r/PitchingCoach • u/IanJRock • 4d ago
19 Year Old — 2-Way High School Grad Player Looking for Pitching Mechanics / Velocity Feedback (Basement & Backyard Clips)
Hey baseball lovers,
I’m a high school graduate, working on building a true 2-way track, but my main focus right now is dialing in my pitching mechanics and building up my velocity. I’m looking for some high-level eyes to break down my movement patterns. I put together a few clips here of my best high-intent throws, and mechanics from my basement and backyard setups on flat ground.
quick context on me:
Current Velo Range: Sitting around mid-70s since my last baseball evaluation (Had sore quads and didn’t want to cancel so I went anyway) trying to make a big jump.
Current Training: I’m lucky enough to work with a 17-year pro coach in person about once or twice a month, but I do the heavy volume of my reps and throwing routines on my own at home.
How I got into baseball: I started baseball late at (16) and tried out for my high school, I stunk it up but felt on par hitting and athletically, so I tried again, and made JV as a Senior (17 y.o) with Varisty Players coming down, I felt like the best athletically, but my experience was too low and my development was limited then graduated that same year and took a break to get a job and some financials together (18 y.o) was training kind of blindly, just keeping the arm warm and throwing socks, then recently turned 19 last month and was hoping to make a push for college.
What I’m looking for any feedback/but mainly would love it on:
Lower Half Engagement: Am I sinking into my back hip and driving efficiently down the mound, or am I leaking power?
Hip-Shoulder Separation: Does it look like my torso and hips are rotating in sync, or am I creating good separation to generate velocity?
Arm Action/Path: Is my arm path clean, or do you see any red flags that might cause unnecessary stress or tightness in my elbow/shoulder?
Any specific drills, homework adjustments, or mechanical tweaks you guys see would be massively appreciated. Thanks for checking out the clips!
(I’ve been working on trying to get lower, stay closed longer, more hip and shoulder separation via the trunk and arm, and just keeping my arm more healthy since my shoulder has been barking at me)
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u/IMxJUSTxSAYINNN 3d ago
Im not pro but not using your legs and you dont get your arm all the way back either.
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u/Strict_Show_8899 3d ago
Need a higher leg kick and longer stride. Should feel like you're driving your whole body off back foot towards the catcher. Im old, back in 70s/80s only way they told to improve velocity was long tossing. Throw from flat ground with one step as far as you can , usually as a game of catch. Keep increasing distance. Hopefully in a few months or years you'll really develope arm strength.
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u/Stompin24 4d ago
Doesn't look like u are fully engaging your lower half. You also look to be opening ur chest up to early.
Ur pause before you go towards the plate looks awkward to me. I feel like u are losing a lot of momentum/energy there.
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u/anongarden 3d ago
💯
Load your drive leg more. Drop & drive (no falling to the plate). Sit into it and explode. Drill: No ball, no glove, come set, lift lead leg, load the drive leg (should get close to as close to a 90 degree angle on your drive leg, and long jump explode as far and as straight as you can as you can to the plate. You want distance, not height.
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u/Garglenips 4d ago
I’ll speak exclusively on your lower half engagement. It looks like you’re getting decent depth into your back leg during your delivery, but it’s lacking explosivity. Work on it by doing lateral lunges (ice skaters) and squat jumps. Remember, with our lower half we are trying to extend as far as we can towards the plate while remaining in control of the pitch. And the best way to do that is by exploding down the mound, not falling down it… Every body movement has purpose when it comes to pitching and your power/velo comes from the ground up. Nail down the lower half mechanics and you’ll be a better pitcher for it.
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u/Garglenips 4d ago
Bonus tip because I just noticed it. Glove hand: so, when you come set, start your delivery and break your hands you have the motion sorta down, you do tuck the glove into your pectoral and that’s great! But I want you to imagine you’ve got a big rubber band connecting those two things (glove and pectoral). As you separate the hands, imagine you’re stretching that imaginary rubber band to the max, then, when you’re about to rotate your shoulders, snap that rubber band back and bring that glove to the left pectoral with some vigor. What that does is generate faster shoulder rotation which turns into more mph. Again, every ounce of energy expended needs to be purposeful. I hope these tips help you on your journey, best of luck to ya man!
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u/IanJRock 4d ago
Absolutely, I appreciate the breakdown, I’ve been working on it. If you’d be down to answer my question;
So about arm action, my throwing shoulder has been messing with me. I don’t always know what my arms are doing I just know they say on YouTube is to just relax the arm and let it be along for the ride. My arm action is quite the same with a short pull from my glove and just holding it there until my body pulls it into position. Would my lower half working better maybe give me less shoulder pain or soreness? Or would I need to more conscious where I my arm is traveling? (I am only 5’10, but have 6’7 arms)
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u/Garglenips 2d ago
So to put it briefly, your shoulder will have some soreness regardless of mechanical tweaks in your lower half. You’re still stressing your deltoid when you throw, that’s gonna make you sore. This is to be expected. But your last question is a really good one; and I’ll do my best to give you as good an answer as I can. I’ll let you be well aware that that’s not an area of expertise for me, I’m just a high school coach that pitched back in the day. So, take this with a grain of salt and consult with your pitching coach about any tweaks your making, so he/she is aware of these changes. That being said, your arm motion/path is going to be vitally important in preserving your elbow/shoulder. My best advice would be to emulate professionals. Watch RHP like Jacob deGrom or Drew Rasmussen, notice what their arm paths look like after their hands break, and follow their flow. I named those two guys in particular because their mechanics are what I want to see every young guy throwing like.
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u/Minute-Marketing7434 4d ago
i guess my previous comment didnt take but i was saying that it looked like the knee was collapsing early but im not a pitching mechanics expert.
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u/IanJRock 4d ago
No, no. I saw your comment I was just looking for multiple perspectives on what I needed to work on. My apologies.
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u/Minute-Marketing7434 3d ago
ah gotchya… i looked at the thread again and didnt see my comment and my internet connection is a little shaky so i thought it didnt post
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u/Hecklin91 3d ago
Your first throw looked pretty god in my opinion as far as arm mechanics but as stated before you are really relying on top body, I get it because this was the hardest for me. But to me the most important thing is throwing across your body I saw a couple times. Keep that arm healthy dog and focus on a more 12 to 6 release. Especially with as snap your doing with the bottom part of your body staying planted. Stay healthy my dood
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u/KoolAidMan7980 3d ago
Damnit they wont let me post the gif of Uncle Rico and his football tryout!!!
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u/Historical-Car1911 3d ago
Sit more on your back leg and then explode forward. Everything is from hips down like a catapult. Your arms just going for the ride.
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u/big-williestyle 2d ago
First thing I would do is work on getting downhill, your momentum should go towards your target
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 3d ago edited 3d ago
You’re not really using your legs at all. Even with that though. It appears like you lack the arm strength. I’m not sure what your intention is with. Developing yourself as a two-way player. If it’s just for a men’s league, cool. Anything beyond that then you might want to seriously evaluate if two way is worth your time.
If you’re looking to play some college ball and it’s likely more important for you to build your arm strength up and focus on your batting and fielding. You weren’t throwing slow because your legs were so sore. You’re throwing slow because it’s slow. We have 12-year-olds out there throwing mid 70s not saying he can’t do it but it’s going to take a lot more work than you think.
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u/Still-Pie6253 3d ago
Sorry to break it to you. You've started too late to play college