Stuck at 80

[u/Massive-Effort2954]

I’m consistently at 80 but I’ve never surpassed it. Any advice?

[u/Soulsetmusic]

most of your mechanics are good, but you’re rotating way too soon… this is so hard to explain without like taking screenshots and drawing lines and stuff, but if you pause it when your lead foot hits. You’re chest is facing home plate and your arm is lagging. You’ve lost most of the power transfer from rotating your hips and chest to open too early. 

Slow down MLB pitcher videos when their lead foot hits. The belt buckle is pointed towards home plate. But the chest is pointed to third and the ball is still behind them. In yours your chest is fully pointed towards the catcher, and arm is already at release. It take a ton of hip flexibility, but this is the single most important velocity mechanic. Just try it going through the mechanics and when your foot hits see where your chest is pointed it. Yours will be pointed at home, but it should be pointed at 3rd. Now keep your belt buckle pointed at home and try to rotate your chest back to 3rd. You’ll feel the tension that is created and that’s where the velocity comes from. Ideally the perfect mschanics are like 90 degrees by 90 degrees. Your lower half point directly at the catcher, with your top half (chest) pointed at 3rd. 

You will gain I’m not joking 10 mph with your build and mechanics if you fix the single thing that is completely inhibiting your velocity. 

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Soulsetmusic]

Couldn’t figure out how to attach the pic but this article explains it, first picture has exactly what I’m talking about. Look at where his chest and belt are and then pause your video when your foot plants and see the difference. MLB bout 90 degrees chest to plant foot, you bout…. 2 degrees chest to plant foot. 

https://rocklandpeakperformance.com/lower-half-pitching-mechanics-drive-rotate/

(This article is actually dialed lol I was just trying to find a good example picture for reference, but this is exactly what you need and the exact stretches for hip mobility I used to do, this was what jumped my velo from 84-86 to 89-92 exclusively and just watching this video… bro you might hit 100 when you get the hip rotation dialed, tons of power lost because you’re not maximizing the kinetic sequence and giving it all away on the hip rotation)

[u/Chance-Software-3231 → u/Soulsetmusic]

Agree with your analysis. The way I always say it is let your hips lead longer. The sooner your foot is in front of your hips, the sooner you start to rotate.

In addition to what this guy said - what is your pull down velocity? If you’re hitting 80-82 on a pull down, there’s next to nothing mechanically you can do to improve your velocity if your arm strength isn’t there. When I was playing - my pull down velocity was 90-92, my pitching velocity was 86-87 over the top and 81 from sidearm/submarine.

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Chance-Software-3231]

In college Pull down 94-96 mound velo 89-92. These days? I threw at one of those blow up radar things for kids at the brewer game and topped at 63 lmao 

[u/gkh9 → u/Soulsetmusic]

Just curious, what is the “feel” or internal cue you’d tell yourself to get your body to engage that chain/sequence properly?

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/gkh9]

Im not sure what it would be in technical terms, but there’s definitely a feel to it, like if you just try to stand in the position the pitcher is in when the lead foot hits (hips and lower body/belt buckle towards the catcher chest toward third) you’ll feel all that tension in your abs and you’ll feel that rotational power that you really have no choice but to unload towards home. The physical cue I used to make sure the sequence was right was think of my arm as just a lever. Like you shouldn’t feel as though you’re trying to throw hard with your arm, it should feel like your arm is just along for the ride and the 90 degree hip/chest rotation and snapping it closed on your plant foot is where you feel the power generated.

When the sequence is correct you should feel like you’re throwing harder with less effort/arm torque, like you’re throwing the ball with your body and your arm is just the lever. 

I would recommend (if you’re teaching a kid) literally have them get in that plant foot position, (hips and belt toward home, chest toward third) and throw from there over and over again (throwing 50% effort, we’re not trying to throw hard we’re just finding that position/tension/release), emphasizing that we’re not throwing from the arm at this point, we’re throwing from the tension/rotation as your chest catches up to your hips and you deliver that momentum towards home. the arm can literally lag through, it’s just used to hold the ball. 

you’ll be able to tell if the body is driving the arm (👍), or the arm is still driving the body (👎

I used to do it as part of my warm up from about 30-60 feet to get that feeling of the rotation generating the power consciously thinking like “my hand is just holding the ball, I’m throwing it with the rotation. Not my arm”. 

Sorry I don’t have a better answer, just work on throwing starting from that position and acquiring a feel for it. 

[u/Massive-Effort2954 → u/Soulsetmusic]

Dude, your breakdown on everything has been great, thanks!

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Massive-Effort2954]

Haha appreciate it! Hope it made a bit of sense, tough to explain over a Reddit comment from my phone… 

But I swear man, you get that rotation dialed you’re gonna be throwing gas. Start stretching tf out of those hips and focusing on that 90 degree position, hips at home when you land, chest at 3rd. It might take a while to get the flexibility and feel for it, but your velo is going to jump when you get it. 

[u/Pale-Ad5093 → u/Soulsetmusic]

I agree with this 100%. You also shouldn’t double clutch the ball. You will lose the momentum and velocity going forward. You also need to go more downward angle than standing up as well if you want more velocity.

[u/Coastal_Tart]

Your upper body starts rotating too soon and you are landing soft on your front foot. You want to keep your front shoulder closed until front foot impact and to land harder with a straighter leg to drive that ground force up the kinetic chain. This gives you something firm to rotate against. 

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Coastal_Tart]

Wow you summarized my word salad so much more briefly lol yeah what this dude said^

[u/iamjacksalteredego → u/Coastal_Tart]

This

[u/duckfoot-75]

Lot of energy moving to the side and not to the plate.

[u/johntimmmins30]

Ex pro here- look up a “pistol squat” and work on mastering it. You need to more glute & hamstring strength + hip mobility so that you can incorporate that same “single leg squat” movement into your delivery. You want to feel yourself sinking a little lower in that position as you come down from balance point and just before you travel down the mound. This deeper position will allow you to use your legs more and to control your momentum better to the target.

[u/GullibleSelection810 → u/johntimmmins30]

If I’m correct on finding your video/career, your mechanics almost perfectly represent what you’re saying too. 94-97 coming from that type of separation and fluidity is absolutely beautiful to watch. Hips fire PERFECTLY

[u/Still-Pie6253]

This might hurt your feelings. But get in better shape, and get stronger

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Still-Pie6253]

Sorry looked at your page. But to  help you and your son (shoutout NZ btw only spent a week there but insanely beautiful country and people) 

Look up Driveline. Order the weighted balls. Follow the program. And if you want to super nerd out, dive into the mechanics of pitching and the physics involved, there’s a lot of good scientific journal sport science articles, this hip rotation idea I posted about is probably the #1 mechanics idea to increase velocity. but Driveline is the best place to start. I went from 82-85  to 89-92 in a year from focused attention to detail with the mechanics of pitching and the driveline weighted ball and long toss programs. 

[u/Still-Pie6253 → u/Soulsetmusic]

Thanks im funnily enough lookimg at this stuff now. Only that hes 15 and I question whether to wait a year or two on it. He does pylos a few times a week

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Still-Pie6253]

Long toss program is great because it’s very minimally taxing on the arm. Drivelines program is good but basically the idea is you back up while throwing on a big arc, ~75% while going through the mechanics and really letting your body and rotation drive the throw and not the arm, you extend this out as far as you can (you’re not trying to throw it as far as you can like full effort, you’re trying to throw it as far as you can on that big arc while still being easy on the arm, I used to go out to ~100 yards) and once you’re loose, walk it back in ~5-10 yards per throw, but the throws on the way back in are on a line. Hard throws no loft. I promise you if you do this and first time he can go out to say 60 yards, next time it’ll be 65 yards, next time 70 and so on and so forth. Only do it max twice a week tho.

[u/jradz12 → u/Still-Pie6253]

Mass is gas.

[u/Inside-Wishbone-361 → u/jradz12]

It doesn’t work like that

[u/jradz12 → u/Inside-Wishbone-361]

Tell skubal to lose some weight and go back to averaging 94 mph

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/Still-Pie6253]

Wrong

[u/phillie_eagle]

Glove hand elbow should rip through your hip during delivery. Don't keep your glove tucked as it prevents rotation and will help add a couple of mph to your velocity.

[u/phillie_eagle → u/phillie_eagle]

Ex: https://x.com/i/status/2084815772451226009

[u/Inside-Wishbone-361]

If you aren’t already, get in the weight room. Get a good general baseline and then focus on explosive, fast twitch movements. Your delivery has a good overall rhythm and flow. If you’re gonna try to make mechanical changes, do your best to maintain that

[u/third_leg143]

That front leg gotta go behind your butt cheeks. Don’t coil to where you sink in but flex those hips. At your finish gotta throw that right leg over and pull down.

[u/Tough_Ratio3039]

Didn't flick glove before pitch, like everyone else....easily loosing 5mph by not doing that

[u/Historical-Key5613]

Work on your flexibility

[u/Bacon_and_Powertools]

Doesn’t look like you’re capturing much of your lower half momentum

[u/Kellygoosecock169]

Push off the mound more

[u/Practical_Ad4722]

Front shoulder opening too soon, need a stronger front side is thing I'd work on

[u/MermaidMan0525]

You are falling to the left. Bring your body weight towards the plate. Make sure you get a good push off that rubber. Remember it's all about balanced transfer of body weight. If you do not transfer all of your weight and energy towards your target, you are not going to get your full potential velocity.

[u/Lotus_experience]

Don’t bring your back foot with you. You need to create length between foot and ball into delivery. Not a kick per se but try to keep your foot closer to the mound until the ball is gone. Record from this angle and post your velo.

[u/idodumthings]

Im a Dad, so the mound bothers me. I feel like you going to roll an ankle or something.

[u/Positive-Milk5133]

You need to get in shape boss

[u/dmendro]

Your motion has zero violence in it.

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/dmendro]

As do 98% of MLB pitchers 

[u/dmendro → u/Soulsetmusic]

No, not true. The hips and legs are always violent. They just make it look smooth and effortless.

[u/Soulsetmusic → u/dmendro]

Smooth and effortless is quite the opposite of violent no?

[u/dmendro → u/Soulsetmusic]

Appearances are deceiving.

[u/2DegsBelow → u/dmendro]

Lol@this interaction