Pitching mechanics is in the same realm as religion and politics. Very emotional issue based more on faith and opinion than fact. At one time (when I was very young and innocent researcher) I thought that If all givers of information (pitching, hitting,....) would distinguish between what they have actually experience and see as compared to what they hear, read or have opinions about (first hand vs. second hand vs personal beliefs) it would solve this problem. But many years later I know that even this would not work.

People need beliefs. Beliefs are the foundation for our very existence and achievements. But beliefs can be so strong that they block one's ability to really see. One day I happened to have a web conversation (on a popular pitching discussion board) with a coach about Rob Nen's hip rotation. I said Nen reached most of his hip rotation (actually HIP JOINT ROTATION) before front foot plant (based on a game video of him that I did a careful analysis of). This "coach" (who had taped the same game) said I was crazy, that Nen's hips were closed at foot plant and opened after foot plant. This has happened a number of times since (two people watching the same pitcher, I saw one thing, other person saw something different). There are three possible explanations; 1. I saw what actually happened, he saw what he thought actually happened. 2. He saw what actually happened and I thought I saw what actually happened. 3. We both saw what we thought actually happened. Next stop...the TwiLight Zone.

Perception vs. reality. How do you teach/make a pitcher (or hitter) to make his body perform high speed automatic of actions (ballistic events). Researchers call this automatically or muscle memory. Many, many times you can't address the problem directly (stay closed until... and then rotate....etc.). You have to find what I call "cues" or "facilitators" that achieve the desired end result even though you may be telling them to do something that technically is not correct.

The problem occurs when "cues" are accepted as absolute truths. I believe that 90% of the disagreement over issues like drop and drive versus only pulling and not pushing off the rubber is caused by accepting cues as absolute truths. Waiting until foot plant to explode is a cue. It helps the player from opening up too soon. The problem occurs when you try to analyze the video you just took of the pitcher. You see his hips are 30-40% open at foot plant (which most major league pitcher achieve), but because of belief in the "cue" you tell him he is opening too soon. This pitcher, coach, parent is now heading for possible problems.

Speaking from my own experience, the average coach, parent, player has no idea what they’re looking at. They do not have enough training to correctly interpret what they are seeing. They may have enough knowledge to be dangerous. Much of what is happening is what you "don't" see (internal workings of the body). It's like saying you're to make a race car go faster by making the body very sleek and fast "looking" without paying attention to the engine and suspension. Yes it may go a little faster, but no where near as fast as changes to the internals could produce. Every time I look at my videos, I still see new information. And most I have reviewed frame by frame at least 200 times. Relationships of time, distance, velocity, acceleration, etc. and how the external actions are controlled by the internal actions. Much of the information is obtained by watching body part actions other than the one you are directly trying to analyze.

One problem with video is that for many observations standard 30 frame rate is really not fast enough. A pitcher goes from zero to maximum hip rotation speed in less than one frame (we are talking about speed not the amount of rotation). Its the timing of reaching maximum hip speed that's critical. The amount of rotation is important, but the speed and timing of is even more so.

The best that any player, coach or parent can do is to always search for a second, third and fourth opinions (more information). I've been around this game long enough to know that there are no absolutes when it comes to training. How to maximize the bodies ability to throw a baseball with maximum velocity, movement and control is one of the least understood areas in sports science. There are an enormous number of variables to deal with. The best we can do right now to develop training programs is to use the limited amount of research that has been done on pitching (which is virtually non existent compared to other sports), sort out as best we can anecdotal stories, add some general principles of training, borrow research from other sports that we think is applicable to pitching and try it out and measure the results.

There are many knowledgeable people out there. The problem is, the ones who know the most know how much they don't know. And they're not heard from because they know its rediculus to make "absolute" statements about what works and what does not. That's left to the salesmen, politicians and preachers.

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