“It doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you’re putting in the effort.” The Road Less Traveled Can Be The Fast Lane Spencer Mahoney played four years of college ball for Valparaiso as a shortstop. He tore a meniscus weeks before a pro tryout, went undrafted, had surgery, rehabbe...
This post was written by Dr. James Buffi. Most people have heard of Sir Isaac Newton and his famous laws of motion. Most have not heard that he was an expert in modern pitching biomechanics. So let’s talk about how Newton’s most famous law relates to pitching. Newton’s most famous law of motion is p...
The intent to throw hard – the phrase was coined by Paul Nyman. Simple on its face, it is routinely rejected by pitching coaches everywhere from the outright dismissal (“just throw strikes”) to the subtle sabotage (“block with a firm front side”). Intending to throw the...
I am fortunate enough to have a handful of acquaintances who work in professional baseball that I can freely discuss things without fear of dismissal. One friend of mine is a minor league pitching coach, who got in a discussion with me about velocity and command. The conversation went like this: Him...
A common sentiment amongst pitching coaches, dads, and your regular everyday baseball fan is that if you try to throw harder, you will be more wild. I’ve written plenty on this topic about it being a load of crap, because the human body learns to throw a ball effectively and more efficiently...
While I was going through my huge library of pitching clips (over 3 GB at this point), I found one of my favorite examples that shows how complicated the 95 MPH delivery can be. Enter Andrew Cashner, a man who can throw 100 MPH: Note where the video is slowed down. It’s not rotation, it’...
This is Joe Marsh in 2008, pitching for his alma mater – Campolindo HS. Campolindo HS has been a perennial powerhouse in the national high school baseball rankings for years. This would lead you to believe that Joe was some sort of elite pitcher throwing gas from the mound and taking the ball...
There have been millions of words (literally) written about the glove side as it pertains to pitching mechanics. I’m not going to add much to that, as I think a simple video and an animated image can say a lot more about how you can use the front side effectively in rotational sports. Rotation...
Looking for a velocity-adding weighted baseball program? Steve Delabar’s journey to the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners is a feel-good story anyone could love, right? Maybe not. Think about it: Why didn’t organized baseball have a velocity development plan for Steve to get him...
The changeup is a deadly weapon at the major league level: Entire careers are made (Jamie Moyer) or destroyed (countless starters who couldn’t master one) as a result of the pitch. Change-ups are typically 10-15% slower than a pitcher’s best four-seam fastball he’ll use in a game a...
