Coaches Association to do just that at their last annual national meeting. Did not happen. Now, you know why I am trying to empower parents to take charge of how, how often, how much and how intensely their sons and daughters throw baseballs and softballs. I assume that you know that, even though I am not going to go through everything else they said, everything else that they said is similarly wrong. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 166. I realize that you are not a medical doctor, but am sure that your educational background along with your extensive baseball experience more than qualify you to address my concerns. My nine year old son broke both the radius and ulna of his right arm (he is right handed) this week. I am certainly not qualified to ascertain this but by the looks of the x-rays I would say that the break is probably above the growth plates as it is about 1" to 1 1/2" above the wrist. The breaks were clean with no bone fragments, and the orthopedic surgeon set them back through reduction. He seemed to be pleased with the outcome of the process. It was a very busy night in the OR, and my wife and I were far too fatigued to ask any questions. My concern regards the long term prognosis. The estimation offered for time in the cast was six weeks. Both of my sons (the older is 14) are avid sports enthusiast and play basketball, football and baseball. I know my younger son will be "burning up" to rejoin his baseball team as soon as possible, especially given that he is now forced to sit and watch his older brother. My son has pitched some, but mostly plays other positions. Currently his coach had him at third base. I would like to know if: 1) My son will be able to return to playing baseball as well as other sports without any lasting consequences of his injury, or should we expect that he have any restrictions on his development as a young athlete? 2) Can he/should he practice any rehabilitation while the cast is in place over the next six weeks? 3) Once the cast is removed what rehabilitation is best for him and how should we approach letting him return to baseball? 4) Will his arm have atrophied extensively and will he have lost significant strength in his throwing motion? Of course, I want to think that he will have no on-going concerns and will be able to develop athletically as he would have had he not broken his throwing arm. But if there is a chance that is not the case, I would like to prepare now. I also do not want to chance any further injury by rushing him back on the playing field, but at the same time I want to allow him to be as active as possible as soon as possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nine year olds are bone, ligament, tendon and muscle building machines. Unless he does something to move the bones away from each other, they will heal fine. You did not say, but it sounds like he fell and landed on his right wrist. Do you have any skateboards? He needs to learn how to tuck and roll. Find him a tumbling class. Six to eight weeks of inactivity of the injured area typically would atrophy the bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles in the effected area. But, nine year olds are bone, ligament, tendon and muscle building machines. He can practice anything he wants as long as it does not involve his right wrist, elbow and shoulder. After they remove the cast, he should gently and gradually increase the amount and intensity of the activity. As my personal rule of thumb, for every day of inactivity, complete return to previous levels of amount and intensity requires one and one-half days. Therefore, he should gently and gradually increase the amount and intensity of his activities over nine weeks. He will have lost significant strength and skill with his right wrist, elbow and shoulder. But, nine year olds are bone, ligament, tendon and muscle building machines. Keep him reined in a bit for awhile, but he will be fine. In six to eight weeks, you can start him on thirty days of my sixty day eight-year-old baseball pitchers interval-training program followed my thirty days of my sixty day nine-year-old baseball pitchers interval-training program. However, I prefer that he practices my skills only during June and July. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 167. Still trying to assemble a panel. Any other suggestions? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As I have already said, I applaud your efforts to get a meaningful debate going with those who claim to know something about pitching. However, when House, Mills, Thurston and others chicken out, everybody would be best served to read my Coaching Baseball Pitchers book and watch my Instructional Videotape. I will have both upgraded soon. Yes, I would love to have any professional team pitching coaches. Ask Directors of Player Development if they have anybody who would like to join. I could email you the telephone numbers for all major league teams. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 168. Why do you place the middle finger (3rd digit) directly on the loop as opposed to on either side of the loop? To me, the ball seems more comfortable when my fingers are on either side of the loop. Do your students find this finger positioning awkward in the early phases of your program? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To grip my four seam Maxline Fastball, I want pitchers to 'hook' the seam with the tip of their middle finger and I want their middle finger in the absolute middle of the baseball. My Maxline Fastball leaves off the tip of the middle finger. To grip my four seam Torque Fastball, I also want pitchers to 'hook' the seam, but with the tips of their index and middle fingers and I want their index and middle fingers on either side of the absolute middle of the baseball. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 169. You wrote," I still think that the idea of a 'drop-stride' to get him to move his pitching leg straight forward ahead of his glove foot will help." I do not know exactly what you mean by 'drop-stride'. Could you please elaborate? "We have a new saying, 'Pitchers are only as good as their ability to pitch with their pitching hip.' This means that pitchers cannot 'finish' their pitches such that they are driving the baseball straight toward home plate when they leave their pitching hip behind their body. You have that right. They also tear up the front of their shoulder, tear their bicep, and a few other things my son is suffering from now. He still had soreness today in the bicep, tricep, brachialis, and pronator teres. The bicep was not just soreness, but pain. Luckily, the mound had not been worked since his start, and I plotted the hole he dug while pitching. It was about 8-10 inches toward the pitching arm side, from the line formed between the maxline side of the rubber to the glove side batters box. He was REALLY throwing across his body. He got through wrist weights and iron balls today. Then, he threw about 30 baseballs. He stepped well to the glove arm side, and threw some beautiful pitches at very low intensity. Nevertheless, his velocity and movement of the pitches was better than in the game! Of course, he could not get it through his thick head that the pitches were that much better, even with his catcher telling him that |