How can you increase the performance of a baseball pitcher through biomechanics and what does this mean for a physical educator?

Author - Ben Lodge 
Flinders University
Education Student 













How can you increase the performance of a baseball pitcher through biomechanics and what does this mean for a physical educator?

Intro

Throwing is a key motor skill to learn and a critical fundamental movement pattern for many sports and similar skills (Knudson, D. & Morrison, C., 1996). As the throw and its movement is such a key component too many sports and games, it is important that the correct biomechanics are taught to beginners and then further developed. Baseball pitchers are seen as the best ‘throwers’ in sport and get paid up to $20m a year to pitch professionally. It only makes sense that we look at the biomechanics of the professional thrower and try to apply them in the school setting. In this blog we will look at:

• ·      the biomechanics of a pitcher
• ·      physical attributes and training that accommodate biomechanics and increase                       performance
• ·      application of knowledge to the classroom

Biomechanics

To begin to look at the mechanics of a pitcher we must first look at the 6-step or phase approach. This step-by-step analysis of the movement is commonly used by a large number of biomechanists and theorists (Whitely, R., 2007, Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985, Fleisig, G., Barrentine, S., Zheng, N., Escamilla, R. & Andrews, J., 1999). As seen in Diagram 1 (Fleisig, G., Escamilla, F., Andrews, J., Matsuo, T., Satterwhite, Y. & Barrentine, S., 1996) this approach looks the six stages of a pitch from beginning to move the ball and body until the ball is released. The phases are:

• ·      Wind Up
• ·      Stride
• ·      Arm Cocking
• ·      Arm Acceleration
• ·      Arm Deceleration
• ·      Follow Through

Diagram 1 - The Six Phases Of Pitching (Fleisig, G., et al, 1996)

The wind up is the beginning of the action. The wind up creates momentum and a rhythm so that the body’s weight shift is synchronized (Braatz, J. & Gogia, P., 1987). The wind up will begin with either a small step forward or a simple push off from the front foot and then the athlete’s body will be side on to the target, the catcher. The front leg (contralateral leg) is then raised and the weight is loaded on the back leg (ipsilateral leg) ready to move in the next phase, the stride (Dillman, C., Fleisig, G. & Andrews, J., 1993).

The stride is an aggressive yet controlled step towards the target. A study found that the average stride length of a pitcher is 87% of the athlete’s height (Fleisig, G., 1994). Considering that the average Major League Pitcher is 6 foot 1 or 185cm the stride length will be around 161 cm (ESPN, 2013). This is quite a large stride and requires large amounts of power. Once the pitcher has raised the leg, they will begin to extend the knee by abducting, medially rotating and extending the hip. This will cause the ankle to flex preparing the body to make contact with the ground (Braatz, J. & Gogia, P., 1987). A study found that an increase in stride length, no matter the height of the pitcher, could increase the pitched ball velocity (Montgomery, J. and Knudson, D., 2002). The energy created from the stride will then later contribute to the propulsion of the ball (Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985).

Cocking is the next phase of the pitching process. It begins with the separation of the hands over the front knee and ends with the scapula retracted and the humerus abducted, extended and rotated. The elbow is also flexed (Braatz, J. & Gogia, P., 1987). The cock is similar to winding up a toy car with the idea of rearing back before accelerating.

This then leads into acceleration. Acceleration begins after cocking the arms and ends when the pitcher releases the ball. The movements include scapular protraction, humeral flexion and rotation and the extension of the elbow. The shoulder joint capsule is tight to provide elasticity for optimal stretching of the accelerator muscles (Jobe, F.W., Tibone, J.E., Perry, J. & Moynes, D., 1983) when abduction and maximum lateral rotation of the shoulder is complete (Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985). During acceleration the arm can reach maximum speed in 42-58 ms (Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985). This explains how pitchers can throw the ball at speeds up to 105 mph or 169 kph.

The pitcher has now let go of the ball and therefore no mechanics can now alter the ball. Deceleration and the follow through are for the health of the pitcher’s body and the force required is proportional to the speed of the ball thrown (Whiteley, R., 2007).  During the deceleration phase the use of the shoulder and elbow is extreme and during the follow through the posterior shoulder and biceps work to slow down the arm (Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985). The biceps work to reduce stress on the elbow and the scapula continues to protract to minimize irritation of the shoulder joint (Houglum, P., 2010).  The stride leg also absorbs a lot of energy as the knee flexes. The follow through is critical because the body must disperse of the energy created to release the ball in a way that will cause minimal harm to the body (Braatz J. & Gogia, P., 1987).

Diagram 2 - Major League Pitcher going through the phases with a biomechanical analysis:

Below is a slow motion video of a Major League pitcher. Note that this pitcher is a professional athlete and his biomechanics have been slightly changed to suit his physical attributes. Not all professional athletes should be copied as they have spent years attaining the physical stature to complete such actions where a beginner will not have these attributes and may end up injured.

Physical Attributes to Assist Biomechanics

From looking at the biomechanics of pitching we learn that the key attributes of a pitcher are speed, power and flexibility. Over the course of the game endurance and also comes in, but we will look specifically at speed and power. These are essential to the stride and acceleration phases. The physical shape of a pitcher is tall with big powerful legs, a strong core and a lean upper body. The main strength programs are created using weight training or plyometric training (Newton, R. & McEvoy. K., 1994).

Above we learnt that an increased stride length could increase pitch velocity  (Montgomery, J. and Knudson, D., 2002). Also the time and speed it took to accelerate the arm to max velocity is directly connected to the pitched ball’s velocity (Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T., 1985).  From a biomechanical perspective these are the two phases we can concentrate on to improve to increase performance.

A study found that 14.3% of Major League Baseball Strength and Conditioning coaches use weight lifting as the major part of their program while 95% use plyometrics as a key feature of their program (Ebben, W., Hintz, M. & Simenz, C., 2005). Therefore plyometrics is key to the physical condition and attributes of the pitcher. Why?

“This type of training has been reported to invoke specific neural adaptations such as increased activation of the motor units, with less muscle hypertrophy than typically observed after heavy static resistance strength training.” 

(Hill, J. & Leiszler, M., 2011)

Plyometric training involves powerful movements such as jumping (DiStefano, L., Padua, D. & Blackburn, J., 2010) and baseball coaches and their respective strength and conditioning coaches see a link between strength, speed and explosiveness (Chu, D., 1992). A study found that a group of 8 college pitchers increased their throwing velocity by and average of 2mph after an 8-week plyometric training program. This was compared to an increase of just .27mph by the control group who undertook a regular weight-training program (Carter, A., Kaminski, T., Douex Jr, A., Knight, C. & Richards, J., 2007).

In the video below is an example of a pitcher, Aroldis Chapman, with a natural physical makeup and mechanics that achieved the quickest pitch ever recorded - 105 mph or 169kph.

What does this mean for me as a PE teacher?

When teaching a motor-skill in the classroom it is important to look at how the professionals do it and try to imitate the action. However a baseball pitch has similar biomechanics to many different sporting movements that can be applied and transferred across a range of sports and activities such as:

• ·      Cricket – bowling and throwing
• ·      Track and field – Javelin, Shotput and Discus
• ·      Fishing – Casting a rod
• ·      Basketball, Netball and Soccer – overhead passes
• ·      Tennis/ Badminton - Serve or overhead smash
• ·      European handball – shooting and passing
•     Volleyball - Serve or overhead smash
•     Water Polo - Passing or Shooting 

(Blazevich, A., 2012)

As all of these movement patterns are similar, we can teach the biomechanics of the pitch or throw which is the base of the motion. A common feature of these kinetic chains is the rotation of the torso to accelerate the arm aswell as angular momentum (Blazevich, A., 2012).  Once a student is comfortable with the action we can then work on increased performance. An increased performance of the throw should transfer to an increased performance across all similar skills in the different sports and activities. Repetition of the throwing motion will also help as it improves coordination of muscle contraction and develops an efficient open kinetic chain movement (Kreighbraum, E. & Barthels, K., 1985).

When studying a movement pattern like throwing from a biomechanist’s perspective we can see what part of the action can be improved and how they can help the performance or end result. In the throw, we determined that the stride and arm acceleration can be improved and this can have great effects on the velocity of the ball. A training program can then be devised specific to increasing these phases of the throw. Biomechanics is the tool to an increased performance and strength training is how we can improve the body’s attributes to perform better biomechanically.

References:

Blazevich, A. (2012) Sports Biomechanics: The Basics Optimising Human Performance, A&C Black Publishers, Bloomsbury, London, p 195-205

Braatz J. & Gogia, P. (1987) The mechanics of pitching. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 9, p 56-69.

Carter, A., Kaminski, T., Douex Jr, A., Knight, C. & Richards, J. (2007) Effects of High Volume Upper Extremity Plyometric Training on Throwing Velocity and Functional Strength Ratios of the Shoulder Rotators in Collegiate Baseball Players, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(1), p 208–215

Chu, D. (1992) Jumping into Plyometrics, Leisure Press Human Kinetics, Illinois: USA

Dillman, C., Fleisig, G. & Andrews, J. (1993) Biomechanics of pitching with emphasis upon shoulder kinematics. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 18, p 402-408

DiStefano, L., Padua, D. & Blackburn, J. (2010) Integrated injury prevention program improves balance and vertical jump height in children, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(3), p 32-42

ESPN, Major League Baseball, MLB Roster Analysis, Web Page: <http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rosters/_/sort/null/order/false>  accessed 17/4/13

Ebben, W., Hintz, M. & Simenz, C. (2005) Strength and Conditioning Practices of Major League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(3), Milwaukee: USA, p 538-546

Fleisig, G. (1994) The biomechanics of baseball pitching. Doctoral

thesis. University of Alabama: USA

Fleisig, G., Escamilla, F., Andrews, J., Matsuo, T., Satterwhite, Y. & Barrentine, S. (1996) Kinematic and kinetic comparison between pitching and football passing Journal of Applied Biomechanics, p 207–224

Fleisig, G., Barrentine, S., Zheng, N., Escamilla, R. & Andrews, J. (1999) Kinematic and kinetic comparison of baseball pitching among various levels of development, American Sports Medicine Institute, 32(12), p 1271-1375

Houglum, P. (2010) An analysis of the biomechanics of baseball. In Therapeutic Exercise for Musculoskeletal Injuries (3^rd Ed.), Human Kinetics, USA

Hill, J. & Leiszler, M. (2011) Review and Role of Plyometrics and Core Rehabilitaion in Competitive Sport: Current Sport Medical Reports, American College of Sports Medicine, USA, p 1-7

Jobe, F.W., Tibone, J.E., Perry, J. & Moynes, D. (1983) An EMG analysis of the shoulder in throwing and pitching: a preliminary report, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 11(1), p 3–5.

Knudson, D. & Morrison, C. (1996) An integrated qualitative analysis of overarm throwing, The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 67(6), Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Kreighbraum, E. & Barthels, K. (1985) Biomechanics, A Qualitative Approach for Studying Human Movement (2^nd Ed.), Macmillan, New York: USA

Newton, R. & McEvoy, K. (1994) Baseball throwing velocity: A comparison of medicine ball training and weight training, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 8(3), p 198-203

Montgomery, J. and Knudson, D. (2002) A method to determine stride length for baseball pitching, Applied Research in Coaching and Athletics Annual 17, p 75-84.

Pappas, A., Zawacki, R. & Sullivan, T. (1985) Biomechanics of baseball pitching: A preliminary report, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 13 (4), Massachusetts: USA

Whitely, R. (2007) Baseball throwing mechanics as they relate to pathology and performance – A review, Journals of Sports Science and Medicine, 6(1-20), Sydney: Australia